The Gallini Group

09/21/2023

The Webinar was originally scheduled for tonight (Sept. 21) but needed to reschedule due to a medical issue with one of my kids that could take a while. So, you have another week to register for this informative explanation of the "parliamentary rules" that are followed by school boards, city councils and legislatures.

We will cover the pros and cons to, what I believe, is an outdated set of rules that are frequently used to silence "opposition" for those in "power"... as with any law, rule and/or regulation.... so much of the intended civility of Robert's Rules is contingent on everyone (regardless of ideology or position) agreeing to follow the rules of civility. But, what happens if one side doesn't? What happens when you're the sucker in the room following the "law", "regulations" and "rules" but nobody else does? This is the growing reality in our current society so you need to know the "rules" but also you need to understand what to do when your opposition changes their rules of engagement and expects you to continue to engage with civility.

Peoples movements in this country's history weren't successful because they followed Robert's Rules of Order in every instance. You need to understand the differences so that you maximize your effectiveness for your communities.

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Sep 28, 2023 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Understanding Robert's Rules of Order
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C5IxkdkOQ669g2KCNv2JGQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

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Webinar Speakers

James R. Gallini (Attorney Gallini Group)
James has been involved in creating, editing and assisting on proposed legislation primarily in Alabama. He has worked with lawmakers, State Department of Education, State-organized policy groups, nonprofits and interest groups to shape public policy. He has organized grassroots campaigns to effectively stop legislation or bureaucratic rule changes from occurring thus saving countless families from the negative impacts of bad governmental decisions and policy in the process.
James is a member of the Alabama State Bar, New Mexico State Bar, Texas State Bar, United States District Court – Northern Alabama, United States District Court – Southern Alabama, United States 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Council of Parent Attorney Advocates (COPAA). He has successfully argued before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, setting precedent. James is a national trainer on the subject of special education law for parents and educators and on constitutional and public policy issues. He has been featured on the national talk show The Doctors, in Esquire Magazine, and many news outlets, both print and television, for his excellence in advocacy.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Juris Doctorate from Birmingham School of Law, where he has also served as an adjunct professor in the area of Special Education Law. Immediately following passing the bar, James founded his own law firm, The Gallini Group, LLC, that has currently grown beyond Alabama into the states of New Mexico and Texas.

Whether it is participating in your School Board meetings or getting involved in shaping legislative policy, it is important to know the basics of Robert's Rules of Order so you can't be ignored, disregarded or silenced due to a lack of understanding the decorum of the forum.

09/05/2023

We understandably and frequently have parents contact our office wanting to "sue" the public schools for money due to allegations of bullying, harassment, physical abuse, neglect, mental/emotional harm, loss of job, and a myriad of other reasons.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals covers Alabama, Georgia and Florida. You'll read in the decision that the decision adopts companion court rulings, including from the 10th Circuit (UT, KS, WY, CO, NM and OK).

I've added select pages from the decision (link to full decision below) in order to show why damages attorneys (like Alex Shunnarah) don't have billboards all over asking whether your child has been injured, bullied, harassed and/or mentally/emotionally harmed at public school. First, most of our State governments across the United States have constructed huge obstacles to holding government employees accountable due to something called "immunity". There's inferred immunity and then there is the wing-dinger of immunities known as "codified immunity". The Alabama Legislature (your elected representatives) voted and passed the wing-dinger one and has made things like "reasonable accountability" something that applies to you and not "them".

Before anyone goes there, let me make it clear that this 3 panel of Federal Judges were all women and two of the three appointed by Democrats (Clinton and Obama). Frankly, I've found our odds better with "conservative" judges over "liberal" judges when it comes to getting them to agree to hold government accountable. And, the key players involved in the law suit from the school were also women. So, I want to remove petty thinking that this decision was due to the mythical "Southern Patriarchal machine", "Southern racism", "racism" or any other invented excuse.

The decision is rooted in an entangled interconnected web of much bigger problems that impact all of us that live, breath and work outside of this system of government. Now, before anyone in government misinterprets me and decides to boot my car or declare that I can't set foot on your government property, I'm not pointing specific fingers yet I would hope that those who work within the system of government can see that there is a tiered system of access, benefit, safety and protection that you and your family possess (or could) that others do not. Does this make you bad? No, yet it could make you complicit or worse.... apathetic.

