Right Wing Christian Convicted in Isabella Miller-Jenkins Kidnapping

Kidnapping conspirator, Philip Zodhiates, a "godly Christian"

From time to time I have posted about the continuing saga of the Isabella Miller-Jenkins kidnapping in the wake of her mothers' split.  My interest in the story is three-fold (four fold if one considers the Virginia ties).  First, the custody struggle was one of the first time the always reactionary Virginia Supreme Court ruled for a LGBT petitioner. Second, the case highlights the bogus "pray away the gay" scams operated by "Christian ministries" out to fleece the desperate and/or gullible.  Lastly, it demonstrates the manner in which Christian extremists view themselves as above the civil laws.  Adding to the intrigue is the role that Liberty University and Matt Staver, head of the hysterically anti-gay Liberty Counsel, seem to have played in aiding and abetting lawbreakers.  ABC News has details on the criminal conviction of one of the co-conspirators in the kidnapping of Isabella Miller-Jenkins.  Here are highlights:

A federal jury in Buffalo returned the verdict against Philip Zodhiates, of Waynesboro, on Thursday after hearing during a week long trial how he had driven Lisa Miller and 7-year-old Isabella Miller-Jenkins from Virginia to the Canadian border in 2009 so they could fly from Toronto to Nicaragua, and had helped with their living arrangements in the Central American nation.

Neither Miller nor Isabella, now 14, have been seen in the United States since.

Lawyers for Zodhiates, the owner of a direct mail business that serves conservative Christian groups, denied that he was trying to obstruct the other mother's parental rights by helping Miller, who became an evangelical Christian after dissolving her civil union with Janet Jenkins in Vermont.

Miller, who gave birth to Isabella during the civil union, defied court orders granting Jenkins visitation and left the country shortly before a court shifted custody to Jenkins, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Van de Graaf said.

Miller also is charged with international parental kidnapping and conspiracy and is considered a fugitive.

A third defendant, Timothy Miller, recently was arrested after being deported by Nicaragua, U.S. Attorney William Hochul's office said Thursday.

A fourth defendant, Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite pastor, was convicted of international parental kidnapping in Vermont in 2012.

None of the Millers are related.  Kenneth Miller, of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, is serving a 27-month prison sentence.

 Zodhiates faces up to eight years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 30.

In my view, it is unfortunate that criminal charges were not brought against Matt Staver, a thoroughly vie individual and modern day Pharisee, in my opinion. 

4th Circuit: Liberty University's Insurer Does Not Have to Pay for Lisa Miller-Janet Jenkins Lawsuit

Alleged conspirator Mat Staver and his equally crazy wife

As regular readers will recall, Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia - a foul blight on Virginia in my view - is up to its eyeballs in involvement with Lisa Miller's kidnapping of her daughter and open defiance of court orders regarding child custody.  Having lost before the Vermont Supreme Court and even the anti-gay Virginia Supreme Court, Miller with the aid of personnel at Liberty University, including former law dean Mat Staver, Miller absconded with her daughter and has disappeared somewhere in Central America.  Federal prosecutions are ongoing against some of Miller's accomplices.  Meanwhile Janet Jenkins has filed a lawsuit against Liberty University based on the belief that Miller was aided and abetted by Liberty personnel.  Liberty has sought to have its insurance carrier pay for its legal defense.  Now, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the alleged intentional unlawful acts of Liberty personnel are outside the scope of the university's insurance policies and that Liberty must pay its own legal fees and any resulting judgment.  The ruling can be found here.  WSET TV-13 has details.  Here are highlights:

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Liberty University's insurance company does not have to cover the university's costs to defend itself in a high-profile lawsuit.  An earlier decision indicated Hanover Insurance Company was responsible for covering things like attorney's fees. This is all over the legal battle relating to a custody dispute between two women who were once in a legally recognized civil union.

In the suit Jenkins filed against Liberty, she alleges they are in Nicaragua... and that employees at Liberty University, and others, helped the two leave the country. Most notably, Mathew Staver former Dean of Liberty's School Of Law and current Interim Dean Rena Lindevaldsen.

