Maui FARts Lawsuit

That is, F.A.Rts., First Amendment Rights lawsuit.

If I lose we all lose -- except for the government tyrants who would take a giant bite out of my right to freedom of speech and yours too. What they did to me is routine in Putin's Russia, in China, Iran and Cuba, but it shouldn't happen here if the Bill of Rights means anything.

I have provided information on this case in previous posts and blogs. Here I provide the text of my civil rights lawsuit against County of Maui, which outlines my allegations of malicious criminal misconduct intended to violate and suppress my First Amendment right to free speech.

For links to my other blogs, go to www.kurtbutlerblogs.blogspot.com.

 For extensive background on this case, see especially the link to "Killer Lies."

I am still seeking an attorney's help -- representation or just advice.

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. (Also other books by Kurt Butler.)

I apologize for the different sizes of type in this post. Try as I might, I can't get it to cooperate.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

KURT BUTLER, Plaintiff, v. COUNTY OF MAUI, Defendant                              

CIVIL NO.  CV13 00163 

                            

_________________________

COMES NOW PLAINTIFF KURT BUTLER, acting pro se, and for cause of action against the above-named Defendant, alleges as follows.

1.  PLAINTIFF Kurt Butler (hereafter “Butler”) is a citizen of the United States and resident of Maui, Hawaii, and was so at all times relevant to this action.

2.  DEFENDANT County of Maui (“the County”) is a county in the State of Hawaii and was so at all times relevant to this action.

3.  This civil rights action is taken pursuant to 42 USC, Sections 1983, 1985 and 1986. Jurisdiction of this Court is invoked pursuant to 28 USC, Sections 1331, 1343(a)(3) and 1367, and Article III of the United States Constitution.

4.  Venue is proper pursuant to 28 USC, Section 1391.

5.  Plaintiff’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech has been violated by the Defendant, County of Maui (“the County”).

6.  Plaintiff is entitled to equitable relief.

7.  Plaintiff understands that certain relevant events occurred outside the time limit period for bringing a civil action, and he cites them to provide context and illustrate motive for the events that occurred within the limitation period. Furthermore, in order to show that a longstanding practice is tantamount to a policy, Plaintiff must, by definition of “longstanding”, cite events outside the two year limitation period.

8.  During the years 2003 through 2011 Butler, a long-time anti-health-fraud writer, whistle blower and activist, has sometimes lawfully demonstrated (displayed a sign and offered flyers) and attempted to lawfully demonstrate on a public sidewalk near the Alive and Well Natural Health Emporium in Kahului, Maui, (hereafter “Alive and Well” or “the store”). Alive and Well is owned by MDDR Health Solutions, Inc (“MDDR”), which is owned by Dennis Jones, Darren Jones and Mona Jones, who run the store. As a responsible former health professional and health journalist Butler believes he has not only a right but a duty to expose and protest the criminal deceptions (per se violations of federal and state anti-fraud laws and food and drug laws) that the store has been using in its hour-long radio commercials for more than a decade to sell its expensive and dangerous products such as “miracle cures” (their term) for terminal cancer and HIV/AIDS, and superior substitutes for “killer vaccines” (their term for all vaccines), which they urge everyone to avoid, especially children.

9.  As a criminal enterprise that dispenses misinformation dangerous to the public health and welfare, and that promotes a radical political agenda, Alive and Well is a legitimate target of dissent and peaceful public protest. Such protests are protected speech. Butler has as much right to sign wave protesting health fraud as the mayor has to sign wave promoting his reelection. And Butler has as much right to protection of the law while lawfully demonstrating as any politician has.

10.  However, Butler has been repeatedly denied the routine municipal services that constitute protection of the law with a consistency that would be a major scandal should a politician be treated the same way. The store’s owners and employees have repeatedly used criminal means and abuse of legal process to stop and prevent Butler’s lawful demonstrations. The courts have repeatedly and unanimously affirmed Butler’s right to demonstrate, yet in all relevant instances  the County has consistently allowed and supported MDDR’s unlawful attempts to suppress Butler’s lawful demonstrations and punish him for them.

11.  Rights purportedly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights do not really exist unless they can be enforced and protected in the legal system. There are two possible options for this: criminal law and civil law.

