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Wherein I happily add to the Arizona pile-on: Federal judge sanctions Lake and Finchem's lawyers [1]
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Date: 2022-12-01
From the Post article:
The denouement in Cochise County played out as a federal judge, also on Thursday afternoon, sanctioned lawyers for Kari Lake and Mark Finchem, the unsuccessful GOP candidates for governor and secretary of state, respectively. Taken together, the orders show how judges are scorning efforts to politicize ministerial roles and undermine election administration. The federal judge, John Tuchi of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, wrote that sanctions would “make clear that the Court will not condone litigants … furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process.” [***] Tuchi, who was nominated to the federal bench in 2013 by President Barack Obama, reasoned that payment of attorneys’ fees for Maricopa County was a proper sanction as the county and its lawyers had to “spend time and resources defending this frivolous lawsuit rather than preparing for the elections over which plaintiffs’ claims baselessly kicked up a cloud of dust.”
Attorneys are particularly averse to getting sanctioned themselves — particularly by a federal judge and under Rule 11 — because it may prevent them from practicing in other jurisdictions where they’re not generally admitted. It’s essentially a stigma on one’s professional record that follows them the rest of their careers. The specific attorneys being sanctioned are not named. But, according to the Post article, one of them listed as counsel for Lake and Finchem is Alan Dershowitz. Neither Lake, Finchem, nor Dershowitz could be reached for comment, according to the Post.
Judge Tuchi was quite acerbic in his ruling (emphasis supplied):
[A]lthough the Court does not find that Plaintiffs have acted appropriately in this matter—far from it— the Court concludes that sanctions are warranted only against Plaintiffs’ counsel, who signed and filed the offending papers. To sanction Plaintiffs’ counsel here is not to let Plaintiffs off the hook. It is to penalize specific attorney conduct with the broader goal of deterring similarly baseless filings initiated by anyone, whether an attorney or not. [***] The Court shares the concerns expressed by other federal courts about misuse of the judicial system to baselessly cast doubt on the electoral process in a manner that is conspicuously consistent with the plaintiffs’ political ends…[.] Imposing sanctions in this case is not to ignore the importance of putting in place procedures to ensure that our elections are secure and reliable. It is to make clear that the Court will not condone litigants ignoring the steps that Arizona has already taken toward this end and furthering false narratives that baselessly undermine public trust at a time of increasing disinformation about, and distrust in, the democratic process. It is to send a message to those who might file similarly baseless suits in the future.
The Courts are clearly getting sick of this nonsense.
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/1/2139528/-Wherein-I-happily-add-to-the-Arizona-pile-on-Federal-judge-sanctions-Lake-and-Finchem-s-lawyers
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