Staver and Lindevaldsen, identified as Miller's attorneys, were not named in the suit against Liberty. But the court documents spell out the accusations - that Staver and Lindevaldsen encouraged and assisted Miller in violating court orders, solicited donations to groups aimed at preventing court ordered contact between Jenkins and her daughter, and conspired with others to kidnap Isabella - even using Liberty University phone lines to communicate with the man who drove Miller and Isabella to Canada in 2009.

The issue before the court on Friday was whether the insurance company has to cover the costs of the defense. The answer from the 4^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – no, for a variety of reasons.

Many insurance policies contain “Intentional and Criminal Acts" exclusions - and such exclusions were in Liberty's policies.  Tellingly, the Court found in part as follows:

. . . . we conclude that the criminal acts exclusion applies for two reasons. First, the Jenkins Complaint clearly and unambiguously alleges that Appellee and its agents committed criminal acts – namely, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit racketeering, which is a federal crime pursuant to 18 U.S.C.§1962(d). The Jenkins Complaint also specifically alleges Appellee’s role in these crimes.  For example, the Jenkins Complaint contends that Staver used Liberty University’s phone lines to speak with Philip Zodhiates after Zodhiates deposited Miller and the child near the Canadian border and that other Liberty University employees assisted Miller while she was in Nicaragua. Second, the Jenkins Complaint unambiguously claims that Appellee is liable for injuries arising from those criminal acts. . . . .

Why is this case a big deal?  Because it will hopefully send a message to other Christofascist organizations that (i) they are not above the law, and (ii) that they will be on their own in defending against actions that are intentional violations of the law.

Ken Cuccinelli Donor Linked To Kidnapping Case, Anti-Semitic Newspapers

Consol Energy and Star Scientific's Jonnie R. Williams aren't Ken Cuccinelli's only unsavory campaign contributors.  He also has accepted money from individuals with ties to the Lisa Miller kidnapping case and anti-Semetic newspapers.  In my view, it's par for the course with Cuccinelli who has made a career out of pandering to religious extremists and bigots.  Right Wing Watch has details;  Here are highlights:

While Ken Cuccinelli may be the top law enforcement officer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, that hasn’t stopped him from taking campaign contributions for his gubernatorial bid from a Religious Right activist linked to a kidnapping investigation. Blue Virginia notes that Cuccinelli donor Philip Zodhiates of Response Unlimited is tied to the Lisa Miller kidnapping case.
Zodhiates was named in a RICO lawsuit [PDF] filed by Janet Jenkins, whose former partner Lisa Miller kidnapped their daughter, Isabella, and fled to a Mennonite community in Central America. Before leaving the country with Isabella, Miller broke off a civil partnership with Jenkins after she renounced homosexuality and moved to Virginia and joined the church founded by Jerry Falwell, who also established Liberty University. Miller abducted Isabella after refusing a court order to transfer custody of their daughter to Jenkins.
- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/ken-cuccinelli-donor-linked-kidnapping-case-anti-semitic-newspapers#sthash.DqodOyPF.dpuf

While Ken Cuccinelli may be the top law enforcement officer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, that hasn’t stopped him from taking campaign contributions for his gubernatorial bid from a Religious Right activist linked to a kidnapping investigation. Blue Virginia notes that Cuccinelli donor Philip Zodhiates of Response Unlimited is tied to the Lisa Miller kidnapping case.

Zodhiates was named in a RICO lawsuit [PDF] filed by Janet Jenkins, whose former partner Lisa Miller kidnapped their daughter, Isabella, and fled to a Mennonite community in Central America. Before leaving the country with Isabella, Miller broke off a civil partnership with Jenkins after she renounced homosexuality and moved to Virginia and joined the church founded by Jerry Falwell, who also established Liberty University. Miller abducted Isabella after refusing a court order to transfer custody of their daughter to Jenkins.

