Sealing Court Records – Hiding the Law from the People

Florida law and court rules provide a method by which people with criminal arrest records can expunge or seal the record of arrest because the arrest details can adversely affect a person's life without just cause. See Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.692 and Section 943.059, Florida Statutes, and an associated petition here or here.

943.0581  Administrative expunction.

943.0582  Prearrest, postarrest, or teen court diversion program expunction.

943.0585  Court-ordered expunction of criminal history records.

943.059  Court-ordered sealing of criminal history records.

 

In 2007 The Supreme court added to Rule of Judicial Administration 2.420 procedures for unsealing civil records sealed, and it required the court give public notice of the sealing and the reason for it.  I have attached both the 2009 Rules of Judicial Administration and the Supreme Court ruling sc06-2136 for your reference.  And here I provide an excerpt from the rule.

 

When I read the below excerpt I feel dizzy, queezy, and diffident.  Why?  Because the Supreme Court seems to shilly-shally away from the issue of rank corruption in the courts.  Note the public disclosure exceptions, such as 2.420(c)(9)(A)(3)(i) "(i) prevent a serious and imminent threat to the fair, impartial, and orderly administration of justice"; (iii) " protect a compelling governmental interest"; or (vii) " comply with established public policy set forth in the Florida or United States Constitution or statutes or Florida rules or case law."  These justify sealing cases.

 

Threat to orderly administration?  Protect a compelling governmental interest?  Comply with established public policy?  These exceptions let the judges seal any civil case they like because Public Policy seems averse to the idea of giving the people real due process and justice in courts, and when the judges want to hide that abuse, they seal the case, WITHOUT NOTICE to anybody.

 

Hey, what happened to "Comply with the Constitution and its limits on the powers of judges?"

 

Want an example?  The judge in the Florida 9^th Circuit Court, in FORECLOSURE case 2008-CA1018-0, just sealed the case to keep the inquiring eyes of the public (including people like Roger Tanner, who brought this to my attention) OUT of the case because of the dirty tricks they would learn in it.  The court ordered summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff without allowing the victim to do discovery or present evidence, and the clerk issued the execution order to the Sheriff to sell the property.  Because of the due process violations, the judge sealed the case, so we would not find out about it and report him to the bar and the House Committee on the Judiciary, demanding his impeachment.   This case smacks of racketeering between the judge, plaintiff, and plaintiff's attorney.  At the very least, the judge has violated 18 USC 1346 in committing honest services fraud.

 

I have posted an article below about the ruling regarding Supersealing – an obvious effort of courts wrongly to hide the truth from the public.

 

If we shall enjoy "open government" we must demand that our legislators remove from our Constitution ALL possibility of ALL exemptions from disclosure of public records. 

 

We must demand of our government the full and free disclosure of the entire contents of all court proceedings and public hearings, without exception.

 

 

