Judges and court clerks will sometimes go to great lengths to destroy a case, from outright refusal to abide by court rules, to destroying evidence. Below is an Order, written by a seemly fair federal judge, after a videotape evidence was lost in his court. It is unclear who lost the evidence. The sanctity of court evidence is absolutely essential for litigants to obtain Due Process. If we can not trust the Court to protect our evidence, how do we defend against false charges? IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION Bradley W. Barber, Plaintiff vs. Polly Conradi, et. al., Defendants Case No. CV95-BU-1229-S ORDER The above-entitled civil action is before the undersigned magistrate judge upon the reference from United States District Judge H. Dean Buttram, Jr., of plaintiff's "Motion for Evidence Protection" [Doc. #56]. Mr. Barber has provided the court with a videotape that is the property of the National Congress for Fathers and Children, of which Mr. Barber is the current president. The videotape was purchased by the group for its archives from WVTM 13, a local news broadcast station, and is submitted by plaintiffs as evidence in opposition to defendants' motion for summary judgment, Mr. Barber had filed a copy of the videotape with the court previously, but it appears the tape has been lost by the court since its filing. Plaintiff is concerned that the original videotape also will be lost by the court. He asks for an order "directed to the safeguarding of the . . . original videotape." In light of the loss by the court of its copy of the tape, plaintiff's request is not unreasonable. However, the court cannot guarantee the safety of the tape or that it will not be lost. Therefore, plaintiff's motion is DENIED. Instead, the Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to take all steps possible and necessary to ensure that the videotape submitted by plaintiff as evidence in opposition to defendant's motion for summary judgment is not lost, misplaced or separated from the court file during the pendency of this action in this court. Done this 13th day of April, 1999. S/ HARWELL G. DAVIS, III UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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