James Branum; lawyer to malcontents

| August 16, 2009

branum-and-bishop-pretrial-glee

You’ve probably been wondering who is defending these “resisters” who are being prosecuted by the military during their court cases. For Victor Agosto, Travis Bishop, Robin Long, Cliff Cornell, and pot smoking deserter Ryan Jackson, it’s been James M. Branum, who calls himself the GI Rights Lawyer. He’s also a co-chair of the Military Law Task Force branch of the communist National Lawyer’s Guild.

So who is James Branum? In his own words;

If I had to describe myself, I would say that I’m an old style (as in cir. 1912) Oklahoma Agrarian Socialist. My primary political influenced has been the Jesus. I believe his way of radical peace, love and sharing could change the world. I also draw a great deal from the writings of Wendell Berry, Thomas Jefferson, Thoreau, Buddha and even Marx (but mostly second-hand when it comes to Marx). In modern terms, I guess I fit best in the Green Party, but I don’t really dig the way the Green Party (at least nationally does things), and in many ways fit better with the anarchist approach of the Catholic Worker Movement and the Wobblies.I believe strongly in both the sanctity of life, but take it further than many do. True peace includes both a spiritual element and an economic element, because true peace can only come when everybody had enough and no one goes hungry.

Yeah, that’s why Osama bin Laden attacked us – he was hungry. That’s why Saddam Hussein attacked Iran and Kuwait and his own people – he was hungry. That’s why the Serbs attacked the Kosovars – Milosevic was hungry. It all seems so simple, doesn’t it?

So, here’s Branum giving advice to the YouTube audience last year on “resisting”. He talks about people who didn’t do any jail time – unfortunately for his clients, none of the people who didn’t go to jail were Branum’s clients. He also discusses how liberating Thoreau claims he found prison – Branum’s clients will more than likely get that same feeling Thoreau felt;

Anyway, what has this lawyer, James Branum, done for his clients? So far, he’s had a 100% success rate getting them all imprisoned. In fact, he’s managed to get all of them max sentences. When I wrote about Branum last month, before the Victor Agosto court martial, he’d already had four clients get the max sentences. Since then, Agosto got 30 days, and now Travis Bishop got a year in prison.

Here’s one of the statements Branum posted after Bishop was convicted;

To everyone who still cares:

I can not say that a year in prison doesn’t scare me: I am terrified. I just cried in the bathroom so no one could see.

But still, though I am terrified, it would be scarier still to know that my fellow soldiers who feel as we feel would never find out what we are trying to accomplish had I not gone to prison.

Everyone who hears or reads this should know that I love you all, and my life is forever changed because of you.

Victor and myself are starting something big . . . and it is now up to all of you to continue on.

With all of my heart,

Travis [Bishop]

So, ya know, ya hafta wonder why these clowns are hiring an incompetent doofus lawyer that gets them the max sentence every single time. Why pay someone to do the exact same thing an Army lawyer would do for free?

I guess it’s because they ain’t all that bright – like Branum;

bishop-peace

If all of Branum clients are in jail, it just makes it easier to visit them;

visiting-clients

And in a movement that doesn’t require success, intentions are all that matter;

jamail-to-branum

Category: Antiwar crowd, Liberals suck, Military issues, Phony soldiers, Usual Suspects

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AW1 Tim

Why is this man still practicing law. Why hasn’t he been disbarred for incompetence?

sporkmaster

I wonder it this is a way to launder money. I mean it is a great way to get funds for things that people might not give if they knew what they where really for.

1stCavRVN11B

From the link, Branum says he’s “working on learning the ukulele”. Now that’s about right, woulld ya guess he’s already mastered the skin flute?

CRaissi

If Branum charges people money, then he should be ashamed of himself. Lawyers that are committed to causes don’t ask for money, they simply volunteer their time and expertise.

The Sniper

I think we should chip in so that he can represent more of these guys pro-bono… that way they can all get the very “best” kind of legal counsel.

OldTrooper

I have no sympathy for any of them. They are getting what they deserve, and in some cases, not enough of what they deserve. Screw ’em. They say that someone who represents themself has a fool for a lawyer. Well, I guess that is being put to the test every time this moron represents anyone.

UpNorth

This clown has a glorious future as a criminal defense attorney. Not many attorneys can boast of a 100% rate. Let’s make sure the rest of these asshats get him as their attorney.
Bet Travis pissed himself in the bathroom too. After his crying jag. And just what is a Michael Kern??

sporkmaster

Here is a keeper of a line.