Excerpt from Judicial Florida Administration Rule 2.420   (c) Exemptions. The following records of the judicial branch shall be confidential: (9) Any court record determined to be confidential in case decision or court rule on the grounds that (A) confidentiality is required to (i) prevent a serious and imminent threat to the fair, impartial, and orderly administration of justice; (ii) protect trade secrets; (iii) protect a compelling governmental interest; (iv) obtain evidence to determine legal issues in a case; (v) avoid substantial injury to innocent third parties; (vi) avoid substantial injury to a party by disclosure of matters protected by a common law or privacy right not generally inherent in the specific type of proceeding sought to be closed; (vii) comply with established public policy set forth in the Florida or United States Constitution or statutes or Florida rules or case law; (B) the degree, duration, and manner of confidentiality ordered by the court shall be no broader than necessary to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (A); and (C) no less restrictive measures are available to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (A). (d) Request to Make Circuit and County Court Records in Noncriminal Cases Confidential. (1) A request to make circuit and county court records in noncriminal cases confidential under subdivision (c)(9) must be made in the form of a written motion captioned "Motion to Make Court Records Confidential." A motion made under this subdivision must: (A) identify the particular court records the movant seeks to make confidential with as much specificity as possible without revealing the information to be made confidential; and (B) specify the bases for making such court records confidential. Any motion made under this subdivision must include a signed certification by the party making the request that the motion is being made in good faith and is supported by a sound factual and legal basis. The court records that are subject to a motion made under this subdivision must be treated as confidential by the clerk pending the court's ruling on the motion. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, the court may not make confidential the case number, docket number, or other number used by the clerk's office to identify the case file. (2) Except when a motion filed under subdivision (d)(1) represents that all parties agree to all of the relief requested, the court must, as soon as practicable but no later than 30 days after the filing of a motion under this subdivision, hold a hearing before ruling on the motion. Whether or not any motion filed under subdivision (d)(1) is agreed to by the parties, the court may in its discretion hold a hearing on such motion. Any hearing held under this subdivision must be an open proceeding, except that any party may request that the court conduct all or part of the hearing in camera to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A). The moving party shall be responsible for ensuring that a complete record of any hearing held pursuant to this subdivision be created, either by use of a court reporter or by any recording device that is provided as a matter of right by the court. The court may in its discretion require prior public notice of the hearing on such a motion in accordance with the procedure for providing public notice of court orders set forth in subdivision (d)(4) or by providing such other public notice as the court deems appropriate. (3) Any order granting in whole or in part a motion filed under subdivision (d)(1) must state the following with as much specificity as possible without revealing information made confidential: (A) The type of case in which the order is being entered; (B) The particular grounds under subdivision (c)(9)(A) for making the court records confidential; (C) Whether any party's name is to be made confidential and, if so, the particular pseudonym or other term to be substituted for the party's name; (D) Whether the progress docket or similar records generated to document activity in the case are to be made confidential; (E) The particular court records that are to be made confidential; (F) The names of those persons who are permitted to view the confidential court records; (G) That the court finds that: (i) the degree, duration, and manner of confidentiality ordered by the court is no broader than necessary to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A); and (ii) no less restrictive measures are available to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A); and (H) That the clerk of the court is directed to publish the order in accordance with subdivision (d)(4). (4) Except as provided by law or court rule, notice must be given of any order granting a motion made under subdivision (d)(1) as follows. Within 10 days following the entry of the order, the clerk of court must post a copy of the order on the clerk's website and in a prominent, public location in the courthouse. The order must remain posted in both locations for no less than 30 days. (5) If a nonparty requests that the court vacate all or part of an order issued under subdivision (d)(3), the request must be made in the form of a written motion that states with as much specificity as possible the bases for the request. The movant must serve all parties in the action with a copy of the motion. In the event that the subject order specifies that the names or addresses of one or more parties are to be made confidential, the movant must state prominently in the caption of the motion "Confidential Party — Court Service Requested." When a motion so designated is filed, the court shall be responsible for providing a copy of the motion to the parties in such a way as to not reveal the confidential information to the movant. Except when a motion filed under this subdivision represents that all parties agree to all of the relief requested, the court must hold a hearing before ruling on the motion. Whether or not any motion filed under this subdivision is agreed to by the parties, the court may in its discretion hold a hearing on such motion. Any hearing held under this subdivision must be an open proceeding, except that any party may request that the court conduct all or part of the hearing in camera to protect the interests set forth in subdivision (c)(9)(A). The movant shall be responsible for ensuring that a complete record of any hearing held under this subdivision be created, either by use of a court reporter or by any recording device that is provided as a matter of right by the court. (6) If the court determines that a motion made under subdivision (d)(1) was not made in good faith and supported by a sound legal and factual basis, the court may impose sanctions upon the movant. (7) Court records made confidential under this rule must be treated as confidential during any appellate proceedings. In any case where an order making court records confidential remains in effect as of the time of an appeal, the clerk's index must include a statement that an order making court records confidential has been entered in the matter and must identify such order by date or docket number. (e) Judicial Review of Denial of Access Request. Expedited review of denials of access to records of the judicial branch shall be provided through an action for mandamus, or other appropriate appellate remedy, in the following manner: (1) Where a judge who has denied a request for access to records is the custodian, the action shall be filed in the court having appellate jurisdiction to review the decisions of the judge denying access. Upon order issued by the appellate court, the judge denying access to records shall file a sealed copy of the requested records with the appellate court. (2) All other actions under this rule shall be filed in the circuit court of the circuit in which such denial of access occurs. (f) Procedure. Requests and responses to requests for access to records under this rule shall be made in a reasonable manner. (1) Requests for access to records shall be in writing and shall be directed to the custodian. The request shall provide sufficient specificity to enable the custodian to identify the requested records. The reason for the request is not required to be disclosed. (2) The custodian shall be solely responsible for providing access to records of the custodian's entity. The custodian shall determine whether the requested record is subject to this rule and, if so, whether the record or portions of the record are exempt from disclosure. The custodian shall determine the form in which the record is provided. If the request is denied, the custodian shall state in writing the basis for the denial. (3) Fees for copies of records in all entities in the judicial branch of government, except for copies of court records, shall be the same as those provided in section 119.07, Florida Statutes (2001)