12.  By mid 2008 County of Maui had firmly established and made it clear to Butler that it strongly disapproves of his demonstrations and would deny him the normal municipal services that constitute protection of criminal law in connection with his demonstrations. It did this by unlawfully arresting him for protesting without a permit, which is not a crime since there is no such permit; by harassing him during his demonstrations; and by repeatedly refusing to investigate his complaints of crimes committed by Alive and Well employees and owners in attempts to stop his lawful demonstrations. These crimes include multiple counts of harassment, terroristic threatening (death threats), assault, theft and destruction of his flyers, making fraudulent 911 calls, false reporting to the police, and perjury.

13.  Even when two police officers witnessed a violent assault on Butler by a store security guard twice his size and one third his age – an assault that caused Butler a serious lifetime injury and could have crippled or killed him – they did not arrest the assailant or investigate those who hired him to commit crimes against Butler. No charges were filed in the case and the County made it clear that no charges would have been filed even if Butler had been killed in the assault.

14.  The County’s motive for refusing Butler protection of the law is unclear, though it may be to be to ensure the continued robust health of this criminal enterprise because it pays taxes and employs people who pay taxes.

15.  It is self evident that the store’s beef, and the County’s beef, with Butler has always been about his words. If his sign and his flyers had praised the store’s “miracle cures” or advocated re-election of the mayor, neither MDDR nor the police would have bothered him. And if police officers had witnessed an opponent of the mayor assault Butler on the public sidewalk while he sign waved for the mayor they would have been expected to arrest the assailant and prosecute those who hired him to commit the crime, and they surely would have done so. But the County objected to Butler’s demonstrations targeting the store, so it allowed MDDR’s criminal activities against him to occur with impunity.

16.  Having firmly established by its actions over several years that Butler would have no protection under criminal law, the County was aware that Butler’s last hope of protecting, defending and enforcing his right to lawfully demonstrate safely was to hold his assailant and MDDR accountable for the assault and battery in civil proceedings. The County knew that if Butler failed in this effort there would be nothing to restrain MDDR from continuing to use criminal means, including potentially-lethal violence, to deter his demonstrations. Butler’s right to speak freely would then be permanently eliminated, which is exactly what County of Maui had shown for years that it wanted.

17.  The County knew that the incident reports of the two police officers who witnessed the assault on Butler strongly supported Butler’s case, so it ensured that the officers would not testify truthfully for Butler. For several days the officers made service of the subpoenas ordering them to testify difficult and expensive by being evasive. Only after Butler sent a letter to Chief of Police Gary Yabuta reminding him that evasion of service is a crime, as is subornation of evasion, was Butler’s process server able to serve them.

18.  However, the County was still determined to avoid providing testimony that would help Butler’s case. It found an opportunity to do so, by criminal means, during the trial of Kurt Butler v. MDDR Health Solutions, Inc, et al, CV 09-1-0102(1), conducted August 29 – September 1, 2011.

19.  In case their testimonies would not fit in during the first day of the trial, August 29, 2011, subpoenas had also been prepared and filed to command Officer Gasmen and Officer Sagawinit to appear the next day, August 30. Being inexperienced, Butler did not think to make one subpoena for both days. During the trial that afternoon Butler saw that the two officers were outside the courtroom with Deputy Corporation Counsel Moana Lutey. It appeared that he might be unable to fit their testimony in that day, so Butler’s assistant left the courtroom to serve the subpoenas. Officer Gasmen was served, but Officer Sagawinit had suddenly left the area. When informed of this, Butler asked Lutey where Sagawinit was. She replied “In the building” but refused to say where in the building. Plaintiff asked Lutey, who knew that the subpoenas had been duly filed, to call Sagawinit on her cell phone and tell her to please come to the fourth floor. Lutey refused, saying, “I don’t owe you anything.” Her voice dripped with contempt, venom and anger. It was obvious that she had advised Sagawinit to get lost so she could not be served.

          20.  Taken aback, Butler asked why she was being so hostile. Lutey replied, “Because you’re a troublemaker, an asshole and a nut. You’re crazy.” As an example she referred to Butler suing Gasmen for the unlawful arrest in 2003 for protesting without a permit. Her words showed that she and the County had held a grudge for eight years because Butler had attempted to assert and enforce his First Amendment rights, both by demonstrating, which is protected speech, and by filing the complaint for unlawful arrest, which is also protected speech. To the County’s way of thinking, this made him a crazy troublemaker.