Zodhiates’ company is also closely tied to Nativist and anti-Semitic groups. Author David Neiwert described how Response Unlimited worked with anti-immigrant “Minutemen” groups in his book And Hell Followed With Her:

Headed up by Diener’s Phil Sheldon and a man named Philip Zodhiates, Response Unlimited makes its money by brokering mailing lists—hundreds of them, gleaned from right-wing organizations and political campaigns, and made available to fundraisers and organizers who can select a list of thousands of names based on their specific interests. Besides the [Minutemen Civil Defense Corps] and readers of the conservative Weekly Standard, among the lists offered by RU is one culled from readers of the notoriously anti-Semitic weekly the Spotlight.

The Southern Poverty Law Center adds that even after Spotlight closed down, Zodhiates maintained ties with its successor:

Response Unlimited, based in Waynesboro, Va., and headed by Christian Right activist Philip Zodhiates, charges $100 for the rental of every 1,000 names of subscribers to the now-defunct Spotlight newspaper. Founded by veteran anti-Semite Willis Carto, The Spotlight carried anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic and wildly conspiracist articles interspersed with ads for Klan, neo-Nazi and related hate groups.

Zodhiates also peddles lists of subscribers to the American Free Press, which replaced The Spotlight when that tabloid was shut down amid legal and financial troubles surrounding Carto. The Free Press began immediately after The Spotlight fizzled in 2001 and picked up many of its predecessor paper's propagandists. Today, the Free Press carries stories on Zionism, secret "New World Order" conspiracies, American Jews and Israel. Mixed in are advertisements for outfits like Pete Peter's Scriptures for America and Kingdom Identity Ministries -- practitioners of Christian Identity, a theology that claims that Jews are the literal descendants of Satan.

 And let's not forget Cuccinelli's ties to the extremists at The Family Foundation which recently had lunatic Ted Cruz as a keynote speaker.

Liberty University Sues Its Insurance Carrier for Refusing to Defend Federal Racketeering Lawsuit

Most universities and businesses maintain commercial package liability insurance policies that protect against claims that arise out of bodily injury and damage claims from everything for slip and fall types of claims to negligent maintenance of grounds and dorm facilities.  Such coverage does not typically cover federal racketeering charges and other claims based on illegal behavior and conduct by university staff.   Thus, it is no surprise that Hanover Insurance Co. refused to accept coverage for or to pay the defense litigation costs associated with a federal racketeering lawsuit arising from the Lisa Miller/Janet Jenkins (University Dean Matt Staver is pictured at left) custody drama involving the alleged kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl in the midst of a same-sex-marriage custody battle.  Wikipedia lays out the basis for Janet Jenkins' lawsuit against Liberty University:

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them, closing a perceived loophole that allowed someone who told a man to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because he did not actually do it.

As previous blog posts have noted, personnel at Liberty were seemingly involved in the plan to assist Lisa Miller to kidnap her daughter in defiance of both Vermont and Virginia Supreme Court Rulings. Both the ABA Journal and the Virginia Lawyers Weekly have coverage.  Here are highlights from the VLW:

Liberty University’s law school is asking a federal judge to force the school’s insurance company to come to its defense as it fights a federal racketeering lawsuit involving the alleged kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl in the midst of a same-sex-marriage custody battle.

LU law has filed a declaratory judgment action in Lynchburg federal court claiming Hanover Insurance Co. and its affiliates were wrong to deny coverage and a defense for the school in the lawsuit filed by Janet Jenkins.

In her Vermont lawsuit, Jenkins contends agents of Liberty’s law school conspired to aid the 2009 disappearance of then-10-year-old Isabella Miller. The girl and her birth mother, Lisa Miller, fled to Nicaragua with the help of a Virginia pastor who was convicted last summer of aiding an international kidnapping.

The insurance company says it does not owe coverage because Jenkins’ lawsuit does not claim bodily injury, property damage or “personal and advertising injury” under its policies. The insurer cites 18 other bases for denial.

