Chief Judge allows Orly to "phone it in" [Updated]*

Judge Susan Oki Mollway

In an unusual move the chief judge of the federal district court in Hawaii, Susan Mollway,  has ordered the world's worst attorney Orly Taitz to appear in her court room next Tuesday at a hearing on a motion for ECF filer status that Taiz submitted. The granting of ECF access privileges is normally a routine matter that can be handled with a simple submission of an application but Judge Mollway has decided that she wants to have Taitz appear in person to defend the application. We can only speculate why such an unusual hearing has been scheduled. Maybe the courts are finally catching on to Orly and her traveling freak show? One can only hope!

It appears that Taitz will have to turn right around and travel back to the Aloha State in the near future for a hearing scheduled on September 14 in the Taitz v Astrue case. All these trips to Hawaii must be putting a dent in her flying monkeys' frequent flyer mile accounts.


[See update below]

This is not Judge Mollway's first case dealing with birth certificates and the procedures followed by the Department of Health. She recently dismissed a case filed by a clerk for another Judge in the Ninth Circuit of all people. The case filed by Adam Gustafson and his wife was over a requirement that the parents race be provided on the  birth certificate application. Judge Mollway was not impressed with the suit and made this comment in her dismissal:

"This case is an example of why people who overreact to situations are accused of “making a federal case out of nothing.'

Plaintiff Adam Gustafson and his wife… proceed pro se against various state officials. The Gustafsons complain about having been asked to state their race and any Spanish origin on a birth certificate registration form submitted in October 2009 for their Hawaii-born daughter. The Gustafsons articulated to the State their objection to a birth certificate identifying their races.

The court has no quarrel with the Gustafsons’ wish for a birth certificate devoid of such information. What follows, though, shows questionable judgment."

Did you catch that first sentence, Orly? Could this is a clue as to why Judge Mollway has taken an  interest in Orly's case? David Lat has a good article on the Gustafson v Fukino case at Above the Law.

In other news in the Taitz v Astrue case State of Hawaii Deputy AG Jill Nagamine has filed a response to Taitz motion to compel her subpoena of vital records held by the Department of Health. The response contained the key flaws in Taitz' subpoenas that several posters at the Fogbow have pointed out repeatedly:

1. Taitz failed to properly serve Director Fuddy
2. Even if one assumed proper service Hawaii laws prevent the state from granting Taitz access to the vital records
3. Obama's birth certificate has nothing to do with a FOIA case asking for social security records.

The response also included a copy of the letter that the  representative of the Department of Health, Keith Yamamoto,  handed to Taitz on August 8th. Stay tuned to RC Radio for future action.

Response:

TAITZ v ASTRUE (USDC HI) - 9.0 - MEMORANDUM in Opposition to Plaintiff's Emergency Ex-Parte Motion - Gov.us...

Letter:

TAITZ v ASTRUE (USDC HI) - 9.3 - # 3 Exhibit Exhibit A - Gov.uscourts.hid.98529.9.3

* [Updated 8/28/2011] Orly now claims that she will join the hearing via telephone. We speculated as such on RC Radio the other night. Nothing on the docket reflects the change but we will know Tuesday.
[Updated 9/10/2011] Judge Mollway did indeed allow Taitz to call into the hearing. A transcript of the hearing is available. Taitz's original claim from the hearing that Judge Mollway granted her ECF filer status during the hearing proved to be incorrect. Judge Mollway merely pointed Orly to the web site where she could apply for the privilege.