Much Ado About … What?

The item to which Andrew Sullivan links in Here We Go is slashdotted, so I don't know what this is all about, but other people seem to be seriously tantalized. Here's all Sullivan said,

Todd Palin's former business partner files an emergency motion to have his divorce papers sealed. Oh God.

Myself, I'd rather people were talking about how the more war, less jobs candidate has tried to become Richard Nixon, and run as a candidate of peace and prosperity. Or maybe how weird it is for McCain to try to run away from the same George Bush he (literally) embraced and voted with 90-95% of the time for each of the past four years.

Update: Thanks to the helpful Coralize function, I've got what seems to be the docket to which Sullivan linked, reproduced in full below. What's all the fuss about? In any case, the motion seems to have been denied, so I guess we'll know…

Update2 (9/6): Thanks to reader mcg, whose comment points us to The Smoking Gun, in which the motion to seal seems to be about protecting phone numbers and addresses from the prying eyes of a hoard of reporters.

It seems to me that while the court was surely right in denying the full sealer request, there ought to be a mechanism that would allow a party to request redaction of phone numbers, and perhaps even addresses, in these sorts of circumstances.


09/04/2008 Order Denying Motion Case Motion #3: Motion to Make Case File Confidential 0.00 0.00

09/03/2008 Motion to Make Case File Confidential Attorney: Pro per (0100001) Scott Alan Richter (Petitioner); Case Motion #3 0.00 0.00

09/03/2008 Motion for Expedited Consideration of: Motion to Make Case File Confidential Attorney: Pro per (0100001) Case Motion #2 0.00 0.00

05/19/2008 Notice to Employer Re: Children's Medical Insurance Deborah Marie Richter (Co-Petitioner); 0.00 0.00

05/19/2008 Cust/Spprt/Visit Modified. Case Closed. (no motion link) 0.00 0.00

05/19/2008 Order Granting Stipulation Case Motion #1: Standard Motion 0.00 0.00

04/03/2008 Stipulated Agreement for Child Support and Parenting Agreement Attorney: Pro per (0100001) Case Motion #1 0.00 0.00

04/03/2008 Case Reopened 0.00 0.00

09/18/2007 Child Support Order 0.00 0.00

09/18/2007 Decree of Dissolution Granted 0.00 0.00

09/18/2007 Shared Custody Child Support Calculation 0.00 0.00

09/18/2007 Amendment of Agreement 0.00 0.00

09/18/2007 Hearing Result: Hearing Held The following event: Dissolution Hearing w/Children scheduled for

09/18/2007 at 3:20 pm has been resulted as follows: Result: Hearing Held Judge: Zwink, David L Location: Palmer Courthouse 0.00 0.00

08/14/2007 Civil Deficiency Memo mailed re: agreement re retirement benefits and last quarterly statements of same; specifics of shared custody agreement. 0.00 0.00

08/14/2007 Hearing Set Event: Dissolution Hearing w/Children Date: 09/18/2007 Time: 3:20 pm Judge: Zwink, David L Location: Palmer Courthouse Result: Hearing Held 0.00 0.00

08/02/2007 Affidavit/Scheduling of Hearing Scott Alan Richter (Petitioner); 0.00 0.00

07/24/2007 Certificate of Completion of Viewing “Listen to the Children” Video Scott Alan Richter (Petitioner); Deborah Marie Richter (Co-Petitioner); 0.00 0.00

07/24/2007 Information Sheet 0.00 0.00

07/24/2007 VS401 Certificate of Absolute Divorce or Dissolution 0.00 0.00

07/24/2007 Proposed Child Support Order Submitted Prior to Hearing 0.00 0.00

07/24/2007 Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (With Children) Receipt: 268635 Date: 07/24/2007 150.00 0.00

This entry was posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections. Bookmark the permalink.

