www.OpenJustice.US
                                      Focus on "visiting judges" and other odds and ends
                                                     "Specializing in the 294th District Court of Van Zandt County, Texas"

                   Courthouse Vignettes -- "Tales from the Hive"
                            Just like "court TV"  --  except real and in writing, and in OUR courthouse
          
From a fresh and personal perspective -- go turn off judge Brown and judge Judy, and watch the real thing!
                                                                                                                                            
         
    Notice  as to the tone of this site.   Not ALL lawyers are evil.   There ARE good lawyers (and judges)! All this stuff "arises out of" (a favorite lawyer phrase) the OLD (Tommy Wallace) court, finally voted OUT in 2002
                               
Mission:                                                                  
"Let US learn more about our American rights under the law, rather than just do LAWYER bashing.
But let US never fall back to our OLD ways of letting a small "good-old-boy" pack of Canton lawyers take advantage of our COURTHOUSE ILLITERACY to talk us into crowning (electing) one of THEM to be THEIR  private judge against US!
See Notice as above.

Latest goings-on:
 On Oct. 24, 2006 retired Judge Ron Chapman actually signs his idiotic $125,770 FINE he sat on ever since April 1, 2004 -- 
   $125,770 Order    Happy April Fools Day -- how it all came about
The case had been DEAD ever since FINAL JUDGMENT on July 30, 2002 !
It was DEAD when Chapman sat on it in April 1, 2004.   Just as DEAD now in 2006!
Also it is a PUNITIVE sanction by CIVIL process ---  that violates "due process"
It is also indictment, medical diagnosis, and punishment -- all rolled into ONE!
            "to stop this litigant and others similarly situated"
            "a delusional belief held only inside the mind of Birnbaum"
The Constitution of course allows "delusional belief", but NOT from the BENCH!
The $125,770 fine             -- key phrases bold emphasized
April 1 2004 docket entry --
occupational hazard from too much looking down from high perches?
"Happy April Fools Day" --
it all started when I was sued because BEAVERS had built a dam on my farm!
RICO suit for $377,310     -- treble damages - for injury by a "scheme to deprive of honest services"
                                                                                                        
                                             The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has
                                             never tried to contact us. 
Bill Watterson in his comic strip "Calvin and Hobbs"
                

I get FINED $125,770 for wanting a different judge!   more 
    
     Retired judge Ron Chapman came on April 1, 2004 to hear whether retired judge Paul Banner should be removed from the case.  Chapman's April 1 2004 docket entry    
Happy April Fools Day -- A REAL HOOT!
    
    
Then, after more that TWO years, on Oct. 24, 2006 judge Chapman actually signs his idiotic $125,770 FINE, finding that I was guilty of  "attempt to harass, intimidate, and inconvenience",      "delusional belief held only inside the mind of Birnbaum", "bickering and quarreling with judges", "has been vindictive, unwarrented, mean-spirited, frivolous, and totally without substantiation", and that Birnbaum's "conduct … … was engaged in willfully and maliciously with the intent to harm", and that the fine is "an amount narrowly tailored to the amount of harm caused by the offensive conduct to be punished", and "to stop this litigant and others similarly situated"    Chapman's 8 page Order on Motion for Sanctions -- A REAL HOOT!

    "I'm not a lawyer, but this whole thing sounds more like a criminal indictment, medical diagnosis, and sentencing -- all rolled into one". 

    "If I had been guilty of all this stuff, why didn't the judge have the bailiff arrest me right there on the spot?"

    "It ALL started when I was sued because BEAVERS had built a dam on my farm!"

    "And when I did not NOT hire a lawyer, that upset the whole system, and everybody went MAD".

The case had of course been DEAD ever since FINAL JUDGMENT on July 30, 2002
It was DEAD when Chapman sat on it in April 1, 2004.   Just as DEAD now in 2006!
Also it is a PUNITIVE sanction by CIVIL process ---  that violates "due process"

My response to the whole thing -- sue the judges for the damages they did to me.  There was NO CASE to sit on!
 RICO suit for $377,310.00      -- treble damages by a "pattern of racketeering activity" involving a "scheme to deprive of honest services"I
                                                                                                        
                                             The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has
                                             never tried to contact us. 
Bill Watterson in his comic strip "Calvin and Hobbs"
                   


Overview - details below:
The dogs that caught the train
   --   I get sued because BEAVERS had built a DAM on my farm!
Judges and lawyers get sued for "a pattern of racketeering activity" under the federal RICO statute.
And get so MAD they can't THINK  --  and make dam fools of themselves (pun intended) ON APRIL 1!

