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Anti-Clinton Protesters Lose in Suit Against Rendell (MAJOR DON ADAMS UPDATE)
The Legal Intelligencer (Philadelphia) | August 8, 2003 | Shannon P. Duffy

Posted on 08/26/2003 5:10:15 PM PDT by Physicist

Anti-Clinton Protesters Lose in Suit Against Rendell

BY SHANNON P. DUFFY
U.S. Courthouse Correspondent

A federal judge has dismissed a civil rights suit against former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell brought by two anti-Clinton protesters who claim he was responsible for their being assaulted by five Teamsters union members in October, 1998 when President Clinton was in Philadelphia to attend a political fund-raiser.

U.S. District Judge William H. Yohn, Jr. ruled that Rendell, who is now Pennsylvania's governor, cannot be held liable for the attacks because the evidence showed that he did nothing more than invite the Teamsters to attend a rally to show support for Clinton.

"Plaintiffs have produced no evidence that Rendell played a direct and personal role in the alleged assault," Yohn wrote in his 21-page opinion in Adams v. Teamsters Local 115, et al.

Instead, Yohn found, "it is undisputed that prior to the rally Rendell specifically told [Teamsters then-Secretary-Treasurer John P.] Morris not to have any contact with the anti-Clinton demonstrators, and that he wanted the event to be 'extremely peaceful.'"

The ruling is a victory for attorney Peter Winebrake of Trujillo Rodriguez & Richards who filed and argued a summary motion on Rendell's behalf. Joining Winebrake on the brief were City Solicitor Nelson A. Diaz and Deputy City Solicitors Shelley R. Smith and Gregory Vrato.

On the plaintiffs' side, an ugly dispute erupted late last year when plaintiffs Don and Theresa Adams, who are siblings, decided to hire new lawyers to replace a team of lawyers from Judicial Watch, a nonprofit firm in Washington, D.C., that says its goal is "to hold government officials and others accountable for breaches of the public trust."

The dispute went public when the Adamses' new lawyers--Samuel C. Stretton of Philadelphia and Joseph M. Adams of Doylestown--complained in court papers that the Judicial Watch lawyers had refused to turn over their files unless they were paid. They asked Yohn to terminate Judicial Watch's attorney retaining lien.

In response, Judicial Watch attorneys Paul J. Orfanedes and Larry Klayman told Yohn they had a valid claim for more than $208,000 in fees and expenses "for the tremendous time, effort and resources it expended," including 30 depositions, hundreds of interrogatories and successfully defeating several motions for dismissal."

In their agreement with the Adamses, they said, any termination by the Adamses "entitles Judicial Watch to be compensated immediately on a quantum meruit basis."

Stretton and Joseph Adams argued that since Judicial Watch is a nonprofit, public interest firm, it is prohibited from demanding fees from its clients. The only way it would be paid, they said, would be a court award of fees if the Adamses won the case.

But Orfanedes and Klayman argued that the new lawyers were missing the point of the termination clause.

"When plaintiffs terminated Judicial Watch, they [also] terminated Judicial Watch's ability to apply its substantial skill and expertise to achieve this outcome," they wrote.

Court records show that Yohn denied the motion filed by the new laywers "without prejudice," meaning that he would consider it later if the new lawyers raised ths issue again.

Stretton could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said he considered the fee dispute "unfortunate," but said Judicial Watch continues to take the position it took at the time of the dispute and is "proceeding pursuant to Pennsylvania law."

Fitton said he was also "disappointed" by the news of Yohn's decision to dismiss all claims against Rendell.

According to the suit, Clinton's October 1998 visit to Philadelphia occurred during the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Anticipating that Clinton could face demonstrators calling for his impeachment, the suit said Rendell hatched a plan to fill City Hall plaza with a large number of Clinton supporters to greet the president as he entered and left the event.

Rendell personally placed phone calls to more than a dozen community, civic and political organizations, asking that their members congregate along the route that the president's car would be traveling and show their support for him, the suit said.

The mayor's staff reached out to more than 50 additional groups, the suit said.

One of Rendell's calls was to Morris to ask that he enlist the support of Teamsters Local 115. In his deposition, Rendell testified that he told Morris: "We want a real good reception for the president. There may be some demonstrators there. And we certainly ... want to drown out the demonstrators."

But Rendell testified that he also specifically told Morris that "I didn't want any interaction with the demonstrators. I wanted this to be extremely peaceful and extremely positive."

At the rally, a large number of Teamsters showed up, many wearing "Teamsters for Clinton" T-shirts.

The Adamses were part of a group of anti-Clinton protesters, some of whom carried signs that said "Hail to the Thief," "Liar, Pervert, National Shame," or "Resign or Get Impeached."

Although the pro- and anti-Clinton groups were separated for most of the rally, they clashed on several occasions, including one incident that turned suddenly violent.