 

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Florida Supreme Court enacts interim rules for sealing civil records

04/27/2007

Saying the public's constitutional right of access to court records must remain inviolate, the Florida Supreme Court recently enacted emergency interim rules standardizing procedures for sealing court records in civil cases.

The rules include a prohibition on making case and docket numbers confidential and require clerks to post notices after a record is sealed. The rules, drafted by the Bar's Rules of Judicial Administration Committee, also set out procedures for challenging the sealing of records. For now, the rules only apply to civil cases and the court has directed the appropriate committees to continue to study rules for sealing criminal cases and to determine whether similar procedures are needed to address requests to seal appellate court records.

The court acted April 5 in Case no. SC06-2136.

"This report addresses highly serious concerns first identified by Florida news media reports about hidden cases and secret dockets, sometimes called 'supersealing,'" the unanimous court said. "These reports identified practices that, however unintentional, were clearly offensive to the spirit of laws and rules that ultimately rest on Florida's well-established public policy of government in the sunshine."

The court said it is "fully committed to safeguarding this right."

Urgency to take action was ignited last summer by news reports in The Miami Herald of hiding files in secret dockets in Broward Circuit Court, as many as 400 civil cases, some about divorces and domestic violence involving judges, lawyers, police officers, politicians, and television personalities. Following that investigation, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported "all traces of 272 criminal cases dating back to 1988 vanished from citizens' view." Problems began cropping up in other circuits, too.

The court said the new rules identify a narrow category of court records where public access is automatically restricted by operation of state or federal law or court rule, such as in child dependency cases.

"Otherwise, our rules strongly disfavor court records that are hidden from public scrutiny," the court said. "The rules provide only a limited veil that is restricted to a second category of court records where a set of carefully defined interests are involved."

The court said the amendments to Rule 2.420 provide a procedural vehicle for making circuit and county court records in noncriminal cases confidential under Rule 2.420(c)(9) and for unsealing court records that have been made confidential under that rule.

"Most significant for our purposes here, by mandating that the case number, docket number, or other identifying number of a case cannot be made confidential, the removal from public view of all information acknowledging the existence of a case is expressly not allowed," the court said.

The following are among the other procedures adopted by the court:

• A request to make court records in noncriminal cases confidential must be made by written motion.

• A public hearing must be held on any contested sealing motion and may be held on certain uncontested sealing motions.

• A sealing order issued by a court must state with specificity the grounds for sealing and the findings of the court that justify sealing.

• All sealing orders must be published to the public.

• A nonparty may file a motion to vacate a sealing order.

• A public hearing must be held on any contested motion to vacate a sealing order and may be held on certain uncontested motions to vacate.

• A court may impose sanctions on any party who files a sealing motion without a good-faith basis and without a sound factual and legal basis.

"These procedures, which are intended for use in noncriminal cases, are adopted in the same spirit of openness and transparency that has informed the court's case law and rules of procedure throughout its modern history," the court said. "Their adoption reaffirms our courts' commitment to ensuring that the public has proper access to court records and case information, and this will prevent a recurrence of the practices that gave rise to the present concerns."

The court, however, said the new procedures are not its final statement in this area.

"Given the importance of this issue, the court will continue to work with the appropriate committees to achieve uniform statewide procedures to address all aspects of this issue," the court said. "Specifically, as for criminal case records, we refer the matter back to the appropriate committees for additional study. We also refer to the appropriate rules committees the issue of whether procedures similar to those adopted here are needed to address requests to seal appellate court records."

The court noted that the procedures are only as good as the manner in which they are applied and enforced.

"In this respect, Florida's trial courts and court clerks are the first line of action," the court said. "We are confident that trial judges and clerks of court will remain ever vigilant of the courts' longstanding presumption in favor of open records."

