Greg MD Blog

Extra Credits

Hi Professor Railing,

Thank you for sharing with class the ABA Journal article on the “Judge sanctions pro-Trump lawyers.” The whole situation that is related to or surrounding Trump has been controversial. 

The article about :

Judge sanctions pro-Trump lawyers for election suit cite ‘guesswork’ affidavits and unwarranted claims.

The U.S. District Judge Parker made an excellent point stating the real issue about the lawsuit: “was never about fraud-it was about undermining the people’s faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so.”  This has challenged our democracy to a greater extent by dividing us even more in trust and weakening the democratic process. 

One of the legal courses talked about attorneys’ professional codes of ethics, including paralegals; this is an example of a clear code of ethics violation and raises significant concerns in the legal field.

For Judge Parker herself referring these lawyers to continue education and suspension or disbarment, these lawyers have crossed the line of ethical conduct and is a serious infraction by professional attorneys. 

The article discusses “Plaintiff counsel’s politically motivated accusations, allegations and gamesmanship may be protected by the First Amendment “by posting their grievance on social media. The issues I see using the First Amendment are

1). Lawyers are officers of the courts

2). Display untruth in a public forum.

3). How can you petition the government when they represent the former administration.

I am unclear how the First Amendment would apply to this situation since they represent the past administration, which is part of the government trying to overturn the election.  The thought of disenfranchising the voters who voted against Trump sends a message to those individuals that their votes are unnecessary.   

When filing an affidavit on behalf of a person(s) called “Spider” who never completed their training course, among other things, untruthful information would appear that the client (Trump) is using the officers of the court to do illegal or unethical acts.

An affidavit of “wildly inaccurate assertions “about the vote count seems to have lack factual supporting evidence in their claim.

The other affidavit “cited information from a man walking his dog, who saw people remove clear plastic bags from a van and take them to a U.S. Postal Service vehicle….” From a legal perspective, should there be a further investigation into these allegations?  I have worked the election here in Indiana a few times, and the sealed envelope that the voters will deposit into a locked box is then transported to a location where the process began to count the votes.  

Correct me, but I thought when filing an affidavit, the attorney would need supporting documents with factual information for the legitimacy of the lawsuit.  

In reading this article, Judge Parker’s concern about the legal issues has raised questions about attorneys’ incompetency and unwarranted claims. 

In the article “Election lawyers say the can’t be sanctioned if they signed documents in typewritten form.”  Would filing electronically or a typewritten form for the pleadings be the same but just a different way in the process?

I remember reading about Rule 11. Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions.  As a seasoned attorney, this would be a standard requirement and guideline outlined in the legal system within the U.S. 

Reading this article about the lawyer opposing the sanctions seems they are trying to undermine the court system to justify their action or behavior.

After reading all of these articles, it seems as if this speculation and conjecture of widespread voter fraud are not corrected in the legal system and could challenge future cases, including our democracy.  Whatever the outcome, one thought came to mind that one of the requirements that these nine lawyers speak publicly is to tell the American people there was no evidence of voter fraud.