A previous ABA Journal article described the involvement of the hysterically anti-gay Matt Staver:

Miller fled the country with the girl and they are still missing. An Amish-Mennonite pastor was convicted in August of aiding and abetting the kidnapping, ChristianNews.Net and Reuters reported at the time.

Miller had worked at Liberty Christian Academy, a school on the same campus as the law school. Jenkins' suit cites a phone call to Staver’s cellphone by the man who drove Miller to Canada, according to the Sentinel account. Staver says he didn’t speak to the driver that day, and has called Jenkins’ suit against the law school frivolous and outrageous, according to the Sentinel. He is not personally named as a defendant.

"I had no involvement in their departure, had no knowledge that they had departed or intended to depart," Staver told the Sentinel. "She just disappeared, and we couldn't reach her anymore."

Based on Staver's past statements and conduct, in my opinion, the only safe course of action with Staver is to assume that if his lips are moving, he's lying.  That sadly seems to be the norm with the "godly Christian" crowd.  I can only hope that Hanover Insurance prevails in this litigation.
 

Virginia Pastor Sent to Prison for Aiding "Ex-Lesbian" Parental Kidnapping

The loons of the Christian Right have a new martyr in the form of Kenneth L. Miller (pictured at right), who was sentenced to 27 months in prison by Judge William K. Sessions III of Federal District Court in Vermont for Miller's role in abetting Lisa Miller's international kidnapping of her daughter in defiance of both Vermont and Virginia Supreme Court rulings.  Miller had previously spent 30 days in jail for his refusal to name his accomplices some of whom include staff members at Liberty University and the virulently anti-gay Liberty Counsel.  The New York Times looks at Miller's much deserved conviction.  Miller with the aid of the theocrats at Liberty Counsel - who believe that the Christofascists are above the law  - is appealing the conviction.   Here are highlights from the Times story:

A Virginia pastor who said that his actions “flow out of my faith in Jesus,” was sentenced Monday to 27 months in prison for abetting the international parental kidnapping of a girl in a high-profile case involving a same-sex union and the condemnation of homosexuality by conservative Christians. 

Mr. Miller was convicted last fall for helping to arrange the covert flight to Nicaragua of Lisa A. Miller with her daughter, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, in 2009. 

Ms. Miller, who is not related to the pastor, had won support in conservative Christian circles for refusing to permit court-mandated visits with Isabella by her other legal mother, Janet Jenkins, Ms. Miller’s former partner in a civil union in Vermont. After the couple split up, Ms. Miller moved to Virginia, said she was a born-again Christian and denounced her former lesbianism as a sin. 

In 2009, as an exasperated family court judge threatened to transfer primary custody to Ms. Jenkins, Ms. Miller and her daughter, then 7, disappeared and a warrant was issued for Ms. Miller’s arrest.

Federal law enforcement officers later discovered that Mr. Miller had helped arrange for Ms. Miller and her daughter to fly to Nicaragua and live there with missionaries from Mr. Miller’s Amish-Mennonite sect. But officials have been unable to find the mother and daughter, who, in the view of one federal agent, have been “bouncing around the barrios of Nicaragua” for nearly four years now.

They also presented evidence implicating others whom they have called co-conspirators, including Philip Zodhiates, a wealthy conservative businessman who lives near Mr. Miller in Virginia, and his daughter, Victoria Hyden, an administrative assistant at the Liberty University Law School in Lynchburg, Va. Ms. Miller was living in Lynchburg before her flight and was represented in custody proceedings by the dean and associate dean of that law school.  

Ms. Jenkins, meanwhile, has brought a civil suit against Mr. Miller, Ms. Miller, Mr. Zodhiates, the Liberty University School of Law, the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg and other organizations and individuals, alleging a conspiracy encouraged and assisted Ms. Miller’s crime. 

It goes without saying that The Family Foundation is a vocal supporter of Lisa Miller and the unlawful kidnapping of Isabella.

