Sunday, June 14, 2009

SCARY DEVELOPMENT FOR ALL FILMMAKERS

SINS OF COMMISSION, an award winning documentary film by Southern California filmmaker Richard Oshen, is facing legal action by the California Coastal Commission, which has in fact just served Mr. Oshen with a subpoena in order to obtain a copy of the film.

The revealing expose follows ordinary citizens who have come up against the unelected Commission’s autocratic actions wielded, surprisingly, without accountability or oversight.

The California Coastal Commission may try to silence the film because it reveals strong links between California’s increasingly catastrophic wildfires and the Coastal Commission’s prohibition of critical brush clearance.

-Richard Oshen,writer, director, SINS OF COMMISSION
Read more

4 comments:

Frank Drouillard said...

Why doesn't Mr. Oshen simply post the subpoena for all to see? The California Coastal Commission isn't trying to silence him or interfere with the airing of his film. One thing that would become immediately clear upon review of the subpoena is that Mr. Oshen isn't even one of the litigants in the case in which the CCC is the defendant.

It's more likely that Mr. Oshen is sensationalizing the discovery process in order to promote his film.

lgstarr said...

"The Unrepentant Sins Of The California Coastal Commission" http://tinyurl.com/m3qsy2

"This seems to be a clear case of prior restraint which has been found unconstitutional in the past by the Supreme Court." http://tinyurl.com/kp8hue

Frank Drouillard said...

lgstarr -- And your point is, what? That you know how to find articles written by attorneys that prey on those ignorant of the Coastal Act? Or that you can use TinyURL.com?

Ronald Zumbrun makes a living trying to bust the Coastal Act. He was on the winning side in Nollan v. CCC, a fact he rightfully uses to advertise his services.

Other times, he didn't do so well:

tinyurl.com/lr3rco
(Read down a bit.)

That effort did result in a slight modification of commissioner terms, but it wasn't the decision he needed to give any credence to his persistent claims that the Coastal Act is unconstitutional or the the Coastal Commission is a rogue state agency.

That's what my common sense tells me. Legal experts may have a different view, particularly if they're in need of more clients.

As for the link to the American Thinker, you may have missed my comment to that article. Allow me to repeat it here:

"I am surprised that the American Thinker would publish this story without trying to verify the reason for the subpoena. At the very least, you should demand to see a copy of the subpoena before publishing Mr. Oshen's absurd accusations.

Dollar-to-a-donut says the film is needed for evidence in a case in which Mr. Oshen isn't even one of the litigants, and that he's spreading yet another untruth in a desperate effort to publicize his work."

SaveOurOcean said...

Mr. Drouillard, I'm suprised being as witty and brillant as you are that you wouldn't know the subpoena, having been filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, is a PUBLIC RECORD that may easily be obtained by any member of the public.

Why are you so adamant about defending this subpoena and discrediting a documentary film about our own government? I'd be happy to buy you a one-way ticket to China. Americans are free to criticize their government without fear of retribution. What are you so worried abuot?

You criticize Ron Zunbrum but you conveniently failure to mention that the United States Supreme Court, agreeing with him, declared that the Coastal Commission's practice was "not a valid regulation of land use but an out and out plan of extortion." Maybe there is a problem here.

Finally, the fact that Mr. Oshen is not a party means little. He was issued a subpoena by the government to compel production of his unreleased documentary film. If he fails to turn over the documentary, he is subject to FINES AND JAIL TIME. Is that not enough for you?