— Courtesy The Florida Bar Journal

 

 

Florida Legislation Proposal Regarding Public Officers and Judges

By Bob Hurt, Friday, November 27, 2009

Overview

Problem

The people of Florida do not get reliable justice in the courts or when dealing with government in and of Florida. Florida seems to ignore the axiom that "the FOX shall NOT watch the henhouse," The people have no practical way of removing bad jurists, of bringing bad jurists to justice, of making bad jurists pay for injuring the people whose rights they have the responsibility of protecting, or even of knowing the identities of bad jurists

Data

The Supreme Court ruled that by swearing the public officers oath in Article II Section 5(b) ("II.5.b") of the Florida Constitution judges and justices had complied with statute. They ruled wrongly and the legislature must straighten them out. In reality F.S. 105.031 requires judicial candidates to swear the 876.05 candidate's loyalty oath and attest to having read the Judicial Code of Conduct. That constitutes a PREREQUISITE to candidacy for election or appointment, and therefore a qualification for holding office. Unfortunately, because of confusion in expression of the law, no judicial nominees ever swear the candidate's oath - government lawyers believe nominees don't fit the definition of candidates. Furthermore, the II.5.b oath contains the words "and Government" which makes public officers split their loyalties between the Constitution and Government (for they cannot serve both at the same time), and those words do not appear in the US Constitution Article VI oath, or the 4 USC 101&102 oath, or the F.S. 876.05 public employee/candidate loyalty oath. No law punishes violation of the oath by jurists. And, judges escape the requirement to have a bond because the legislature has the option of requiring it. Thus jurists cannot be "bound" to obey the oath as the US Constitution prescribes in Article VI Clause 3.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

The people can obtain good and loyal performance of public officers ONLY under ALL of the following requirements by public officers:

1. They swear loyalty only to the constitution, and not to the government, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion, both before candidacy for election or appointment and after election or appointment, and
   
2. The law requires a bond of all public officers, and
   
3. The People can file claims against the bond for injuries suffered by public officers, and
   
4. The People can have a reasonable expectation of obtaining compensation for such injuries without going through virtually impossible impeachment procedures or crooked court proceedings, and
   
5. The law punishes violations of the loyalty oath by public officers.
   

 

Solution

Change the wording of the laws and Constituion of Florida, as show below. Yellow Highlighting shows additions and deletions. Strike-throughs show deletions. Underlines show additions.

Proposed Changes

To Florida Statutes

105.011  Definitions.--

(1)  As used in this chapter, the term "judicial office" includes the office of:

(a)  Justice of the Supreme Court.

(b)  Judge of a district court of appeal.

(c)  Judge of a circuit court.

(d)  County court judge.

(e) Senior judge.

(2)  A judicial office is a nonpartisan office, and a candidate for election or retention thereto is prohibited from campaigning or qualifying for such an office based on party affiliation.

(3) As used throughout the Florida Statutes, the term "candidate," including all forms of the term, means "candidate for election or appointment" and includes "nominee." The term "candidate for election" excludes appointment nominees from its meaning.

(4) The requirements in this chapter for candidates for election do not apply to nominees for appointment.

History.--s. 1, ch. 71-49; s. 1, ch. 72-310; s. 36, ch. 77-175.

 

105.031  Qualification; filing fee; candidate's oath; items required to be filed.--

(1)  TIME OF QUALIFYING.--Except for candidates for judicial office, nonpartisan candidates for multicounty office shall qualify with the Division of Elections of the Department of State and nonpartisan candidates for countywide or less than countywide office shall qualify with the supervisor of elections. Candidates for judicial office other than the office of county court judge shall qualify with the Division of Elections of the Department of State, and candidates for the office of county court judge shall qualify with the supervisor of elections of the county. Candidates for judicial office shall qualify no earlier than noon of the 120th day, and no later than noon of the 116th day, before the primary election. Candidates for the office of school board member shall qualify no earlier than noon of the 71st day, and no later than noon of the 67th day, before the primary election. Filing shall be on forms provided for that purpose by the Division of Elections and furnished by the appropriate qualifying officer. Any person other than a write-in candidate who qualifies within the time prescribed in this subsection shall be entitled to have his or her name printed on the ballot. This subsection shall not apply to judicial appointment nominees.

