Pt 2
Briefly, the Edwards and Ms. Star are falsely claiming:
1. That Ms. Lawson passed along posts from a Yahoo listserv which I then reposted at my group, violating their copyright.
This is false on several counts. To begin with, there is no copyright of Yahoo groups posts. I received the posts thanks to the Edwards themselves, who sent me an invite to their Yahoo group. In any case, we have the right to repost under the Fair Use laws.
Ironically, the Edwards themselves are guilty of violating copyright laws. They admitted in an email to me that most of their website is taken straight from Diane Fisher’s books, without proper credit being given.
2. That contacting the police or FBI, or urging others to do the same, is “slander.
What Ms. Lawson did was not only ethically right, it was her legal obligation in some states if she believed or knew of a crime or crimes being committed.
Should not what Mr. Allen is doing on behalf of the Edwards and Ms. Star in fact be considered witness tampering, or intimidation of witnesses, if in fact crimes did occur?
3. That Ms. Lawson told others of charges involving the Edwards and minor children.
This is the first time either Ms. Lawson or myself have heard of these allegations involving children. More than likely there are others making such allegations who choose not to reveal their own identities and the Edwards, trapped in their paranoia, falsely assumed Ms. Lawson was behind them.
4. Mr. Allen also threatened to have Ms. Lawson ordered into psychological testing or counseling by the courts. This is an outrageous attempted abuse of legal authority, much like the old Soviet Union routinely ordering dissidents into mental hospitals. That he would attempt to do so speaks of his own lack of ethics. Like the Edwards and Ms. Star, obviously he is attempting to smear Ms. Lawson as mentally unfit. That he should use his law license to do this is contemptible, and hopefully grounds for disbarment.
I believe Mr. Allen is himself guilty of furthering this attempt to disparage the character of Ms. Lawson. Perhaps in his desire for legal fees, he has not bothered to check the extremely dubious nature of the clientele he is representing. I seriously doubt he ever intended to become a cult’s lawyer, but his failure to do research is even more glaring than the Edwards. While every person, even cult leaders, is deserving of representation under our system of justice, that does not mean Mr. Allen is obligated to use his law license as a weapon of intimidation against those who expose the potentially dangerous nature of such cults.
The incredibly dubious nature of his clients’ beliefs and practices should have caused Mr. Allen to take a more serious look at his clients’ obvious lies about Ms. Lawson, just as he would at any client who claimed the CIA was out to get him because he had proof of Bigfoot. In my view, the question is simply one of whether Mr. Allen lacks moral (and perhaps legal) scruples, or whether he is simply incompetent.
I will be posting this online for all to see who wish, as well as sending it to the local news media so that the community will know the true nature of the Edwards, Ms. Star, Timothy Allen, and the burgeoning cult calling itself Cherokees of Kentucky Chickamauga.
Dr. Al Carroll
History Department
San Antonio College
Alamo Community College District
