Robert Vance Jr.
In a race between two seriously flawed candidates, the Democrat is more likely than the Republican to at least be moderately honest and semi competent.
That maxim has guided my voting for the past 20 years or so, and I intend to apply it in today's presidential election by voting for Barack Obama. The general rule, unfortunately, does not always apply--and that's why I will vote against another Democrat, Robert Vance Jr., for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
As regular readers know, I am deeply disappointed in Barack Obama's performance during his first term. As recently as August 9, I wrote that I probably was going to stay home on election day, mainly as a protest against Obama's dreadful performance on justice issues.
But that was before I took a serious look at Mitt Romney's background in the private-equity world and heard the disdain in his voice for regular Americans at the infamous "47 percent" fundraiser in Florida. It also was before I saw Romney up close in three presidential debates and realized that he might be the most fundamentally dishonest candidate to ever run for our nation's highest office.
Obama undoubtedly has made false and misleading statements in the course of the campaign. But by Romney's prodigious standards, the president is a minor leaguer in the world of deceit. To Obama's credit, he never said he was going to make justice issues a high priority in his first term; in fact, he said two weeks before taking office that he intended to "look forward, not backwards" on the rampant criminality in the George W. Bush administration. That stance made me unhappy, but I can't say that Obama was dishonest about it. So I'm going to hold my nose and vote for Obama.
I will not, however, pull the lever for the Democrat in Alabama's most-watched statewide race today. That would be the race for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, matching Democrat Robert Vance Jr. against Republican Roy Moore.
Moore's mix of right-wing rhetoric and old-time religion makes me extremely uncomfortable. But I do give him credit for honestly stating what he believes. And I have seen signs that he might apply the law correctly for everyday Alabamians and stand up to the legal elites who have turned our courts into their personal playground.
Vance, on the other hand, definitely will not apply the law correctly for everyday Alabamians--and I know because I've had a case before him. Vance also is the favored son of the Alabama state bar and large law firms that have done so much to corrupt our courts. They support Vance because they know he will look out for their interests. That's exactly what he did in the case I had before him--and it's the No. 1 reason Roy Moore will get my vote today.
Am I just the classic "disgruntled litigant" who is unhappy only because Vance ruled against me? No, I'm not; my concerns about Vance go much deeper than that. He left a substantial paper trail that proves he does not respect the law. I have presented that paper trail in a series of posts that proves beyond doubt that Vance ruled contrary to law in a legal-malpractice case that I had before him. Even worse, the record shows that Vance not only cheated me, but he went out of his way to protect two lawyers from a large downtown Birmingham firm--unlawfully dismissing my case in a way that meant his legal brethren would not even have to go through discovery.
No wonder every lawyer who crawls out from under a rock seems to support Robert Vance. You can check out Vance's unlawful actions, complete with public documents that prove his chicanery, at the following links:
Robert Vance Jr. Is Not Fit To Serve On The Alabama Supreme Court, And Here's Why (9/28/12)
Robert Vance Jr. Does Not Deserve Democrats' Support For Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice (10/30/12)
How big a fraud is Robert Vance Jr.? It was revealed in a recent campaign speech that Glynn Wilson, of The Locust Fork News-Journal, covered. Consider this from Wilson's article:
[Vance] acknowledge that people in Alabama are suffering just like people all over the country after going through a bad recession. But “we have no hope of solving those problems if we are at one another’s throats,” he said. “While my opponent seeks to make political hay out of our worst emotions, my campaign seeks to touch the better angels in our nature, as Lincoln once said.”
“My opponent has proven that he is only driven by his personal beliefs, rather than by the law,” Vance said. “He will put himself above the law and he’s willing to ignore the law for his own personal benefit. For such a man to run as chief justice, the highest law official in this state, is simply unbelievable.”
Vance himself has proven that he is willing to ignore the law for his own personal agenda, which is to protect crooked members of the bar. How does Vance seek to "touch the better angels in our nature" by ruling unlawfully in my legal-malpractice case--or in any other case that comes before him?
What truly is "unbelievable"? That Robert Vance Jr. could make such statements with a straight face, without a trace of irony in his voice.
Vance has proven in recent days that he is not just a liar; he's a coward. I sent him an e-mail, asking for an interview about issues connected to his race for the highest judicial office in Alabama. When Vance cheated me in 2003-04, that was in the days before blogs were a common communications tool. I'm certain that, in the days before the Web press evolved, Vance felt safe in knowing he could screw me over, and it never would see the light of day.
But Robert Vance has been proven wrong about that. Since starting Legal Schnauzer in June 2007, I have used the power of the blogosphere to write extensively about the cheat job Vance administered in Jefferson County Circuit Court. I have published documents and relevant law, proving that he is a legal hack who has little, if any, respect for the actual law.
I know that Robert Vance is aware of my reporting because he recused himself in a matter that Mrs. Schnauzer and I have pending before the Jefferson County Court. Vance clearly knows that I have built a case against him that cannot be refuted. So what did he do when I sent him an interview request? He failed to respond, seemingly afraid to take questions about his own bogus rulings.
That's the kind of man who is asking for your vote today. I'm not a big fan of Roy Moore, but Alabamians would be well advised to reject Robert Vance Jr. in resounding fashion.
Here is a copy of the e-mail that Robert Vance Jr. chose to ignore:
from: Roger Shuler rshuler3156@gmail.com
to: robert.vance@alacourt.gov
date: Tue, Oct 30, 2012 at 10:35 AM
subject: Interview Request Re: Supreme Court Race
mailed-by: gmail.com
Judge Vance:
I am a journalist in Birmingham, reporting on justice issues at the blog Legal Schnauzer and a number of national Web sites.
I would like to conduct an interview with you on issues connected to the race for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Could you please let me know of a convenient time for you, so that we can schedule the interview. I would be glad to do the interview via phone or in person. My schedule is flexible, but with the election coming up next Tuesday, time is a factor--so I ask that we schedule the interview for a time between now and end of business on Friday.
Thank you.