          21.  When Officer Sagawinit suddenly left the bench next to Lutey, she had not yet been informed that she would not testify that day. Though it was late and it seemed unlikely that she would be called to testify, she still should have been available either to be called to testify or to receive the subpoena, duly filed with a copy served on Corpration Counsel, to testify the next day. A plaintiff’s process server should not have to chase a witness or play hide-and-seek, especially when time is short and the witness is reasonably expected to be nearby. Nor should a process server have to outsmart a crafty witness handler who prefers that the witness not testify, as this would allow and encourage routine obstruction of justice by witnesses. But this is the problem the County created in this case. It is not likely that Officer Sagawinit would have suddenly left the area unless Lutey advised her to do so.

          22.  In her public outburst Lutey essentially admitted that long-festering contempt, vengeance and malice had motivated the Office of Corporation Counsel to coach and counsel Officer Sagawinit to obstruct justice by evading service of the subpoena. This criminal witness tampering and subornation to criminally evade service was a continuation of the County’s long-established malicious policy of doing nothing to help Butler’s struggle for freedom of speech and everything possible to set it back. This was extraordinary behavior, far from the norm for the County, which routinely cooperates in criminal and civil cases. The County indisputably denied Butler normal municipal services in retaliation for his protected speech that it disapproved of – his demonstrations, his lawsuit for unlawful arrest and his current lawsuit. This is a violation of Butler’s First Amendment rights.

          23. In this instance Deputy Corporation Counsel Lutey was the County official with final policy-making authority. It had been delegated to her by the Office of Corporation Counsel, and thus her acts constituted official County policy. The trial judge ran a tight ship and stuck to the schedule in deference to the jurors. Butler would have no chance whatsoever to appeal to a higher County authority to compel Lutey and Sagawinit to cooperate. So Lutey was the County authority in charge.

          24. Instead of providing truthful testimony Officer Gasmen pleaded no memory of the incident and Officer Sagawinit evaded service of the subpoena ordering her to testify as a witness for Butler on August 30, 2011. Her testimony was by far the most probative and crucial, and she was much younger than Gasmen and less likely to be believed should she claim to have forgotten. The judge denied Butler’s motion to recess the trial until the officer could be found and served, so she never testified. The verdict, rendered on September 2, 2011, was for the defendant.

25.  These malicious criminal acts – witness tampering, evasion of service and suborning evasion of service – were intended to obstruct justice by sabotaging Butler’s presentation of his case. They succeeded in this and thereby eliminated Butler’s last hope of enforcing his First Amendment right to speak freely. Since a right does not exist unless it can be enforced, the County’s criminal interference with Butler’s attempt to enforce his right to speak freely is tantamount to criminal interference with his right to speak freely, and is therefore a violation of his First Amendment rights.   

26.  Defendant, having previously ensured that Butler would have no protection or relief under criminal law, further ensured by its criminal acts during the trial that Butler would also have no protection or relief under civil law. The County has conclusively shown that, as far as it is concerned, MDDR employees can harass, assault, batter, cripple and even kill Butler with complete impunity. This was the deathblow, long sought by MDDR, to Butler’s freedom of speech.

27.  The County’s actions during the trial were the culmination of an 8-year pattern that is tantamount to a policy of denying Butler normal municipal services that would tend to protect, defend and enforce his First Amendment right, affirmed by several courts, to demonstrate near the Alive and Well store. Because, to Butler’s knowledge, no one else has attempted to protest the store’s deceptions, he cannot point to examples of the policy other than his own experiences. This does not negate the existence of the longstanding pattern.

28.  All of Butler’s complaints about this systematic misconduct – to the Chief of Police, the Mayor, the Prosecutor and Corporation Counsel – have gone unanswered, making it clear that County of Maui condones and approves the (written or unwritten) policy.

INJURY

29.  Butler, now almost 69, cannot demonstrate near the store without reasonable assurance that he will be safe and enjoy the protection of the law. Defendant has denied him this and has unlawfully given MDDR what the courts would not: a de facto injunction on Butler’s demonstrations, one obtained and enforced by the use of criminal violence and the threat of homicide. This is tantamount to a license to murder Butler should he defy the de facto injunction and demonstrate near the store. And this is a violation of Butler’s First Amendment rights.