14 Responses to Much Ado About … What?

  1. For a moment there I thought this was a spam scandal. But no, it’s Scott Alan Richter, not Scott Allen Richter.

  2. Ugh says:

    Todd Palin’s former business partner is the person whom the Enquirer alleges had an affair with Sarah Palin. So, making the divorce records confidential would seem to…be at least fishy.

  3. al says:

    Myself, I’d rather people were talking about….

    Well, here’s some must-see video from Minneapolis. FOX 9’s Trish Van Pilsum reports with some commentary that concludes by saying that this young protester got “taught a lesson”. Yet, at the same time, there’s an undertone of shock in this report. It’s hard not to be shocked by this:

    First Time Protester Tear Gassed (FOX 9 video)

    Imo, this video documents an unreasonable use of force.

  4. markg8 says:

    Jesus, Jack Ryan Obama’s opponent in 2004 imploded when a judge refused Ryan’s request to keep his divorce records secret. Ryan claimed he wanted to protect his special needs son. Ryan’s ex, Hollywood actress Jeri Ryan (7 of 9 on StarTrek) testified in the divorce he took her to sex clubs in New Orleans, New York, and Paris and tried to get her to blow him in public. When they published the records he weakly claimed he was “trying to strengthen his marriage” for a few days and then dropped out.

    If the ex-Mrs. Richter accused Mrs. Palin of being the homewrecker who ruined her marriage in those papers it’s gonna be a very short honeymoon for Sarah with the wingnuts.

  5. markg8 says:

    One of those articles above says “Palin’s husband Todd owned a snowmobile dealership with his business partner Brad Hanson.” Another calls him “Scott Richter”. WTF?

    Another says it was a car wash not a snowmobile dealership.

  6. tim says:

    First Time Protester Tear Gassed (FOX 9 video)

    I stood next to this woman while facing a line of riot police. Later when we were all arrested, I didn’t see her on the bridge or in jail. I’m incredibly horrified by this video. I’m still trying to understand everything that happened last night. I’m shocked.

  7. mac says:

    Details do seem a bit sketchy at this point. Home wrecker would make for interesting coverage.

  8. When the public really gets to know about Palin it will be an Obama landslide.

  9. Waldo Lydecker says:

    So where do we scandal mongers go from here?
    Will one of the thousand or so reporters up there in Alaska please stand up, take charge of ruining Palin and shout, ‘This way. Follow me.”

  10. al says:

    Later when we were all arrested, I didn’t see her on the bridge or in jail.

    We can hope and pray that someone with the police forces had the sense to take her straight to the hospital.

  11. gail says:

    anybody out there have info on Sarah’s son given the choice of service or jail due to an arrest ? Reported Thursday sept 4th on KPFA radio by Amy Goodman in the Bay Area.

  12. I am a very Pro-Cop person. In my opinion, the treatment of that woman was excessive. She had surrendered and was not presenting a threat. She was not compliant (in that she was not moving along) which means they should arrest her but she seemed to be surrendering to me, not resisting arrest.

    I would expect two officers to come and cuff her, then escort her away,.

    On site physical punishment in leu of arrest is not an option in this country.

  13. al says:

    She was not compliant (in that she was not moving along)

    Excuse me. I don’t think we’re seeing this incident in exactly the same light….

    Someone with a throat full of pepper-spray can’t breathe very well. And someone with eyes full of pepper-spray can’t see very well—if they can see at all.

    After the initial shot of pepper spray directly to her face, she held her hands over her eyes until she was pushed from behind by one of the officers. Then she raised her hands over her head. With that initial shot of pepper-spray, the police incapacitated her. In a legal sense, at that point, they had seized her. After the initial shot to the face, “move along” was not appropriate anymore. From that point on, it’s time to go to court and have a judge hear the controversy. And from a medical standpoint, that initial shot rendered her hors de combat.

    The police may have wanted her to “move on”. The police may have felt that she wasn’t compliant with their wish to see her run. But after they blinded her, that was an unreasonable demand.

    At least you and I agree that, after her surrender, the further use of force was unjustifiable.

Comments are closed.