Liberty University and Others Hit with RICO Lawsuit

Click on images to enlarge

In the wake of the conviction of Kenneth Miller for aiding and abetting in the felonious kidnapping of Lisa Miller's daughter, things look to be getting interesting. Janet Jenkins has filed a RICO lawsuit against Lisa Miller, Kenneth Miller, Liberty University, Thomas Road Baptist Church and others under the federal statute typically used to go after organized crime entities and their principals.  The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) provides for civil lawsuits against ongoing criminal enterprises involving multiple parties under a criminal conspiracy theory.  The facts certainly suggest that Lisa Miller had many more accomplices besides the newly convicted Kenneth Miller.  Here are highlights from Right Wing Watch which include excerpts from the lawsuit:

Yesterday Kenneth Miller was convicted of aiding an international parental kidnapping for the role he played in helping Lisa Miller (no relation) flee the country with her daughter rather than abide by a court order transferring custody to her former partner, Janet Jenkins.

But that was not the only interesting development in the case, as Jenkins has now filed a civil RICO lawsuit [PDF] against Kenneth Miller and several others who allegedly played a role in helping Lisa Miller kidnap her daughter and leave the country, including Liberty University Law School and Thomas Road Baptist Church:

 41. Unbeknownst to Plaintiff Janet Jenkins, in 2009 Victoria Zodhiates (now Hyden) was an employee of Response Unlimited, Inc., and also a "student worker" at Liberty University School of Law. On information and belief, Victoria Zodhiates sent an email during this time period to her co-workers at the law school requesting donations for supplies to send to Lisa Miller to enable her to remain outside the country. Lisa Miller's attorney, Matthew Staver was the Dean of the Law School and Ms. Zodhiates's boss. Matthew Staver and Philip Zodhiates were also personal acquaintances at this time. On September 20, 2009, both Philip Zodhiates and Victoria Hyden called Lisa Miller's father, Terry Miller in Tennessee to assist in arranging her and Isabella's transportation from a Walmart parking lot in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Waynesboro, Virginia, from whence they would depart for Canada and Nicaragua the next day.

42. In early November, 2009, elders of the Thomas Road Baptist Church packed up the personal belongings of Lisa Miller in two bags. These bags were picked up from Lynchburg, Virginia by Philip Zodhiates who arranged to have the bags transported to Nicaragua by sending them with his son's school teacher who was taking some children on a mission trip to Managua. Philip Zodhiates arranged for the teacher, John Collmus, to deliver the bags at the airport to Timothy Miller. The bags also contained some supplies for Lisa Miller, such as peanut butter.
...
47. Lisa Miller's attorneys Mathew Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen also routinely instructed their Law School students that the correct course of action for a person in Lisa Miller's situation would be to engage in "civil disobedience" and defy court orders.

48. Also in 2009, TRBC Head Pastor Jonathan Falwell was among several religious leaders who made a call for "Christian civil disobedience" and published a public declaration, known as The Manhattan Declaration stating that they: "will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family."

49. Hence, Defendants TRBC and its related ministry Liberty University School of Law encouraged its agents to disregard state laws governing parental rights, particularly Vermont's law giving rights to members of same-sex families. The TRBC and Liberty University School of Law through its public declaration promoted, condoned and explicitly ratified its agent's tortious, racketeering activity. These agents and employees have followed this direction, making TRBC and Liberty University School of Law liable in respondeat superior for the consequences.

58. Lisa Miller's attorneys, Matthew Staver and Rena Lindevaldsen have at all times maintained that they did not know their client's location to various courts in Vermont (including in sworn testimony of Rena Lindevaldsen) and Virginia, and to the press that she simply stopped communicating with them and disappeared.

59. Meanwhile, Matthew Staver's acquaintance, Philip Zodhiates, and his daughter Victoria, an assistant in the Law School knew of Lisa Miller's whereabouts and solicited donations from other Law School employees for her aid. Upon information and belief, other law school employees who spoke to Victoria about Lisa Miller's whereabouts were too intimidated to come forward to law enforcement for fear of angering Dean Staver and losing their jobs. 

