Turner v. American Bar Ass'n

407 F. Supp. 451, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15458
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Alabama
DecidedNovember 5, 1975
DocketCiv. A. No. 5-74-42, Civ. A. No. 74-480, Civ. A. No. S74-84, Civ. A. No. S74-29, Civ. A. No. S75-74, Civ. A. No. 4-74-190, Civ. A. No. 74-426-P, Civ. A. No. 75-C-182
StatusPublished
Cited by143 cases

This text of 407 F. Supp. 451 (Turner v. American Bar Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turner v. American Bar Ass'n, 407 F. Supp. 451, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15458 (S.D. Ala. 1975).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

GARZA, District Judge.

In May, 1974, and thereafter, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Warren E. Burger, and the Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit, John R. Brown, began designating the undersigned to sit in seven similar cases and three related cases filed in the United States District Courts in the States of Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota, Alabama and Wisconsin. 1

These suits have been filed by individual members of the American Constitutional Protective Rights Association against, among others, virtually the entire federal judiciary. The central figure among the Plaintiffs is Jerome Daly, *457 a disbarred Minnesota attorney, who is a Plaintiff in five of these suits. The Plaintiffs’ principal contention is that they have a constitutional right to have unlicensed lay counsel assist them in Court proceedings.

The undersigned was not sued in any of the nine assigned civil cases, probably by virtue of this Court’s pre-trial rulings in United States v. Gaar, Criminal No. 73-B-394 (U.S.D.C., S.D.Tex., 1973). In that case, the Defendant Byron Gaar was indicted for five counts of failure to file income tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C.A. § 7203.

The Defendant Gaar expressed beliefs similar to those of the members of the American Constitutional Protective Rights Association. He filed a pre-trial motion requesting that Admiral John G. Crommelin, an unlicensed lay attorney, be allowed to assist him in the preparation of his defense. On January 18, 1974, the Court granted that motion and Admiral Crommelin was allowed to sit with Gaar and speak freely in the pretrial hearings in Gaar’s behalf. On September 3, 1974, the day of the trial, the Court informed the Defendant that Admiral Crommelin would not be allowed to speak in front of the jury although the Admiral could still assist Gaar at the counsel table. The Defendant objected to this on the grounds that he had been led to believe that the Admiral would be allowed to carry on his defense in front of the jury and that he was not prepared to represent himself pro se on such short notice. The Court gave the Defendant Gaar thirty minutes to re-align his strategy and then proceeded to trial. The Defendant was found guilty on all counts. He thereafter obtained licensed counsel who filed a Motion for New Trial. Upon reading the transcripts of the pre-trial conferences, the Court felt that it had indeed misled the Defendant to believe that he would be allowed to have Admiral Crommelin represent him in front of the jury. In the interest of justice, the Court granted the Defendant’s Motion for New Trial. The matter is presently pending on the trial docket of this Court and is to be tried on November 3, 1975. All of the suits at bar that name the entire federal judiciary as Defendants were filed after the Court allowed Admiral Crommelin to assist the Defendant Gaar in pre-trial matters and before the Court refused to let the Admiral act as an attorney at trial. By striking the undersigned’s name off of the xerox copies of the Federal Reporter’s “Judges of the Federal Courts” which was attached to these complaints, the Plaintiffs have obviously engaged in a vigorous form of forum shopping. 2

Eight of the cases to which I have been assigned are discussed below. 3

THE LUBBOCK CASE

EDDIE A. TURNER and JEROME DALY v. THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION, ET AL., CIVIL ACTION NUMBER 5-74-42, IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS, LUBBOCK DIVISION

On August 19, 1975, the Plaintiffs, Eddie A. Turner and Jerome Daly, 4 filed their amended antitrust and civil rights Complaint against the following Defend *458 ants: Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, and Justices Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist, Harry A. Blackmun, and Byron R. White, of the United States Supreme Court; virtually all of the Circuit Judges of all circuits; and the Judges of the United States District Courts and the Court of Claims. These Defendants are sued in their capacity as Justices and Judges of the Courts of the United States, and also in their individual private capacity as dues-paying members of the American Bar Association, hereinafter referred to as “ABA”, and the various State Bar Associations located throughout the United States.

Also named as Defendants are: The American Bar Association, The State Bar of Texas, Joe R. Greenhill, Ruel C. Walker, Zollie Steakley, Jack Pope, Thomas M. Reavley, Sears McGee, James G. Denton, Price Daniel, Sam D. Johnson, in their capacity as private individuals and as Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas; Dolph Briscoe, in his capacity as Governor of the State of Texas and in his capacity as a private individual; John L. Hill, in his capacity as Attorney General of the State of Texas and in his capacity as a private individual; Frank D. McCown, Edward B. McDonough, Roby Hadden, John E. Clark, in their capacity as United States Attorneys for the various Districts of Texas and as private individuals; Edward Levi, in his capacity as Attorney General of the United States and in his capacity as a private individual; Donald C. Alexander, Commissioner of Internal Revenue and also in his capacity as a private individual; The Tax Court of the United States and Howard A. Dawson, Jr., in his capacity as Chief Judge and in his capacity as a private individual; Chesterfield Smith, in his capacity as a private individual and President of the American Bar Association.

Jurisdiction is asserted under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the Magna Carta, the Common Law and the Constitution of the State of Texas, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1381, 1343, 2201, 2202, 2281-2284; 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 1981-1989; 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1-28; 18 U.S.C.A. §§ 2-7, 10, 13, 201-203, 241, 242, 245, 371, 1341, 1503, 1505, and 1509; and Amendments 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13 and 14 of the United States Constitution.

The Plaintiffs state that they are members of the American Constitutional Protective Rights Association, that they travel in interstate commerce to aid and assist members of said association in the dissemination of their views and in aid and assistance of each other’s constitutional rights; that this is their business and trade; and that they use interstate transportation facilities, mail and public places. They allege that they now have cases or controversies pending before the Courts or that they are about to have such business pending before the Courts and other government agencies.

The Plaintiffs’ Amended Complaint is divided up into five loosely drawn causes of action.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Raskin v. Dallas Indep Sch Dist
69 F.4th 280 (Fifth Circuit, 2023)
Hicks v. Dowies
W.D. Louisiana, 2023
Upsolve, Inc. v. James
S.D. New York, 2022
Two Old Hippies, LLC v. Catch the Bus, LLC
784 F. Supp. 2d 1221 (D. New Mexico, 2011)
Cohen v. Kallok (In Re JRA 222, Inc.)
365 B.R. 508 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2007)
Lebron v. Armstrong
289 F. Supp. 2d 56 (D. Connecticut, 2003)
Cosby v. State
738 N.E.2d 709 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 2000)
In Re O'Dell
251 B.R. 602 (N.D. Alabama, 2000)
FDIC v. Mmahat
Fifth Circuit, 2000
Cuellar v. Johnson
Fifth Circuit, 1999
Gonzales v. Wyatt
157 F.3d 1016 (Fifth Circuit, 1998)
Brown v. Ortho Diagnostic Systems, Inc.
868 F. Supp. 168 (E.D. Virginia, 1994)
United Accounts, Inc. v. Teladvantage, Inc.
499 N.W.2d 115 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 1993)
Eagle Associates v. Bank of Montreal
926 F.2d 1305 (Second Circuit, 1991)
Perry v. Barnard
745 F. Supp. 1394 (S.D. Indiana, 1990)
Lawline v. American Bar Ass'n
738 F. Supp. 288 (N.D. Illinois, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
407 F. Supp. 451, 1975 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15458, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-american-bar-assn-alsd-1975.