“In a surprise moment at the end of testimony, the Prosecution decided to call Lt. Colonel Ronald Leininger to the stand. Leininger was the Brigade Chaplain to whom Bishop was referred for pastoral counseling. Bishop has described his deep disappointment in speaking to someone he thought would be attentive to his religious beliefs. Bishop said the Chaplain reduced his interview time and interrupted the interview repeatedly by receiving phone calls.

In the statement issued by the Chaplain after his visit with Bishop, he focused almost no attention on Bishop’s religious beliefs. Instead, he wrote that Bishop had been coached by Iraq Veterans Against the War and other antiwar activists.”

http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/alice-embree-court-martial-of-travis.html

Michael

1 FUCK ALL OF YOU!

2 I DEMAND MY PICTURE IS REMOVED FROM THIS RIGHT WING PEACE OF SHIT SITE.

James M. Branum

FYI, more than 80% of my clients do not get any jail time at all.

Otherwise I don’t see the need to respond to this obvious pathetic character attack. If anyone wants to know the truth, I can be contacted easily enough.

Puzzled

I guess I am really confused why you need to take the time to attack Mr. Branum. It doesn’t seem like you have any position on the issue other than to point out awful things. Are you just bored? Or do you have something useful to say?

Sig

You speak out your ass about people you know nothing about. Your research on this leaves much to be desired. James is a great and dedicated lawyer.

Kris

Wow. First of all way to take Jame’s description of himself way out of context and secondly, I pity you. I couldn’t imagine living in a Hell where all I could do was write useless blogs with false information about a man doing what he knows is right. I’m proud of James and his clients.

Susan

Ok, so just between us lawyers Mr. Branum, I noticed a few things that cause me to question why anyone would entrust their future to you. First, you seem to have attended more than a few too many colleges/universities. I suppose this is part of your scam to attempt to avoid paying your just and lawful debts, see – “I am currently taking online classes from Western Oklahoma State College for personal enrichment and for the student loan deferment.” If you really worked for your father in a consumer bankruptcy practice, you know that these debts are non-dischargeable and will be with you FOREVER unless you pay them. Also, the United States Trustee’s office in Oklahoma has more than one veteran. I will be sending them this to keep an eye out for you should you try to avail yourself of that route. By the way, does the Bar know about this scam? Second, your writing stinks. You ramble and are far from persuasive. Were you not told in law school not to use contractions in formal writing? Your web site represents your practice so at least do the basic things to make it professional. Third, I suggest you take another course on the UCMJ. Last I checked, when you sign those enlistment papers or accept a commission, you lose certain of your free speech rights. It is just part of the deal. Finally, grow up. The reason we have free speech rights at all is because thousands of servicemembers have loved liberty more than life and give all for freedom. Your communistic/peace and love philosophy is ok for kids, but you are a professional and it is time for you to solve real problems rather than encourage bad behavior from a few malcontents. They were not drafted; they signed up for the job. The only reason there can be gentle sheep like you is that there are sheepdogs watching out for you to keep the wolf at bay. Do you really think the Islamists are interested in your philosophy? Trust me, you and the other members of the Lawyers… Read more »

Bella Mayer

So tedious to see another good person smeared and attacked. James is a heroic individual and he is part of a mass movement of people in America and across the globe working tirelessly for peace. This blog is indeed promoting a hellish disgusting world – lying and attempting to intimidate good people on behalf of the corrupt, the destructive and the immoral sections ruining this planet. God bless James Branum and all the soldiers resisting imperialism.

Claymore

I DEMAND MY PICTURE IS REMOVED FROM THIS RIGHT WING PEACE OF SHIT SITE.

…you should contact the Minister Of Peace And Justice for that.

JuniorAG

James is a twerp and tool of socialism and he is part of a mass movement of sheeple in America and across the globe working tirelessly for invasive bureaucrapcy (socialism).

TSO

Oh God! Michael Kern is on to us, quick everyone hide.

What 80% of clients are those sir? The ones who get charged with littering?

CRaissi

James, I just want to know whether you’re volunteering your time for a cause in which you believe, or if you’re taking money from people. You obviously have supporters, but the only way you deserve praise on the level rendered by Dahr Jamail is if you are doing the work pro bono.

B Woodman

I notice in the last half of the posts how the Peace/Love SocLibs came out of the woodwork like cockroaches to “attack” and threaten this site when their feelings are hurt and their Beloved Ones are exposed to the light of reality.

Good work, TAH! Keep up the good work! Love it.

