May 19, 2022 update on my Federal Civil Rights Legal Case

ByTamara Posted: Updated:
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Written 5/19/2022- Thursday

Hi Friends!

First off, I want to acknowledge that many people may be *tired of hearing* about this from me (and also tired of hearing me ask for help)! Well, if that is you, imagine how I feel about it!

I read a quote recently on a friend’s Instagram page that provided me some solace: “If you aren’t asking for help, your dreams aren’t big enough” [from Frzy via Ralph Jaccodine.]

My dreams are big. My dream is “Justice” in the face of Civil Rights Violations. Justice not just for me but for all activists and all citizens in a world with constant government overreach where government employees and elected officials think they can steamroll over citizens without cause and without repercussions.

And I am asking for help.

If you are really tired of hearing about my long-running-but-vitally-significant legal case, please just *skip this post *, and move along. I’ll understand! 🙂

I NEVER could have anticipated that this legal battle would have been drawn out over more than SIX YEARS – costing me and my family so much much more than the $300,000 in direct and indirect costs that we have incurred as expenses and debts… [not to mention lost income, pain and suffering, and other quantifiable and non-quantifiable impacts.]

The State has done everything in their power to delay and to interfere with our efforts to expedite this process to see justice served, and to hold the bad actors accountable for what was done.

The State’s illegal and unjust actions led to the destruction of the federal-award-winning non-profit I founded. This was an organization which – in 2016 – at the time the “investigation” began – was finally “standing on its own two feet” – helping more than 20,000 families a year on a shoe-string budget, with the help and involvement of countless passionate and dedicated volunteers.

The State’s illegal and unjust actions included arresting me in November of 2017 (on false charges, charges that had already been disproven by an exhaustive IRS audit that concluded in my favor months earlier) – arresting me while I was sitting at my kitchen table home schooling my disabled son*!

The State’s delay tactics (in an attempt to run out the clock on this case) have included aggressions large and small. One example: around the time I broke my leg (January 6, 2021), we were set to have a mediation meeting (in which the State was agreeing to offer me a settlement to end the case). Since I broke my leg it was decided to wait to do the mediation until I had my new lawyer on board — a lawyer hired expressly to handle the mediation talks agreed to by all parties.

My new lawyer came on board (officially) on March 3, 2021; after he diligently spent a couple of weeks getting up to speed / reviewing the case history (in order to evaluate if he would take the case) — going through all the mountains of historic *multiplicative, self-reproducing, self-referencing mind-boggling bumbling bureaucratic B.S.* that was the basis of my persecution at the hands of the dysfunctional incompetence and malicious-intent driven “machinery” of the State (“machinery” made up of both intentional actions and choices along with an unfathomable and criminal level of incompetence of the very real human bad actors named in our case.)

My attorney then immediately – as soon as possible after I had hired him and he had familiarized himself with the complex case – followed up with the State to set a mediation date — whereupon, the State’s attorneys informed us that they no longer intended to honor their request to mediate (i.e. they no longer intended to act in good faith)!

Another example: we have been waiting for this hearing date now for several months; when the judge first proposed a date in June for the hearing the lawyer for the State said he was “unavailable on that date because he had a vacation planned”, and we would need to choose another date. While this may seem minor, the minor and major delay tactics add up! A week here, three months there – and here we are 6 years later!

These are just two of the many delay tactics (among dozens) that the State has (apparently, legally) used to attempt to make this case age/fade into irrelevance. In their most recent filings they have formally and officially argued that the case should be dismissed as it is no longer viable because of the long timeline — a timeline marked by constant delays – every one of which (outside of me breaking my leg) *they* themselves have generated. This hearing is the first opportunity for the judge to weigh in, and the judge will be weighing in specifically on whether or not their request to have the case dismissed (for this and other reasons) has merit.

The graphic with this post is the latest update in my #FederalCivilRightsCase #CivilRighsViolations #OregonSucks #GovermentOverreach

Today (5/19)I paid my attorney $1,000.00 ($500 in money that y’all donated, and $500 from earned income from my consulting work helping families). He has been both amazing and generous with his time – and patience (rarely asking for incremental compensation to cover his considerable out-of-pocket expenses ). Now, given the need to ensure that he can set aside the time and sustain the energy and mental space necessary to focus on preparing for this hearing, this is really a critical juncture — and I would love to get him the funding he needs to carry him and our team (which now also includes two energetic law students!) through the preparation they will be doing for this hearing over the coming month.