30.  The greatest injury is the injury to our society. The logical corollary of Defendant’s policies and actions is to tolerate and condone hired violence in election campaigns and disputes over the environment, abortion, gay rights, Hawaiian sovereignty and other issues. A society in which the government chooses sides, then, by providing or withholding municipal services that constitute protection of the law, selectively condones and allows violence to terrorize the marketplace of ideas is not a free, open and democratic society. This is a violation of everyone’s First Amendment rights.

          31.  Without relief from this Court, Plaintiff will have to choose between two options. One, he must give up, as too dangerous, his right to demonstrate near the Alive and Well store. Or, two, he must be prepared to use extreme force to defend himself during such demonstrations.

          32.  Unless this Court provides Plaintiff relief in this case, County of Maui will be encouraged to similarly obstruct justice in future cases.

REMEDIES

33.  Wherefore, Plaintiff Kurt Butler asks this Court to order permanent equitable relief that will restore, protect, defend and ensure his right to safely demonstrate near the Alive and Well store.

34.  This relief should take into account that MDDR and its owners and employees are determined to prevent and interfere with Butler’s demonstrations and cannot be trusted not to harass, harm or kill him, especially knowing that the County will allow them to do so with impunity.

35.  Relief should also take into account that County of Maui cannot be trusted to protect Butler from harassment and assault; to apprehend and charge anyone who might harass and assault him, even if police officers witness the crimes; to refrain from harassing and assaulting him; to refrain from unlawfully arresting him; to properly investigate Butler’s complaints of crimes committed against him; or to otherwise respect and defend his First Amendment rights.

36.  The County’s behavior has been so extraordinary and brazenly criminal that Plaintiff cannot find legal precedents, which may not exist. Therefore, he can only suggest possible remedies, knowing that some of them may not be acceptable to the Court. He asks the Court to hold a hearing to consider these possibilities, as well as others that may occur to Plaintiff later and others that the Court may prefer.

37.  Extraordinary abuses and violations call for extraordinary remedies. Possible remedies that occur to Plaintiff at this time include the following:

Order County of Maui to fund private security for Butler’s demonstrations;

Order Federal Marshals or the National Guard to provide security;

Permit Butler to carry a firearm or a Taser;

Order the closure of the store as a criminal enterprise that engages in interstate commerce and uses violence to silence its critics;

Order the appointment of a special prosecutor to prepare charges relating to the crimes committed by the County and its employees during the trial, and present the case to a grand jury;

Order the County to arrange to provide Butler radio time – to be used exclusively to critique the store’s claims for its products – equal to that of Alive and Well’s commercials, approximately one hour per day;

Order other remedies that would at least partially compensate for the years that Butler has been prevented from safely demonstrating because of the harassment, threats and violence that County of Maui has allowed MDDR to commit against him.

Order County of Maui to reimburse Butler for expenses he incurs in connection with this lawsuit, including an attorney’s fees should he find an attorney to represent him.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerBlogs.blogspot.com 

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Open Letter to Governor Abercrombie

Dear Governor Neil Abercrombie:

For about 15 years County of Maui and State of Hawai'i have knowingly allowed, aided and abetted a lucrative, harmful and violent criminal enterprise to flourish in Kahului and online. The county has gone so far as to allow the criminals to use violence against me to stop my lawful demonstrations that expose the scams. There is now an extra-judicial ban on my lawful demonstrations, a ban enforced by potentially-lethal violence and threats of murder. Details are provided in previous posts on this blog (especially third post previous to this one, posted on 3/28/12) and my blog www.killerlies.blogspot.com.

The motive of the governments is clearly financial. As long as the business and its criminal owners pay their taxes, those who have sworn to uphold the law will look the other way. They are, in essence, running a protection racket for the criminal enterprise.

It is dangerous and illegal to claim to have OTC cures for HIV/AIDS, advanced cancers, heart disease and whatever else might ail you; and to claim to have safe and effective substitutes for "dangerous and deadly" vaccines while urging people not to get their children vaccinated. But this business, Alive and Well Health Emporium, does these things every day with impunity. The owners have no credentials in any health-related field, but they've been getting rich marketing their fraudulent miracle cures in hour-long radio infomercials for a decade and a half.

People assume that if the government allows such claims they must be true. The state's stubborn refusal to investigate my complaints makes it complicit and possibly liable for harm done to victims of the frauds.

The buck stops with the Governor. If you don't instruct the Department of Health to do its job (see HRS 328-3 and 328-6), you will be personally complicit in the ongoing swindles, and you will show that the state's utter disregard for consumer rights and the rule of law, so prominent during the Lingle years, continues as unwritten policy.

