Posted on 06/24/2010 4:41:33 AM PDT by Virginia Ridgerunner
As most people know, Sarah Palin is relentlessly attacked by those who elevate the state over the individual and by those who lack faith in any higher power except the regulatory power of Washington, D.C. Many of these people use – and abuse – the law, and in the case of Sarah Palin, they have abused our state ethics laws by repeatedly, remorselessly, and routinely filing false and malicious claims against her. So too, they have resorted to our courts, where several civil suits were filed against Sarah Palin. To date, these civil suits have been rejected by the courts as baseless. But we know the toll this caused the Palins. Almost a year ago, Governor Palin pointed out the many groundless complaints, records requests and suits filed against her, and explained that:
“…it hasn’t been cheap – the State has wasted thousands of hours of your time and shelled out some two million of your dollars to respond to ‘opposition research’ – that’s money not going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the ‘politics of personal destruction’… Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game…. Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor.”
The past year has confirmed that Governor Palin was right. The number of false claims, records requests, mendacious accusations and ridiculous posturing by the left and street corner ethicists dropped dramatically – at least as applied to the mechanics of state government.
But it did not all go away when she stepped aside – some claims and suits are pending and are getting resolved in time. A judge in Anchorage recently issued a ruling throwing out a baseless claim against Governor Palin – and indirectly involving Todd Palin. In this civil claim, Todd Palin was being attacked because he was a close and trusted advisor to his wife, the Governor. That he was should surprise no one. The claimant asserted that because Todd Palin was not being paid by the State of Alaska, any emails copied to him could not be protected by the standard law of deliberative process privilege – a privilege that essentially protects the decision making process in government in order to allow the decision makers the freedom to honestly discuss policy and process and promote the open exchange of ideas. The claimant demanded the right to see emails that were sent to Todd Palin.
In a well reasoned opinion, the judge explored state law, federal law (including an historical discussion on First Lady Sarah Polk, wife of President James K. Polk), and invoked a too rarely used legal principle – common sense – to throw out this lawsuit. In so doing, the court concluded that Todd Palin, as the First Gentleman, though unpaid, was in essence a privileged consultant to the Office of the Governor, and the court compared Todd Palin’s privileged consultations to First Lady Hillary Clinton, in which a federal court determined that the chief executive’s spouse “acts as the functional equivalent of an assistant to the President.” And, with state government employees assisting the first spouse, Todd Palin had a clear and obvious privileged consultative function and is analogous to a de facto state officer.
The court ultimately concluded that “common sense and Federal law” compel the conclusion that “Todd Palin could properly… act[] as an advisor to the Governor” and therefore he was appropriately involved in policy discussions, emails, and deliberative discussions, all of which are protected from disclosure.
It is refreshing to see a court resort to common sense and historical precedent. Further, as more and more women get elected to high office (What are they called now? – “Mama Grizzlies”?), it is notable that challenges such as this, which were based on sexist notions and demeaning attitudes towards women, are being rejected. This suit challenged Todd Palin’s role as a first spouse and was implicitly premised on the idea that a male spouse must somehow exert too much influence over a female chief executive. Hence the demand to “see those emails” from Todd Palin; but contrast this with decades of silence relative to communications to prior executive spouses – female spouses. That dismissive and contemptuous posture towards the new brand of feminist leaders was appropriately condemned by the court as lacking a basis in reality.
There are, of course, some remaining issues to address. The attacks against Sarah Palin will continue. They are distractions meant to keep her off message. There will be times when Sarah Palin will have to take one for the team in order to continue on with her message to the country and simply resolve matters without having to incur crushing personal debt. That is the cost, unfortunately, of public life today. When that happens, read the details closely – like the details in this court opinion. Every time you do you will see that Sarah Palin has always acted with honest intent. You will see that again soon. Today’s ruling is a positive step not just for Sarah and Todd Palin, but for all female chief executives currently in office – and waiting to take office in November.
- Thomas Van Flein, Attorney for Sarah Palin
((((PING))))
Sounds to me at the very end of this that Thomas Van Flein is hinting at something coming down the road - Hmmm!
I had the same thought. Wonder what’s up?
keep
I don’t know....I don’t think a ruling against her, but maybe something else. What that is the million dollar question - but I never thought that we got the whole picture on what is going on involving all of this.....this is giving me butterflies!
Yeah, something is up alright!
Sounds like she is about accept a 'non contendre' type of deal concerning one or more of the outstanding "Gadfly" complaints in order to be rid of the distractions once and for all and also not throw any more good money after bad fighting them.
And the media will go crazy trying to say she is guilty
Yup, and the Palin trashers here on this board too.
The complaint which charges that the Legal Defense Fund set up to pay Gov. Palin’s attorneys and court costs for the two dozen or so politically-motivated “ethics” complaints filed against her is in violation of Alaska state law has been pending for over a year.
The preliminary finding by a lawyer (who works for the firm which has Obama as one of its clients) retained by the ethics commission was that the fund violates the law. It looks like the commission is likely to hand down a ruling to that effect soon.
- JP
..which is non-sensical considering the widespread use of such mechanisms by other nationally known politicians.
Of course, there is a completely different standard for Sarah Palin.
BTW, I was down in DC today, and someone has spent a lot of money buying ad space at various Metrorail stops attacking the Discovery Channel/TLC for producing Sarah's upcoming Alaska show. The big signs show a poor hapless wolf in a hunter's cross-hairs accompanied by the usual liberal drivel about not giving her a platform for her hatefulness.
Whatever.
The Cost of Legal Warfare – A Few Words About Today’s Defense Fund Agreement
The Uncommon Law – Reality and Common Sense
Thomas Van Flein, Attorney for Sarah Palin
&
The Cost of Legal Warfare – A Few Words About Today’s Defense Fund Agreement
Indeed, a good read!
The One note bashers on FR who should read this, won’t because they would rather be clueless.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.