History Does Repeat Itself

Though I have not written extensively about my battles with the Florida Judiciary and the Florida Bar – I supposed the topic too esoteric – a strange confluence has caused me to change my mind. Hence, this post, the first to be filed under “Me vs. The Florida Supremes”.

Without tracing here and now the decade long history of my conflicts with the judicial oligarchy in Florida, the latest permutation arose when Florida Governor Crist requested and received the impanelment of a state-wide grand jury to investigate official corruption.

I have maintained for some time that the Florida Judiciary has been acting outside the federal and Florida law as most of the judges were unsworn as they failed to properly take of the oaths of office as required by both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions. To that end, I recently filed a petition with the Florida Supreme Court asking for permission to appear before the state-wide grand jury to present my evidence of criminal behavior by judges who failed to properly take the oath of office. A copy for the interested can be viewed here.

On a completely different tack, as I am the great, great, grandson of Montgomery Blair – who was Lincoln’s Post Master General and the owner of the Blair House – the government has recently acceded to my request to visit the Blair House so my son could get a sense of the history resident there and his relationship to it. In preparation for that visit, I have been reading The Francis Preston Blair Family in Politics by William Ernest Smith; 1933.

Thus imagine my surprise and delight when I read that my great, great uncle, Frank Blair, Jr., (pictured above) appeared before the House of Representatives on June 5, 1860, to address the House on the issue of the contested election for the seat from Missouri between him and J.R. Barrett. Among the issues that Frank Blair argued to the House was that the judges who had decided the election were in fact “unsworn” and hence their determinations were void stating: “I claim that the neglect and refusal of certain judges and officers of elections . . . . to take the oath of office and qualify according to law vitiates the election in those precincts and the number of votes thus excluded would entitle me to this seat.” (1860 Congressional Globe, Appendix, p. 392).

And here I am 150 years later arguing the same point. For what its worth, on a vote of 93-91, Frank Blair was seated as the Representative from Missouri and “came forward, was sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, and took his seat.” (1860, Congressional Globe, p. 2779). Though not the place for an extended digression on this point, the seating of Frank Blair was a pivotal moment in the march towards the War between the States and the ultimate emancipation of those United States citizens of African descent.

I hope too to retake my seat at the Florida Bar for the same reasons.