Well, the good news is that Judge Sabraw is NOT the trial judge in this case, although he is the judge ruling on all pre-trial motions. (I believe Judge Barranco will be the trial judge in January.)
The bad news is that he ruled against us on our joint pre-trial motion today to prohibit election of new directors tomorrow. He did specifically state, however, that this decision could be changed at trial, and that if any directors are elected tomorrow they may be removed at trial if the trial judge finds the election was illegal. Can't say that helps us much in the meantime, while those controlling the board are running Pacifica into the ground and shirking their duties to provide coverage that is “not commonly available elsewhere” of the current war build-up crisis. (Except of course on KPFA/KFCF.)
All motions ruled on today were made jointly by the plaintiffs in all lawsuits.
Judge Sabraw ordered that tomorrow's board conference call meeting be tape recorded and that a copy of the tape be delivered to the court. That may help prevent some of the abuses in past board telephone meetings where directors were “muted” and not permitted to raise issues and speak. (I believe the meeting will also be streamed over the internet from www.pacifica.org -- starting at 11 am Pacific Daylight time.)
He also ruled that Pete Bramson can vote at tomorrow's meeting. Ken Ford (Vice Chair) had notified Pete a couple of weeks ago that he would not be permitted to participate because his term had allegedly expired. The judge didn't buy that one under the bylaws the board is currently operating under.
He took under submission our motion to require the defendant directors to post an adequate bond (as well as what amount would be adequate) to repay Pacifica for their defense attorneys' fees which are currently being paid by Pacifica -- but denied our motion to require the Foundation and the defendants to have separate attorneys -- even though we are suing on behalf of the Foundation to recover damages against the defendants for damages to Pacifica.
The judge also declined to appoint a receiver to protect Pacifica's funds until trial. This, even though we presented evidence that they were required to liquidate investments held in reserve accounts to meet payroll last week.
So, this was not the best day in court. But it could have been worse.
The judge did overrule their second attempt to get some of the “causes of action” in our complaint dismissed or stricken.
We don't know how the vote to elect new directors will go tomorrow. I believe that eleven directors will be voting -- including five “dissident” directors. (I believe Rabbi Kriegel will be making the personal sacrifice of participating even though it is Rosh Hashanah tomorrow.) Perhaps one of the directors on the other side will have the wisdom to vote NO to election of new directors. If so, I hope and believe that we may be able to settle the cases without trial and that would be in the best interests of the Pacifica Foundation.
Over this past horrible week, I have once again realized how crucial this legal fight for Pacifica is. Pacifica must be preserved. It is the only national broadcast medium for the critical news, information and analysis needed to inform American listeners about the “war” we may be about to enter, its causes, ramifications and consequences.
I know many of you are already engaged in your communities in opposing the tragedy our country appears to be about to embark upon -- the slaughter of more innocent men, women and children across the Middle East and into central Asia, as well as the loss of many American lives.
Your continued generous financial support is needed as we enter into the intensive and expensive deposition stage leading up to trial. See below for where and how to contribute. Thanks again for all your support and encouragment these past two years!
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