November 20, 2017 marked the 28th anniversary of my oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the Great State of Michigan. It has been in many respects an exhilarating albeit maddening journey at times. I love trial work, although given the energy, time and resources required to engage in this type of courtroom battle is at times exhausting. Because of this, I am careful in what types of cases and people I choose to serve.
I am confounded by how our government and those that work in it can ignore their duty to serve the people and doggedly maintain the righteousness of their position even when confronted upon cross examination with unrefuted evidence that the core of their decision was based upon allegations that were proven to be the product of lies. I am bewildered and angered when the government refuses to budge despite the proof that overzealous government officials cast a false label upon a person while not having the courage, character and commitment to justice to put their name to the accusation.
Let that last paragraph sink in for a minute. A client of mine has been labeled with one of the most devastating accusations that one can suffer despite the fact that the accuser has admitted lying and despite the fact that no criminal charges or administrative proceeding were ever initiated. This label, once having been hung upon my client, was then used years later by another government official to attempt to destroy my client’s family. To make matters worse, this government official doggedly maintains that the label has meaning and applicability to the conclusion reached and that the label should be used against my client. Even though it is a lie. An admitted lie. An admitted lie propagated by cowards who do not put their name to the accusations. You read it right: cowards.
Oh, if only that were the end of the story. In pursuing the conclusion the government official reached it has been admitted that this decision maker ignored several policy directives issued by the State that clearly establish that my client’s position is “crucial” to the wellbeing of our citizens. “Crucial” being the government’s word, not mine. It has been discovered that this official has lied and maintained inconsistent assertions made under oath about the sources of the information relied upon to reach the decision. He lied.
The lies, the misstatements, the mind numbing illogic, the insistence upon the correctness of their position despite the evidence and the policies coupled with the bureaucratic indifference has this litigator saying to himself “no wonder our citizens have lost faith in our system of justice”.
I toss and I turn at night, worrying about the people I have been charged to serve. I worry about them and their family and I ask myself who else has been the victim of such indifference and callousness? Who wanted to fight the government but lacked the resources to do so? Would a younger, inexperienced lawyer, one who is afraid to be labeled as an agitator, rise to the challenge? I hope so. But I am not so sure.
How have we ended up here?
I shall fight on and I shall expose this matter for what it is: a pure injustice and affront to all that we are supposed to stand for and be about as a people who cherish freedom and justice.
Chew on this the next time you need a lawyer. Ask yourself if you really think you are equipped to challenge a government that can knowingly allow its people to be poisoned by the drinking water it provides, repeatedly provide substandard legal representation for the poor and indigent, and use evidence against you that is built upon a foundation of lies and asserted by people who cannot or will not put their name on the false claim being made.
I can hear my old law school professors exhort me to “Stand up! Speak out! Use your training and skills to fight, challenge and agitate for you are a foot soldier of the Constitution!”