Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 32 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
General News    H3'ed 5/17/12

Alabama Judicial Scandal Could Taint Many Cases, Not Just Siegelman's

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   3 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Andrew Kreig
Become a Fan
  (41 fans)

(Image by Unknown Owner)   Details   DMCA
;
An Alabama newspaper exposed a scandal May 16 that deserves national prominence that will not occur without you as participants in the alternative and social media.
The headline was "Federal judge's lengthy affair with court worker is exposed." 

This is a scandal not simply for the judge, Mark Everett Fuller, shown above in a photo by my research colleague Phil Fleming. It is a lifetime shame for those in the Justice Department, federal court system and the United States Senate who have coddled and protected him for an entire decade during his obvious previous disgraces. 

A decade ago, Alabama's pension officials accused Fuller of trying to bilk the system out of $330,000 by his advocacy of unmerited pension benefits for a former staffer. 

Yet Alabama's two Republican senators, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, pushed Fuller forward for a lifetime appointment, which Fuller received from voice vote by the United States Senate with no serious discussion of his past.

Fuller and his court staff were able to hide from public view a 180-page impeachment filing against him in 2003 with no apparent attempt at investigation. In 2006, he presided over one of the nation's most sinister political prosecutions in modern times. The defense did not know that the judge was also being enriched via a military contracting company, Doss Aviation, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid Bush contracts. 

A corrupt federal judge is in position to create vast harm in both civil and criminal cases, especially when he controls the court administrative system, as Fuller did during a seven-year term from 2004 to 2011 as chief judge for Alabama's most important federal district. This is the middle district surrounding the capital city of Montgomery.

Let's start with this week's disclosures and then get to the implications. 

Montgomery Independent Publisher and Editor Bob Martin published a front-page news story quoting divorce papers filed April 10 by Lisa Boyd Fuller, the judge's estranged wife of three decades. Her papers strongly suggested adultery. Her interrogatories asked about drug use. Martin reported:

Those in a position to know report the affair by Judge Fuller, conducted with his former Courtroom Deputy Clerk and bailiff, Kelli Gregg, has been ongoing for four or five years, and is basically an "open secret" in the building.

Martin supplemented his news article with an editorial that said he was uncomfortable writing about a divorce. 

"However," he continued, "the matter discussed here is not about a divorce, but rather about a betrayal of the public trust by an individual holding one of the highest positions in our Nation...that of making decisions affecting the life, liberty and property of us all."

Martin cited expert perspective from Scott Horton. Horton is an Alabama native, prominent lawyer, adjunct law professor and high-profile legal commentator. He has written two score columns for Harper's beginning in 2007 documenting abusive practices by Fuller, particularly in presiding over the 2006 corruption trial of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, the state's most important Democrat, and co-defendant businessman Richard Scrushy.

Fuller issued many pro-prosecution rulings in the case while also becoming enriched through his secret, controlling ownership of Doss Aviation, a military defense contractor that received $300 million in no-bid federal contracts unknown to litigants.

Horton commented at length for Martin's column on the ethical problems arising from the divorce allegations, which include claims of drug use by the judge. 

Horton concluded:

These ethics issues surrounding a single judge, Mark Everett Fuller, are to my knowledge, without any equal on the federal bench.

Horton suggested, for example, that the Justice Department must have known of the judge's affair, creating a potential issue of improper pressures in many other criminal and civil cases of huge importance. Horton was the featured guest on my weekly public affairs radio program, MTL Washington Update, May 17. Click link for the archive .

Is This News?

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 3   Valuable 3   Well Said 2  
Rate It | View Ratings

Andrew Kreig Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter Page       Linked In Page       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Andrew Kreig is an investigative reporter, attorney, author, business strategist, radio host, and longtime non-profit executive based in Washington, DC. His most recent book is "Presidential Puppetry: Obama, Romney and Their Masters," the (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Obama Team Feared Coup If He Prosecuted War Crimes

Lawyers To Petition DoJ Demanding 9/11 Grand Jury Investigation of WTCs 1, 2 and 7

Cain's 'high-tech lynching' defense problem...Clarence Thomas lied

June Trial Looms As Obama DOJ Crusades Against Critics

Thomas Must Resign, Says Former Judge, Lover

RFK Murder Cover-Up Continues After Dramatic Parole Hearing

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend