As a follow-up to PP’s post about finding two South Dakotans who support the Judicial Accountability Initiative Law (J.A.I.L.), I wanted to note two other South Dakotans who support J.A.I.L., or at least two who have more than an initial for a first name (see BS’s response to Question 3).
Last October, Ron Branson, the founder of J.A.I.L., gave credit to Gene V. Lodermeier for a letter to the editor Lodermeier wrote supporting J.A.I.L. Branson said he intended to “look him up and give him our thanks and find out his knowledge and experiences with the courts.” And although the local J.A.I.L.ers cleaned their original web site after claiming to break with Branson, Lodermeier’s letter is still cited and linked there.
For those who may not know, Lodermeier has plenty of experience with the federal and state court system. He received a lengthy sentence in the South Dakota State Penitentiary, including time for being a “habitual offender.” In addition to appealing his conviction, Lodermeier filed a state habeas corpus action in which he raised 107 issues. At the time he was sentenced, Lodermeier had a 20-year criminal history and there was information that, among other things, he had been involved in his wife’s disappearance, was a suspect in the pipe-bombing of a police officer’s car and his history included “tampering with evidence, perjury, federal conviction, nascent plot to kill witnesses and past destruction of private property.”
More recently, Jail4Judges modified the front page of its web site to note, “Citizens of South Dakota have expressed outrage at the corruption they see in their state.” Clicking on the hyperlink for “expressed outrage” we find a letter to Branson expressing “Personal Support for J.A.I.L. Amendment.” The letter writer informs Branson he has had “several correspondences [sic] with Bill Stegmeier of tea, SD, regarding J.A.I.L. and the quest to complete a most successful win this November, (Amendment E)” and says he “will have made a big difference in the number of votes for Amendment E.” How is he making this difference?
I tell everyone every day to inform their friends and family to vote YES on the Amendment E. I have on my bulletin board every article published in the local newspapers referencing J.A.I.L. and the opposition to the same. I spend all my free time writing to the JUDGES and prosecutors about the movement and its necessity.
(Emphasis in original).
Who is this South Dakota supporter? Jim Lawrence, another inmate at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. And what does Lawrence see as his greatest selling point? “Imagine the publicity your organization could promulgate through the utilization of an inmate protesting his judicial misconduct while incarcerated.”
Yes, a couple of excellent poster children for J.A.I.L.: convicted felons who shouldn’t be on the street but think they should be.
Our characters are a result of our conduct.
Aristotle