Crystal M

I have read all of the responses and I AM just shocked at the amount of mis-information. James Branum has plenty of clients that have been discharged with NO jail time what-so-ever. So the 100% statement is completely false. I admire James for the work he is doing and what he charges is actually negligible, so it is definitely not an attempt to get rich. Far from that! He is SO involved with these guys and works very hard for them. I applaud the work that he does for his clients.

sporkmaster

Really? Who are they? Also you would think that if you had any successful trials of military clients, then why only post the ones you lost on your YouTube site?

Admire for what? Putting people in jail? I say again who had has been in a military court that he has won for?

NHSparky

Applaud the work he does? Do you applaud the doctor after he kills his patient, too?

Steve

You would applaud to if your name was Crystal Meth….

James M. Branum

Most of my clients are not in the press, and unless the client consents I cannot and will not talk about them publicly.

But I can provide 2 examples of clients who did go public and who got no jail time…

Jose Crespo – http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/content/view/598/1/
(after a very long and protracted struggle, Jose received an honorable discharge and no jail time)

David Penta – http://m.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/dec/20/for-lawyer-helping-gis-walk-away-is-lifes/
(the article doesn’t go into detail on this, but we were able to get him off in court by challenging the validity of his order based on what was on his EBR during a plea hearing… the only jail time Penta ended up receiving was a few weeks of pre-trial confinement)

Again though these cases were unique in that we had to threaten to go to the press to get a response in extreme cases of command abuse. Most of the time, things don’t even go this far.

CRaissi

Yeah, I’d be real “honored” to meet the “rare thing” of a defense attorney taking money and staying “fully committed to the cause.” I have never before heard a defense attorney held in such high regard for defending people from whom he has taken money. Could you imagine Jamail’s comments in another context? I can. Replace James with the late Johnny Cochran and Travis with the incarcerated OJ Simpson. The only difference is that OJ got away with murder, and most of Branum’s clients to go prison.

Your thing is to defend “resistors” in the military. Fine. Other attorneys chase ambulances and get in on class action suits for asbestos. Big deal, they’re carving out niches and targeting markets. They are pursuing business strategies. You’re simply doing the same thing, so this adoration and these accolades are pretty stupid. You’re doing a job in exchange for money. Even if you had a 100% success rate in getting people off with honorable discharges and no jail time, you still wouldn’t deserve such praise. You’re just an attorney doing what he was hired to do.

TSO

That article says you had had 15 clients. Since then you had 6 more that Jonn tracked down, making 21. We’ll round down to 20, and you cite 2, 1 of whom got an OTH and the other got something else. So, you are batting 10% and 1/2 of those reached on error.

Well done counselor!

UpNorth

Who kicked over the troll ant hill? Seems they all got their marching orders, maybe from the Underthe Hood Cafe? And the picture of the group of “people” including Kern? It would appear to be in the public domain, so, just man up and live with it. And the word is “piece”.

curious as hell

If Branus can’t give out clients names w/o thier permission…how bout the court jurisdiction and case numbers? Is’nt all that good court stuff public knowledge/public record?

UpNorth

So, Webb has his greasy fingerprints on this? Oh wow, you better back off Jonn. What a shock, Webb is a “friend” of Branum.
“mass movement of people in America and across the globe working tirelessly for peace”. Really, Bella? Would that be the Taliban, working for peace? Iran? Russia? China? SEIU and ACORN? Lots of “people” there working for surrender, I mean peace.

Rurik

31stCavRVN11B,

I see Mr. Branum Muffin also has a “piece dog”. I guess that’s a quaint way of putting it. But gee, isn’t that canine a real dog, almost as ugly as your average Code Punk chick.

David W, Hughey

In the book: New American Militarism, Andrew Bacevich (West Point graduate, Vietnam veteran, turned scholar and historian) writes, “Whether considering George H. W. Bush’s 1992 incursion into Somalia, Bill Clinton’s 1999 war for Kosovo, or George W. Bush’s 2003 crusade to overthrow Saddam Hussein, the growing U.S. predilection for military intervention in recent years has so mangled the concept of common defense as to make it all but unrecognizable.” When any person enters into a contract with the U.S. military believing that their life will only be risked for the common defense of their country and then suddenly finds themselves put at risk to install a foreign constitution, in a foreign country, under the pretext of defending the United States—I don’t believe there is a valid meeting of the minds. The concept of defense presented by our government is unrecognizable and the contract is void. Bacevich considers American militarism a significant hazard to our country and suggests several principals to restore the “basic precepts that animated the creation of the United States,” first among these is a suggestion to “heed the intentions of the Founders.” Many Americans think the spirit of the Constitution has been lost and Bacevich writes of the “need to revitalize the concept of separation of powers and to “view force as a last resort.” Bacevich points out that “an explicit denunciation of the Bush Doctrine of preventive war” is absolutely necessary, believing that the Bush Doctrine “subverts international stability and in the long run can only make America less secure.” Policies such as this only serve to alienate “peoples and nations around the world” leaving the United States increasingly isolated, and as Bacevich cautions “If history is any guide, it will end in bankruptcy, moral as well as economic, and in abject failure.” As a result of the Bush Doctrine the world is becoming less and less stable and our country is going bankrupt. Bacevich cites Reinhold Niebuhr who observed that “the most significant moral characteristic of a nation is its hypocrisy.” We are warned about the “chief danger of hypocrisy” in international politics and the… Read more »

