Georgia House Speaker
David Ralston is under attack.
Ralston owns a law
firm and has been active in Georgia politics since 1992. He served as a State
Senator from 1993 to 1999 and a State Representative from 2002 to present in
North Georgia. He became Speaker of the House in 2010.
Ralston is a top-down
Speaker who completely controls the Gold Dome. His tyrannical style guarantees
control from the top and that worked for Governor Deal, who also served from
2010 to 2018. They began their reign in
the Obama years and scrambled for federal dollars. They wanted to expand the
harbor in Savannah. They did not push back on Obama’s overreach; they just took
the federal money.
The culture of the
Gold Dome is toxic to reformers, like the Tea Party who opposed UN Agenda 21
implementation in Georgia. We were ignored, but we in the Tea Party did win the
TSPLOST vote in 2012 by 66% in most of the 12 Regions to prevent wasteful
public transit development and double-the-cost useless road projects. We still
want the GA Legislature to repeal the UN Agenda 21 implementation laws of 2008
and 2010 and end unelected Regional Commissions to allow cities and counties to
control their own spending. We need to repeal bad law that was implemented in
the Obama years.
Group-think has been
imposed on the Gold Dome. Republicans and there is no sign that Georgia will
advance Trump Populism and reverse Obama’s “statism” and government intrusion
and abuse of citizens and property rights.
Democrats love this
dilemma, but we cannot look to Democrats to reverse Obama policies. They are
Socialists. Republican statists
would do well to relax their attacks on Republican populists.
The problems with
group-think extend from City Councils to County Commissions and State
government. We have elected the wrong politicians. The Deep State is ruling in
Georgia and it assures that we have government, of the government, by the
government and for the government in Georgia.
Cities and counties are allowed to tax and borrow with no limits. 90% of
all Bills are passed to expand government. Land Use, Planning and Zoning are
according to UN Agenda 21.
The AJC is part of the
Liberal Media. The Ralston problem is fully displayed in the AJC Article below:
Ralston helped write the law allowing him to delay criminal
cases, AJC/Channel 2 Investigation, 2/22/19, By Johnny Edwards Chris Joyner,
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most lawmakers mum on revelations
of AJC/Channel 2 investigation. Ten years ago, a grand jury indicted a Georgia
man on charges of illicit sexual behavior with young teens. One of the alleged
victims said it’s been so long since he heard from prosecutors, he figured the
case was over with.
But it’s not. It’s among
dozens of criminal cases repeatedly delayed from going to court — 14 times in
this case — by defense attorney and state Speaker of the House David Ralston.
After an investigation by The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News revealed earlier this month that
Ralston was using legislative privilege to delay court dates, he has come under
fire from voters, Republican activists and purported victims in the
cases.
“What is most infuriating is the fact that this man’s
attorney is one of the most influential people in Georgia politics,” said an
alleged victim of one of Ralston’s clients, Derek Key. Key was accused of
enticing a child for indecent purposes and electronically furnishing obscene
materials to minors.
For more than a week,
most of Ralston’s peers serving with him in the House would not touch the issue
in the wake of the AJC-Channel 2 investigation, a reluctance seemingly rooted
in Ralston’s substantial political power. And Ralston received a spontaneous
round of applause at a closed-door meeting of Republican lawmakers Tuesday at
the Capitol, the AJC learned from several sources.
But by week’s end,
battle lines were drawn. Nine House Republicans signed on to a resolution
introduced by Rep. David Clark calling on Ralston to resign as speaker, while
such heavy hitters as Gov. Brian Kemp and two former governors signaled they
support Ralston.
Now, the AJC has learned
how the law came about that Ralston has been invoking to create case delays: He
helped write it
For a century, elected
lawmakers who make their living as attorneys could only cite the law to delay
court while the General Assembly was in session and for three weeks after. But
in 2006, lawmakers in the House and Senate passed Senate Bill 503, which
expanded the privilege to cover any time a lawmaker’s “presence elsewhere is
required.”
