Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 4 Num. 98

("Quid coniuratio est?")

WHO IS SHERMAN SKOLNICK?
(And just what makes him so great anyway?)

I know I have been concentrating on material from Sherman Skolnick and the Citizens' Committee to Clean-up the Courts (CCCC) of late. Some are glad of this. Others write and complain "Enough! Enough of Skolnick, already!" One wrote, during the post-Oklahoma bomb, Klinton crack-down on free speech, "Who the fu** is Larry Lotnick!!?"

Personally, I think Mr. Skolnick is an excellent clearinghouse for various sources of information. Going to Mr. Skolnick saves me the trouble of digging on my own. He also has access to many confidential sources which, except for his talents, might never see the light of day. He also is a much more experienced investigator than yours truly. I am of the opinion that Skolnick is hitting closer to the truth than many "big shots" such as Lyndon LaRouche and Noam Chomsky. Sherman Skolnick is not infallible, but he most definitely should be heard, especially in these troubled times.

Not to say I am moving toward a Skolnick-only format; if that were the case, I would change the name to "Skolnick Nation". It's just that, for the moment, Skolnick and his group have got some of the best information.

So who is Sherman Skolnick?

I cannot vouch for all of the following, simply because I have no direct knowledge as to many of these matters. But here is how Mr. Skolnick himself answers the question:

Sherman Skolnick is the founder and chairman of the Citizens' Committee to Clean-up the Courts, a group dedicated to researching and investigating, in the public interest, certain instances of judicial and other corruption, and political murders. Mr. Skolnick has been chairman/founder since 1963. A summary of a few key events:

1. Mr. Skolnick, self-educated in law, led the campaign to re- apportion election districts in Illinois, on the "one man, one vote" idea. He brought and won in the federal courts a series of class actions -- 1967 to 1972, that accomplished this.
2. In 1969, his disclosures in a special court petition on behalf of his group caused the largest judicial bribery scandal in U.S. history, causing the collapse of the Illinois Supreme Court. The accused high court justices desperately used the last of their judicial power to jail Skolnick falsely for contempt -- he refused to inform them how his group investigated the matter. The Chief Justice resigned as well as an associate Justice. A third high court justice died under fire. Skolnick was vindicated and released from prison. The state high court was in effect for a period of time put out of business. Appeal lawyers condemned him for interfering with their business -- they had gotten used to the corrupt ways of the high court.
3. In another special court petition Skolnick accused 7th Circuit federal appeals judge, Otto Kerner, Jr., former Illinois Governor, of bribery. Kerner held a press conference, calling Skolnick, "a liar". A fellow judge tried to harass Skolnick with false contempt charges. Kerner died an ex-convict, convicted as Skolnick charged. The highest level federal appeals judge to go to prison for bribery, while still a sitting judge, in U.S. history.
4. In 1977, the chief judge of Chicago's Traffic Court allowed Skolnick to interview him on tape in his office. Skolnick had 28 witnesses, waiting in the hall, prepared to charge the judge with corruption. The Chief Judge called Skolnick's charges, "Just part of your imagination, Mr. Skolnick. There is no corruption here." Skolnick's accusations led to the Justice Department's "Operation Greylord", in which the same chief judge and some twenty other state judges and about 40 lawyers all went to prison for bribery.
5. Of course, none of the state and federal judges, accused by Skolnick, and later ended up convicted of bribery, ever apologized to Skolnick for calling Skolnick a liar in the press.
6. In 1969-70, the chief deputy clerk of Chicago's federal district court, formerly of the Bankruptcy Court, Robert P. Steine, was sent to prison for using his office to shake down insurance companies who were also litigants in the court system. The matter had been heavily documented by the U.S. District Attorney and the Chief Postal Inspector, who stonewalled. The matter was broken open when their records somehow fell into Skolnick's hands and he showed them at a press conference. The Chief District Judge had called Skolnick a liar, saying Skolnick conveyed "diatribes" against innocent public officials. That Chief Judge narrowly avoided prison himself in a multi-million dollar real-estate swindle.
7. Skolnick is a regular panel member on a hugely popular Cable TV public access program since 1991. They obtained the secret files of one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's cronies, Diane Lewis, a worldwide arms smuggler. Ms. Lewis was using signs and signals for up-coming deals through a religious TV station in Chicago, where she was close to the station boss. Ten days after her records were demonstrated on Skolnick's one-hour TV show, Ms. Lewis and 14 others were arrested. She was released on a plea she is with CIA.

I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."

Brian Francis Redman bigxc@prairienet.org "The Big C"

Coming to you from Illinois -- "The Land of Skolnick"