Overview -- "Oh what tangled webs we weave -- when first we practice to deceive"
Happy April Fools Day   --  "if there is insanity around, well, some of us gotta have it!"
How, on a DEAD case, TWO visiting judges, ONE hearing a motion to remove the OTHER from the case, ONE judge from the bench, the OTHER from the witness box, managed to assess a $125,700 FINE ("sanction") against a 67 year old non-lawyer (me), on APRIL 1, 2004.  (for having filed a ONE page motion SIX  months ago!)
April 1, 2004 docket scratch -- unbelievable!      Happy April Fools Day -- as MS Publisher file (large 3.7MB)

Follow-up
- coming -  "Fruit-Cake II" ??   --   I am accused of  "living in the courthouse"!
        July 19, 2004 --  Dallas "visiting judge"  has a hearing on the 1995!  "beaver dam" suit against me

Overview -- from another perspective:
Going looking for a lawyer -- 
The Wallace "good old boy" network as seen from nearby Henderson County
                                               

Other nuttiness   --  misc. other cases

         Lawyer Disciplinary Trial --  Some of the problems the State Bar has with lawyers, and vice versa
                                                       
Lesson for lawyers: Don't take a mad grandmother for a client!

        Case of res ipsa loquitur   --  Drunk kids joyriding at night on flatbed truck. One falls off relieving himself.
                                                         Claims drunk driver was negligent for letting HIM ride drunk on flatbed!
                                                                                                          
        Bunk-bed Bunk                  --  A circus.  A kid falls out of bed, and the (lots of) lawyers ... ...  ...
 
                                             Another hoot. More "lawyer speak"
       

        Puppy Mill Madness
         --  The Dallas SPCA awarded judgment of $6,480, $24,080, $7,920, $4,970
                                                        
in seizure of  Van Zandt "puppy mill" animals, to be paid as "costs of court".
                                                         But the JP courts had NO "costs of housing" (the seized animals) !
                                                         And the SPCA was NOT EVEN A PARTY to the case!
                                                        
And the jurisdictional  limit for a JP court is $5000!
                                                        
And Punishment of ANY kind by civil process  "offend the Constitution"!
                                                     

The beaver dam suit against me - a wake-up call -- what started it all:
Beaver Dam Bunk   --  I get sued  because BEAVERS had built a dam on my farm!  Senile neighbor (ex-military) goes to war --  against beavers  --  with DYNAMITE!  Calling them "overgrown rats", he gets mad at me too.
His shyster lawyer, knowing he can't sue me over BEAVERS (they are state animals) , simply changes the facts.
Claims I had violated the TEXAS WATER CODE, by ME having built a dam, that caused "sand, driftwood, and debris" to wash upon my neighbor -- when he is entirely UPSTREAM!
Before that I was living peaceably on my farm taking care of my cows and my 90 year old invalid mother, and had only known the courthouse from getting automobile license tags.

     A little bit about me --  before all this beaver dam madness

          
     elementary school            me                Village train station            File in the 294th                    My stand
     Germany, 1947, after the war                Story behind this                  see below                            more
    My upcoming book   Excerpts and some more pictures


The federal RICO case  --  Against the whole bunch  --  lawyer, judges, district attorney, the whole pack.
Dallas lawyer had talked me into it  --  "you have a very good case"  --  Oh how naive I was!

Also, had to have been a severe case of  "loose screws" by the Dallas lawyer, to sue Texas judges for engaging in a "pattern of racketeering activity" as outlawed by the federal anti -racketeering statute, RICO.

I get sued by my lawyer -- claiming he did $38,121 "worth" of services -- in suing the Texas district judges???

Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court -- "Since when, in AMERICA?"   Filed Aug. 16, 2004
"Whether a person without a lawyer, filing a pleading in a
Texas court under U.S.C. § 1964(c), ("civil RICO"), can be sanctioned as much as $62,885 merely because the evidence is found to be insufficient to show his claim." See Questions Presented   (filing a lawsuit is of course constitutionally protected! Rutan, 497 U.S. 62)
    Had gone first to Texas Fifth Court of Appeals (Brief), then Texas Supreme Court (Part A  Part B), now U.S. Supreme Court
                    Notice  as to the tone of this site.   Not ALL lawyers are evil.   There ARE good lawyers (and judges)!