According to the suit, after Don Adams and Morris exchanged words, Morris placed his hat on Adams' head and several Teamsters members rushed forward and began assaulting him. In the ensuing melee, Don Adams fell to the ground and was assaulted. His sister, too was injured, the suit said, when she attempted to come to her brothers' rescue.

As Yohn described it, police quickly arrived and "all fighting ceased."

Five Teamsters later pleaded guilty to assaulting Adams, but Morris was never charged.

In the federal suit, the Adamses alleged that Rendell was aware of the Teamsters' penchant for violence and that his personal invitation to the union made him liable for a conspiracy to violate the First Amendment rights of the anti-Clinton protesters.

Now Yohn has ruled that the evidence fell far short of proving the conspiracy theory.

"In order to prove this conspiracy, plaintiffs must produce either direct or circumstantial evidence that Rendell and the defendant members of Local 115 came to a meeting of the minds that the union would behave in a threatening or violent manner towards the anti-Clinton demonstrators," Yohn wrote.

Yohn said the plaintiffs "make much of the Teamsters' reputation for violence and Rendell's knowledge thereof."

But the evidence, Yohn said, showed that "Rendell believed the union's violent reputation only extended to labor disputes and he had no knowledge of the organization behaving violently during political demonstrations."

As a result, Yohn concluded that "there is no evidentiary basis to support a finding by a rational juror that Rendell said one thing, but implied another in his conversation with Morris, thereby implicitly agreeing with Morris that violence should or would occur."

Having dismissed all of the federal claims from the suit, Yohn said he was declining to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state law assault claims against the union and its members.

In his final paragraph, Yohn said the remaining state law claims "will be dismissed without prejudice to plaintiffs' right to file these claims in state court."

(Copies of the 21-page opinion in Adams v. Teamsters Local 115, et al., PICS NO. 03-1236, are available from The Legal Intelligencer. Please call the Pennsylvania Instant Case Service at 800-276-PICS to order or for information. Some cases are not available until 1 p.m.)


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: anticonservative; assault; billclinton; brownshirts; clinton; clintonlegacy; clintons; crime; crooks; donadams; hillaryclinton; johnnymorris; judicialwatch; kafka; labor; mediabias; nazitactics; pennsylvania; philadelphia; plausibledeniability; politicalcorruption; racketeers; rendell; rico; senatorhillary; teamsters; teriadams; thugs; x42
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To: Physicist
Physicist--thank you so much for this update on Don and Teri. It was so good to see your name on the ping!

Don and Teri are true patriots, as are you, and they are some of the most courageous people I've ever encountered. I remember well when this happened, and my lurking days on FR came to an end when I showed up at the 10/31/98 March for Justice. I still remember, not knowing how many would ashow up, when I came across the rise by the Washington Monument and seeing THOUSANDS of likeminded folks. It was so good to know that I wasn't alone in my feelings that the perfidy of both Clintons needed to be countered.


Please give my regards to Don and Teri. They have suffered terrible injustices, and they are in a corrupt cesspool of Democratic politics and judges. To add insult to injury, Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch are trying to extort the people they are supposed to be helping. It took a while to understand he was just an ambulance chaser--what a disappointment.

You, on the other hand, are a class act. Thanks for letting me know the status of their case.
61 posted on 08/26/2003 8:18:50 PM PDT by exit82 (Constitution?--I got your Constitution right here!--T. Daschle)
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To: dirtboy; Physicist
I guess it just didn't rise to being beyond reasonable doubt, which is the ethical standard for the Dems in the post-Clinton era. .

Well you have to admit, it does fail to meet the standards of Scottish law. Thanks Physicist for the ping. Don and Teri are still my heroes.I have told my children of the Clinton years and hopefully we will be just as brave when a similar situation arises in America ever again.

62 posted on 08/26/2003 8:19:31 PM PDT by jokar (Beware the White European Male Christian theological complex !!)
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To: exit82
they are supposed to be helping

Actually, liberal Larry is a buddy of the Clintons. It wouldn't have gotten very far with them, even if Don offered JW a million for it.

63 posted on 08/26/2003 8:23:38 PM PDT by RedBloodedAmerican
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
Makes you wonder--I've never seen a lawyer with as much ammunition miss every time in court.
64 posted on 08/26/2003 8:37:45 PM PDT by exit82 (Constitution?--I got your Constitution right here!--T. Daschle)
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To: exit82
Question? How do these trial attorneys go home and sleep comfortibly? I just don't get it. Right/left wing, it doesn't matter. They are trial attorneys looking for and escalator accident.
65 posted on 08/26/2003 8:48:16 PM PDT by AGreatPer (I hate Larry Klayman. Go sue your mother again you bastard.)
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To: AGreatPer
Raymond Chandler originally titled "The Lady in the Lake" as "Law is Where You Buy It."
66 posted on 08/26/2003 8:53:00 PM PDT by Doctor Stochastic (Vegetabilisch = chaotisch is der Charakter der Modernen. - Friedrich Schlegel)
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To: Physicist
Thanks for the heads up!
67 posted on 08/26/2003 8:56:46 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
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To: RedBloodedAmerican
"Actually, liberal Larry is a buddy of the Clintons"

I think your full of crap with this statement. I know Larry and he is NOT a BUTT Boy.

