Attorneys who a panel found engaged in "judge shopping" while suing the state of Alabama over its Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (VCAP) objected to a recent court order stating they deceived a judicial panel investigating the allegations.
U.S. District Judges W. Keith Watkins, R. David Proctor and Jeffrey Beaverstock said in a report unsealed in March that the plaintiffs' attorneys attempted to manipulate which judge heard the VCAP lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Liles Burke said in a filing last week, "Last October, a three-judge panel unanimously found 'without hesitation' that eleven attorneys had purposefully attempted to subvert the orderly administration of justice by judge-shopping."
"In reaching that conclusion, the Panel unanimously rejected the Respondents' explanations, unanimously discredited their testimony, and unanimously found that one Respondent — who was under oath — lied to them outright," he added.
Barry Ragsdale and Neil Eggleston, attorneys representing three of the lawyers in the upcoming judge shopping show-cause hearings next week, said in a filing on Tuesday objecting to Burke's order last week, "None of the order's sweeping claims about the Panel's findings is supported by the Report. Nowhere in the Panel's Report does the Panel ever state that it unanimously discredited' the Walker Respondents' testimony or otherwise reject[ed] their testimony as unworthy of belief.'"
"Respondents continue to steadfastly maintain that they testified truthfully and honestly before the Panel and in subsequent submissions to this Court. There is no basis for this Court to assert that the Panel disbelieved or discredited Respondents' testimony or otherwise engaged in any purported fraud on the Court," Ragsdale and Eggleston said in the filing.
Show Cause Order 7 by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
The show-cause hearings related to the possible sanctions will be held in Montgomery on June 24, 27 and 28.
To connect with the story's author or comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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