IS THIS THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE?
by Sharon Rondeau
(Jun. 16, 2011) — The following letter has been sent to Rep. Jimmy Matlock, representing Tennessee’s 21st district in the General Assembly, and State Senator Randy McNally, who represents Tenessee’s Fifth District, both of which include Monroe County, about which The Post & Email has reported extensively over the last year.
June 16, 2011
State Senator Randy McNally
rep.jimmy.matlock@capitol.tn.gov
State Rep. Jimmy Matlock
sen.randy.mcnally@capitol.tn.gov
Gentlemen:
It has come to the attention of The Post & Email, an electronic newspaper which reports on corruption in government, that criminal activity on the part of government officials within your respective districts in eastern Tennessee is massive and out-of-control.
We recently reported on the defamation of character campaign which the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department is conducting against a retired Naval Commander who has been the victim of false arrest, beating, tasering, nerve damage, and a ripped left ear last October. The sheriff’s deputies have also similarly abused other residents of your community, violating their civil rights, and there is at least one active multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the sheriff’s department for confiscation of property belonging to a non-profit mission group.
Your community is threatened on a daily basis by Sheriff Bill Bivens and his posse of arrogant, dishonest and flagrantly brutal deputies. Your state laws are routinely violated. Your constituents are arrested and thrown in jail where they are sometimes kept for years without a trial. When they finally do get a trial, the juries are rigged, with the judges allowing innocent people to be condemned to life in prison in collusion with crooked prosecutors, defense attorneys, court personnel and the sheriff’s department. Your grand juries are also rigged, with foremen serving many consecutive years at the behest of the judges, which prevents the grand jury from performing its duties in an impartial manner.
Right now, LCDR Walter Fitzpatrick is facing two bogus charges of assault and resisting arrest ultimately stemming from a citizen’s arrest conducted on April 1, 2010, which is legal in your state. Currently, several judges are refusing to respond to Fitzpatrick’s subpoenas requesting their presence as witnesses, purposely avoiding service. The court clerk, Martha M. Cook, has acted as a witness against Fitzpatrick but continued to participate in the trumped-up case, which is clearly a conflict of interest. Cook selected Fitzpatrick’s trial jury and has recently refused service to appear as a witness at his scheduled trial on June 23. She has also refused to issue subpoenas on a defendant’s behalf, to which he is entitled by both the Tennessee constitution and TCA 16-15-708. There is not one judge who has been subpoenaed who can hear the case because they are all compromised. Altered transcripts have also been reported by defendants to which court reporters have offered no response.
Regarding the treatment LCDR Fitzpatrick has received from Monroe County government officials, he has specifically recalled an event which occurred during a court hearing when Judge Carroll L. Ross presided.
Carroll L. Ross accused me specifically in open court for being responsible for the mammoth law-enforcement response experienced in Madisonville on 20 April 2010.
I do not recall how he phrased it. But the impression he wanted to make was that I was a bad actor responsible and blameworthy for the closing of the Courthouse, the shutting down of schools, and for the great cost to government in their extreme law-enforcement reaction.
I was to be held accountable for bringing shame and darkness to this community.
Jim Headings was in the room. So was Darren Huff.
A man named James Barrier was present.
Ross’ accusation was part of his tirade against me during the 28 June 2010 arraignment hearing. Ross’ pejoratives do not appear in Denise Barnes’ transcript.
Another account of the events of April 20, 2010 contended that “Corruption knows no boundaries when there is no one there to limit or refute that corruption.”
The Mayor of Sweetwater, Tim Yates, has told Fitzpatrick that he cannot meet with Fitzpatrick, as Sheriff Bill Bivens has stated that it would be a violation of Fitzpatrick’s probation. Since when is it a violation for a constituent to meet with any of his elected officials who supposedly represent him? Yates will not respond to that question, but perhaps you will.
Fitzpatrick received a bill for almost $5,000 on charges issued from a tainted grand jury. Why should anything be considered legitimate from such a grand jury? How many indictments have been issued by rigged grand juries over the years? How can any of these indictments be prosecuted if the grand jury was not impartial? Why are the judges hand-picking foremen and jurors and tampering with witnesses? Why are there two different versions of a court transcript which the defendant could not even obtain from the court?
How many innocent people from your district have gone to Tennessee state penitentiaries?
For the last year, I have been hearing of how your constituents have been extorted, tortured, lied to, falsely arrested, denied medical care, burdened with outrageous court fees, and that the Monroe County jail is not fit for human habitation. Are you not ashamed of these things going on in your community, gentlemen?
An elections supervisor, Mr. Jim Miller, was murdered last July, but a genuine investigation has yet to be conducted. The likely perpetrators have been named, yet there is only silence on the part of law enforcement. Could that be because law enforcement was involved in the crime?
The Tennessee constitution has a very strong victims’ rights provision. It would seem that thousands of people in your area have been victimized rather than served by law enforcement and the judiciary. Atty. Matthew Rogers has stated that 72% of the people living in Monroe County have been placed on some kind of court-ordered probation. Such a high percentage of offenders in a small community is highly unlikely, and based on the reports we have received from residents there, the money extorted from them for crimes they did not commit fuels the drug operations and other nefarious activities carried out by the organized crime syndicate which appears to run the county.
Did both of you not take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, the Tennessee constitution and “to always protect the rights of the people?” If so, how can you be upholding your respective oaths when so many people in your district are suffering under Soviet-style government oppression? How can you claim to represent people whose constitutional rights are denied at every turn?
The corruption does not end with Monroe County. Judges and administrative personnel across the state and at the Appeals level have prohibited citizens from obtaining speedy trials, fairness and justice. Defendants are charged outrageous fees for documents which should be public record, and even the U.S. attorney has refused to act. As members of the Tennessee General Assembly, you are able to defund or take other action against these entities which are actively working against your citizens in violation of the state and U.S. Constitutions.
If the citizens have no constitutional protections left to them, they are living in tyranny and are no better off than slaves. If you do not take action to rid your community of the corruption, you are part of it. If any of the victims files a 42 USC 1983 lawsuit for violation of their civil rights, all of those involved could be named as defendants. Even more important, both of you have the ability to stand up and advocate for your community rather than shirk your duty as your cowardly judges do.
I await your responses to this letter in regard to any actions you plan to take on behalf of defending your constituents’ God-given, constitutional rights.
Sincerely,
Sharon Rondeau
Editor
The Post & Email, Inc.
P.O. Box 302
Stafford Springs, CT 06076
editor@thepostemail.com