By Mark David Blum, Esq.

The Jefferson County (New York) Public Defender’s Office has decided to spend precious tax dollars to name this website in a divorce action. While truly indigent and desperate citizens of Watertown and Jefferson County lack full access to the legal system, one public defender has decided to bring his office into the debate over divorce and the First Amendment. As someone who has devoted hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars, and gobs of bandwidth to defending and aiding the poor as well as defending the First Amendment, I am ashamed to call myself a member of the same honorable profession.

(A hypothetical situation: IF you THINK you recognize yourself in this hypothetical, see a psychiatrist and get treatment for your paranoia).

I have a friend who is a decorated soldier in the United States military. His entire career has been as a front line defender of Country, Honor, Family. While he is ducking bullets and facing IEDs, his Mrs. is here back home using her vagina as a storage bin for every “bad Johnny” seed that comes along. Eventually, she finds herself a married man and moves in with him after he throws his own wife to the curb.

Instead of greeting her returning hero with open arms and loving kiss, the Mrs. slaps her husband with a Separation Agreement, already drafted, and says take it or leave it. Being an honorable soldier, caught off guard, and without the assistance of counsel, soldier boy signs the agreement and the Mrs. runs off with her new man. The Mrs. decides that dad would be the better caretaker parent and leaves custody with him. He waives off child support claims.

As do all such situations, after a year or so, the Mrs. learns that life on the other side aint so grand and her new boyfriend suddenly ran out of income; legitimate and otherwise. She concocts a scheme and decides to drag her soldier boy husband into court to change custody and seek child support.

In comes the Jefferson County Public Defender. Because the Mrs. is now trapped between two worlds, she qualifies for public assistance and of course, a free lawyer. She files a petition to change custody after living under the agreement for nearly a year. No change in circumstances is named other than her dissatisfaction with the situation. When the judge dismisses the petition, the Mrs. threatens to spend soldier boy into oblivion.

One year to the day, soldier boy filed for divorce based on the Separation Agreement. The Mrs. convinces Jefferson County Public Defender to file yet another petition for custody in Family Court and again that Petition is dismissed; this time because there is a divorce proceeding. That Order and Decision was APPEALED by the Jefferson County Public Defender and is now pending.

(Quickly, by way of background: When you “sue” someone, you do so by filing and serving a formal “complaint” or list of allegations against the defendant. In response, a defendant will file an “answer” both denying the allegations and raising any defenses).

In one of the most cowardly moves, the Public Defender also took the step of handling the Mrs. side of the divorce … sorta. She was served with a Complaint for Divorce based on the Separation Agreement. The Jefferson County Public Defender filed an answer for the Mrs. but did so by saying: “We will draft these papers for her but we will not represent her”. In doing so, the Public Defender threw the undefended Mrs. into a litigation setting.

(End hypothetical)

Despite husband and wife living in substantial compliance with the terms of their Agreement for more than a year and there being no grounds for divorce for Wife against Husband, the Mrs. in her Answer challenged the divorce. She said she had grounds based on whatever.

Included in her whatever claim was specific mention of THIS website … the MarkBlum Report. She (read Jefferson County Public Defender) alleged that the Husband’s posting of his opinions, views, experiences, and perspectives on this website gives the Wife grounds for divorce.

Notwithstanding that the Mrs. had been living with a married man while herself being married for more than six months and notwithstanding the parties having been separated for more than a year; it is his commentaries on the MarkBlum Report which are being alleged as grounds for “Cruel and Inhuman Treatment”.

In other words, the Jefferson County Public Defender considers the free expression of opinion in the public square to be an act to which one would have to defend themselves to a judge and the State. If there was something defamatory (false), then the Public Defender should have stated. If something posted was harassing or threatening, the Jefferson County PD should have said something. If any of the postings had exposed the ongoings of the actual legal proceedings, perhaps the Public Defender could have even complained about that.

But the Jefferson County Public Defender raised none of those claims. Instead, the Public Defender declares that grounds for divorce in New York should include “discussing marital issues between the parties in a humiliating and disparaging manner.” They also feel that grounds should include publishing on a website facts which are a “continuing embarrassment” to someone.

Frankly my dear … and I speak on behalf of myself, this website, and even soldier boy … WE DON’T GIVE A DAMN.

These are the United States where 300,000,00 of us agree to live by certain basic principles; including the absolute right to freedom of speech and expression. While there are common sense limitations on that right, nevetheless there is no limitation to one’s right to not be offended. Likewise included in those freedoms is the right to be insulting and the right to show utter contempt and disapproval of someone or something.

It was not soldier boy who was out using his body as a semen collector. He was not making a mockery of his Mrs. while she was sitting in the cold and mud and facing bullets and bombs. Instead, it was the Mrs. who acted as she did and any insult or embarrassment comes from her own actions and not those of her Husband.

More importantly, however is her conspiracy with the Jefferson County Public Defender to make publishing opinions and the cathartic healing that comes therefrom actionable and subject to State review. Apparently, Jefferson County is sufficiently flush with funds that they can use the Public Defender’s Office to advance an agenda of political correctness and First Amendment suppression.

Day in and day out, I see people desperate for quality legal services. From what I see going on in Jefferson County, perhaps a reorganization from the top down is required to help the agency focus and get back on track. Frivolous conduct which attacks the First Amendment and suppresses free speech must be fought hard and on all fronts.

After all, if soldier boy can risk it all to stand that wall in defense of the constitution, so too can I.

Too bad the Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office is not likewise so inclined.

(We welcome and will publish unedited, any response by the Public Defender’s Office. Their silence will be their own shame).