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SLRC FALL 2003 UPDATE
DuPont on the Warpath
Well we are in for it now. We have known for some time that corporate America and their multinational buddies are committed foes of Southern Heritage. With our DuPont case we have unleashed the wrath of a Fortune 500 Company that has threatened legal sanctions against the SLRC’s Chief Trial Counsel for filing a “frivolous” lawsuit against them. If successful, DuPont will undoubtedly demand that Chief Trial Counsel Lyons pay their entire legal bill for the lawsuit.
On May 30, 2003 the SLRC, working with Richmond civil rights attorney Thomas H. Roberts, filed a civil rights lawsuit against DuPont Corporation in Richmond, Virginia, for their ongoing 3-year policy of banning Confederate symbols in the workplace. The SLRC represents seven (7) DuPont employees, most of whom are SCV members. The lawsuit alleges discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.
The lawsuit against DuPont was filed in May, but not served on the Defendants until needed affidavits and exhibits could be collected. Over the summer the needed affidavits were collected from SCV CiC Ron G. Wilson and others and the changes to the Complaint were made.
We were ready to file the Amended Complaint and serve DuPont in late September. At this time our local counsel chose to withdraw from the case as local counsel. He sent a copy of the Motion to Withdraw to the SLRC and we filed a response stating that without local counsel we could not file the Amended Complaint or serve the Defendant. Things now started to get weird. When Lyons called the clerk after filing our response the clerk told him that there was no Motion to Withdraw in the file. Subsequently, local counsel Roberts filed the Amended Complaint and served the lawsuit on DuPont.
On October 7, the court granted local counsel Roberts’ Motion to Withdraw, the same motion that the clerk told Lyons was not in the file. The court ordered the SLRC to be expeditious in finding new local counsel. This is easier said than done. It is absolute proof of the need for legal protection for Confederate Southern Americans that in the capitol of the Confederacy finding any legal counsel for a Confederate case is next to impossible. We felt very fortunate to have found Thomas Roberts. We can only guess at what happened behind the scenes to drive him off the DuPont case.
DuPont served its inevitable Motion to Dismiss on October 16 and the next day filed papers threatening Chief Trial Counsel Lyons with sanctions, (pay all their legal fees), if he does not dismiss the lawsuit against DuPont by November 6.
Our Response to the Motion to Dismiss has been prepared and is ready to file - but we cannot file it – NO local counsel.
We talked to our clients and they want us to fight on. But without local counsel we cannot go forward. We must fight the Motion for Sanctions, but without local counsel, we cannot file anything with the court.
The lawsuit is not frivolous and DuPont’s scandalous attempt to bully Lyons and the SLRC off the case must be countered. DuPont pays us the highest possible complement with their thuggish antics.
But if DuPont succeeds, it will begin a corporate reign of Terror against Confederate heritage. It will be "Open Season" on Confederate Southern Americans!
How this saga will end has not yet been written. We don’t know what will happen. We are still looking for local counsel with “guts,” and if we find him Lyons will still have to face the Sanctions Motion. If we can fight it, we will. Your help of our work is now more vital than ever. Case Notes
The pace is about to seriously pick up in our Lawrence County case as discovery begins. As you may recall, the Lawrence County Board of Education banned Confederate symbols and after trying to work it out with the Board of Education, the SLRC filed suit over a year ago.
Our clients, many of whom are Christian Confederate Southern Americans of Cherokee descent, filed suit alleging Constitutional and civil rights violations. After one of the Defendants, Principal Ricky Nichols, was called up for overseas National Guard service, the case was abated by the court until his return.
The SLRC has filed discovery requests on the Defendants, and is designating a host of Expert Witnesses, Including:
• SCV Commander in Chief Ron G. Wilson • SCV Chaplain in Chief John Weaver • Past SCV Chaplain in Chief Alister Anderson • Confederate Flag expert Devereaux Cannon
The court will enter a scheduling order for trial soon. The roller coaster ride, as we prepare for trial, is about to begin.
Curtis Storey
Curt Storey worked for Burns International Security for almost ten (10) years. For nine (9) of those years he displayed a Confederate flag on his lunch box and a “heritage not hate” bumper sticker on his truck. Storey was assigned to the Sony plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sony, which allows Imperial Japanese battle flags on employee office walls, apparently had no tolerance for an American battle flag. Sony told Burns to deal with Storey and the upshot was “diversity” policies that do not include Confederate Southern Americans. Storey was fired. Curt asked for our help. We filed EEOC claims against Burns claiming discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.