62. Based on the foregoing, all of the Defendants named herein, in both their individual capacities and as agents of TRBC, Liberty University Law School, Response Unlimited, Inc., and CAM are liable for conspiring with Lisa Miller and with each other to kidnap Isabella Miller-Jenkins, assure her continued detention outside the State of Vermont, and for conspiring with Kenneth Miller to participate in the affairs of the Beachy Amish-Mennonite Brotherhood through a pattern of racketeering activity .... Defendants are also liable for conspiring to violate Janet Jenkins' and Isabella Miller-Jenkins' rights to a parent-child relationship on account of Isabella having two mothers instead of a mother and a father, and Defendant Wright is liable under 42 U.S.C. 1986 for failing to prevent the violation of Plaintiffs' civil rights.

 I have long complained that Christianists see themselves as above the law.  I hope this lawsuit proves successful and perhaps reinforces the realty that far right extremist Christians do NOT get to ignore the laws or trample on the rights of others at will.  Of course seeing Matt Staver taken down would be ever so sweet.  Liberty University and Liberty Counsel continue to represent a foul stench here in Virginia.

Lisa Miller Kidnapping Accomplice Goes on Trial in Vermont

The trial of Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Virginia, is about to commence in Vermont.  Miller is on trial for helping and abetting Lisa Miller (who farcically claims to now be "ex-gay") in kidnapping her daughter, Isabella, and absconding to to Nicaragua in violation of Vermont custody orders.  The Virginia Supreme Court twice upheld the validity of the Vermont court orders.  Not indicted but believed by many to be involved in the kidnapping are staff members at Liberty University Law School.  Obviously, I would be  delighted to see evidence come out at trial that might lead to additional prosecutions against these gay-hating religious extremists.  NBC News has coverage.  Here are highlights:

The trial of an Amish-Mennonite minister accused of helping an American woman spirit the child she had with her former same-sex partner out of the country just before she lost custody is getting under way this week.

Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., is charged with aiding and abetting Lisa Miller in taking her child, Isabella, to Nicaragua with the intent to obstruct the parental rights of her former civil union partner, Janet Jenkins, according to the court indictment. He is not related to Lisa Miller and could face a three-year sentence if convicted.

Federal agents haven’t been able to locate Isabella or Lisa Miller, who was indicted on international kidnapping charges in 2010.

The case has drawn attention in part because it involves an international custody dispute, but also because it touches upon two major issues in the public square: gay rights and religion. A jury was selected Tuesday in Burlington, Vt., and opening arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

Kenneth Miller allegedly helped arrange the pair’s exit from their home in Lynchburg, Va., to Canada, where they crossed the border from New York on Sept. 22, 2009. He then facilitated the purchase of plane tickets to Nicaragua and set up contacts for them in the Central American country, according to an affidavit filed by Deputy U.S. Marshal Max Galusha.

The court determined in November 2009 that Jenkins would have sole physical and legal custody of Isabella starting on Jan. 2010, ruling that Miller had willfully interfered with her visitation rights. But Miller had already fled her home in Lynchburg, Va., with her daughter in tow.

Hopefully, Kenneth Miller will be convicted and a message sent to Christianist extremists that they are not above the civil laws.

New Arrest in the Lisa Miller Kidnapping Case

There are new developments in the federal kidnapping case of Lisa Miller (pictured at far left in the photo) - the self-proclaimed "former" Lesbian, if you believe the truth and veracity challenged folks at Liberty Counsel - who fled the USA with her daughter in defiance of Vermont Court orders awarding custody to Miller's former partner, Janet Jenkins. A Virginia man from Stuarts Draft, a small town not too far from Liberty Counsel's home base in Lynchburg, Virginia, has been arrested for his involvement in helping Miller flee the USA with her young daughter, Isabella. As noted before in prior posts, some administrative support staff at Liberty Counsel outwardly appear to have perhaps been involved in assisting Miller as well. The Rutland Herald has coverage on these new developments. Here are some highlights:

A Virginia man who federal prosecutors say helped a woman leave the country with her daughter so she wouldn’t have to turn custody of the girl over to her former lesbian partner surrendered Tuesday to face charges he aided in international parental kidnapping.