Yes, Title IX, Title IV, Tort law, Section 1983, the Constitution, the IDEA and 504 are all there to protect you from.... who? Are those civil rights protections largely aimed to protect you from your neighbor, other humans and citizens? No. They are largely there to protect you from.... the government employee and the government decisions made by these people. As you'll read in the highlighted parts of the images shared from the decision, THIS is why Shunnarah and others don't advertise whether you or your child has been injured by government schools or other government agencies. What is required to be shown to overcome those immunity protections is near insurmountable and that evidence you present is up for fairly broad interpretation of intent, action or purpose. You are held to higher scrutiny than they are and this is true in the special education cases that my office handles.

Pointing this out isn't meant to bum you out and make you throw your hands up and give up. Quite the opposite.... I am showing you where you are wasting your energies and where that focus needs to be to truly change things. Stop begging for more law, more rules from the people who only place those burdens on you and your neighbor.... be smarter, aware and engaged with the state and federal legislation that is being debated and passed.

Most of this trash legislation adding to the interconnected web originates from within government agencies to expand their own power and influence over your life. This includes, what appears to be, "good" legislation like the Jamari Williams Bullying Act referenced in the decision. What's wrong with it? It cleverly requires the "bullied" to use the school's reporting form when most parents (oblivious to the rule) reach out directly to the school teacher or administration initially to try and resolve the issues. In order to establish a firm paper trail to show things like "deliberate indifference", YOU must follow the rules of using the school's official reporting form or you risk having no record that you've shared or communicated the bullying (unfortunately, many administrators do and will lie if confronted about prior communications on bullying and other issues). I have talked to far too many parents over the years that were never told about the reporting form but have had frequent meetings and communications with school administration on the subject.

One thing that few "parents" know or understand is that your public school system and state education system and union hold an incredible amount of political power in your states. In most of our small cities and counties, the public school is the largest employer of people. This results in a lot of political power for your administrators over your elected State representative and Senator. This is why it is near impossible for parent organizations to get any legislation passed that would reform things like 'Compulsory Education laws', 'Zero Tolerance discipline policies', 'School-to-Prison pipeline', 'Restraint/Seclusion laws' that actually have legal teeth, etc. What many don't know is that the Superintendents have a political lobbying group, Special Education Directors have a political lobbying organization, Boards of Education have a political lobbying group along with the Teacher's Union, the School Resource Officers (SRO) and police organizations. Their ability to lobby against YOU is a given unless the People are organized, numerous, and unforgiving.

A lot of your State Representative and Senators are corrupt, morally bankrupt and don't answer to you (though they should). The every day citizen has permitted this to happen over the course of decades and only numbers will change that. There must be a resurgence of engagement with your elected officials, your attendance at school board meetings, your general awareness of what "wing-dingers" your State and Federal government is attempting to "pass" that further erodes your rights, power and peace and transfers it to them and their families. I know that sucks but that's where we are and your choices are now being made for you (if you haven't noticed). So, not getting involved is no longer possible unless you want others to make outrageous decisions about what you and your children are exposed to and what you must "comply" with and taking extreme liberties requiring your "tolerance" while not being tolerant of your moral and ethical values.

So much of the perceived "division" in this country is perpetuated and concocted by those who "have" (I'm speaking of power, influence, position and not money because that's what drives your local communities... it's not necessarily who has the money but who has the power, influence and position). Start paying attention and you'll see what I'm referring to. There are many of us that are fighting tirelessly to protect your kids and yourself against these insults and encroachments. When I fight government you must understand that THEY get to choose the weapons in which we fight with and then they are flexible with the rules of engagement when it applies to them but rigid when those rules apply to my client. To top it off, those who make the rules and those who, ultimately, decide on who won the fight are employed by the same monster I'm fighting. It's like slapping the neighborhood bully to get him to stop what he's doing and having his Momma outside judging her son's guilt. She just saw your slap and then the manipulative cries and lies from her son.

Stop being naive and open your eyes and get engaged and join this fight to recalibrate what fairness, justice, and accountability is. I'm not going anywhere and the IDEA and 504 afford us sufficient tools to make real changes for your child and, to a lesser degree, actually hold people in government accountable..... just not in the way that many parents wish or demand (as evidenced by the court decision).

We Rise Together. As One.

https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202211317.pdf