sporkmaster

Because the military is not a social club. The second you join you are obligated to finish your commitment. Not based of off partisan politics.

Also what are your thoughts on Major Stefan Cook, the Officer that is trying to get people not to deploy because he is still claiming that Obama is not a American citizen so he is not the legal US President?

OldTrooper

David: Your logic is as twisted as your thoughts on who, exactly, is mangling the Constitution. That bit aside; do you think that if I voluntarily make a contract with, let’s say, you on purchasing a car and I drive it around for a few months, or even a year, and find that it goes against all the “green” ideals that I adhere to, as of late, should I be able to just walk away from it without paying the rest of what we legally agreed as the price? Could I say that the car you sold me doesn’t fit with what I thought it would at the time? Should I be able to just “leave”?

Same goes with these scum sucking drag queens. They signed a contract. They swore an oath and now they want out of their obligations. They have no honor and I wouldn’t trust them to baby sit a pet rock. If they were to give me their word on doing something for me, I wouldn’t believe them.

I have stated several times that I put Stefan Cook in the same category as the rest of these a**holes.

sporkmaster

I know that I was asking David.

OldTrooper

I know, that you know, that I know you were asking David.

I just wanted to go on record for David as to how I feel about Cook, also, because I didn’t want to give him the opportunity to come back on it.

TSO

Be honest Hughley, you are leaving out a fact that is pertinent with regard to Bacevich, aren’t you? You know, something that might cloud his judgment?

Go ahead, I’ll wait for you to correct the record.

David W, Hughey

No contract is absolute. You can sell the car and get out of the contract. No valid contract can require you to break the law. So if you miss, in the fine print, that you are required to run over and kill someone leaving the dealership, after buying your car, is the contract valid? If you default on the loan, you don’t go to prison. If you believe that invading and occupying foreign countries is illegal and/or unconstitutional should you be forced to participate?

The oath an enlisted American soldier takes can be traced back to the Roman empire and was last changed in 1950, (I believe) during our battle with Communism, and is now a combination of the original 1789 oath blended with Civil War alterations and combined with the additional 1950’s phrase noting the duty to “… obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me … So Help Me God.” The complete oath reads:

I, ____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

Is that the oath you took? Who/what do you swear to uphold? The Constitution or the Commander-in-chief? What do you do when there is a conflict? What do you do if your superior officer issues an illegal or an unconstitutional order?

Your opinion is noted and I repeat my question: Why don’t you just let those volunteers, who want to leave, go?

OldTrooper

Ok, by your definition, as absolute as you are making it, then the President, who is in violation of the Constitution as the individual understands it, can be arrested by said individual who swore the oath? That’s what you are basically saying, correct?

As for superior officers issuing illegal orders; I think that has been covered quite extensively by the Nuremburg tribunals as well as the Lt. Callie case.

Now, what constitutes an “illegal order”? Is it an order that the individual deems is illegal based on their years of experience and vast knowleage of UCMJ law? Or, is it based on a bunch of geriatric hippies from the 60’s that still are looking for a replacement Che shirt to wear at their WWP organized protest?

Could it be that questioning the order would mean taking it higher up the chain of command?

Show me the case law where it says that this war is illegal based on international law, which is the catch phrase they use to justify their cowardice. You can’t because it doesn’t exist. Show me where it says that these wars are illegal based on our Constitution? You can’t, because if you could, they would have used it already, since they’ve had almost 8 years to do it.

Trying to run cover for a bunch of pussies isn’t a very appealing place to be, so I applaud you for trying.

As for the oath; you didn’t have to bother putting it in your post, because I could recite it in my sleep; can you? I raised my right hand and swore that oath; did you? I signed that contract; did you? I fulfilled my obligations; did you?

Lastly you ask: “Why don’t you just let those volunteers, who want to leave, go?”

They are let go, just not on their timetable or convenience. And they are given less than what they deserve, because not all of them are given BCD’s and 12 months at hard labor.