Please do the right thing and put a stop to this despicable racket.

Sincerely,

Kurt Butler

Links to my other blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Is Police Chief Yabuta A Criminal?

Picture this scenario. In spite of years of hard work your small business has failed and you become homeless. After several weeks of misery a woman named Maria offers you a temporary job doing home repairs. You jump at the opportunity and bust your butt for two weeks. You've been promised enough payment to get a small room for a month. You have a chance to get back on your feet. But when the job is done, instead of paying you Maria evades and avoids you. Then you meet another homeless person who tells you this same woman ripped him off for ten days of labor.

You realize you've been screwed, but you lack the fee required to file a claim in Small Claims Court. Desperate to get out of the rain at night, you do the only thing you can do, try to embarrass the con artist into paying you by lawfully demonstrating near the restaurant where she works part-time. Your sign calls her a thief.

Determined not to pay you a dime, Maria files a petition for a temporary restraining order (TRO) asking the court to enjoin you from demonstrating. It is full of outrageous lies claiming that you never worked for her, that you demanded sex and money, that you threatened to kill her and that you punched a big hole in the living room wall.

TRO petitions are always granted as ex parte orders pending a hearing on the matter within a month or so. And so this one is granted and served on you. Its intent is to stop you from demonstrating, but you read it carefully and realize that it says nothing about staying away from the restaurant. It only orders you to stay 100 yards away from her home, which is well behind the restaurant, about 150 yards from where you stood with your sign.

Wanting to keep the pressure on, you demonstrate again in the same spot. Maria calls the police and tells them that you're violating the order. When they arrive the con artist is standing at the gate to a neighbor's house, which is well within the forbidden 100 yards from you. The residents are not home. Maria tells the police she lives there and you are arrested.

The police never read the address on the TRO and never ask her for proof that she lives at the house. They just measure the distance from you to the house, assume you are guilty and arrest you. You're booked into MCCC, facing a year in prison. Two weeks later you are taken to court in chains for the hearing on the TRO petition.

After listening to both sides the judge pronounces the petitioner a liar and dissolves the ex parte order. But the prosecutor refuses to dismiss the charge of violating the order before it was dissolved and demands you remain locked up until trial in several months. The judge inexplicably agrees and you are returned to the slammer where you are horribly abused by prison staff for the next two weeks. You finally manage to contact a friend who bails you out.

A week later the prosecutor finally sees the futility of his case and drops the charge. You then contact the police and request that felony charges be brought against the con artist for filing the sworn TRO petition filled with statements that can easily be proved to be lies. The police refuse, saying that their policy is to not investigate complaints of perjury.

This kind of thing happens all the time and this is what happened to me. I was robbed of my hard work, jailed for a month, treated like a criminal (there was no presumption of innocence), humiliated and terrorized by the prospect of spending a year in jail. The con artist's criminal lies cost me untold misery and cost the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

You would think the county would be furious and go after the con artist with a vengeance. But it refused to prosecute because it wants to keep its illegal perjury decriminalization policy in place. The policy, which allows police and other prosecution witnesses to lie with impunity in court, is an integral part of the county's railroad. In its entire history the county has never prosecuted a perjurer. Imagine the uproar if the county had a policy of not investigating and prosecuting complaints of robbery or rape. In this case they went after me with a vengeance for the alleged misdemeanor (TRO violation), while they allowed the con artist to operate her slaving scam and refused to prosecute her for felony perjury.

I wrote a letter to Chief of Police Gary Yabuta telling him that as long as the perjury decrim policy remains in effect he and other county officials could fairly be the targets of unproved allegations. After all, if innocent people can be jailed on the basis of perjury, and the perjurers pay no price for the criminal lies, then those responsible for the insane, illegal policy should pay a price. They should be given a small taste of what victims of perjury endure. The sting of unproved allegations against them is not nearly as severe as being arrested and spending weeks or months in jail, so they have no grounds for complaint.

The county replied with a letter threatening legal action to stop any such demonstration I might attempt. There would be no legal basis for such action, but I would welcome it so the whole perjury decrim can of worms can be opened.

So, is Maui's Chief of Police Gary Yabuta a crack and ice dealer and a predatory pedophile as my protest poster appears to allege? Who knows? But by the county's own standard and policy there can be no legal repercussions for saying he is, even saying so under oath.