Paper Bunk                                                                     
    Paper to the Appeals Court (25 lbs)   Appeal brief   Reply brief  For rehearing  DENIED
    To the Texas Supreme Court (more paper)   Then they cant find it!  Petition Part A  Petition Part B
    Motion for Rehearing   with interesting exhibits:  Exhibit 1  Exhibit 2   Exhibit 3a   Exhibit 3b


    Miscellaneous:
           Archive of my 2002 run for Van Zandt County Judge

The Duties of a Citizen  from 1950's U.S. Department of Justice brochure (Eisenhower was President)
What is "civil RICO"?       No. 2 in the series    No. 3     
Domestic white-collar terrorists
In honor of our troops     
                                                                    
On the lighter side -- REALLY WILD!  -- I am NOT allowed to tell the jury what I was sued for!!!!!
Going looking for a lawyer -- Sometimes it is hard to stay sane
 
Complaints::
Complaints of corruption in Wallace's [old] Court
Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee

Events around our county courthouse:
Our district courtroom update   Housecleaning - new carpets
Our county Law Library       
A modest proposal
Winter around the square -- Seasons Greetings from Canton, Texas
Justice of the Peace - Pct 1     Pct 2    Pct 3   Pct 4

Texas Supreme Court Petition for Review       
Paper that went to the appeals court (25 lbs) 
Now to the Texas Supreme Court (still more paper)
Front section  Main body  They cant find it!

BELOW:
My personal experience "arising out of" the [old Wallace] Court.
Tying me up in the courthouse to get lots and lots of "legal fees" ($122,000). ZERO damages, all "fees".
"Smoke Old Mold, the ONLY cigarette that  that is ALL FILTER".
 Let us NEVER again let crooks run our District Court!  So here goes:
        
  The Van Zandt "beaver dam" scheme    1995 suit on me that STARTED IT ALL!          
   
                  Over "my" beavers! Watch "your" fire ants (and some of "our" lawyers)                    
                    Among the 5000+ skeletons (backlog cases) from the  (old Wallace) court.    Still active case.  
              MOTION for new trial   I'm asking that the judge next time put the RIGHT QUESTIONS to the jury
              Motion for Recusal  That the judge was no longer UNBIASED after being sued for "racketeering"
              The "beaver dam" judge finally steps down   after EIGHT YEARS. Now waiting on a different judge.
              STATUS:  waiting on Dallas to assign a judge for the one who stepped aside  inquiry letter  

              On the lighter side  Judge Zimmermann:  "To make a pleading (a lawsuit),
                you put a piece of paper in a typewriter and  you type on it anything you want to --
               And you come down to the courthouse. You give it to this lady right over here,
               the District Clerk. She puts a file stamp on it. It's a pleading."
FROM OFFICIAL RECORD
        
            That is exactly what the "beaver dam" lawyer had done! [old court]    more         
  
Civil RICO suit against the "beaver dam scheme" - judges, lawyers etc
         
  Civil RICO suit against Canton lawyer  (for his "beaver dam" scheme)     Lawyer's Answer  
          
Started eight years ago. Lawyer still perpetrating it in our District Court as of this day.
                Perpetrating a scheme to "deprive of honest service" (i.e. pattern of lying in court) violates
                "RICO". (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961, et seq.)
                 EASY READING.   MAKES "RICO" UNDERSTANDABLE.
                 "RICO" is really very simple. See why bad lawyers (and bad judges) hate civil RICO                         
                 Civil RICO jury instructions   If juries can understand what RICO is, lawyers can too!                             
                         
      
  My APPEAL BRIEF on the TWO UNLAWFUL judgments   See exactly how they did it.  
             Near end of document shows picture of the HUGE FILE in the court.
             Would not have happened if they had gone by the RULES of court. [old court]
             Try the "hyperlink" footnotes in the document (the blue things one clicks on)
        
Appellees Brief   They claim I "waived" my right. How ridiculous. Look up "waived"
         My REPLY BRIEF    They have got to be teaching lying in law school!
         Request for FINDINGS 
"Judge, please put on PAPER, what you thought I did so AWFUL"  DENIED!
        
Request for ORAL ARGUMENT  I want to be heard!                                                            DENIED!
         THE BEAUTIFUL DOCKET SHEET IN THIS CASE! 
worth seeing! (best viewed printed)     page 2 
         The heart of the LAWLESSNESS   
"Judge, how did you do this?  The jury was supposed to decide!"
        
One and a half year after the case is over, Judge Banner suddenly "finds" that I was not "well-intentioned" as he found at the end of the case, but paints me to be some sort of monster to the judicial system:
        
Letter to Judge Banner re his "Findings"     Motion for Recusal of Judge Banner
         My Response to Judge Banner's "just-now-being-made" Findings  
(filed in the appeals court)
         My Rule 298 Request for Clarification 
 (filed in our 294th District Court, regarding the new "findings")
.
        The Appeals Court has spoken  -  Except they made up the "facts" and sprinkled some law on top           
         My Petition for Rehearing En Banc  - Asking ALL (en banc) the judges that this is not per the Law
         (as a group, en banc)   Haven't these guys ever heard about our Constitution!!??  pictures      DENIED!
         Now to the Texas Supreme Court (still more paper)        My Petition:   Front section  Main body
       Then they think they LOST it!
         A failure to communicate - short and self explanatory - would be funny if it were not so sad
        or "Did the Texas Supreme Court really LOOSE 24 lbs of my documents, or WHY?"
         Motion to file another set  - like above letter, except more formal. Maybe they will find my documents first?

