Why I Like Courts

 

Today I was remembering a day in court in 2010. I was living in northern Illinois and had been blogging about the sheriff's department and several local police departments.

Sometimes people thought I didn't like cops. I do like cops. Honest ones. Cops who think they should be the first to obey the laws; not the last. I didn't like the county sheriff, and he didn't like me. I was running against him in 2010. (I didn't have a chance, but I definitely had fun!)

A deputy had been fired and was suing the sheriff in a wrongful-termination action. The sheriff sucked me into the lawsuit with a subpoena for 27 months' worth of my blog records. He wanted all communications from any current or past employee of the sheriff department.

Several deputies were feeding me the dirt from the sheriff's department, and the sheriff didn't like seeing it in print. He was trying to find the leaks. 

I immediately knew I was not going to provide that information, even at the risk of jail. Deputies were counting on me not to identify them. I also knew I could not ignore the subpoena. So I wrote out a Motion to Quash and filed it pro se.

I drove 40 miles to the Federal courthouse and went to the Clerk's Office to file it. The Clerk told me the judge heard motions on Wednesdays and Fridays and asked me what date I wanted. I asked, "What do you have open in 2015?" She laughed and said, "You can't wait that long!"

When I went to court, the Federal judge asked me only 1-2 questions. Then he turned on the sheriff's attorney and went up one leg and down the other. He told her she was just on a "fishing expedition" and that her subpoena had nothing to do with the deputy's case. He said she was just trying to find the leaks and added, "Mr. Philpott, you have won your Motion."

I'm still smiling over that one!

There was no "taking it under advisement". He made his decision on the spot!