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Ranchers.net

Hello,



Me and my husband are fighting against mandatory arbitration, and have been in this legal case for four years now. In 2002 we filed a lawsuit against a billion dollar corporation and a bank. After we invested in building custom buildings for the exclusive use of the buildings by the corp (1998), the corp asked me to sign a labor agreement and work for them. I signed it (1999). Then things went wrong. It was like we were getting paid only half. I didn’t understand. What I didn’t understand was that the corp had double-pledged the investment income. They pledged it to the bank to get the bank to loan the money and get their buildings built in 1998. We didn’t know that the corp was the account debtor, and our ID was used to get their custom building. Then they pledged the exact same money to me to work in the buildings for them. We were borrowers in name only.



Anyway the labor agreement had a mandatory arb clause. In 2002, we attempted a state court suit against them and paid for a civil jury, but I got ordered to arbitrate with the AAA. Right here I need to say all state judges in Texas are elected by corporate money – even the Texas Supreme Court judges. They do not have life-tenure and if they lose in an election, they become arbitrators. They build a nest egg for themselves if they send us to arbitrators. Even federal judges that fill temporary appointments have been known to “retire” into the AAA if they are not reappointed – for example 5th Circuit Judge Charles Pickering. Remember him? Bush appointed him temporarily after a cross-burning incident he was involved in (burned a cross in the front yard of a mixed-marriage family). Wonder what happened to Pickering? He’s an AAA arbitrator. The billion –dollar corp is also involved in cross-burning organizations.



Anyway, after I’d paid the AAA several thousand dollars in advance fees, they wanted more in advance fees (total $22,500 from me and $22,500 from the corp). Our attorney then withdrew, and I wrote the AAA to please waive the fees because I couldn’t pay the rest of the money. They wrote back and refused to waive the fees. They dropped my arbitration application. Then with no attorney, no money, and almost six months since I’d been ordered to arbitrate, we had to file a non-suit and then we filed bankruptcy. In Texas, a non-suit is just like the attempted suit never happened.



Then after we got a discharge in bankruptcy, a year later, the corp and bank (that we’d listed as potential creditors) went to the attorney (former bankruptcy trustee) and each offered him $5,000 if he’d enforce the mandatory arb agreement so we couldn’t ever attempt to sue them again, and have no access to an Article III court and of course, no 7th amendment right to a civil jury trial. The bankruptcy judge (Article I adjunct/employee of the federal district judge) accepted $5,000 from each of them and signed an order that transferred our civil rights (of article III access and civil jury trial) to the corp and to the bank – so we’d never be able to set foot in Article III or to bring them before a jury. Of course we appealed, but the district judge (Article III judge) gave full deference to its employee’s ruling, and denied our motion to file a civil jury proceeding in his court. In other words, an individual who files bankruptcy goes into bankruptcy stripped of all civil and constitutional rights if the bankrupt signed a labor agreement with a mandatory arb clause at any year prior to bankruptcy. The bankruptcy judge then sells your civil and constitutional rights to the corp and bank, so you can’t sue them ever.



After the District Court dismissed our appeal, we appealed to the 5th Circuit court of appeals, and we’ve just finished briefing. Then today I found your site after I contacted the Center for Media and Democracy. What we finally did is file a constitutional challenge against the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and that is currently before the 5th circuit. If it fails, we want it appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and we will need help. If you know of a pro bono civil rights or constitutional attorney who is interested in taking our case to the U.S. Supreme Court, please let us know ASAP. Such an attorney would need to be motivated by a sense of justice – rather than dollars- and willing to fight the outrageous justice system Congress has legislated (FAA). We requested oral argument to the 5th Circuit, but if the likes of Pickering are still around – then for sure our challenge will be denied. We’ve not been able to get an attorney, because many attorneys are AAA members or refuse to argue against the nest egg their good ol’ boy classmates have legislated for themselves (the FAA).



Our story has been publicized in the Ft-Worth Star Telegram newspaper, March 27, 2005 (Easter Sunday) in the Business section, and the Texas Observer monthly magazine March 18, 2005. This past Sunday (Easter), I ran a legal notice in the Houston Chronicle. This is what it said:



NOTICE OF CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE

(USCA5 #05-50440) Re: Arbitration Law



Stephen and Susan Martin want a civil jury trial in an Article III court. The Martins filed a certified Constitutional Challenge against the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) – after a Non-Article III judge (adjunct) “found” the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) precludes the individual citizen’s and consumer’s constitutional right to access Article III courts and 7th Amendment right to a civil jury trial. The argument is that Congress did not have Constitutional authority to legislate the transfer of Article III powers to non-Article III courts through enactment of the FAA, nor to empower FAA arbitrators or adjuncts to hold non-jury civil trials with or without the parties’ consent. (254) 697-2982



If you know of a pro bono civil and constitutional rights attorney interested in helping us get our rights back, please share our name and contact info. Please inform others of our constitutional challenge. There are so many people all over America that are adversely affected by the FAA. It needs to go!!!



Thank you so much.



Susan and Stephen Martin

(254) 697-2982

[email protected]
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