Filed today:
Other related pleadings:
I’m not even going to comment about any of this; the pleadings speak for themselves. All I can say is yuck. Just yuck.
Next steps:
- The PDJ will either grant/deny Jim Lee’s Motion for Partial Judgment on the Pleadings. If that motion is granted, I’ll leave AZ immediately and handle the appeal remotely. If it’s denied, we keep going.
- The PDJ will either grant/deny my Motion to Compel. If it’s granted, I expect Mata will either appeal, or Jim Lee will try to drop the case. If it’s denied, I will immediately appeal via a special action.
- Assuming the case is still alive, late next week I’ll file my anti-SLAPP motion, as well as a Motion for Rule 11 sanctions. I met and conferred w/ Jim Lee about that yesterday, and he is sticking to his position. I’m obligated to wait 10 days and then I can file the Rule 11 motion. The anti-SLAPP motion will also seek summary judgment as an alternative (because I know Jim Lee will try to say the anti-SLAPP law doesn’t apply for some reason), but Rule 56 applies in bar cases, so I can seek summary judgment even if the anti-SLAPP law didn’t apply (but it does).
Although many facts are disputed, I think most of the case can be resolved by dispositive motion…just because even if the facts were what Jim claims, I still win on the law.
Jim Lee thinks I don’t have the same First Amendment rights as other Americans. That’s one of the most disrespectful, unpatriotic arguments I have ever seen. But that’s how Jim feels. Fortunately, the law is overwhelmingly on my side, so this will be a walk in the park.
Also, ponder this — I would actually be HAPPY to lose this case on the law. I would be FINE if the Arizona Supreme Court sides with Jim Lee. Because if that happens, I think the odds of the U.S. Supreme Court taking this case are close to 100%….and that would be a dream come true for me. Lawyers DREAM about having a big case go to the high court. Considering how much I love the First Amendment, this would be the greatest honor of my life.
Just think about the case I mentioned yesterday — Chiles v. Salazar. That case involved a Colorado therapist who sued the state in federal court because she believed a law violated her First Amendment rights. She lost in the trial court, and she lost in the Court of Appeals. But then the U.S. Supreme Court took the case, and she won. HUGE.
This is what most people don’t understand — the First Amendment is a BIG, BIG, BIG deal. When people like Jim Lee threaten it, some very powerful folks stand up and take notice.
Just go look the docket for Chiles: https://www.scotusblog.com/cases/case-files/chiles-v-salazar/
Do you see all those amicus briefs? There are DOZENS of them. Why would dozens of people take the time and spend the money to file briefs in a small little case from Colorado? Because – without the First Amendment, America wouldn’t be America anymore. It would be North Korea or Iran or Saudi Arabia.
America is one of the greatest countries on Earth because we are one of the most free. But Jim Lee wants to take my freedom away. When you take my rights away, that means your rights suffer as well.
So yeah, I don’t want to sound cavalier, but I double-dog-dare the Arizona Supreme Court to take Jim Lee’s side. If that happens, I will ask SCOTUS to grant cert, and I’m guessing they would happily take the case. Especially because if the AZ Supreme Court agrees with Jim Lee, that will mean Arizona law conflicts with the laws of other states which have rejected Jim Lee’s pro-1957 views.
The U.S. Supreme Court LOVES First Amendment cases, and the best part: the last time the AZ Bar went there, they LOST. See Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977).
Time to make that happen again.❤️
P.S. Although I’m representing myself right now (because the case is just way too complicated for someone else to jump in), if we do end up going higher, I’ll get some help…and Jim Lee will end up paying for that. Under A.R.S. § 12-353, the AZ Bar is required to pay fees/costs if I win, so that means any appellate lawyer(s) who help will be handsomely paid by Jim Lee once we prevail.