Incidentally, if you read the small print of my sign you will see that it actually says that Yabuta is worse than a crack dealer and child molester. I believe this. Destroying the integrity of the justice system by decriminalizing perjury, against the intent of state legislators, is one of the worst crimes imaginable. It proves that the county does not care about truth and justice or about you. Maui does not have the rule of law, but the rule of stupid, dishonest, vicious individuals.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Maui County Government Criminals

Why does Maui County have the lowest voter turnout of the nation's 3 thousand counties? Because Maui residents sense that their government is hopelessly corrupt, arrogant and lawless, and that nothing voters do will make a difference. Most of us have first or second hand knowledge of the county's cynical and criminal behavior. Unfortunately, few have the resources (time and legal costs) to fight back, so we grumble and mostly do nothing.

Now it's time we start speaking out and, whenever we can, exposing the criminals by name. Let their infamy grow and follow them even if they leave government positions and enter the private sector. Lacking a moral core, these dangerous people have proved that they are conniving, self-serving and dishonest. They cannot be trusted. Changing jobs will not change their basic nature.

It's important to make this clear from the start: the vast majority of people who work for County of Maui are competent, diligent and honest. My harsh comments about the few scoundrels named here should not reflect on the many decent, hard-working county employees. Unfortunately, the scoundrels are mostly higher-level bosses and/or employed in some form of law enforcement, and they wield power far greater than their numbers would suggest.

On the other hand, this is surely not a complete list of the criminals who are in, or who recently left, government positions. If you've been a victim, I urge you to start a blog and expose the bad guys.

Here's my list of people who should not be trusted because of the crimes or extremely unethical and stupid acts they committed while in government.

Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Acob (former): Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subornation of perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Mayor Alan Arakawa  Obstruction of justice; Perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise. 

Police Officer Samuel Gasmen  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Perjury.

Police Officer Vernon Gosney  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Jenkins (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subornation of perjury; Lying to a jury.

Police Officer Kenneth Kihata  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Torturing a detainee.

Prosecuting Attorney John Kim  Obstruction of justice; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Subornation of perjury; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Marie Kosegarten (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; subornation of perjury; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Police Officer George Kronoski  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Moana Lutey   Obstruction of justice; Subornation of perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Subornation of evasion of subpoena service. See open letter to Lutey posted 1/8/16.

Corporation Counsel Brian Moto (former) Obstruction of justice; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Chief of Police Thomas Phillips (former)  Obstruction of justice; Perjury, Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Richard B. Rost   Obstruction of justice; Subornation of perjury;  Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.  

Police Officer Mary Sagawinit  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise; Evasion of subpoena service.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gerry Sheppard     Obstruction of justice; Subversion of the Constitution and the rule of law.

Police Officer Rocky Silva  Obstruction of justice; Assault and battery. 

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Mark Simonds (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subornation of perjury; Lying to a jury.

Mayor Charmaine Tavares  (former)   Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Davelynn Tengan (former)  Obstruction of justice; Malicious prosecution; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law. 

Chief of Police Gary Yabuta  Obstruction of justice; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.

Corporation Counsel Patrick Wong  Obstruction of justice; Subornation of perjury; Subversion of the Constitution and rule of law; Complicity in running a protection racket for a criminal enterprise.


Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Maui County Runs Protection Racket for Criminals

and sticks the taxpayers with the tab. The incredible story of this out-of-control local government that conducts personal vendettas against citizens it doesn't like and spits on the Bill of Rights is told in the lawsuit I recently filed in Circuit Court against Maui County, et al. The text follows.

(This lawsuit was dismissed on technical grounds and has been re-filed in federal court.)

To enlarge for easy viewing, click on the document.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

Barbarians in Paradise

The Book The Tyrants don't want you to read. Now available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com. 

Civil War Coming to Maui?

The following is an open letter I sent to all Hawaii State legislators.

Will I go to court or to war? Is civil war coming to Maui? Government terrorists and thugs are running amok in Hawaii, especially on Maui. I first got caught in their net several years ago and I'm still trapped. Since the year 2,000 they have repeatedly persecuted and brutalized me in ever-escalating attacks. In the most recent episode I was unlawfully arrested (this is not in dispute), then incarcerated for 30 days in MCCC without benefit of counsel. There I was assaulted and brutally battered (by guards, not inmates); denied medical care for a very painful and potentially serious condition; taunted and mocked by ACOs while vomiting, kept in isolation in a cell strewn with my vomit for ten days (they refused to clean it up); denied all hygienic measures (no soap, toothpaste, shower, etc, or even toilet paper); denied even one minute a day of exercise and sunshine; subjected to sadistic abuses by guards and nurses; and subjected to one of the cruelest of tortures, ten days of sleep deprivation that continued long after I informed the sadists that I was hallucinating badly and begged for an end to the torment and begged to be allowed to contact an attorney.

