Every Lawyer Should Read This

A U.S. District Court judge in Florida just made an astonishing statement in a case involving the Florida Attorney General. The statement was published in an article on nbc.com on June 17, 2025.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said, in part, "Litigants cannot change the plain meaning of words as it suits them, especially when conveying a court’s clear and unambiguous order."

Why is this statement of interest to me?

The HOA has filed a Motion for Contempt against me as part of its larger case that was filed on December 28,  2024. The magic date is July 24, 2025. (This is the case that is prohibited in the CC&Rs. (Art. XIII, §10))

On March 11, 2025 Judge Coble, of the Richland County Court of Commons Pleas, granted this order against me. I am prohibited from
  1. Communication with the Board regarding the affairs of the Association, in which Plaintiff [sic] has no standing to intervene;
  2. Attending any meeting of the Members or the Board of the Association; and
  3. Communicating with employees or agents of the Association.
As you read those three prohibitions, would you say the Court's Order is "clear and unambiguous"?

Judge Williams wrote, in part, "Litigants cannot change the plain meaning of words as it suits them."  Even though she is a Federal judge in Florida, her wise words ought to count for a lot in South Carolina.  

The HOA alleges that I have violated the Order. They will be unable to prove their allegations. But the HOA is going to spend a lot of your money trying to do so.

You are invited to come to court and observe the Hearing on Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 2:00PM. The case will be heard in Courtroom 2-C, Judge Milton Kimpson presiding.

I am reminded of many of my emails to Justin Martin, former president of the HOA. He often claimed I was mis-interpreting the By-Laws when, in fact, I was quoting them verbatim. (OK, I know that's redundant.)

Words mean what they mean. As the good Judge said, "Litigants cannot change the plain meaning of words as it suits them." 

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