(2)  FILING IN GROUPS OR DISTRICTS.--Candidates shall qualify in groups or districts where multiple offices are to be filled. This subsection shall not apply to judicial appointment nominees.

(3)  QUALIFYING FEE.--Each candidate qualifying for election to a judicial office or the office of school board member, except write-in judicial or school board candidates, shall, during the time for qualifying, pay to the officer with whom he or she qualifies a qualifying fee, which shall consist of a filing fee and an election assessment, or qualify by the petition process. The amount of the filing fee is 3 percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The amount of the election assessment is 1 percent of the annual salary of the office sought. The Department of State shall forward all filing fees to the Department of Revenue for deposit in the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The supervisor of elections shall forward all filing fees to the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The election assessment shall be deposited into the Elections Commission Trust Fund. The annual salary of the office for purposes of computing the qualifying fee shall be computed by multiplying 12 times the monthly salary authorized for such office as of July 1 immediately preceding the first day of qualifying. This subsection shall not apply to candidates qualifying for retention to judicial office or to judicial appointment nominees.

(4)  CANDIDATE'S OATH.--

(a)  All candidates for the office of school board member shall subscribe to the oath as prescribed in s. 99.021.

(b)  All candidates for election or appointment to judicial office shall subscribe to an oath or affirmation in writing to be filed with the appropriate qualifying officer upon qualifying. A printed copy of the oath or affirmation shall be furnished to the candidate by the qualifying officer and shall be in substantially the following form:


State of Florida 

County of _____

Before me, an officer authorized to administer oaths, personally appeared  (please print name as you wish it to appear on the ballot) , to me well known, who, being sworn, says he or she: is a candidate for the judicial office of _____; that his or her legal residence is _____ County, Florida; that he or she is a qualified elector of the state and of the territorial jurisdiction of the court to which he or she seeks election; that he or she is qualified under the constitution and laws of Florida to hold the judicial office to which he or she desires to be elected or in which he or she desires to be retained; that he or she has taken the oath required by ss. 876.05-876.10, Florida Statutes; that he or she has qualified for no other public office in the state, the term of which office or any part thereof runs concurrent to the office he or she seeks; and that he or she has resigned from any office which he or she is required to resign pursuant to s. 99.012, Florida Statutes. 

 (Signature of candidate) 

 

 (Address) 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this _____ day of _____,  (year) , at _____ County, Florida. 

 (Signature and title of officer administering oath) 

 

(5)  ITEMS REQUIRED TO BE FILED.--

(a)  In order for a candidate for judicial office or the office of school board member to be qualified, the following items must be received by the filing officer by the end of the qualifying period:

1.  Except for candidates for retention or appointment to judicial office, a properly executed check drawn upon the candidate's campaign account in an amount not less than the fee required by subsection (3) or, in lieu thereof, the copy of the notice of obtaining ballot position pursuant to s. 105.035. If a candidate's check is returned by the bank for any reason, the filing officer shall immediately notify the candidate and the candidate shall, the end of qualifying notwithstanding, have 48 hours from the time such notification is received, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, to pay the fee with a cashier's check purchased from funds of the campaign account. Failure to pay the fee as provided in this subparagraph shall disqualify the candidate.

2.  The candidate's oath required by subsection (4), which must contain the name of the candidate as it is to appear on the ballot; the office sought, including the district or group number if applicable; and the signature of the candidate, duly acknowledged.

3.  The loyalty oath required by s. 876.05, signed by the candidate and duly acknowledged.

4.  For candidates for election, the completed form for the appointment of campaign treasurer and designation of campaign depository, as required by s. 106.021. In addition, each candidate for election or appointment to judicial office, including an incumbent judge, shall file a statement with the qualifying officer, within 10 days after filing the appointment of campaign treasurer and designation of campaign depository or approving appointment nominee status, stating that the candidate has read and understands the requirements of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct. Such statement shall be in substantially the following form: 

Statement of Candidate for Judicial Office

I,  (name of candidate) , a judicial candidate, have received, read, and understand the requirements of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct. 

 (Signature of candidate) 

 

 (Date) 

 

5.  The full and public disclosure of financial interests required by s. 8, Art. II of the State Constitution or the statement of financial interests required by s. 112.3145, whichever is applicable. A public officer who has filed the full and public disclosure or statement of financial interests with the Commission on Ethics or, for candidates for election, the supervisor of elections prior to qualifying for office may file a copy of that disclosure at the time of qualifying.

