How I beat Discover Card

I had my day in court on April 5, 2011 – just two days ago. It took less than 60 seconds for the judge to dismiss the $7,700 lawsuit my credit card company tried to slap me with.

But the circumstances of my victory were rather suspect.

I arrived in the courtroom at 9 AM, and waited for my turn before the judge. Just outside the courtroom, taped to a wall, was a printout listing the order of appearances, with my case being # 8 out of about 80. So I thought, “This is great. I won’t have to wait here for hours.”

So I waited and listened to the preceding cases. None of this was new to me, since I’d last been in this same courtroom before this same judge back in November. But this time was supposed to be different. After all, I had a “trial date.” So the preliminaries were all out of the way and I was waiting my turn to go all Perry Mason before the judge and opposing attorney.

That’s right…I was representing myself since I basically don’t trust lawyers and am too poor to hire one. Also, I doubted any properly schooled lawyer would have agreed to pursue my preferred lines of defense.

April 5 was supposed to be different but it looked the same as back in November. Each case before the judge was processed in very rapid fire fashion. So I thought, “I’ve prepared a wide variety of detailed arguments covering more than 30 pages of written material. There’s no way I can argue my case in just a few minutes – unless the judge expects me to speak really, really fast. And if the judge gives me the amount of speaking time warranted by my defense, she won’t have time to hear all of those other cases scheduled for today. What gives?”

I didn’t have long to ponder all this, as the clerk called my name; so I walked up to the bench with my sheaf of papers in hand. Plaintiff’s attorney said she had arranged for a witness to appear but this person couldn’t make it. “Huh?” I thought, “What the frick do you need a witness for?”

The judge asked, “Did you notify defendant about this witness?” Without waiting for an answer, the judge asked me, “Were you notified about this witness?” Both of us answered, “No.” The judge said, “Case dismissed… (looking at me)…you win.”

Then the judge added, while still looking at me, “Sometimes to win, all you have to do is show up.”

And that was that.

And then I started thinking as I made my dazed way home. How does my opponent’s law firm fail to notify me of the intended appearance of a witness? That’s a fundamental mistake – if indeed, it was a mistake. And why would any kind of witness be necessary in the first place? The case against me was cut-and-dried: I had stopped making monthly payments on my credit card almost two years ago, so I got sued to recover the balance due (with interest, of course).

I could only think that some kind of expert witness had been hired to refute some of my more exotic arguments. But then I thought, “That’s bullshit. I’m sure there wasn’t any witness at all.”

The best I can come up with: My opponent was afraid of one of my motions to dismiss, which had been submitted in writing back in November. This is too precious to paraphrase, so I’ll quote this in its entirety:

* * * * * * * * * *

Motions to Dismiss

[submitted to the Court and to

Discover Bank’s lawyers in November, 2010]

First Motion to Dismiss: SEARLE hereby moves that this case be dismissed due to dereliction of duty by Plaintiff’s attorneys … to inform the US Internal Revenue Service as indicated in the [following] quoted statement... Since I have not been contacted by the IRS, since informing Plaintiff’s attorneys (before July 1, 2010, via Certified Mail), it’s obvious they failed in their duty as an officer of the court to inform the IRS of my legal transgression.

…

QUOTE:

Suppose you win a judgment against me. Another quote from my enclosure covers this possibility:  “Besides, if you do win, I will notify [the] IRS of my failure to file federal income tax returns for the past 7 years. When IRS wins a judgment against me, there won’t be anything left for you.”

My last quote raises an interesting dilemma for Weltman, Weinberg & Reis [Plaintiff’s attorneys]. As members of the legal profession (officers of the court), you are now obligated to immediately contact the IRS and inform them of my violation of federal law. However, doing this will derail any attempt you might make to collect money from me for your client, Discover Bank. By the way, your client already knows I haven’t filed federal tax returns … but they don’t have the same obligation as do you to inform the IRS.

:UNQUOTE.

Since Weltman et al has behaved in a manner inconsistent with that expected of officers of the court, they should not only be disqualified from representing DISCOVER BANK, but should be held in Contempt of Court as well.

* * * * * * * * *

To summarize:

In my humble opinion, my opponent’s law firm persuaded its client, Discover Card, to drop the suit against me. And then they sabotaged their case by creating a fictitious witness of whom I was not notified in advance. Not only was the law firm on the verge of a Contempt of Court citation but perhaps Discover Card could have been ensnared in that net as well. I can only speculate as to why my opponents (intentionally?) blew this case so badly. But I think what I’ve laid out here is as good an explanation as any.

What now?

Will I continue to make payments to the United Negro College Fund instead of to Discover Card? As far as our judicial system is concerned, Discover Bank blew its chance in court and I don’t owe them a thing. However, I gave my word.

[I hope Barack Obama is paying attention to this part.]

I gave my word that I had stopped making my Discover Card monthly payments because I thought those payments should be redirected as Reparations payments owed by Discover Bank to Black Americans whose ancestors had been exploited by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. I still feel that way.

However, there is still the matter of how much I still owe. Discover Card’s lawsuit indicated a debt of $7,700, of which I’ve redirected about $1,000* to the United Negro College Fund. I could rationalize that my “true” debt to Discover is a lot less than $7,700 since that amount consists of a lot of accumulated interest which I claim to be usurious.

Ah, that ugly word “usury.” Yes, part of my defense was a challenge to legalized usury. I was claiming that Discover had charged an exorbitant (though “legal”) interest rate on my account for years. So how much interest do I think I should have been charged? To be honest, I can’t do that calculus. I feel 18% is a reasonable rate of interest but I can’t unravel how much “unreasonable” interest had made its way into my $7,700 balance.

To add to my confusion is another factor: How much in the way of Reparations payments do I personally owe, irrespective of how much I think Discover Bank owes? That’s an even tougher calculus. But I concede this much: I owe a great deal to my Black brothers and sisters whose slave ancestors helped create the wealth that has given me so many advantages in life as a White American. I could never put a dollar amount on that, so instead I offer this much:

I will dedicate myself to creating that better world (starting here, in the good old US of A) which will help atone for the wrongs of the past. I’m not a seer or prophet but I can see this much: My efforts will not make for an easy life for myself, but they will help to make an easier conscience. Because I tried.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Compare these two ideas: Change you can believe in versus A man whose word is so good, you don’t have to believe – just take it to the bank.”

  * “redirected about $1,000 to” – To be accurate, that amount is my best guess (off the top of my head), which covers Reparations Payments made not only on behalf of Discover Card but also on behalf of my other creditor – Barclays Bank Visa card (which, much earlier, decided not to bring me to court).

Contact me at: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com