Alabama GOP Pol Wants Blogger Arrested
Legal Schnauzer blogger Roger Shuler has fearlessly taken on politicians, judges, and lawyers – mostly in Alabama, where he works and resides – that he sees as dishonest, acting outside the public interest, and outright corrupt. Along the way, he has made a litany of enemies, mostly on the right side of the political spectrum. His series of posts on evidence that major Republican player and possible US House candidate Bob Riley had been carrying on an affair has led to an apparently unconstitutional traffic stop in an attempt to serve legal papers. Now, the target of Shuler’s scrutiny wants him arrested:
Alabama Republican Rob Riley has filed a proposed court order that seeks the arrest of my wife and me for reporting here at Legal Schnauzer on Riley’s extramarital affair with lobbyist Liberty Duke.
Riley, who reportedly plans to seek the U.S. House seat being vacated by Spencer Bachus, wants two citizens arrested for–get this–practicing journalism. …
The skinny? Rob Riley is deeply connected to some of the most corrupt activities in modern American political history. So it should be no surprise that, contrary to his “pro family” and “pro life” public stances, Riley engaged in an affair with Liberty Duke that led to an abortion and the payment of $250,000 in hush money. It also should be no surprise that Riley is trying to quash our reporting on the subject, especially now that Spencer Bachus has surprised many observers by deciding to abandon his safe Congressional seat.
How exactly is Rob Riley trying to circumvent the First Amendment and force our reporting out of public view? The latest salvo is found in a cover letter and proposed court order, dated October 7 and prepared under the name of Jay Murrill, an attorney in the Riley Jackson law firm. … The proposed order explicitly seeks to have my wife and me arrested if we failed to appear at a court hearing that was set for last Thursday (October 18) at the Shelby County Courthouse in Columbiana. The hearing was designed to hold us in contempt for refusing to abide by an unlawful preliminary injunction.
The full blog post is worth reading, if just for the pleasure of reading why Rob Riley’s zeal to have Shuler and his wife arrested is so breathtakingly unlawful – and outright foolish
