Common Law Private Attorney Generals (PAGs)
Responses to Posting on Private Attorney Generals and Common Law Offices of America. Update by Sherri Kane and Dr. Leonard Horowitz.
Valuable References:
RICO Monograph written for Attorneys General with relevance to organized crime operating under color of law in the courts, conducted by Bar Association members.
Hawaii Supreme Court Ruling Favoring PAGs and Awards confirming the legitimacy and authority of PAGs working without compensation to protect public interests.
PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL REVIEW ARTICLE, viewed virtually exclusively commercially for financial gain by members of the Bar Association. This is a disgusting demonstration of financial motive driving Bar Association members putting profit before people in America.
People or Citizen- What One Are You? sets the record straight as to whether you wisely and lawfully control the government, including the courts, or the government enslaves you by your ignorance of the law, consumer fraud, and organized crime.
Challenging Anthony Williams and Private Attorney Generals (PAGs), a reader wrote:
“Private attorney generals are allowed by Congress within the context of civil Rico causes. This was not a Rico case. Williams attempted to unlawfully intervene as a PAG in a foreclosure action. This is the result of not understanding the actual purpose and limitations of PAGs. Good thing he left b4 getting arrested for contempt. This sort of mistaken legal maneuver does nothing to help the cause of Justice. Total Fail. Leads the ignorant to believe the mistaken application of legal nonsense.”
Anthony Williams’s personal reply:
“This is the problem with idiots who don’t understand the law. What this person fails to understand is that not only am I a Private Attorney General, but I am an attorney in fact with MORE POWERS and without the restrictions of an attorney at law. Neither do I need any authorization or judicial approval to litigate any case in court no matter how small or big. See T.C. A. 34-6-109 outlining the powers of an attorney in fact in relation to an attorney-at-law.
This law by which I am authorized as an attorney-in-fact states that I have the power to:
“(17) Sue, defend or compromise suits and legal actions, and employ counsel in connection with the suits and legal actions, including the power to seek a declaratory judgment interpreting this power of attorney, or a mandatory injunction requiring compliance with the instructions of the principal’s attorney in fact, or actual and punitive damages against any person failing or refusing to follow the instructions of the principal’s attorney in fact;”
Furthermore, Private Attorney Generals were not ONLY codified to litigate RICO cases, but ANY case that would be in the public’s best interest to get involved and seek justice for the people. I guess my critic didn’t comprehend that part of the Private Attorney General’s duties. The following is an explanation of what a Private Attorney General is on Wikipedia: (Please pay attention to wording in red)
Private attorney general is an informal term usually used today in the United States to refer to a private party who brings a lawsuit considered to be in the public interest, i.e., benefiting the general public and not just the plaintiff.[1] The person considered “private attorney general” is entitled to recover attorney’s fees if he or she prevails. The rationale behind this principle is to provide extra incentive to private citizens to pursue suits that may be of benefit to society at large.
1 Examples of application
2 Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act
Examples of application[edit source | editbeta]
Many civil rights statutes rely on private attorneys general for their enforcement. In Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises,[2] one of the earliest cases construing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, theUnited States Supreme Court ruled that “A public accommodations suit is thus private in form only. When a plaintiff brings an action . . . he cannot recover damages. If he obtains an injunction, he does so not for himself alone but also as a ‘private attorney general,’ vindicating a policy that Congress considered of the highest priority.” The United States Congress has also passed laws with “private attorney general” provisions that provide for the enforcement of laws prohibiting employment discrimination, police brutality, and water pollution. Under the Clean Water Act, for example, “any citizen” may bring suit against an individual or a company that is a source of water pollution.[citation needed]
Another example of the “private attorney general” provisions is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO allows average citizens (private attorneys general) to sue those organizations that commit mail and wire fraud as part of their criminal enterprise.[citation needed] To date, there are over 60 federal statutes[citation needed] that encourage private enforcement by allowing prevailing plaintiffs to collect attorney’s fees.
The laws by which PAGs may proceed include, but are not limited to:
15 USC Chapter 1 – Monopolies and Combinations in Restrain of Trade.
18 USC Chapter 63 § 1348 – Securities and Commodities Fraud, as in the matter of unlawful foreclosures based on fraudulent promissory notes and mortgages; or
18 USC Chapter 63 – Mail Fraud and Other Fraud Offenses
Attorneys who function as a private attorney general do so without compensation. The statutes permitting a plaintiff to recover attorneys’ fees have been held not to apply when the plaintiff is an attorney. (See: Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act[edit source | editbeta])
The U.S. Congress codified the private attorney general principle into law with the enactment of Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The Senate Report on this statute stated that The Senate Committee on the Judiciary wanted to level the playing field so that private citizens, who might have little or no money, could still serve as “private attorneys general” and afford to bring actions, even against state or local bodies, to enforce the civil rights laws. The Committee acknowledged that, “[i]f private citizens are to be able to assert their civil rights, and if those who violate the Nation’s fundamental laws are not to proceed with impunity, then citizens must have the opportunity to recover what it costs them to vindicate these rights in court.” Where a plaintiff wins his or her lawsuit and is considered the “prevailing party,” § 1988 acts to shift fees, including expert witness fees [at least in certain types of civil rights actions, under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, even if not in § 1983 actions], and to make those who acted as private attorneys general whole again, thus encouraging the enforcement of the civil rights laws. The Senate reported that it intended fee awards to be “adequate to attract competent counsel” to represent client with civil rights grievances. S. Rep. No. 94-1011, p. 6 (1976). The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the act to provide for the payment of a “reasonable attorney’s fee” based on the fair market value of the legal services. (Other uses[edit source | editbeta])
The term also refers more generally to any person who holds a general power of attorney from someone else, and also to any person who represents the public in any civil or criminal court proceeding. Most criminal prosecutions today in the United States and other countries in the Anglo-American legal tradition are conducted by public prosecutors who are public employees, but until the late 19th century most criminal prosecutions in the United States were conducted by private persons, usually but not always lawyers, either paid by private parties or asked by the court to serve pro bono. Private criminal prosecutions are still legal in several of those countries, including several states of the United States.
Therefore, Private Attorney General act in MANY capacities not just going after RICO organizations. This is why no one is able to stand against me in a debate about the law because they don’t know the law!
This critic obviously read one part of the statute and thought they knew what they were talking about, but upon minor research, you can easily see that they are fundamentally wrong!
Anthony Williams
Private Attorney General
PAG# 12-6799
UCC 1-308, 1-103
Common Law Office of America
United States Office of the Private Attorney General”