What The Constitution Means To Me

I recently saw the play What the Constitution Means To Me written by and starring Heidi Schreck. The show is currently streaming on Amazon Prime for those who want to check it out. I encourage you to do so.

The play was interesting, often funny, and to be truthful often exasperating. In many ways it seems a bit, well, sexist. 

Let me explain. Here is an excerpt from the script:

HEIDI:

What does it mean if this document offers no protections again violence of men? Sorry, I don’t

mean to— I really have no desire to vilify men. I love men. I do, I fucking love you. I’m the

daughter of a father! But the facts are extreme. Here’s one statistic, just one: This century, the

21st century, more American women have been killed by their male partners than Americans

have died in in the war on terror — including 9/11. That is not the number of women who have

been killed in this country; that is only the number of women who have been killed by the men

who supposedly love them.

That’s such a staggering figure that I just kind of have to… forget it to get through the day.

Except, I think you can’t forget it about. Even if you don’t know the statistics, I think you can

feel the truth of that underneath everything… humming. (Unsure) Right?

What is wrong with this? Nothing technically. But if she had mentioned that 78.7% of homicide victims  are men, it would put those statistics in a different light. 

Even worse, throughout the play I could not help thinking that you substituted "white" for "women: and "black" for "men" the statistics would not only hold but be even more compelling. Yet, if you did the whole play would be, rightly, decried as racist. 

I Could Save The FBI A Lot Of Work

I find the recent espionage case against Navy engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana interesting. Apparently the FBI had an agent posing as a representative of an unnamed foreign power to entrap Toebbe. Sensitive information was delivered via dead prop on SD cards hidden in a peanut butter sandwich and a pack of gum.  (I wonder if the FBI agent had Toebbe use a pack of gum as a bit of a joke as a slang term for detective is gumshoe - I like to think so anyway!) 

What is most interesting, and a bit infuriating, is that I have sent the FBI conclusive evidence Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and his criminal division director Richard Dusterhoft have committed crimes but the FBI  took no action on the information. They didn't even reply to me. Note that one of the FBI's core missions is to investigate local government corruption. In essence, I did the FBI's work for them. I gathered all the evidence necessary to prove Choi and Dusterhoft acted corruptly.

My guess is the FBI just doesn't care much about local government corruption as it is so ubiquitous. Until people demand change there will not be any change. 

Setback in South Carolina

 Sadly, alimony reform looks like it has died this year in South Carolina. 

Despite progress made in other states on alimony reform in 2016, a group of family court lawyers managed to block reform in South Carolina. While some lawyers want to see fair divorce settlements, others say the system is not broken, presumably because they are lining their own pockets. They opposed bills that would establish clear alimony guidelines and make reasonable divorce mediations possible. These are the lawyers who encourage expensive, protracted lawsuits and clients who go for their ex-spouses’ jugular.

All the bills ask for is that permanent alimony no longer be treated as the preferred form of alimony, so the elderly can retire and the middle-aged can help send their children to college. Imagine being married to someone for less than 10 years, but paying your ex-spouse as much as a third of your income for the rest of your life.

Justice is often an agonizingly slow process. 

Life Expectancy - I Learned Something New

I learned something new this week. Something unexpected. The gap between male and female life expectancy has only existed for since the late 1800s. I had always thought it was biological. 

Why? I can only speculate. It could be because of:

• Greater advancement in women's health care vs. men's.
• Higher level of smoking by men.
• Reduced stress for women due to societal pressure put on men to be financially responsible and protect the family and society. 

Or maybe all three. 

Bad Or Just Nuts?

Sometimes I wonder about people. Are they bad or just nuts? A reader sent me an article from Jezebel titled, Here Are Some Good Reasons To Divorce Your Husband This Fall. The last sentence pretty much sums up the article:

Now, imagine spending a year and a half working full-time, caring for your child largely unaided, and doing the majority of chores while your husband occasionally congratulated himself on putting the dishes away. Wouldn’t you want a goddamn divorce too?

If I thought like the author, I might say something like: "Hey guys divorce your lazy non-working, non-working out wife who is a slob at home you are always picking up after and never does anything for or with the kids. It would be cheaper and better for the kids if you hire a nanny."

One annoying trait most humans have is to inaccurately and inappropriately judge a group based on limited, often single, experiences. Maybe the author of the Jezebel article had as bad of a husband as I had a wife but there is a huge difference between how it affected us. It hasn't made be an advocate for hate and prejudice. Hating men is just as bad as hating women (or blacks, Jews, Catholics, etc.) 

The reader who sent me the article said it would really get my motor running. Perhaps a bit but mostly it just makes me profoundly sad that people think this way. 

Non-Client Lawsuits Against Attorneys

Although I mostly am resigned to never achieving justice for myself, I do occasionally fantasize about doing so. Mostly because when it comes down to it I do have a pretty clear cut case agaisnt Nelly Wince. Both the evidence and law are clear. As approximately 20% of lawsuits against attorneys are brought by non-clients and in my case there is no statue of limitations on the crime, the door is at least not slammed shut. 

The biggest obstacle against me is the legal system itself. Lawyers don't want to take the case. Prosecutors openly obstruct justice to shield lawyers from the consequences of their crimes. And no one in the legal system cares. 

Someday maybe. 

Why Do I Keep Trying?

Given that my ex-wife's divorce suit is now fully settled, some question why I continue to work on reform. The simple answer is to help others who may face the same types of crimes and corruption I did. I am fully cognizant of the fact that I have virtually no chance of recovering any of the money I lost due to crimes. But I can help others. To be clear, it is not so much the individuals I am concerned with (there will always be bad people) but the culture of crime and corruption which exists in our legal system, especially within the area of family law.  

Clearly my ex-wife committed fraud and perjury but far more concerning is every single lawyer I dealt with violated the lawyers rules of professional conduct and most committed criminal actions. This includes my ex-wife's lawyer, my lawyers, the judges, the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (including many individuals), and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and his criminal division director Richard Dusterhoft. 

Don't be fooled into thinking the crimes and corruption I am talking about is somehow restricted to divorces. It isn't. A county attorney who obstructs justice to shield a lawyer from their crimes will just as likely do the same for a law enforcement official, family member, or political ally. Our society needs to do better.