In short, I was treated like an enemy combatant -- almost as bad those at Abu Graub. The egregious abuses and violations I endured are unlawful even for death-row inmates. They are extremely offensive by all civilized standards of decency and they are criminal by state, federal and international law. Yet it all appeared to be routine for them. They had obviously committed the same crimes against others.

This happened in June, 2006. When I was released (and the bogus charge dropped) the first thing I did was seek psychiatric care to help me deal with the humiliation, degradation, depression and rage. But no psychiatrist would see me because I did not have the right insurance. My anguish has greatly increased since then.

The second thing I did was seek an attorney with a view to filing a lawsuit in federal court against the County for unlawful arrest and another against the State for cruel and unusual punishment and other violations of my civil rights. Over the next 21 months I contacted one attorney after another, and I believe I have now contacted all personal injury and civil rights attorneys on Maui and Oahu. Much to my shock, not a single one would hear me out or read my chronology and the outline of my case. This has nothing to do with the merits of the case, of which they know nothing. Nor does it appear to be a question of money; they don't ask whether I can afford a retainer. More recently I have offerred a $50K retainer to several: still no response. They simply want nothing to do with it. The ACLU says it is swamped and cannot help me.

So now, with just 3 months left to beat the statute of limitations, I have thought about trying to get help from a non-HSBA member, maybe a paralegal or someone who has represented himself in federal court. However, I learned that this is illegal, so I wrote to Attorney General Bennett and HSBA President Sia and asked them what action they would take should I go to court with such a person representing me. Bennett's office replied but refused to answer my question. The Deputy Attorney said that he cannot give me legal advice (which I did not ask for). Sia did not reply.

So here are my questions:

How can there be any pretense that the Bill of Rights is the law of the land here? How is Hawaii any better than the notorious tyrannies and police states around the world?

Does this case not prove the absurdity and inherent injustice of preventing non-attorney-guild members from representing plaintiffs or at least helping with research and the like? If the HSBA Bums choose not to fight for liberty and justice, who are they to stop others from taking a shot at it? And who are legislators to allow, aid and abet such tyranny by granting them the monopoly?

Might not such tyranny eventually inspire victims of government terrorism to take another kind of "shot" at the problem? People (including our nation's founders) have fought wars and revolutions over the issues at stake here. Since victims of government terrorism have no access to the courts and no hope of legal redress, are there any moral reasons (as opposed to practical and legal reasons) that they should not take up arms against the government terrorists of Maui and Hawaii? Are they supposed to peacefully accept their degraded state and live their entire lives in fear of the next arbitrary assault by the government thugs and criminals? I'm too old to resort to real armed struggle, and I tend toward pacifism anyway, but I can understand the rage that might drive younger people -- especially those not talented with the "pen" -- to resort to the “sword”.

Now I need your advice on how I might regain my dignity, humanity and peace of mind. Would you care to guarantee payment for the psychiatric care that I, thanks to government terrorists, have needed for two years and been denied?

I'm 63 years old. I grew up in Hawaii (elementary school on Molokai, high school in Kailua, college at UH) and planned on living out my life on Maui. I never had trouble with the law until, in 2,000, I crossed paths with the Maui Police Department's Finest Thugs, Bullies and Perjurers. Now my dream of living out my senior years in peace and happiness here have been shot to hell. My anguish, grief and rage have increased with each day in the last 21 months. I will NEVER forget or forgive those who brutalized me and those who allowed it to happen and continue to allow such atrocities to happen in the name of "The People."

Tyranny always inspires hatred, rage, vigilantism, and revolution. Its victims develop emotions similar to those of a woman who has been gang-raped and cannot get justice from the system even though the culprits are well known and get to continue their lives after wrecking hers. This kind of rage is not easily extinguished.

