The American's Bulletin gets bested

[fortinbras]

For those of you who don't know, The American's Bulletin (TAB) is a bi-monthly tabloid, quite literally published in a cave (or an abandoned mine) in Oregon. The contents are mostly copied from the internet and from various mountebanks and the magazine promotes the Sovereign and Redemption notions, Cracking the Code, and similar legalistic junk.

A few years back, one prison inmate, James B. Wright, having gotten a copy of TAB in prison, sent them some money for their "advice" on getting out of the slammer. TAB sent him instructions on filing bogus liens against prison officials and other public servants, which not only didn't help Mr. Wright but got him labelled as an escape risk and moved into less congenial surroundings for an even longer sentence. Wright sued TAB for making his life worse. This went through several intermediate decisions. But on August 16th, what is (or ought to be) a final decision was rendered, in which Wright won damages from TAB for, first, breach of contract, and, almost as an afterthought, additional damages for sending around a "mostly unintelligible" letter calling Wright a deadbeat and inviting a number of people (including a fellow inmate) to squeeze him for even more money. The result is that TAB now owes Wright more than $20Gs, but nobody should seriously expect to see TAB pay this. TAB, by the way, subsequently amended its name to The American's Sovereign Bulletin (which seems an odd placement of the new adjective), and one of its staff bailed out but otherwise it is unchanged.

I have the distinction (although I may not be alone) of being denied a subscription renewal .... not a problem about payment but that, during my year as a paid subscriber, I had written letters to the editor (who apparently seldom gets negative letters) finding fault with advice and suggestions published in TAB. You'd think with their chronic need for money, they'd be less finicky about paid subscriptions. Fortunately I was able to place a new subscription using a friend in another state as a front.

= = = =
Slip Copy, 2010 WL 3292648 (D.Or.)

United States District Court, D. Oregon.
James Brian WRIGHT, Plaintiff,
v.
AMERICAN'S BULLETIN, Robert Dean Kelly, and Marianne McCutcheon, Defendants.

No. CV 09-956-PK.

Aug. 16, 2010.

James Brian Wright, Tucson, AZ, pro se.

DEFAULT JUDGMENT AS TO THE AMERICAN'S BULLETIN ONLY

Michael W. MOSMAN, District Judge.

On June 23, 2010, I adopted Magistrate Judge Papak's Findings and Recommendation (# 40) and granted Plaintiff Anthony Wright's motion for default judgment against The American's Bulletin ((# 21), (# 22)). (Op. & Order (# 51).) I subsequently ordered Mr. Wright to explain how he calculated the damages he requested in his complaint. Mr. Wright submitted a written explanation on July 8, 2010. (Pl.'s Resp. (# 52).) Based on that documentation, I find that Mr. Wright has sufficiently proven $15,750 in sum certain damages for his breach of contract claim against The American's Bulletin, ( See Pl.'s Resp. (# 52) 8; Ex. 1; Ex. 2.)

Mr. Wright's defamation claim arises from a letter that The American's Bulletin sent to several third parties, including the Clerk of Court for the District of Oregon, the United States Marshals Service, and an individual who is apparently an inmate with Mr. Wright at the Federal CoiTectional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. (Pl.'s Resp. (# 52) Ex. YY; Ex. ZZ.) The letter falsely stated that Mr. Wright owed $94,000 to The American's Bulletin, and it authorized the third-patty recipients to collect that sum from him. Based on this letter, Mr. Wright claims $94,000 in damages because he believes he is entitled to the same amount of money that The American's Bulletin falsely stated he owed. (Pl.'s Resp. (# 52) 11.) I disagree that this is an appropriate measure of damages for his claim. Therefore, I am left to determine a proper award of damages based on Mr. Wright's general allegations of emotional distress and damage to his reputation.

The American's Bulletin letter is mostly unintelligible, but it does convey a general impression that Mr. Wright owes The American's Bulletin $94,000 and has defaulted on those obligations. The statements are not of a type that would evoke strong feelings of “hatred, contempt or ridicule,” however, nor would they tend to excite powerful “adverse, derogatory, or unpleasant feelings or opinions” against Mr. Wright. See Marleau v. Truck Ins. Exchange, 37 P.3d 148, 155 (Or.2001) (explaining the characteristics of a defamatory statement). Although I accept that the letter may have injured Mr, Wright's reputation in some respects, particularly among other prison inmates, the damage to Mr. Wright's reputation within the judiciary and the United States Marshals Service, and among the public in general, is slight in relation to the damage inflicted by Mr. Wright's criminal convictions and imprisonment, Accordingly, I find that Mr. Wright is entitled to $5000 on his defamation claim, to compensate him for his emotional distress and the damage to his reputation. This award is also partly punitive in nature, in consideration of Mr. Wright's statement that he “sent two separate letters asking the defendant to retract the letter[ ] ... but the defendant refused to comply,” as well as strong indications that the letter was written willfully in retaliation for a lawsuit Mr, Wright filed against The American's Bulletin a few weeks earlier. (PL's Resp. (# 52) 9-11.)

Finding no just reason for delay, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that The American's Bulletin shall pay plaintiff the amount of $20,750.00 in compensation for his breach of contract and defamation claims.

D.Or.,2010.
Wright v. American's Bulletin
Slip Copy, 2010 WL 3292648 (D.Or.)

[lorne]

Very interesting Bernie. I like the website; nice summary of the matrix you Quatlosers try so hard to maintain. Perhaps I'll order-up a subscription.

[Evil Squirrel Overlord]

I love the bald eagle with an American Flag over the eye. It drips of class.

[grixit]

Hmm, managed to meet the legal definition of slander even though the taget was a felon. That's the kind of person whose advice is considered sound in the soverun movement.

[fortinbras]

Losing a defamation suit to someone who's in the slammer is a great rarity. The American's Bulletin (now renamed The American's Sovereign Bulletin) has managed to crash and burn when confronted with a poorly educated pro se. You cannot make this stuff up!!

[wserra]

You cannot make this stuff up!!

Why not? They can.

Need a "Secured Party/Creditor High Quality Plastic Photo I.D. Card" to get into the next "International Sovereigns Association Convention" (motto: "Hold m'beer an' watch this!")? Just give them $80! You can also be an "Investigative Reporter"! Just give them another $80 for that ID card (good for two years - the five year version is only $155. Hey, it costs more to print an expiration date of 2015 than one of 2012)! Use it to get into . . . Well, we're not sure what you can get into with it. Who knows, maybe Helen Thomas' old front-row seat at Presidential news conferences!

Ever want to be Mitch Modeleski? Well, just give us another $80 for a "Private Attorney General" ID card! We even titled it "Special Council" so that no one will think you're a member of the intelligentsia!

These guys are a hoot. And then there's their "Sovereignty Packet" . . .

[nancydrew]

You’ll be happy to know these scammers are still going even 7 years later. They have go under several company names ARBT, ARBTO the least.

One website reflects a POBox on Penn., but a area code for Oregon.
https://youtu.be/lQrLcG51URc

According to Dr. Theresa (aka Theresa Blankenship) their company has been in business for 18 years, and has a A+ Rating with BBB.