When the EEOC turned us down we filed a federal lawsuit, and when that was dismissed we appealed it to the 3rd Circuit US Court of Appeals. We filed an appeals brief. Burns filed their brief. Then we most recently filed a reply brief on behalf of Curt Storey.
This is not an easy process, but one we feel is vital to securing legal protection for Confederate Southern Americans. We must keep “knocking at the door” until justice is secured.
Bechtel Savannah River
The racist food products case is back on track. An allegation of religious discrimination will be filed in an Amended Complaint before October 30. A new scheduling order has been proposed that will end discovery by March 6, 2004. That’s four (4) months to do all our depositions.
Bechtel should be filing responses to our discovery requests soon.
SCV member Richard Smith was put on probation for a year, (Smith just completed the year’s probation), for wearing an SCV Ball Cap to work and displaying Maurice Bessinger BBQ sauce and Winn-Dixie Crackers in his office.
FAA
The SLRC represents two air traffic controllers at Jacksonville Airport who were disciplined for displaying Confederate symbols in the workplace. Our lawsuit was recently amended by the addition of numerous affidavits (see below) and the FAA moved to Dismiss, we have filed our response to their Motion to dismiss, which you can read on the SLRC website at www.slrc-csa.org.
Heritage Violations in our schools continue to mount...
School has begun again and the calls are pouring in for assistance from all across Dixie. The SLRC case manager takes an average of fifteen (15) calls per week on heritage violations taking place in our public schools. The facts are usually the same: Little or no racial problems in the school, but Confederate symbols are banned anyway - usually in the form of Dixie Outfitter t-shirts or other brands in similar good taste.
At the present time it is our policy to help these students by investigating and recording the facts, finding a local heritage group to provide support (almost always an SCV Camp) and seeing the students and parents through any hearing before the local Board of Education. This part in itself calls for significant travel expenditures.
If the local school board refuses to
change its policy regarding Confederate symbols, then a lawsuit is the
only option for redress. Lawsuits are expensive and the SLRC cannot file
any more without a significant increase in support. These kids
need our help, whether or not they get it is entirely up to you! Morris Dees infiltrates the soft spot in the SCV
While recently visiting a college in Roanoke University, Morris S. Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center was upfront about his “contacts” in the SCV.
Here is what the Commander of the Virginia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Brag Bowling had to say: “The Virginia Division was alerted to the presence of Morris Dees who would be on the Roanoke College campus to speak on Thursday, August 28. The division put out a press release and gathered a group of people who volunteered to protest Morris Dees. Among our protesters was Commander-in-Chief Ron Wilson, ANV Committeeman Henry Kidd, Virginia Division Adjutant Brandon Dorsey and myself.
We marched in front of the College with picket signs and distributed copies of the Southern Mercury to passersby and students.
Dees was to speak at 7:30 but this was slightly interrupted by a bomb threat. When he began speaking, I would guess that there were approximately 500 people in the audience. Dees went through his normal lecture but took time to deal with the SCV. In his remarks about the SCV, Dees specifically mentioned that an opposition group within the SCV which was opposed to the direction of the organization had communicated with him and also sent him money.
After the lecture, Commander-in-Chief Wilson spoke informally with Dees and questioned Dees as to who he was in touch with from the opposition group. Dees acted hazy and said Charles _______. He gave no last name. Dees also mentioned that a radical lawyer was influencing the SCV. It was my opinion that the group Dees spoke of could only be the Save the SCV. I would guess that the Charles was Charles Hawks. And I would suppose that the radical lawyer was Kirk Lyons.
To me this was the clearest and most direct reference about the connection between Morris Dees and Save the SCV; a group which I think is truly harming our organization and aligning themselves with our worst enemies.
Brag Bowling SCV Commander-in-Chief is a Confederate Southern American
SCV Commander-in-Chief Ron G. Wilson has given us a sworn affidavit, declaring his status as a Confederate Southern American, and requesting legal protection for those of Confederate ancestry.