Originally, the bill
dealt with unrelated legal issues, then passed through the House and Senate in
different forms. On the final day of that year’s session, then-House Speaker
Glenn Richardson named Ralston, then a state representative who chaired the
House Judicial Non-Civil Committee, to a joint conference committee to work out
the differences between the House and Senate versions.
Although it is unknown
what role Ralston played in conference negotiations, the legislation that
emerged included the language that Ralston, who became speaker in 2010, would
later apply to his own law practice. It came before the House for approval just
90 minutes before the session’s required end at midnight, passing in the House
158-2, then in the Senate unanimously.
There had been an
earlier attempt that year to alter the legislative leave law. Former GOP Rep.
Ed Lindsey filed a bill expanding leave to include committee meetings held
outside of session. His bill also required the legislator-lawyer to give “the
specific basis for the continuance and stay.”
The law that passed out
of Ralston’s conference committee has no such requirement and did not limit
leave to committee meetings.
Under state law, all
Ralston must do to keep a client out of court is to write to the judge, saying
the dates would interfere with his lawmaker duties. He can do it year-round,
and judges and district attorneys have little recourse.
The AJC and Channel 2
found that Ralston has written some letters in bulk to delay cases. In 21 cases
examined over a two-year period, he filed 57 requests for continuances
“Everyone
says, hire him, you’ll never go to court. People talk. This is a small
town.” —Amanda Mosher, whose husband and child died in a vehicular
homicide case that took eight years to go to trial
Asked to respond to the
AJC’s findings, Ralston declined to be interviewed by the reporters of this
article. However, in an interview Thurday with Channel 2, he said he had not
misused the law. “To say that I’m thwarting justice and that I’m putting the
public at risk, those are things that are completely not me,” he told the
station.
Two Republican leaders
the AJC contacted at the recommendation of Ralston’s office responded with
statements of support.
House Majority Whip Trey
Kelley, R-Cedartown, said he doesn’t believe the North Georgia cases are being
delayed by Ralston alone.
“It’s really unfair to
the speaker, because he also has a pretty important duty and an absolute right
of privilege that exists between him and his client,” said Kelley, who is also
an attorney. “So really, in my mind, the (AJC) article does three things: It
attacks the constitutional separation of powers, it attacks the constitutional
protections that the accused are afforded and then have the right to adequate
representation, and it attacks the long-established legal principal of
privileged conversations between an attorney.”
While case records
reviewed by the AJC and Channel 2 did find occasional delays prompted by
prosecutors or by Ralston’s having a conflict with another scheduled trial, his
frequent use of legislative delays was what caused them to drag out for years.
Speaker Pro Tem Jan
Jones, R-Milton, said in a written statement that Ralston is “a man of
integrity” who has devoted his life to public service.
“I trust that the
speaker is fully committed to both his demanding professional and public
service obligations,” Jones said.
But Rep. Clark,
R-Buford, said that after he received numerous messages from concerned
constituents, he met privately with Ralston and found his answers about
specific delayed cases vague.
Among the Republicans
who signed on to his resolution Friday seeking Ralston’s ouster was Rep. Matt
Gurtler, R-Tiger. Ralston supported Gurtler’s
Republican opponent in last year’s primary.
“What is wrong remains
wrong even if it’s legal,” Gurtler said in a statement, “and Ralston’s abuse on
our judicial system and failure to live up to the standard we should expect of
our elected officials in this case, and others, is detrimental to the proper
role of government: protecting and defending life, liberty and property.”
Some other legislators,
on background, described receiving reams of emails and dozens of calls from
constituents outraged about the issue.
A code of silence - Most calls the AJC placed to other key
House leaders, including Democrats, seeking comments about Ralston’s delays in
North Georgia courts weren’t returned.
Rebuke, however, came from right-leaning pundits
and activists. Neal
Boortz, the former radio talk show host, said Ralston should face ethics
charges and sanctions from the state Bar of Georgia. Erick Erickson, the WSB
radio host and editor of The Resurgent, accused Republicans of “enabling this
and letting it happen.”
Debbie Dooley, president
of the Atlanta Tea Party, said Ralston’s prolonging of heinous criminal cases
could haunt the Republican ticket in 2020.
