Using Federal Courts to Drain the Swamp

Recently Joe Cotterman, former Chief of Police of Jackson Center, filed in federal court for financial compensation for the flagrant violation of his rights by multiple officials in Shelby County. We applaud Mr. Cotterman for standing up to government corruption and we congratulate our friends at The Integrity Project for investigating and protecting the rights of Mr. Cotterman (click here to see the lawsuit).

In the 1970’s Morris Dees and Carl Levin Junior challenged the “local-regional” corruption of the south by taking their case to federal court. They were able to help end some of the corruption that plagued the south and won large settlements. To break the back of corruption in Mercer and Shelby County it looks like we’ll have to follow in Dees and Carls footsteps.

Ohio is a Home Rule state and the drug cartels have realized that all you need are a few corrupt sheriffs, so you can operate in their region. In the case of officers of the law, those that stand up for honor and challenge the drug system are often discredited and attacked.

In the case of Mercer County that is why Sheriff Jeff Grey needs to keep dossiers on various citizens and, it appears, judges as well. We know Jeff Grey is keeping files that include personal information on citizens. By keeping tabs on what a judge, official or citizen is doing he can come across things they’ve done that he can use as leverage over them.

I am proud to say when Robert Hensley family filed a lawsuit and won a quick $800,000 settlement from the City of Celina that we helped give the family information relating to multiple civil rights violations that resulted in a man’s death. We hope Joe Cotterman wins a large settlement as well. Government corruption has to stop!

We are currently working on multiple federal cases to be filed against Mercer County officials. We are working diligently on cases involving the destruction of official documents by government employees and we’re working on a major scandal where a rape was covered up by Sheriff Jeff Grey.

Citizens it is not our goal to sue Mercer County into financial oblivion. We need the citizens to rise up and help remove the corrupt county officials. Multiple large million-dollar settlements will drive out the corruption. But to keep it from coming back people cannot blindly support elected officials. Remember they work for us and we have to hold them accountable.