This open letter to Hawaii State legislators is my Hail Mary. Legislators, current and previous, are largely responsible for the horrid health of Lady Liberty in Hawaii. They have rendered their constituents defenseless against the thugs in the executive branch. So this is a personal appeal for your help in finding an attorney who will secure me a fair trial in federal court.

Is there not a moral obligation for at least one of you to step forward and defend ordinary people from government terrorists? After all, legislators have granted the law guild an absolute monopoly on the practice of law without requiring its members to devote even a tiny fraction of their efforts to protecting the most fundamental rights of all Hawaii residents and gaining legal redress for victims of government terrorism.

Ten years ago I could not have imagined the things that have happened since -- that such atrocities would be committed against me by county and state thugs. Now, however, I know it could and did happen to me again and again, and also that it could happen to almost anyone, including a friend, relative or other loved one of each and every legislator. So I am asking each of you, in such an event what esteemed attorney would you engage to help a loved one (or yourself) get justice and peace of mind, and thereby regain faith in the rule of law in Hawaii? I don't need just a name – I have tried all those in the phone directory. I need a personal request from you to the attorney asking him or her to contact me and consider my case.

A prolonged fight over the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights (and the Hawaii State Constitution) could develop into a form of civil war -- probably nonviolent, at least at first, but nevertheless very disruptive to Maui's vulnerable economy. Unlike in most such civil rights cases, due to the uneducated and inarticulate nature of most potential plaintiffs, or their intoxicated or insane state such that they cannot credibly testify to events, my case is unusually well documented. Success is virtually assured, and this could inspire (or force) immediate reform. Without reform the county and state will continue to fill huge silos with anger, hatred, cynicism and vengeance. Can that be good for these islands?

The people of this county and this state deserve and need a trial in federal court on my case so the critical issues it raises can be properly aired in a manner befitting a democratic society and a liberty-loving people. If a private company had similarly kidnapped, detained and brutalized me, its executives would go to prison and they and their company would be financially ruined by my lawsuit -- lawyers would have been all over it. How can we not hold the government to at least a fraction of such accountability? Without accountability we have tyranny, which causes alienation and invites insurrection.

If June 1 arrives without my complaints having been filed I will resign myself to being officially at war with the governments of the County of Maui and the State of Hawaii. They will have created an implacable enemy for life. These police-state-type entities have waged war on me for some seven years, and the passing of June 1 will finalize and make official my lack of legal redress, in this most brazen and atrocious case. By revoking my rights under the Bill of Rights and rendering me utterly defenseless against arbitrary assaults on my liberties and my person, the governments have made it clear that they consider the Bill of Rights to be null and void in Hawaii and they will not be constrained by its provisions. Why should its victims not fight back, blow for blow? And, denied constitutional rights and human rights, why should they be subject to the Tyrants' laws at all? Tyrany carries the seeds of anarchy.

If this last desperate effort fails I will spend the rest of my life fighting the tyranny of the Maui/Hawaii Injustice System with every fiber of my being. Through the internet, podcasting, books (I've had several published by major publishers over the last couple decades, and I have contacts in publishing and in Hollywood), articles, and other media, I will spend all my days and expend all my resources and energy exposing to the world the evils that prevail in this phony "paradise," and I will urge other victims to likewise fight back with ALL the means at their disposal.

Links to all my blogs: www.KurtButlerblogs.blogspot.com

For more detailed critiques of various forms of quackery, including naturopathy, see my book A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”.  It was expertly edited by legendary quack buster Stephen Barrett. MD. 

The critics say:

"Superb!" -- Dr. Victor Herbert in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Excellent" -- National Council Against Health Fraud.

"Five Stars" -- Cooking Light.

"Thought provoking; a great book" -- American Journal of Health Promotion.

 When the book was published almost 30 years ago it was strongly praised by responsible health experts and the rare responsible media, but trashed by new-age critics and even vandalized in bookstores by new-age fanatics. It is as true and relevant as ever, and has been mostly vindicated by time. Yet my courageous and far-sighted publisher, the venerable Prometheus Books, is still sitting on lots of copies. Please help validate their integrity by buying a copy. Or two or more as gifts. Perhaps 10 for your local school library and health classes. See their website for assorted discounts. Make them an offer. (My royalties are insignificant; this little promo is for the benefit of one of the world's great publishers, Prometheus Books.) 

Maui's future foretold: Barbarians In Paradise -- Terror Comes to Maui. This is a prophetic flash novel about a future police state and those who rebel against it. Available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.com.