Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Doth Matt Staver Protest Too Much?

Speculation continues as to swirl what role the folks at Liberty University and/or Liberty Counsel played in aiding Lisa Miller in her kidnapping of and flight from the USA with her daughter Isabella - actions that resulted in warrants for Miller's arrest. Given that one likely accomplice was Matt Staver's secretary at Liberty Law School and given the extremism of some of Staver's past remarks, is Staver now protesting a bit too much that he/Liberty had no involvement? One can only hope that the FBI continues to investigate and, if personnel at Liberty University or Liberty Counsel were involved that indictments and arrests will follow. Lynchburg, Virginia based Liberty Counsel is an ongoing pestilence and embarrassment to reputable members of the legal community and rational residents of Virginia. I will admit, I'd love to see the organization found to have been implicated in violation of federal court orders. Here are highlights of Staver's denials via WDBJ 7:
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Before she disappeared, Miller lived in Bedford County and was getting legal help from Liberty Counsel. Some have suggested that organization was involved with hiding Miller, but that's a charge attorneys flatly deny. "It's absurd to try to suggest Liberty Counsel had anything to do with the whereabouts or the disappearance of Lisa Miller," Mathew Staver, Dean of Liberty University's School of Law and Chairman of Liberty Counsel.
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Staver served as Miller's attorney through 2009. During that period, Miller was living in Forest and attending services at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Staver says Miller was looking for a job and gave no indication she was planning to leave the Lynchburg area when she abruptly ended all contact with Liberty Counsel. "She simply stopped communicating by phone, by e-mail, by letter," said Staver. "We have no idea where she went." Staver says Miller's actions forced Liberty Counsel to drop her case.
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According to published reports, the FBI now believes Miller took her child from Lynchburg to El Salvador and later to Nicaragua. Investigators say Miller was trying to avoid giving custody of her daughter to her former lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins.
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[S]ome believe Liberty had another motive and took part in hiding Miller - a claim Staver says is 100-percent false. "None of us would be stupid enough to place our careers and our futures and our law licenses on the table to try to help someone violate the law," said Staver.
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News 7 talked by phone Monday afternoon with Janet Jenkins' attorney, Sarah Starr. Jenkins has done interviews in the past where she accused Liberty and Thomas Road Baptist Church of hiding her daughter. Starr wouldn't comment on that accusation, but said Jenkins is hopeful her child will be found soon.

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