FREEMEN FOLLOWER SUES GOVERNMENT.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer The self-described disciple of an anti-government group is now turning to the government to seek $300 million in damages for what she claims was her wrongful conviction in federal court. In a civil rights lawsuit filed in Lancaster, Margaret Elizabeth Broderick and her husband say a search of their home was improper, that the FBI and other federal agencies have no authority in Palmdale, and that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. and county officials should have protected them from federal agents. The U.S. District Court, where she was sentenced in March 1997 to 16 years in prison for convictions on 26 counts including conspiracy, fraud and money laundering The process of taking the proceeds of criminal activity and making them appear legal. Laundering allows criminals to transform illegally obtained gain into seemingly legitimate funds. had no right to try her, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the lawsuit. ``Prior to, during and subsequent to this `trial,' (she) maintained the position that the United States District Court United States District Court In the U.S., any of the 94 trial courts of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system. Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has at least one federal district court. did not and does not have jurisdiction over the offenses allegedly committed by her,'' the suit stated. Broderick was accused of creating bogus checks and staging seminars to tell people how they could use the forgeries to pay off debts. She described herself as a follower of LeRoy Schweitzer, a leader of the anti-government Freemen group jailed last year in Montana. The self-styled Freemen say they reject almost all government authority and insist they have their own laws and courts. The lawsuit was filed Sept. 10 by Broderick's husband, Richard, in Lancaster Superior Court. He is now serving time in a Texas prison. The defendants are Attorney General Janet Reno Janet Reno (born July 21, 1938) was the first and to date only female Attorney General of the United States (1993–2001). She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11. , U.S. Attorney Nora Manella, the Internal Revenue Service, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, former Lancaster Deputy District Attorney John Spillane, Sheriff Sherman Block, county supervisors and various members of the news media. ``We are not going to respond directly to a lawsuit we have not seen yet. It is my understanding she has filed several other civil rights lawsuits in federal court, all of which were summarily dismissed,'' said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Since her incarceration Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. in April 1996, Broderick's health has been jeopardized because of ``horrendous, subhuman sub·hu·man adj. 1. Below the human race in evolutionary development. 2. Regarded as not being fully human. sub·hu medical facilities and treatment,'' the lawsuit stated. The filing said she has been denied access to proper and necessary medication and was ``forced to consume unnecessary and mind-numbing/duping medication such as Prozac.'' The lawsuit said federal agents ``stormed'' the couple's home in the 3200 block of Honeysuckle honeysuckle, common name for some members of the Caprifoliaceae, a family comprised mostly of vines and shrubs of the Northern Hemisphere, especially abundant in E Asia and E North America. Avenue in Palmdale on March 25, 1996, to conduct a search. Because the federal court has no jurisdiction over her, Broderick's conviction should be overturned and the ``sentence extinguished,'' the suit stated. |
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