A complaint unsealed Tuesday said Kenneth L. Miller, 46, of Stuarts Draft, Va., arranged passage for Lisa Miller to travel to Canada before flying with her daughter in September 2009 to Nicaragua, where she was sheltered for a time by a group of Mennonite missionaries.

Kenneth Miller appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Tuesday and was released, said U.S. Attorney Tristram Coffin, who would provide no further information about the case.

Earlier this year, prosecutors indicted an American Mennonite missionary living in Nicaragua, Timothy Miller, on charges of helping Lisa Miller reach Central America. In October, prosecutors dropped the charges against Timothy Miller in exchange for his cooperation.

None of the Millers involved in the case is related.

The affidavit made public Tuesday indicated that Timothy Miller had helped provide the information that led to the charges against Kenneth Miller.

The affidavit says Timothy Miller arranged passage for Lisa Miller and her daughter, paying for the tickets with his mother-in-law’s credit card, but Kenneth Miller had told him he would be reimbursed for the price of the tickets.

In the spring of 2010, Lisa Miller was indicted in Vermont on charges of international parental kidnapping.

The latest complaint alleges that Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite pastor, asked another Mennonite pastor from Ontario, whose name was redacted from the affidavit, to meet Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella, now 11, at a hotel in Niagara, Ontario. In Ontario, that pastor picked Lisa Miller and her daughter up at the hotel and took them to the airport in Toronto, where they flew to Mexico and then Central America.

If convicted of aiding in international parental kidnapping, Kenneth Miller could be sentenced to three years in prison.

Of course what many of us would like to see ultimately surface is involvement by Matt Staver or others on the legal staff of Liberty Counsel. The organization, which files lawsuits on behalf of right wing Christianist groups, in my opinion, needs to be shut down.

Lisa Miller Kidnapping Accomplice Seeks to Move Trial to Virginia

Timothy David Miller, who is charged with assisting "ex-gay" Lisa Miller in kidnapping Lisa Miller's daughter in defiance of a Vermont court order is now seeking to have his trial moved from Vermont to Virginia where he no doubt - perhaps accurately - believes he will find friendlier judges and/or jurors, especially if the trial is in the Western District of Virginia, the most backward and reactionary part of the state. While Timothy Miller was arrested in Virginia, the court order he defied was issued by a Vermont court which would seem to make the Vermont venue appropriate. Others who have not been charged in the case although who appear to have suspiciously involved are folks at good old Bible thumping Liberty University and Liberty University Law School. Here are more details on the legal tussle from the Boston Globe:

A missionary charged with helping a woman involved in a custody dispute with her former lesbian partner flee the United States with the child wants his trial moved from Vermont to Virginia. In a motion filed Thursday in federal court in Rutland, Vt., a lawyer for Timothy David Miller said he also wants statements made to investigators in April excluded from the evidence, arguing that his client was not read his Miranda rights.

[Lisa] Miller, who once lived in Forest, Va., has repeatedly failed to obey court orders, and in November 2009 a Vermont judge ordered her to surrender custody to Jenkins. Miller failed to show up with the child on Jan. 1, 2010, and a federal warrant was issued for her arrest.

A lawyer for Timothy Miller said the Christian pastor, who was living in Managua, was stopped April 18 by US marshals and an FBI agent when he arrived at Reagan National Airport with his wife and four children. The were traveling to a wedding in Virginia.

Miller was interviewed at the airport police department office, where he told investigators he had been contacted by another man to purchase airplane tickets for Lisa Miller, and used his mother-in-law’s credit card to do so, according to the motion filed by Pennsylvania attorney Jeffrey A. Conrad.

[Timothy] Miller, described by the FBI as an Amish-Mennonite pastor from Tennessee, was charged with international parental kidnapping.