“Their silence,” and the
applause, Dooley said, “those are people that rubber stamp what he is doing.
They rubber stamp him protecting accused child molesters, and rapists, and
those that like to beat up women … Is that really what the Republicans in the
Georgia House really want to stand for?”
“He
will remove them from committees, he won’t allow any legislation passed that
they’re interested in. He can kill it. There’s a lot of things that he can do.”
—Debbie Dooley, Atlanta Tea Party president
There is something more
basic at work in the silence from the House. A tradition, an informal rule that
no one talks. It’s a code of silence in a legislature where members exchange
campaign contributions and some have been punished for political disloyalty.
In the past 12 years,
Ralston has donated nearly $150,000 to the Georgia Republican Party. He’s
contributed nearly $300,000 to various House members’ campaign committees over
the same time period.
Ralston supports
representatives facing tough or expensive primary or general election
challenges, but he also donates to candidates at no real risk at losing their
seats. With the exception of Speaker Pro Tem Jones, Ralston has donated, at
some point, to the campaign of every Republican member of the House Ethics
Committee.
Dooley said few
lawmakers are going to challenge Ralston in the midst of a session, when he can
directly affect how much they get done for their districts.
“He will remove them
from committees. He won’t allow any legislation passed that they’re interested
in. He can kill it. There’s a lot of things that he can do,” she said.
A reader who contacted
the AJC last week said he reached out to his state senator about Ralston. He
provided the Democrat’s emailed response: “I am very worried about this and
agree it is problematic. I am coordinating with my colleagues about the proper
response. It is tricky because Ralston as Speaker wields a lot of power in
state government.”
The Georgia Democratic
Party released a statement that, while strongly worded, called for no changes
other than for Ralston to keep tabs on himself. It was attributed to the state
party’s communications director:
“These revelations show
that Speaker Ralston has abused his power as a public servant to delay and deny
justice for crime victims. As a legislator who has been given the trust of his
constituents, he needs to remember his duty and put the needs of Georgia
families before his own self-interest.”
Victims uniting
Well before last week’s
revelations, Ralston’s repeated use of legislative leave had drawn public
criticism. Case delays played into a 2012 bar complaint filed by one of
Ralston’s own clients in a civil case, who said that he put off his auto
accident injury case. Four years later, Ralston agreed to a public
reprimand for
advancing the client $22,000 from his law firm’s trust account.
Around that same time,
Amanda Mosher (a Democrat) was publicly blasting Ralston for delaying a
vehicular homicide case. Mosher’s husband and 4-year-old daughter died in a
2005 crash in Ellijay, and Ralston represented the man charged.
The case took more than
eight years to go to court — with Ralston’s delays accounting for at least
five years of waiting, Mosher said. On multiple occasions, she sat in court
waiting for a hearing, only to hear the judge announce that Ralston had put off
court yet again. She said that before trial, an investigator with the district
attorney’s office told her that evidence had “gone stale” and witnesses had
backed out of testifying. Ralston’s client ultimately took a plea deal: one
year on probation and a $1,000 fine.
Mosher, who lives in
Blue Ridge, said it’s well known that clients who can afford to hire Ralston
can have their cases delayed, weakening prosecutors’ cases. One of his current
clients explained that strategy to the AJC and said, “That’s why I gave him
20,000 bucks.”
“Everyone says, hire
him, you’ll never go to court,” Mosher said. “People talk. This is a small
town.” Mosher now wants to organize other alleged victims of Ralston’s clients
and file a joint complaint with the State Bar of Georgia. She’s already been
joined by a woman in a domestic violence case, the parents of a woman allegedly
molested by an evangelist at age 14, and a party in a divorce case.
“If people will stand up
to him, we can bring him down I think,” Mosher said. “I think we can make this
stop.”
The alleged victim of
Derek Key said it troubles him that Key has been free on bond for so many years
after his alleged crime. Key is accused of driving him to another county for
the purposes of molesting him, and of sending pornographic messages to another
teenager.
“I do not want someone
else to be enticed into a situation they do not want to be in,” he said in a
statement to the newspaper.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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