(b)  If the filing officer receives qualifying papers that do not include all items as required by paragraph (a) prior to the last day of qualifying, the filing officer shall make a reasonable effort to notify the candidate of the missing or incomplete items and shall inform the candidate that all required items must be received by the close of qualifying. A candidate's name as it is to appear on the ballot may not be changed after the end of qualifying.

(6)  Notwithstanding the qualifying period prescribed in this section, a filing officer may accept and hold qualifying papers submitted not earlier than 14 days prior to the beginning of the qualifying period, to be processed and filed during the qualifying period.

(7) A certified copy of the Electors Oath and voter registration form.

(8) For judicial officers seeking appointment or election, a certified copy of the Bar Oath, a certified copy of the accredited Law College diploma, and a bar certificate of bar membership in good standing for each of the contiguous years preceeding and including the year of election or appointment required by law, and, for appointment candidates a certified copy of the certification of nomination by the appropriate Judicial Nominating Commission.

History.--s. 3, ch. 71-49; s. 36, ch. 77-175; s. 1, ch. 78-260; s. 5, ch. 79-365; s. 54, ch. 79-400; s. 17, ch. 81-105; s. 10, ch. 83-251; s. 1, ch. 89-152; s. 34, ch. 89-338; s. 5, ch. 91-107; s. 630, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 95-156; s. 13, ch. 97-13; s. 13, ch. 99-6; s. 2, ch. 99-326; s. 2, ch. 99-355; s. 23, ch. 2002-17; s. 65, ch. 2005-277; s. 21, ch. 2005-286; s. 40, ch. 2007-30.

To the Florida Constitution, Article II

Note the text of the oath substantially mirrors the 5 U.S.C. 3331 Oath of Office.

SECTION 5.  Public officers.--

(a)  No person holding any office of emolument under any foreign government, or civil office of emolument under the United States or any other state, shall hold any office of honor or of emolument under the government of this state. No person shall hold at the same time more than one office under the government of the state and the counties and municipalities therein, except that a notary public or military officer may hold another office, and any officer may be a member of a constitution revision commission, taxation and budget reform commission, constitutional convention, or statutory body having only advisory powers.

(b)  Each state and county officer, before becoming a candidate for election or a nominee for appointment, and
before entering upon the duties of the office, shall give bond
as required by law, and shall swear or affirm before a person duly authorized under the laws of Florida to administer oaths, who shall make a certificate thereof
: 

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and of the State of Florida; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of the state; and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of  (title of office)  on which I am now about to enter. So help me God.", 


and thereafter shall devote personal attention to the duties of the office, and continue in office until a successor qualifies.

(c)  The powers, duties, compensation and method of payment of all state and county officers, including but not limited to judges and Supreme Court Justices, and penalty for violating the foregoing public officers oath, shall be fixed by law.

(d) Public Officers are charged hereby with the primary duty of enforcing the structure of and restrictions on Government, and of enforcing the rights guaranteed to the People, in and by the Constitutions of the United States of America and the State of Florida. All other duties of public office shall be deemed secondary to this primary duty.

(e) The legislature shall set the amount of the bond for all public officers in the amount of $1,000,000 for which the bonded officer shall pay the fee from personal funds, and define the method by which injured parties may file a complaint against the bond for injuries suffered from or because of the bonded officer and receive speedy and fair administrative adjudication of the bond. Officers who because of excessive complaints against the bond or awards of injury payments against the bond shall be denied bond shall thereupon cease performing the duties of office, and the Governor shall appoint a duly qualified successor or call for a special election of the successor in accordance with law.

(f) The legislature shall establish an independent special grand jury for each county, comprised of members of the jury pool having a 4-year college degree and no bar memberhisp, to review and decide upon all disputed claims against the bonds of public officers. The special grand jury shall without exception investigate and decide all claim disputes submitted to it by the bonding company or an injured party dissatisfied with the bonding company's decision. The special grand jury shall have the power to review all evidence, order revocation of the bond, set the amount of the damage award, and order the impeachment of any public officer removable only by impeachment. From the time of the order to impeach until final resolution by the Legislature, the subject public officer shall remain suspended from pay and performance of duties. Decisions of the special grand jury shall not be subject to judicial review.

