PRESS RELEASE #7
Beery Appeal Hearing rescheduled,
Van Luven still facing jail
By Staff Writer: Rick Townsend
4/23/04
Jere Beery’s Appeal Hearing has been rescheduled for June 10th at 9 am in Coweta County Superior Court in Newnan, Georgia. Vietnam combat disabled veteran Beery will appear before Judge Allen Keeble, the same judge that ordered Beery to pay his ex-wife $24,000 of his VA Disability Compensation. High profile criminal defense attorney Jack Nebl, of Eatonton, Georgia is representing Beery in this Appeal. “This is a very important issue,” Nebl said. "I’m unsure as to whether this hearing will end the misapplication of Federal law that has occurred in the Beery case. This issue may eventually need to be heard before the Supreme Court before nationwide protection of such benefits will be established,” Nebl added.
Nebl’s lead investigator and Paralegal, Rick Plymale explained how he thinks Judge Keeble approached the Beery case. “Under Georgia law, the only means by which alimony can be collected upon non-payment is a writ of "fieri facias" (to seize money or property) or by incarceration for contempt of an Order. Obviously, since Mr. Beery is now living in Ohio, the State of Georgia wouldn’t be interested in extraditing on such a matter to ensure Beery’s incarceration,” Plymale said. “The only way to enforce a "fi fa" judgment would be to "domesticate" the judgment in Ohio, then levy on any property and/or money there. Still, the VA Disability compensation would be protected under Federal code,” Plymale added.
”What it boils down to”, says Plymale “is that the Court is ordering Mr. Beery
to pay alimony from a non-existent source of funds, since the Court knows it
cannot force payment from Mr. Beery’s VA Disability. The Court would not be
”attaching” Beery’s VA compensation in violation of Federal code, but rather
forcing Mr. Beery to decide to either voluntarily surrender the $500 a month
directly from his disability or face imprisonment. What this effectively does is
create a "debtor's prison", since this is a "civil debt",” Plymale stated.
Plymale explained that the Order for alimony literally creates a threat of
assured incarceration, in lieu of payment, since there is no legitimate source
of revenue from which the Court can extract payment. “Simply put,” he said “the
Court has ordered Mr. Beery to pay something when the Court knows there is no
source from which to pay it.”
Jack Nebl, and his legal team, have taken the Beery case Pro Bono, and are greatly concerned that many other disabled veterans may be suffering the same fate nationwide. “What really needs to be done is that the laws in Georgia and other States need to be re-drafted to direct that an award of alimony may not be made at all in circumstances such as Mr. Beery’s - where VA disability compensation is his only economic source”, Nebl said. “If the law was rewritten in that way, the Judges would not be able to order alimony in the first place, when the only source of “money” is compensatory and therefore protected, rather than remunerative, which is earned income. This might be something the vast numbers of interested veterans might want to collectively lobby for in the future. In other words, don't fight the rules; change them”, Nebl stated.
Dale Van Luven, of Hermitage, Tennessee, is another Vietnam combat disabled veteran in a similar situation. Van Luven suffered a severe head wound after hitting a land mine with a bulldozer in Vietnam. Van Luven has been order to pay all of his VA disability and Social Security compensation for alimony. “I can go to jail any time now,” Van Luven said. “This has become a living hell. I can now understand why some veterans commit suicide. This country’s legal system could care less about our benefits, or our rights,” Van Luven added.
Van Luven is still trying to find an attorney to take his case. “You would think there would be many lawyers that would jump at the opportunity to protect a veteran’s benefits, but sadly they are few and far between. Mr. Nebl is helping Beery in Georgia, but can do very little for me. I need a Tennessee lawyer,” Van Luven said.
Beery, who suffered horrific wounds in combat in Vietnam, has vowed to turn himself in to authorities once delinquent in alimony payments. “Everyone is pleading with me not to do it”, Beery said. “Mr. Nebl and Mr. Plymale have suggested I can do a great deal more to correct this injustice by fighting the matter from outside jail,” Beery added. “I just find it repulsive that a Superior Court Judge could or would circumvent Federal Law to impose additional pain and suffering on a disabled veteran in this way. I am very disheartened to discover that some legal leaders would even try to slither their way into VA Disability Compensation,” Beery said.
”What happens in cases such as this is the Court waves the threat of jail over
your head to force you to surrender part or all of protected VA compensation
voluntarily,” says Plymale. “By doing so,” he added, “the Court is not directly
violating the protected status of VA Disability, but doing so vicariously, since
they're forcing veterans to pay from that source. It's a lot like squeezing
blood out of a turnip, except this turnip goes to jail when there's nothing to
squeeze.”
Together, Beery and Van Luven have launched a nationwide effort to correct this injustice. “Many people brag about supporting our troops. Beery and I are going to do a great deal more than just talk, we are going to insure their disability benefits are protected,” Van Luven said.
“Right now Mr. Beery and Mr. Van Luven are standing between disability benefits earned by our troops, and the jurisdictional reaches of state judges," Nebl concluded.
Many veterans and supporters have vowed to attend the Beery Appeal Hearing on June 10th to voice their concerns, show support for our troop’s future benefits, and draw attention to veteran’s issues before the November Presidential Election.
Jere Beery - jerebeery@aol.com
Dale Van Luven - Vietna467@aol.com
Jack Nebl & Rick Plymale - lawdog@mfire.com
All questions, comments and suggestions about this web sight should be submitted to: JERE BEERY