Also swearing to Confederate Southern American status:
• SCV Virginia Division Commander Bragdon Bowling • SCV Adjutant in Chief John W. Adams • SCV South Carolina Division Commander Robert Roper • SCV Pennsylvania Division Commander John Care • SLRC Director H.K. Edgerton • SCV Florida Division Member Nelson Winbush • SCV Chaplain in Chief John Weaver
These affidavits, and others, have been filed in our Bechtel, FAA, DuPont, and Storey lawsuits and will be used in our Lawrence County lawsuit. If you are a Confederate descendant and consider yourself to be a Confederate Southern American, then we urge you complete the CSA Affidavit (or compose your own) and mail it to our office. For more information, see our website at www.slrc-csa.org.
Here is a proposed CSA Affidavit:
AFFIDAVIT OF _____(INSERT YOUR NAME HERE)_______
My name is (Full Legal Name), of City, County, State. I am over the age of eighteen years and am in all ways competent to give this affidavit.
I am a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) in (name Division).
[Note: where appropriate, you may modify this affidavit to state if you are a member of the OCR. , UDC or other heritage organizations and that you are a proud descendant of a Confederate soldier.]
The SCV is a non-profit tax exempt, non-racial charity made up of over 32,000 male descendants of heroic Confederate soldiers located around the globe.
The SCV was established in 1896 by the United Confederate Veterans, who saw the need for their sons to carry on the mantle of defending the Confederate soldier’s good name, and the just causes for which the Confederate soldier fought.
[Place your detailed ancestral information here. My great great great uncle, Pvt. X served in the X Regt. VA Cavalry Co X in X County, City, State, etc..]
I consider myself to be a Confederate Southern American. The Confederate Battle Flag is a venerated symbol of my ancestry. I am a Bible believing Christian and the Confederate flag, with its St Andrew’s cross, is a venerated symbol of my Christian religious faith.
Being a Confederate Southern American in no ways intrudes on my patriotism as a citizen of the United States of America. I claim all the inalienable rights as a citizen of this Republic.
Confederate Southern Americans are a remnant people from Southerners as a whole. We are not defined purely by the region we hail from. Our customs and folkways are different and in many ways misunderstood by modern Southern and American society.
I am a loyal and patriotic citizen who is requesting legal protection and recognition for my people. Confederate Southern Americans as a people and national group origin fit every requirement laid down by congress, judicial precedent and the EEOC.
I am willing to assist in educating my fellow citizens how Confederate Southern Americans are like Southerners and our fellow Americans, and how we are different.
The foregoing is true to the best of my information and belief.
Sworn to under the penalties of perjury this _____day of ___________2003 ______________________________ Your Name
AFFIANT From the Chief Trial Counsel:
My message is simple: Support us. Support us now…or our five (5) current Federal lawsuits will collapse like a house of cards. This has been a very rough summer for non-profits in general and the SLRC in particular. Only God and the forbearance of our creditors are keeping us alive. We recently received a significant gift from the SCV, but it is only a patch. Our future is still in doubt.
Our opponents are tax-supported school boards, multi-national corporations like Dupont , Burns and Bechtel, and the US Government. They can outspend us 1000 to 1. Yet we can beat them if you will continue to support us. Many in the heritage community take the SLRC for granted. Because of the quality work we put out, and our aggressiveness, they assume that we are adequately funded and so they don’t bother to support us. Some in the heritage community see us as competitors for scarce charity dollars. Our opponents know our weak spot well enough, and they are counting on you to be indolent and lackadaisical in supporting the SLRC.
Send your check in the most generous amount possible. Have your Camp or heritage organization buy “Thumbs Up for Dixie” stickers. Encourage others to support us. Your donation is tax deductible. Help us so we can continue to help you!!
Respectfully, Kirk D. Lyons Staff Changes
Regretfully, the SLRC Board has accepted the resignation of Executive Director Dr. Neill H. Payne, who will be devoting his full time to building his chiropractic practice.
Dr. Payne has faithfully served the SLRC since its founding and his many accomplishments and sacrifices are sincerely appreciated. Dr. Payne has been nominated to join our Board of Directors, and this will be voted on at our next Board meeting.
We also wish to welcome Rick D. Wilkerson as our Interim Executive Director. Rick is a North Carolina native and serves the NC Division SCV as its Southern Highlands Brigade Commander. An independent businessman, Rick brings needed skills at a very difficult time in the SLRC’s history. Rick looks forward to the challenge!!
Please send in your pledge today. REMEMBER YOUR PLEDGE IS TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!
Allison Schaum
PLEASE SEND YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO: SOUTHERN
LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER
For more information about HK's March Across Dixie contact: www.southerncaucus.org/hkedgerton.htm
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