An Open Letter to Judge Marie Williams

In writing this letter to you, Judge Williams, let me first say that I have no intention of trying to appeal to you in the way that I appealed to "judge" Brian House. You have a conscience and a sense of decency, and that makes all the difference. Furthermore, you actually know how to act like a judge, as opposed to House, who apparently is a prosecutor wannabe.

Anyway, I suspect you know why I am writing to you, and I hope that you understand why I am doing this. In many ways, you know much more about this case than I do because you were in on the ground floor in the custody battle between Joal Henke and Tonya Craft. However, much has passed by since this situation started brewing a couple of years ago, and I believe that the true character of the individuals players is well established.

I read in the news that Tonya is formally asking you to have visitation rights with both of her children, and that is quite reasonable, don't you think? Furthermore, there is no question at all about Ms. Craft NOT being a child molester, and it is not just because a jury acquitted her two weeks ago. No, House stacked the deck and he let his two partners-in-crime, Len Gregor and Chris Arnt, run the trial, and the verdict still was a rout.

Furthermore, contra Buzz Franklin, the prosecutors did not put on a "compelling case for conviction," unless it was a "compelling case" against themselves for suborning perjury, knowingly bringing false charges, lying in court, and telling the world that judges and prosecutors in the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit are lawless. I could see that, most of Chattanooga could see that, and I am sure that you saw it as well.

The only reason that Ms. Craft has not had personal contact with her daughter these past two years has been because Joal Henke lied, Sandra Lamb lied, Len Gregor lied, Chris Arnt lied, Stacy Long lied, Laurie Evans lied, Suzi Thorne lied (and did she ever lie), Tim "Dirty" Deal lied, and Brian House lied. It was a parade of liars, and you have seen some of those same serial liars laying their droppings in your own courtroom, and you know how much they stink.

Think of what it must be like to be falsely accused, to have Channel 9 sending reporters to your neighborhood to scream, "A Child Molester Lives Here!!" and to be put on trial in an arena that resembles something you would expect to have seen in the U.S.S.R. I'm sure that you and everyone else expected Tonya to be convicted, especially given that the only thing House had not done to ensure a guilty verdict was to instruct the jury that they had to convict her if they wanted to leave the building alive.

Instead, the jurors did the right thing and voted acquittal, and what does this say about the state of "professionals" in an American courtroom? All of the "officials" in that building were claiming Tonya was guilty, from the judge to the bailiffs, yet the "amateurs" there -- the jurors -- saw right through the lies. What does that say when it is the state, the people in charge of "the system," that are the liars?

It doesn't exactly give us hope when we see those in positions of trust and authority trying to outdo each other in who can tell the biggest fib. I would hope that the spectacle that was the Tonya Craft trial would make you a bit ashamed that a fellow judge would spit on justice as did House, but also make you more determined not to be like him.

Well, you have the opportunity to do justice, real justice. Tonya Craft for more than two years has been seeking justice in the courts of Tennessee and Georgia, and so far, the liars seem to have held the upper hand. You and I were brought up to hate lies and not to have anything to do with liars.

Yet, what has Joal Henke done these past two years? He has lied to you, committed perjury while testifying against Tonya in the criminal case, and essentially stolen Tonya's children, lying to them about their mother. (I don't even want to go into the execrable Facebook page that Henke's wife, Sarah, had during the trial in which she was holding Tonya's daughter as her own and thanking God for giving her such a wonderful child.) In a world in which the courts actually engaged in justice, Henke would be in handcuffs and wearing an orange jumpsuit, sharing a cell with Arnt and Gregor.

There has been one person these past two years who has told the truth, and her name is Tonya Craft, yet she also is the one who has to beg the court to let her spend time with her own daughter. Does that not at least bother you? It should bother you, since for the last two years the "justice" system of the State of Georgia has declared that lies are the truth, the truth is a lie, and that liars are more welcome in its courts than those who are truthful. That is beyond a disgrace, and no country, no nation, no people can withstand that kind of assault. The barbarians are not at the gate; no, they are in the city, running its institutions and claiming to be civilized.

So, you have an opportunity to reverse some of the real harm that your fellow jurist and his prosecutors buddies have done. While it is true that you cannot make undone that which has happened, nonetheless you can strike a blow for the truth and a blow for justice.

Is there any justification for further separation of Tonya Craft from her children? I think not, and somehow I believe that you agree. You know how you were brought up and you know the values our teachers instilled in us. This is your moment, and I hope you recognize it and act.