Conrad argues that the incriminating statements should be thrown out because Miller was the subject of an interrogation and was detained without having his rights read. He also says that the most appropriate place for the trial is the Western District of Virginia.

The alleged actions that constitute international parental kidnapping took place there, and the defendant was in Nicaragua when the alleged crime occurred and has never traveled to Vermont or had contact with anyone in the state, Conrad said in the motion.

One can only hope that in the course of the trial some of the folks at Liberty University are further implicated and charged as well.

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.

Philip Zodhiates, Lisa Miller, Anti-Semites and Christianist Haters

Since the arrest of an individual who allegedly helped Lisa Miller kidnap her daughter and flee the USA despite numerous court orders, there have been much coverage about possible ties to Liberty University and/or Liberty Counsel. But the story may spread much wider across the Christianist universe of haters. Bob Felton at Civil Commotion has unearthed a Southern Poverty Law Center piece that answers the question of who is Philip Zodhaites and what is his involvement with the Christianist far right. It seems that Zodhiates - the owner of the Nicaraguan beach house to which Lisa Miller allegedly fled who is pictured at right - has long ties to some of the nastiest "family values" organizations, including but not limited to the SPLC registered hate group, Conservative Values Coalition. Moreover, Zodhiates has a long history of anti-Semitic propaganda, thus further underscoring the fact that gays are hardly the only targets of the Christianist campaign of lies and denigration. It seems increasingly far fetched to believe that a lone administrative assistant at Liberty University Law School was behind Lisa Miller's illegal flight. Here are highlights from the Southern Poverty Law Center piece on Zodhaites entitled Haters for Sale:
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For eight years, a major direct-mail firm "specializing in the Christian and conservative markets" has been selling lists of the readers of America's leading anti-Semitic newspaper and, since about 2001, its successor publication.
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Response Unlimited, based in Waynesboro, Va., and headed by Christian Right activist Philip Zodhiates, charges $100 for the rental of every 1,000 names of subscribers to the now-defunct Spotlight newspaper. Founded by veteran anti-Semite Willis Carto, The Spotlight carried anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic and wildly conspiracist articles interspersed with ads for Klan, neo-Nazi and related hate groups.
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Zodhiates also peddles lists of subscribers to the American Free Press, which replaced The Spotlight when that tabloid was shut down amid legal and financial troubles surrounding Carto. The Free Press began immediately after The Spotlight fizzled in 2001 and picked up many of its predecessor paper's propagandists. Today, the Free Press carries stories on Zionism, secret "New World Order" conspiracies, American Jews and Israel.
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[I]t's clear that the lists have sold well, especially to political groups on the right. According to Response Unlimited's Web site, Spotlight list purchasers have included the Republican Governors Association; the National Right to Work Foundation; the Mountain States Legal Foundation; U.S. English, an English-only group; and the hard-right Washington Times newspaper.
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In March 2005, The New York Times reported that Response Unlimited had cut a deal with Bob Schindler, the father of Terri Schiavo, a woman in a persistent vegetative state who was dying after a court authorized removal of her feeding tube. In return for the list of people who had donated money to Schindler, Zodhiates' firm agreed to send out an E-mail soliciting further donations for the Schindlers, . .
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Schindler cut his deal with Phil Sheldon, who is an officer of Response Unlimited. Sheldon is the son of the Rev. Lou Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition, a group that also sent out appeals for support for Schiavo, who many Christian Right groups mistakenly believed was semi-conscious. Phil Sheldon is also partner with Zodhiates in a Web-based firm called Conservative Petitions that specializes in creating electronic petitions for right-wing causes.
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Other lists offered by Response Unlimited include donors to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a group described by President Bush as "vigilantes" that has sent armed civilians to the border to guard against illegal immigration; Gun Owners of America, whose founder Larry Pratt has written for anti-Semitic publications and who was ejected from Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign for alleged ties to white supremacists; and American Border Patrol, led by Glenn Spencer, whose vitriolic Web site has long specialized in pillorying Latinos and especially Mexicans.