Seamen's Justice Center

Seafarers attorney of record quits, afte committing a gaff in Filing the Lawsuit

Today I received a copy of a notice to the court(required)that Eric K. Fisher , was leaving(fired?)the employ of the firm which is representing the SIU in the case against me. He was the attorney that got smart with me on the phone when I pointed out to him that the service of process was deficient and would not bring me before the court. His boss corrected his gaff and re-filed the case. And in case they think I am out of ammunition, they need to pay close attention.

I spent the day at the University of Iowa Library researching Media and Internet Defamation case. I feel a whole lot better of my chances against the SIU now. Hopefully the Judge will throw this thing out of court before to much more time goes by. I am considering a cross-complaint for frivolous litigation as there is no SLAPP suit law in Iowa yet. Tomorrow I will begin drawing up my initial papers to file with the court.

Area Newspaper picks up the story from the local rag.

The Quad City Times which has quite an extensive readership in Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois did an article on the Seafarers Action against me today. I have place the article on the Seamen's Justice Center web page at:

http://seafarersrankandfile.typepad.com/seajustice

I finally found an attorney that is willing to give me some guidance at an hourly rate of $200 dollars. That means I can afford him for 2 1/2 hours with the present funds I have in my Defense Fund. The Total collected so far is $550 dollars of which I have expended so far, 50 dollars. This amount was from the generous donations of a Retired Radio Officer and an SIU seaman and his mother.

Again, I ask everyone who has an interest in Justice to give what you can, if you can. If you can't , I understand. I realize the monetary pressures that we all feel today, especially when living on a fixed income.

My goal is to come up with $5,000 dollars(its a lofty goal, but if I do then I can successfully defend against this S.L.A.P.P. suit. The lawyer that I counseled with believes that the case is without merit. A union cannot be defamed and the things I printed on the web for informational purposes are protected by the first amendment , so says the Supreme Court of the United States.

In order for them to prevail they are going to have to prove malice toward ? who? I do not know that question yet as their pleadings are so vague as to be unanswerable. Until they identify the officer who they think has been defamed their suit has no buttons, so to speak. Of course there will be a counterclaim!!

Perhaps the SIU will publish the link to this blog, since Jordan Biscardo and John Sacco both visited the site today trying to crack into my computer.

Seajustice Web Log

This is the first post of the Seamen's Justice Center Web Log. At present I am the only one approved to post to the site, and that is only because I am new at this and am not familiar with all of the mechanics of the blog yet. I invite you to join and send me the information that you would like published. Later, when it is possible I intend to add a discussion forum for everyone to discuss issues facing each of us. It will be a place to discuss anything as long as we remain civil to each other. Freedom of Speech will reign.

Robert Swanson
Seajustice Blogger