 

Proof that Islamic Law Supports the Gospel of Jesus

But How will you teach that gospel to them?

Folks, the other day somebody sent me a Youtube link to Obama referring on various occasions to the “Holy Qur’an,” Islam, and Muslims. The video seemed to seek to prejudice people against Obama because of his adoration of Islam and identification with Muslims. We should feel no surprise at Obama’s affinity for Islam, for he spent his youth as a Muslim.

Christians typically feel disdain for Islam and Muslims because of the widely known Shi-ite jihadist efforts, terrorist in nature, such as the 9-11 destructions and many preceding terrorist atrocities.

It scares most Americans half to death to think that Muslims want to impose Islamic law on America.

Shari’a – Islamic Law

Islamic teachings encourage faithful adherents to worship God. The Qur’an, the ultimate source of Islamic law (Shari’a), also encourages social regulation, a domination of civil law by Muslim clerics. Unfortunately, clerics don’t agree much on Islamic law, arguing worse than the U.S. Supreme Court about its meaning and application. And Shar’ia doesn’t depend solely on the central holy book of Islam, the Qur’an (recital of Muhammad about Gabriel’s revelation to him) alone, but also upon writings about Muhammad and his comments by other authors. So, it can get confusing.

But maybe it won’t seem so fearsome to know that the Qur’an pronounces devout Christians and practicing Jews (“People of the book”) as Muslims, with some conditions. As you know Islam means “submission” to God, and Muslim “one who submits” to the will of God. Surely Christians and Jews can see themselves as Muslims according those definitions, since they do claim to submit to the will of God. They do, don’t they?

Put your finger on the law

But you know me. I always want to “put my finger on the law” as Richard Cornforth has taught pro se litigation trainees for many years. And so, I have dug up for you the law in the Qur’an whereby Muhammad tells Muslims of all kinds that they had better believe the gospel of Jesus, OR ELSE they will suffer “painful retribution in this world, and in the Hereafter.”

Excerpts from the Holy Qur’an

I have provided two translations of Surah 3.055-057 for your reference, you can download the whole book in pdf form here if you want to study the matter in depth.

Qur’an Translation by Dr. Rashad Kalifa

003:055 Thus, GOD said, "O Jesus, I am terminating your life, raising you to Me, and ridding you of the disbelievers. I will exalt those who follow you above those who disbelieve, till the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is the ultimate destiny of all of you, then I will judge among you regarding your disputes.

003:056 "As for those who disbelieve, I will commit them to painful retribution in this world, and in the Hereafter. They will have no helpers."

003:057 As for those who believe and lead a righteous life, He will fully recompense them. GOD does not love the unjust.

Qur’an Translation by E. H. Palmer

When God said, "O Jesus! I will make Thee die and take Thee up again to me and will clear thee of those who misbelieve, and will make those who follow thee above those who misbelieve, at the day of judgment, then to me is your return. I will decide between you concerning that wherein ye disagree. And as for those who misbelieve, I will punish them with grievous punishment in this world and the next, and they shall have none to help them." But as for those who believe and do what is right, He will pay them their reward, for God loves not the unjust.

What does all this mean?

It means that you have proof that Muslims should obey the teachings of Jesus as a matter of LAW, not as a matter of whim, convenience, or religious preference. You see, Christians feel powerfully about their Jesus-related beliefs, but they know better, in recent years, than to shove those beliefs too rigorously onto others. I mean, you can hardly find a hard core Baptist preacher any more who slams his flock with hellfire and damnation from the pulpit.

Muslims, however, believe the Qur’an is the basis for Islamic law, and that some provisions have a mandatory nature. You could consider anything promising “painful retribution” now and in the hereafter somewhate mandatory. If Muslims want to establish Shari’a in America, they will have to obey the teachings of Jesus, as rule number one.

Well of course that won’t have such a great effect all at once because you know how well Christians obeyed Jesus during the Crusades in 1100, and again during the Inquisition in 1400, and in the witchhunts in America and Europe in 1600.

But it does constitute a pretty good start, doesn’t it?

Now, if we can only get them to admit what Jesus taught specifically in his gospel…

Say, how well do YOU know what he taught in his gospel? If you don’t know, how will you show and tell your fellow Muslims. How, then, will THEY know, and how can they OBEY THAT LAW?

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Bob Hurt
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