Please provide some evidence to this.

As much as I dislike Lary Klayman at his point for what he did with Don and Terry, I have seen no evidence that he is or was a Clinton supporter. Your out of line.

68 posted on 08/26/2003 9:00:51 PM PDT by AGreatPer
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To: Doctor Stochastic
Thanks Doctor Sto, Will look it up tomorrow.
69 posted on 08/26/2003 9:02:46 PM PDT by AGreatPer
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To: Physicist
Man, you are lucky to still be alive!
70 posted on 08/26/2003 9:04:42 PM PDT by sport
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To: Physicist
So many years later, and this case still stinks to high heaven.

Thanks for the update.

71 posted on 08/26/2003 9:05:14 PM PDT by Great Dane (You can smoke just about everywhere in Denmark.)
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To: Physicist; TAdams8591; DeSoto; Mare
Thanks for the update.

When I first landed on these shores (Free Republic) one of the people who I respected the most (other than DeSoto and Mare) was Teri Adams.

The story of their beating...and their absolute REFUSAL to just lay down and take it.....made an impact. (Don't tell anyone...but a copy of the picture of Don from the front of FR..made it Jarbidge)

I would think that the disposition of their case so far...(and Judicial Watch's inept handling.....and outright extortion) would anger enough of FR's people that pressure could be brought to bear.

But...perhaps I am wrong....and the one's inhabiting this place are no longer the ones with 'fire in their eyes'......and the courage needed to fight those things we find wrong in this Nation.

Teri...if you read this...I owe you and your brother. (call it a weird sense of Honour).

If you need anything....I'll do my best to deliver.

redrock...aka....Mike

72 posted on 08/26/2003 9:05:53 PM PDT by redrock (Say a Prayer tonight.....for we have 'boots on the ground'.....)
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To: exit82
Funny, I don't find any mention of this "loss" on Judicial Watch's home page.
73 posted on 08/26/2003 9:07:46 PM PDT by Howlin
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To: Physicist
"In response, Judicial Watch attorneys Paul J. Orfanedes and Larry Klayman told Yohn they had a valid claim for more than $208,000 in fees and expenses "for the tremendous time, effort and resources it expended," including 30 depositions, hundreds of interrogatories and successfully defeating several motions for dismissal.""

This guy's first mistake was thinking he could win a lawsuit against the mayor. His second mistake was to hire Larry Klayman to file it.
74 posted on 08/26/2003 9:16:37 PM PDT by Those_Crazy_Liberals (Ronaldus Magnus he's our man . . . If he can't do it, no one can.)
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To: dirtboy
"The Rendell Admin definitely knew what those goons were about."

Can't you say the same thing for just about everyone in that crowd, including the guy that sued?
75 posted on 08/26/2003 9:21:12 PM PDT by Those_Crazy_Liberals (Ronaldus Magnus he's our man . . . If he can't do it, no one can.)
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To: redrock
Wow rr, I think I'm blushing. But you are right about Teri(Mare too), she is one of the best. I only wish that there was a way to bring justice to this situation. It shouldn't happen in this country that the good guys, the ones in the white hats, should lose, but that is exactly what is happening in this case.

I know that this case will drag on for several more years, that lawyers will recieve any money that can be found, and Don and Teri will suffer. Why is it that "Justice" and "our legal system" is becoming mutually exclusive terms?

Personally, I think the answer has been known for over 400 years.

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." [Henry VI, Part 2]

76 posted on 08/26/2003 9:27:52 PM PDT by DeSoto
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To: Physicist
Thanks for the heads up and the update. What a process! Glad you're still here. I understand but miss Don and Teri. My best to them both.
77 posted on 08/26/2003 9:29:05 PM PDT by amom
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To: Physicist
Thanks for the update.

How sad would I be if ELF started attacking the Teamsters for their use of gas/diesel guzzling, environment wrecking, automotive mass murdering, behemoth vehicles.

Sorta like Iran fighting Iraq.

78 posted on 08/26/2003 9:29:08 PM PDT by mcenedo
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To: AGreatPer
I think Larry pulled the wool over as lot of our eyes. So much hot air, and so little results.

I thought he was making progress on the e-mail case, but even that amounted to a fizzle in the drizzle.
79 posted on 08/26/2003 9:33:10 PM PDT by exit82 (Constitution?--I got your Constitution right here!--T. Daschle)
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To: DeSoto
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." [Henry VI, Part 2]

It would be a GOOD start.

redrock

p.s. NO blushing.....it's just the truth.

80 posted on 08/26/2003 9:35:15 PM PDT by redrock (Say a Prayer tonight.....for we have 'boots on the ground'.....)
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