Ask those who know him, and they will tell you Federal Judge Clay D. Land is as solid as the building in which he presides.
The Columbus federal courthouse, completed in 1934 as a statement that the U.S. government was still in business despite a deepening depression, stands as a monument to the government that built it.
Land stands as an example of what a federal judge should be, say people who have followed his 20-year public career from Columbus Council to one of 678 U.S. District Court judges.
Mike Haskey/mhaskey@ledger-enquirer.com Colleagues and friends describe Judge Clay D. Land as a fair and intelligent person. Land will be presiding over Columbus attorney Mark Shelnutt’s case. He was also the judge during the Orly Taitz saga.
Robin Trimarchi rtrimarchi@ledger-enquirer.com Judge Clay D. Land congratulates newly sworn-in United States citizens as the naturalization ceremony comes to a close Sept. 17, 2009, at the federal courthouse in Columbus. 9/17/09
Mike Haskey mhaskey@ledger-enquirer.com Judge Clay. D. Land. 11/05/09
Jerry Buchanan practiced law with Land for more than 20 years, first in a large Columbus law firm, then in a partnership they formed in 1992. Buchanan currently practices with Land’s brother, Ben.
Buchanan uses choppy sentences to describe his longtime friend.
“Evenhanded. Slow to anger. Curious. Willing to listen.”
Though Buchanan does not practice in front of Land because of the potential conflicts of interest, he has observed his former partner.
“From what I have seen on the bench, he gets directly to the point,” Buchanan said.
Land will be in the news in the coming weeks as a high-profile criminal drama involving Columbus attorney Mark Shelnutt plays out in his court in the Middle District of Georgia. Shelnutt is facing money laundering, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and bribery charges in a trial that starts Monday.
Former Columbus Mayor Frank Martin, a longtime criminal defense attorney, offers high praise for Land, whom he knew as a young Columbus councilor in the early 1990s.
“I regret that Mark Shelnutt has to go through this trial,” Martin said. “But Mark is fortunate that Clay is on the bench. He will get a fair trial. And that is all you can ask for.”
This won’t be the first time in recent months Land has been involved in a high-profile case.
Land has been in the national news recently because of his sanctions and critical rulings against Orly Taitz, a California attorney who was advancing the “birther” movement.
Land was not interviewed for this story, but Land offered a glimpse of what he expects in the courtroom in his Oct. 13 ruling in which he fined Taitz $20,000 for her actions while representing U.S. Army Capt. Connie Rhodes, who was seeking to halt her deployment to Iraq. Taitz and Rhodes claimed her order to go overseas was not valid because President Barack Obama had not proved he was born in the U.S. Records show Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961.
Land wrote the following:
“When a lawyer files complaints and motions without a reasonable basis for believing that they are supported by existing law or a modification or extension of existing law, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law.
“When a lawyer uses the courts as a platform for a political agenda disconnected from any legitimate legal cause of action, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law.
“When a lawyer personally attacks opposing parties and disrespects the integrity of the judiciary, that lawyer abuses her privilege to practice law.
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