Essentially all of Team Kimberlin’s attempts to use lawfare to punish their enemies have backfired since the beginning of 2012. However, some of the pushback against them have been successful. One of the earliest successes was the granting of a peace order against Bill Schmalfeldt as a result of his online harassment of me. That success led to yet another failure of Team Kimberlin’s lawfare. Rather than quietly accept his lose in court, Bill Schmalfeldt appealed that first peace order. Six years ago today, I ran this post titled #BillSchmalfeldt Thinks He’s Appealing.
* * * * *
The question to be decided is whether or not the Maryland Court of Appeals will agree.
I received a Notice of Appeal from Bill Schmalfeldt in the Hoge v. Schmalfeldt peace order case. I note that it was sent by Schmalfeldt himself and not a lawyer, so I suppose that means that he is proceeding pro se. I will be interested to see how well he does drafting his Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeals. My lawyer will, of course, be filing a Response, and we’ll see if the Court takes the case.
I doubt that Schmalfeldt has any real grounds for appeal. OTOH, the Court of Appeals might take the case in order to specifically clarify that electronic harassment is covered by the peace order statute.
Meanwhile, the Circuit Court’s order remains in effect.
UPDATE—Assuming the Court of Appeals takes the case, by the time certiorari is granted, briefs filed, and oral arguments heard, the Peace Order may have expired—making the case moot.
* * * * *
As the Gentle Reader who has been following The Saga of Team Kimberlin for a while may remember, Schmalfeldt failed to obey that peace order. As a result, it was extended, so it was in force longe enough for the Court of Appeals to reject his appeal—not for mootness but for lack of merit.
Everything proceeded as I had foreseen.