In Oklahoma, strong opposition to SBs 528 & 917 (This had to do with the division of a military members retired/retainer pay in a divorce) came from family law attorneys and the Bar who make a very lucrative payday from Military divorces.
In fact, the ABA's family law section descended on Oklahoma - we learned
through FOIA requests that private conversations between Oklahoma attorneys and the ABA Family Law Section were taking place with Oklahoma legislators and senate legal staff to (1) publicly proclaim support for veterans by voicing support for the bill, so that re-election could be assured but (2) privately assuring to kill the legislation by not allowing them to be voted on.
(Here is some of the text from emails obtained that outline what we are saying here....A complete PDF file is available that covers all emails sent back and forth from Senators and attorneys)
...."To summarize what I understand, we both received phone calls from Senator Anderson's staff (Kathy) advising that HB 1053 would be brought up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime this week. Kathy indicated it would not happen today, because Senator Anderson would be gone .... however, it would happen some time this week. Because we were unsure of the exact
intent why this bill was being calendared for a vote, you contacted Senator Todd Lamb ... and was advised that the intent was to have the bill sent to Conference Committee so it could die a "quiet death" in Conference. We speculate this effort is a "face saving" move so in this election year the Senators can advise prospective voters the bill was considered ... and that
they support the troops."
Thus, the network of attorneys in Oklahoma and the ABA FLS, as well as the
legislators they were privately networking with, were lying to the public.
The actions of these Oklahomans and ABA FLS attorneys are punishable by courts-martial to military personel. Why are these Americans not held to an at-least similar standard? These dealings we uncovered in the Sooner state show that these attorneys involved and the legislators they were dealing with lacked integrity.
We have very thoughtfully sought to have to have these attorneys held
accountable by the Bar for their unethical activity in regards to HB 1053 (in
2010), but to date, we haven't seen anything resembling them being held
accountable.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
In fact, the ABA's family law section descended on Oklahoma - we learned
through FOIA requests that private conversations between Oklahoma attorneys and the ABA Family Law Section were taking place with Oklahoma legislators and senate legal staff to (1) publicly proclaim support for veterans by voicing support for the bill, so that re-election could be assured but (2) privately assuring to kill the legislation by not allowing them to be voted on.
(Here is some of the text from emails obtained that outline what we are saying here....A complete PDF file is available that covers all emails sent back and forth from Senators and attorneys)
...."To summarize what I understand, we both received phone calls from Senator Anderson's staff (Kathy) advising that HB 1053 would be brought up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime this week. Kathy indicated it would not happen today, because Senator Anderson would be gone .... however, it would happen some time this week. Because we were unsure of the exact
intent why this bill was being calendared for a vote, you contacted Senator Todd Lamb ... and was advised that the intent was to have the bill sent to Conference Committee so it could die a "quiet death" in Conference. We speculate this effort is a "face saving" move so in this election year the Senators can advise prospective voters the bill was considered ... and that
they support the troops."
Thus, the network of attorneys in Oklahoma and the ABA FLS, as well as the
legislators they were privately networking with, were lying to the public.
The actions of these Oklahomans and ABA FLS attorneys are punishable by courts-martial to military personel. Why are these Americans not held to an at-least similar standard? These dealings we uncovered in the Sooner state show that these attorneys involved and the legislators they were dealing with lacked integrity.
We have very thoughtfully sought to have to have these attorneys held
accountable by the Bar for their unethical activity in regards to HB 1053 (in
2010), but to date, we haven't seen anything resembling them being held
accountable.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