For us to proceed to the desired outcome – a jury trial in which the bad actors with the State are held accountable for their actions, it is imperative that the Federal judge rules in our favor at the conclusion of this upcoming hearing – and for this to happen, my legal team needs the resources to go through *many tens of thousands of pages of bullshit — the incredible data dump of seemingly intentionally disorganized, redundant documentation and smokescreens from the State — so they can present coherent, clear, concise, indisputable argumentation (in responses) to the judge.

I would like to pay my legal team another $5,000 this week to help keep them going – and I just do not have the resources to do that, but perhaps you can help.

  • PLEASE HIRE ME for this month, or next month, or for an event or consultation in October (Lead-poisoning Prevention Month),
  • or consider making a donation or even making a loan which will be paid back with the conclusion of the lawsuit or the sale of my family farm [which ALSO has somehow still not happened yet}…
  • If just 5 people loaned $1,000 each for my legal fees, this could be handled in a snap!

I currently owe money to 19 (very generous) people who have helped in this way (helping to support the continuity of my advocacy work, as well as the costs of my legal battle and costs to keep my family going through this difficult time) over the past 6 years of this drama and trauma, and everyone will be paid back either with the settlement of the case; the sale of the farm; or out of earned income from my business. (As income comes in – whenever I can over the past two years I have been making small payments to folks who have helped since the start of this nonsense).

Your help is critical at this juncture.

Thank you

For those new here who have not followed all of the bits and pieces, here are some of the more important recent bits in a timeline (with links to full copies of the filed documents too!):

  1. August 2019: The initial Civil Rights complaint (suing the State of Oregon and the bad actors employed by the State who were responsible for what happened) was filed in Federal Court by my attorneys.
  2. August 2021: The “Third Amended Complaint” in our case – was filed with the courts August 4, 2021 (link) – Excellent writing by my legal team!
  3. December 2021: The “State Defendants’ Motion For Summary Judgment” (motion by the State to have our case thrown out!) – was filed with the courts 12/31/21 (link)
  4. January 2022: The “Plaintiff’s Opposition To Defendant’s Motion For Summary Judgment” (our response to item #3 above) – was filed with the courts 1/29/2022 (link). NOTE: This includes more excellent writing and argumentation by my attorney & is definitely worth reading!
  5. February 2022: The “State Defendants’ Reply In Support of Motion For Summary Judgment” & “Request For Oral Argument” – was filed with he courts February 11, 2022 (link).
  6. June 2022: This next step (June 28, 2022) is a hearing when the Federal Judge assigned to our case will hear oral arguments from each side. The State will be arguing (along the lines of their argumentation in the documents linked above) why they think the case should be dismissed and my attorney will be arguing (again – along the lines of the argumentation linked above) why the case most definitely should NOT be dismissed.
  7. August 2022 will mark THREE YEARS since we filed our initial complaint. The State and their legal team has dragged this out for THREE YEARS! I would love to have some resolution before then (a resolution that is a demonstration of justice!)

All income and contributions are reported as income to my business: Lead Safe Mama, LLC. If you want to make a contribution or a loan or if you want to hire me – all the ways to do that are in the bullet points below! Thank you.

Contributions or loans for my legal defense fund can also be made directly to my legal team! [Please include a note to my attorney Zack that the payment is for the legal fees for my civil rights case – and let him know in that note if it is a loan for me to repay or if it is a contribution*.]

  • Venmo for Duffly Law, LLC: @DufflyLawLLC
  • PayPal for Duffly Law, LLC: zack@dufflylaw.com

*Because Lead Safe Mama, LLC is not a nonprofit (and not affiliated with a nonprofit) contributions in support of the work we do here or in support of the legal defense fund are not tax-deductible (but they are greatly appreciated!)

Thank you. – Tamara

Feel free to text me or email me with questions!
Text: 415-609-3182
Email: TamaraRubin@mac.com

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