Allie Brown

I can’t think of a lawyer doing a greater diservice to these impressionable troops as what I read about Mr. Branum. When it becomes all about his politics then it becomes all about the lawyer, and to hell with the Soldier.

I have seen two lawyers in action for cases like this. Both had served in the military, I think Army and Navy, and they ran complete circles around the military to win for their Soldiers. I don’t know their politics but they sure as heck knew what they were doing. Mr. Branum should let pros like those guys help the Soldiers.

David W, Hughey

Allie Brown…could you send me the names of those two lawyers. thx

David W, Hughey

The oath a soldier takes was listed to make sure it was accurate—thanks. As for my obligation: I am an American citizen with rights inherited from my father who inherited the same, unalienable rights, from his father. I am no more obligated to go to Iraq or Afghanistan than Cheney, Bush, or Obama; or the mystical pundits who say you should fight their battles. As an American citizen I am obligated to support our Constitution and I am bound to the same oath a President swears—“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will … … to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” For the sake of argument say that a private reads the “Law of Nations” (written by Vattel in 1758) where the laws that form our nation’s constitution are described as fundamental laws: “those, in a word, which together form the constitution of the state, are the fundamental laws, …” (Vattel, B. I., §29.) Fundamental laws provide the foundation for our civil laws and ordinary legislators have NO right to change a fundamental law when a method for changing the Constitution is expressly stated. The method for changing our Constitution is specified in very express terms and no single legislator, or group of legislators, (i.e. the 107th Congress), has the authority to change a fundamental law whenever they please. For example: By using a resolution (H.J. RES. 114) to abandon the responsibility to declare war to a President. The resolution to use force in Iraq presumed to arbitrarily change a fundamental law and it was Daniel Webster who once noted, “A free government with arbitrary means to administer it is a contradiction;” Mr. Webster was fully aware of what would happen to a government if it were to be administered arbitrarily. The laws that form the constitution of a state are fundamental and they should be considered sacred or the nation will sacrifice stability to the will of a few who act at random. Why is the Law of Nations relevant? It was used by the Framers to construct… Read more »

sporkmaster

“For an example of an unconstitutional (illegal) order consider the order given on March 19, 2003,….But today it is the executive branch that usurps these powers and presumes to decide the answer which is, of course, always preventive war”

He had the go ahead from both houses to use force if needed. Also there was no need for a declaration of war when the only thing that stopped the conflict in 1991 was a cease fire agreement. One that Iraq did not follow the terms. Now it can be argued that this was not a wise choice, but it was a legal one.

“Allow me to re-phrase my question: What good does it do to put Americans in prison who change their minds? What good does it do to put Americans in prison who don’t want any part of the mission?”

Because of the job. You think that people love to be away from their families and friends for up to a year or more?

The reason is that by trying to dodge a deployment that you accepted you would be willing to do by joining forces someone else to be away from their family. Because the military does not allow open slots in a deploying unit to remain empty. That is why they are getting punished because they are robbing someone else of a year from those they loved.

Claymore

I’m just curious if David has any other commitments he thinks are unworthy of honoring when they become too difficult or uncomfortable? Mortgage? Car loans? Marriage vows? I mean seriously, all of that shit is such a drag on your “pursuit of happiness”, so WTF, right?

OldTrooper

Ok, you didn’t list any “international laws” that were broken, because as I stated earlier; you can’t. So, you turn to a book from history that was part of the inspiration in our founding documents. Wonderful; so what? You claim to be bound by the same oath the President takes; really? Then why does anyone have to take an oath, if we are all bound by it to begin with? You cite article I of the Constitution as your solid footing. Guess what; congress did allow the President to carry out these acts with a vote that they took. So the President did it the way the Constitution calls for. He is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States and he gives the order as our Constitution mandates. He did nothing un-Constitutional, you just don’t like the fact that he did what he did and you’re trying to find a way around it. You cite a lot of history as though that solves it all. You bring in Webster, Vattel, a movie, etc., yet you know nothing of the military, how it operates, why it operates the way it does. You have the luxury of looking at it from a civilian point of view and your assumptions and conclusions are based on what you think it should be, not what it is. What it boils down to is that you don’t like the fact that these wars are taking place. You don’t like the fact that individuals are being held accountable for their (in)actions. They signed up, they have an obligation, one that you obviously don’t understand, because it’s not like working at Mickey D’s where if you don’t like it, you can just walk out. The military isn’t designed for that and it can’t be and never has anywhere in the world. Even back in the times of Vattel. War isn’t about spreading democracy, because that’s a tool, not an end. War is fought for vastly different things, whether it’s control of a region, to take out a threat before they can act, or… Read more »

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