         
    Civil RICO Suit against the Dallas lawyer   For perpetrating a scheme to "deprive of honest service"
                  (i.e. lawyer lying in court) violates the anti-racketeering statute ("RICO"). 
                  EASY READING. MAKES "RICO" UNDERSTANDABLE. ("RICO" is really
                   very simple)  See why bad lawyers (and bad judges) hate civil RICO.
                "A Beautiful Mind"   Lawyer's closing argument. Then see "predicate act 7" in suit above..  
                Petition for writ of mandamus  The assigned judge won't show!  Trying to make him show up. 
                The Appeals Court has DENIED! my writ of mandamus.   ( ???,  the judge does not need to show?)       
                INQUIRY LETTER  Is someone custom picking judges?   ASSIGNMENT of Judge Donald Jarvis
                Go to www.firstadmin.com and "Get Court Assignments by the Judge of your choice."
                STATUS:  waiting on  the judge assigned by Dallas to show up  inquiry letter

                Going looking for a lawyer   The Wallace "good old boy" network as seen from Henderson
                County. Pretty good summary of the "beaver dam" scheme in Wallace's [old] court

                Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee  (regarding "white collar crime" in the courts. "Enron-itis"?)
      
Miscellaneous.
Happy Holidays   What if we were through with the old year,  and the new one were not ready to start!!!
COSMOLOGY - "a theory of everything?"        Does there really have to be a reason?
a modest proposal    How commissioners can REALLY save money
Lessons from the fire ants    Why ants always get into electrical control boxes and gum things up
power outage exercises?  A tax on throwing rocks? and other tools to fight terrorism.
No more wild hog stories   Just WILD predictions
Lessons from the wild hogs   The grass roots war
Hog alert!   Hogs can be a problem. So can "beaver dam" schemes. SEE ABOVE.
Institutions matter  Reflections on Liberty and Justice at Home (and looting and lawlessness in Iraq)
In praise of JP courts  "where there are fewer lawyers involved"
Self Evaluation Quiz  "For Democrats and Republicans alike"
Domestic white-collar terrorists  A threat to the economy and the war on terrorism
ALL ABOARD!  Let us make the most of what we got
Journey of the ship of state  On freedom under the law
On Free Speech and Due Process    Lawlessness in the name of the law. There is no 9-1-1 to call!
Happy New Year  Suggestions for OPEN local government
Thanks
Happy Holidays     


County judge race
:
         
Archive of my 2002 run as an independent candidate for county judge

District judge race
Rocks (newspaper ads) I threw into the district judge race:                      
         "Is it fair for lawyers to contribute to judges?"  It is not against the law, but is it right?
        "fashioned innovations" or "lawlessness" in Wallace's  [old] 294th District Court
        "Wallace Receives Bar Award"
                 
        "294th District Judge Wallace Endorsed by Good-Old-Boy Network"


          
         No 9-1-1 to call for crimes committed in the courtroom!              
         Complaints of corruption in Wallace's [old] Court        

                                                                            
ISSUES BEING CONSIDERED:          
      Tort Reform (hot topic in Austin. House Bill 4, "Trial Lawyer Extinction Act")
      Whether Texas district judges should be elected or appointed 
      Whether the Rules of Civil Procedure (rules of court) should be taught in high school
      How to get more people to watch what goes on in our courts (and make better jurors)
      How Texas trial lawyers are among the best in the nation at representing plaintiffs before juries,
               yet ineffective when it comes to defending themselves in the court of public opinion.
              (Answer:  In court they can get by with lying)
 

HOW THIS SITE CAME TO BE - My intent is to have US learn how to improve justice in OUR county, rather than just do LAWYER bashing. There are good lawyers. 
    This site grew out of my old campaign web site when I tried to run as an independent for Van Zandt county judge in 2004 on a platform of OPEN GOVERNMENT.  That run sprang from being politically awakened after finding myself suddenly being run over in the [old crooked Wallace] District Court.
    I have since come to recognize that even good lawyers cannot provide JUSTICE, if WE should fall back on OUR old ways, of IGNORANTLY rubber stamping (electing) a bad lawyer which the bad lawyers want to push on US to be THEIR [CROOKED] JUDGE.

NOTICE:
     Any erroneous reflection upon the character, standing or reputation of any person or firm or
corporation  which may appear on this site will be gladly corrected upon being brought to my attention.
Also, if  I have erred in any facts, or conclusions, or if your facts or conclusions differ from mine,
please let me know.  E-mail:  Brnbm@aol , Snail-mail: Udo Birnbaum, 540 VZ County Road 2916,
Eustace, TX 75124, Phone 903/ 479-3929 

Hit Counter