Sidney Powell appeals Michigan sanctions, saying they go against the First Amendment

Attorney Sidney Powell Monday filed an appeal against a Michigan court that issued sanctions on her and her co-counsel after challenging the results of the 2020 election.

Michigan's Eastern District Judge Linda Parker ordered the team of Trump-allied attorneys in August 2021 to pay thousands in government legal fees, have 12 hours of legal training and meet with their respective bar associations for "possible suspension or disbarment."

Powell called the sanctions "egregious" in a press release obtained by Just the News. "Every lawyer can be subject to sanctions at the whim of a federal judge were this ruling allowed to stand," she said.

The 85-page brief states that the Michigan court's order "is devoted to Monday morning quarterbacking the sworn testimony on which Appellants relied… Yet the American legal system relies every day on sworn testimony no different than the dozens of eyewitnesses and expert affidavits." 

The appeal, filed in support of Powell and fellow attorneys Howard Kleinhendler, Gregory Rohl, Julia Z. Haller, Brandon Johnson and Scott Hagerstrom, requests oral argument on the judge's ruling.

"The right of attorneys to file a good faith complaint seeking redress of grievances without fear of judicial reprisal is crucial to the Rule of Law and protected by the 'right to petition' clause of the First Amendment," Powell wrote.

She argued that the Michigan court's ruling "erred in imposing sanctions on attorneys for failing to meet a new, false pleading standard created by the District Court which stands contrary to centuries of civil procedure, the heart of our democratic process, and the First Amendment." 

In the brief's conclusion, Powell writes, "Sanctions are not a saber but the resulting damage to civil society is the same."

Michigan election officials certified Joe Biden's win over Donald Trump by 154,000 votes in the state on Nov. 24, 2020, three weeks after Election Day.

State officials, including those in Republican-run states, have reported finding no election-altering evidence of widespread fraud in the November 2020 election. However, several states have acknowledged finding serious irregularities or unlawful changes to election rules occurred in 2020.