Petersburg Circuit Court Clerk Shalva J. Braxton
Posted on 06/16/2013 4:43:32 AM PDT by marktwain
Virginia resident Michael McNeill filed a petition with the Virginia Supreme Court requesting a Writ of Mandamus to compel Petersburg Circuit Court Clerk Shalva J. Braxton to follow Virginia law when it comes to concealed handgun permit application processing procedures. A Writ of Mandamus is a judicial order compelling an official carry out a “ministerial duty,” i.e., a duty which is non-discretionary.
In Virginia, the legislature requires Circuit Court’s to issue concealed handgun permits if the applicant pays $50, submits proof of firearms training, and passes a background check.
Braxton initially told Petersburg NBC 12 News through her attorneys that “it’s not a big deal” to require citizens to submit applications for concealed handgun permit (CHP) renewals in person, even though state law requires Clerks of Court to accept CHP renewal applications by mail. Additionally, Braxton also was forcing CHP applicants to write multiple application fee checks, carry paperwork to the police department for a background check, and then to walk the papers back to the Clerk’s office.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
So she was charging extra for applicants to do her work?
She should be sued in a civil court for violation of civil rights - that’s how OJ got got.
We need to start hitting these people where it hurts personally. Each time she gets through one court action, another person sues her for a variation on the theme.
Just because she is a court clerk, she cannot hide behind the mantel of ‘government’, especially if she is operating over and above the requirements of the law.
Nail her to the wall financially.
Whether people to admit it or not....Virginia has become two Virginias. You can take Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandra, and Charlottsville, and you’ve got probably one of the most liberal areas of the US currently (east of the Mississippi). The remainder of the state is as far to the right as you can imagine.
I’ve traveled over the whole state since 2010, and come to realize that Virginia has become a very split area...when it comes to politics or municipal operations.
No. She was making the applicants for renewal write a separate check to her, the Clerk's office, and the police; as well as making them go to the police personally to apply for their background check.
Virginia law requires the Clerks to accept a single check for all required fees and then do all the leg work via the Clerks office.
This Clerk is/was either lazy or made it bothersome to applicants because she does not like citizens using their God-given rights.
It happened once before. Perhaps we need North and South Virginia, too.
Yep. Two Virginias is absolutely right. Not the same state I grew up in. Got overrun by refugees from NJ and NY who brought their politics and attitudes with them.
Exactly...made their lives a living hell...until they think twice about pulling this type of bureaucratic BS
It's unbelievable a Circuit Court Clerk thinks she can interpret the law at her whim...
Does ANYBODY out there think that the clerk did all this on her own?
Really?
The rot starts farther up the food chain.
There's an old military joke that mirrors today's outlaw government institutions: "Your request has been temporarily disapproved. Resubmit in 90 days for final disapproval."
The elected county clerk is an administrative position. She is the executive who sets policy for the work a day clerks who actually process the CHP applications.
Lazy has nothing to do with it. She simply did not want her employees doing this work. She wanted the CHP applicants to have a difficult time getting or renewing their permits.
Petersburg Circuit Court Clerk Shalva J. Braxton
My read on these extra checks is that it was extra fees— over and above the 50 bucks to renew by mail. Is that correct? Any more info on the total cost to someone to renew?
If so, then this woman was raking in extra cash, while not doing what the law required-— cash which went ....where? Having experienced this in permitting processes where graft is the grease. There might be something there to explore...?
The VA group that brought the mandamus could have more clout if this was shown to be the case.
Exactly. Who does this person work for, aside from being an elected official. Is it party affiliated? The Circuit Court judges is whom the Clerk works “for” in most states. It is elected to keep it “separated” from the “elected” judges. But if they are aligned...ahem.. then they can work together on a fiefdom of liberalism. Just like the middle ages.
As a reference, gunpolicy.org has info on the gun laws of Zimbabwe. Not how they came to be developed, but what one has to go through, legally. The legal system being overthrown, private property (generationally owned farms— particularly white owned) was seized and distributed to the Marxist mob leaders. The breadbasket of Africa cannot feed itself now.
It is these machine bureaucrats (obamaumaubots, of any race- but particularly neosocialists/marxists) who take the law into their hands because they think they can. It is only our system of enforced laws and the Constitution that protects us. Stand and fight them.
This is a nose under the tent that is probably much larger nationwide.
Link (warning-very informational): http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/zimbabwe
If your recorder is honest and smart you will have no trouble and he will record your paperwork, the law
does not give him the right to make a legal determination of what to file and what not to file. That is the
courts duty. However, if he does question you, ask him (these are the three questions mentioned
previously);
(1) to show in your states code what his job is. Point out to him the law (it’s the same in every
state or close enough for government work); if he still does not record your documents, then
(2) demand a copy of his surety bond and
(3) the name of his insurance carrier for that bond
Inform him that it is CYA time (cover your assets) because you intend to file a claim with his insurance
company against his bond. A lot of them are duped and don’t know they are being used. At this point he
is going to start hollering for risk management (the banker’s boys). This is when risk management
usually caves in. Some may be obstinate and continue to fight but eventually they can’t handle the
pressure. If risk management gets stubborn you can also file against their surety bond too. When the
insurance company, who looks at it dispassionately, tells them that if they continue they will lose and
lose big, they capitulate. You might also inform the recorder of what the consequences are when he
loses, which he will do, because the law is on your side, even in their own kangaroo courts. Those
consequences are a loss of deductible. If the loss is big enough he loses pension, benefits, and eventually
if it goes so far that he is convicted of denying your constitutional right, he loses his job, house and the
whole nine yards. Oh yes, you get the house and assets, so it is worth pursuing.
Personally, I never had that problem in the county where I live now. Both times I’ve renewed my CCW, I was greeted by the local clerk of the probate court (they handle that here), “Hi Honey, whatcha need?”
She proceeded to tell me what to do and pay and in less than one hour, I was done and had an in-hand license. The county I lived in before that took FOUR MONTHS to get a license.
where I live you are considered to be abnormal if you DON”T have guns...LOL
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.
