Response To Judge Lisa Cook
Posted on Wednesday, October 13 at 15:06 by Janis Schmidt
We will continue our fight for justice, for an investigation into the lawlessness that exists on the reservation. We will not be intimidated nor will be turn aside.
My Lakota friends wish to thank all the Canadians who stood fast for our right to be heard. They wish to let you know they take heard that at least someone has listened to and broadcast their cries for help. They do believe, along with Sitting Bull over 100 years ago, that Canadians have a much keener interest in justice, and are more tolerant of differences than Americans.
This is my letter to Lisa Cook:
October 13, 2004
Lisa F. Cook
Cook Law Firm
P.O. Box 321
Kyle, SD 57752
Attention Ms. Cook:
On Thursday, October 7th, 2004, you contacted the Canadian web site, Vive le Canada, requesting that they remove my articles. You stated that I made defamatory statements against you, that my statements are false and portray you in a false light, and that you wanted these articles removed.
Specifically you stated: “I request retraction of all of these defamatory articles from the website. If they are not retracted I intend to pursue a defamation action in federal district court under diversity jurisdiction (which brings residents and businesses in other countries into the jurisdiction of the United States if the conduct of those residents/businesses, as here, reaches into the jurisdiction of the United States). “
You have been instrumental in my losing thousands of dollars in property, a loss of income, and most importantly, a loss of a way of life. Now, you do not want me to exercise my 1st Amendment rights of free speech and press. I’m not even allowed to tell my story, according to you, and you are using your office to deny me my civil rights one more time. You also have made reckless threats to the owners and editors of Vive le Canada, where my stories are posted, threatening to sue them for defamation if they do not do your bidding.
I could be wrong, but I do not think your jurisdiction extends into Canada. For further clarification on this and my position, you may call Barry Bachrach, my attorney. Barry will help clarify for you on who is taking whom to court. You may reach him at one of these phone numbers:
Office: 508-926-3403
Cell: 508-929-3003
Sincerely,
Janis Schmidt
CC: Barry Bachrach
Vive le Canada
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If what you say is true, I support you.
-KY
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Kory Yamashita
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
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RickW
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Dave Ruston
"Too many laws destroy freedom. Change takes time. Change doesn’t take place in the court room. No, it doesn’t. Change begins in the heart of someone who has been wronged, who has the courage to stand up and say, ‘you can’t do that to me and get by with it without a fight.’ Change begins in a jail cell when someone has been denied their basic rights and freedom. Change then spills out in the streets to the people who carry the taste of freedom into a movement which gains its strength from the love and care that people have for each other. Change begins with one person who dares to stand up to the system and say no, who then becomes part of a larger process that keeps moving along, gaining momentum as more people join in. The last mile is the most memorable, when the cause becomes a revolution. Then laws are changed or abolished. It isn’t laws that keep people safe or guarantee their freedom. It is the loving concern and good will that people have for one another that keeps them safe and free. No bully can stop the will of the people to be free when they join together. We didn’t just have civil rights in the 60’s. No, we didn’t. It began several hundred years ago. Too many laws destroy freedom. The weapons of choice today are the laws that are used to allow criminal activities and protect the abusers of civil rights and freedom. Poor people and minorities are over-regulated, while the elite, the bullies, are under-regulated. Ultimately, there is only one freedom, that begins with the truth, and ends with the people.”
When we can no longer defend ourselves against the laws that are designed to oppress us, to deny us a basic level of survival, to crush us; then it is time for us to rise up, and stay the hand that is choking us with its obscene laws.
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Dave Ruston
http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/uncle_legalscum.html
I put it in the first post about the site getting in trouble. It's about one guy's experience with the US legal/penal system.
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"George Bush has declared the war on terrorism to be the cause of his generation. The cause of Canadian sovereignty will be ours." - John Godfrey, MP for Don Va
Lisa F. Cook, Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 321, Kyle, South Dakota 57752-0321
_____________________________________
October 20, 2004
Janis Schmidt
PO Box 4
Kyle, SD 57752
Re: Request to Cease Personal Contact
Dear Ms. Schmidt:
I hope this letter finds you in good health and good spirits.
I am in receipt of the original of your signed letter dated October 13, 2004, a copy of which is attached hereto, which is addressed to me at Cook Law Firm, my private address, and which I received at my private mail box in Kyle, South Dakota, on October 19, 2004. I am aware that you posted this letter on the internet October 13, 2004 at www.vivelecanada.ca/article/php/20041013140614174 (see attached) in response to my October 7, 2004 internet-posted Request for Retraction. The letter indicates it has also been copied to Barry Bachrach, your purported attorney, and the website vivelecanada.
As per instructions in your letter, I have contacted Mr. Bachrach. He indicates that he is not your attorney but has been working with you to try to de-escalate a developing situation, if any, and to work with you to keep the peace on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He is aware that you have not availed yourself, timely or otherwise, of any of the standard judicial processes available in the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court that can be invoked by a non-prevailing party such as filing a Motion for Reconsideration or pursuing appeal. As a result, any orders are final. He is also aware that I consider initiation of any personal contact with me by you to be unacceptable and that I would undertake to write this letter to you informing you of the same.
I have informed Mr. Bachrach of my intent to write this letter to you to request that you cease any personal contact with me. Any issue you may have with me and with regard to which you have posted extensively on the internet comes from your disagreement with the results of litigation filed by both you and Louise Big Boy, opposing parties, in the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court in Kyle. Any issue you may have with me pertains to my capacity as an Associate Judge for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and not to my private capacity as an individual person or as Cook Law Firm. Accordingly, it is improper for you to contact me at my personal and law firm address regarding any court action with which you disagree. Please consider this my formal request that you immediately cease and desist from any personal contact with me.
I thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Lisa F. Cook
LFC/lfc
Encl. (2)
Cc: Barry Bachrach, Esq.
www.vivelecanada.ca (w/o attachments)
Louise Big Boy
Cheryl Three Stars Valandra, OST Chief Judge
Mario Gonzalez, OST Tribal Attorney