THE EVOLUTION OF JUDICIAL TYRANNY IN THE UNITED STATES:

"If the judges interpret the laws themselves, and suffer none else to interpret, they may easily make, of the laws, [a shredded] shipman's hose!" - King James I of England, around 1616.

“No class of the community ought to be allowed freer scope in the expression or publication of opinions as to the capacity, impartiality or integrity of judges than members of the bar. They have the best opportunities of observing and forming a correct judgment. They are in constant attendance on the courts. Hundreds of those who are called on to vote never enter a court-house, or if they do, it is only at intervals as jurors, witnesses or parties. To say that an attorney can only act or speak on this subject under liability to be called to account and to be deprived of his profession and livelihood by the very judge or judges whom he may consider it his duty to attack and expose, is a position too monstrous to be entertained for a moment under our present system,” Justice Sharwood in Ex Parte Steinman and Hensel, 95 Pa 220, 238-39 (1880).

“This case illustrates to me the serious consequences to the Bar itself of not affording the full protections of the First Amendment to its applicants for admission. For this record shows that [the rejected attorney candidate] has many of the qualities that are needed in the American Bar. It shows not only that [the rejected attorney candidate] has followed a high moral, ethical and patriotic course in all of the activities of his life, but also that he combines these more common virtues with the uncommon virtue of courage to stand by his principles at any cost.

It is such men as these who have most greatly honored the profession of the law. The legal profession will lose much of its nobility and its glory if it is not constantly replenished with lawyers like these. To force the Bar to become a group of thoroughly orthodox, time-serving, government-fearing individuals is to humiliate and degrade it.” In Re Anastaplo, 18 Ill. 2d 182, 163 N.E.2d 429 (1959), cert. granted, 362 U.S. 968 (1960), affirmed over strong dissent, 366 U.S. 82 (1961), Justice Black, Chief Justice Douglas and Justice Brennan, dissenting.

" I do not believe that the practice of law is a "privilege" which empowers Government to deny lawyers their constitutional rights. The mere fact that a lawyer has important responsibilities in society does not require or even permit the State to deprive him of those protections of freedom set out in the Bill of Rights for the precise purpose of insuring the independence of the individual against the Government and those acting for the Government”. Lathrop v Donohue, 367 US 820 (1961), Justice Black, dissenting.

"The legal profession must take great care not to emulate the many occupational groups that have managed to convert licensure from a sharp weapon of public defense into blunt instrument of self-enrichment". Walter Gellhorn, "The Abuse of Occupational Licensing", University of Chicago Law Review, Volume 44 Issue 1, September of 1976.

“Because the law requires that judges no matter how corrupt, who do not act in the clear absence of jurisdiction while performing a judicial act, are immune from suit, former Judge Ciavarella will escape liability for the vast majority of his conduct in this action. This is, to be sure, against the popular will, but it is the very oath which he is alleged to have so indecently, cavalierly, baselessly and willfully violated for personal gain that requires this Court to find him immune from suit”, District Judge A. Richard Caputo in H.T., et al, v. Ciavarella, Jr, et al, Case No. 3:09-cv-00286-ARC in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Document 336, page 18, November 20, 2009. This is about judges who were sentencing kids to juvenile detention for kickbacks.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

When police forces are for sale, literally, in Delaware County, New York

I wrote on this blog about the tendency of the upstate New York police force (and prosecutors) to get privatized.

 First, Delaware County hired prosecutor Sean Becker while claiming that he will not cost the County taxpayers about anything - because he will be financed out of conviction fines.

 Great.

 So, Sean Becker will make sure he will drum up convictions, and will have to fabricate charges if there is no basis for such charges - or else he'll starve.

 That's what he already did with charges against Alecia Bracci, daughter of the local critic of governmental misconduct Barbara O'Sullivan, bringing the pregnant Alecia all the way to trial before Judge Gumo on fabricated a arrest warrant rubber-stamped by Gumo's court clerk Cathy Fletcher (the warrants were issued at the same time, against Alecia and Barbara, and in Barbara's case it was established by court order that the warrant was fabricated), without disclosing his own conflict of interest that he was part of the law firm where attorney for Alecia Bracci's child worked.

 Fortunately, Alecia Bracci was acquitted by jury.

 Then, Delaware County Under-Sheriff Craig Dumond offered his private barn to house Delaware County equine police officers - horses for the County's desperately needed horseback police, for "crowd control", where the County's population is dying and leaving in packs, resulting in closure of schools, maternity wards and community pool projects.

 Then, Delaware County Deputy Sheriff Demeo brought it canine police officer Neron, renamed Ozzie, claiming that the $7,000 untrained imported pup's upkeep will be financed through "private donations", and Delaware County stalled my FOIL request for the identity of donors who financially support local police.

 After the resounding success of police corruption through the Demeo dog, a son-of-a-judge Rich Pagillo got one of his own, went right out to Texas and got a dog for himself, also claiming to the Town of Colchester that the Pagillo dog will be completely supported by "private donations".

 Not to fall behind all of these efforts to privatize local law enforcement, the new Delaware County Commissioner of Social Services, as part of her campaign to clamp down on hungry poor people using too much of federal food-stamp money, and after eliminating the services of the private company established by the prior Commissioner William Moon to suck money out of Delaware County budget, proudly claimed that she has a CONTRACT with Delhi Village police for its food stamp fraud investigations.

 By the way, the article in Walton Reporter dated April 19, 2016 and claiming that:

was removed from the newspaper's website after I filed a FOIL request with the County about the cases described in the article - response to FOIL is still pending.  I have a copy of the article on file.

 So, since Delhi Village Police now has a direct $25-and-hour contract with the Delaware County DSS "for police and security coverage", on top of police officers' salaries that the Village of Delhi pays them, the police for the Village of Delhi will certainly not be investigating Delaware County DSS or any of its officials for any crimes that those officials or employees may have committed.  

 After all, one does not bite the hand that feeds one.

 Beautiful Catskills.

 Beautiful arrangements.
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