Do ItYourself Legal Proceedings

I don't know, but I've been told that it was Mayor Bill Sage who wrote the Town of Oriental "Press Release" printed on the front page of the Pamlico News last March 17.

Mayor Sage did not explain, though he knows full well that the Court of Appeals decided that I could not be a "person aggrieved" in the case of Avenue A only because I did not claim personal injury. That's all. It was a rookie mistake in my brief. He also knows full well that the Court of Appeals explicitly explained (twice) that its decision on Avenue A does not apply to South Avenue. He also knows that my complaint concerning South Avenue does claim personal injury, thereby meeting the Court's criteria for being a "person aggrieved" and therefore having standing to bring the case and have it heard on its merits. To anyone paying attention, it could not have been "unimaginable" that I filed the second suit. In fact, Judge Nobles shook his finger at the Town's attorney and admonished him that "it is your fault that Mr.Cox had to file a second suit." That's a matter for a separate discussion.

In his diatribe, the mayor seemed specially annoyed that I represented myself pro se. He mentioned it twice. I do want to address that.

It is true that I am not an attorney. It is also true that I couldn't afford to retain an attorney. But I am not a complete stranger to legal proceedings. Or to legal standards concerning public officials. I am a naval officer. Law is a part of my profession.

I was seventeen years old learning to be a naval officer when it was impressed on me that public officials (including ship captains and admirals) have only those powers granted to them by law and regulation. My very first course in naval matters introduced me to US Navy Regulations 1948, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Judge Advocate General's Manual and the Manual for Courts Martial. This body of knowledge was expanded over the next four years to include International Law and Law of the Sea.

When I was commissioned in 1958, all of the Navy's routine legal matters were handled by seagoing officers. We had no specialized corps of lawyers until 1967. I was assigned to USS Cabildo (LSD-16) as navigator, but I was also the ship's legal officer, administrative officer and personnel officer. Those three collateral duties all involved dealing with law and regulation. In Court Martial proceedings, I normally was trial counsel, but also occasionally was asked to serve as a sailor's defense counsel.

Later in my career I served as president of courts-martial, acted as investigating officer in JAG investigations and was awarded advanced degrees in international law and diplomacy. As a specialist in politico-military policy, I worked closely over the years with military and civilian attorneys in the Office of The Chief of Naval Operations, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Department of State and the Judge Advocate General.s Office of International Law.

After I retired from the Navy and was a founder of an information technology company, I represented the company in a GAO bid protest hearing where the other party was represented by the biggest government contract law firm in DC. I prevailed.

I mention these things not to claim that I have skills as good as those of a licensed attorney, but only to suggest I am not a complete novice in legal affairs. My advice to the Town Board should not have been rejected out of hand.

Had I been able to afford to retain counsel, my case would still be going forward.