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.


Sunday, July 17, 2016

Fabrications of transcripts or failure to record in the recent reported court cases

I have put together a summary table of cases I have so far covered where either court transcripts were fabricated to hide mistakes or misconduct of trial courts, or where such transcripts were deliberately not made.

The cases reported were from New York, Louisiana and Georgia, and the table was made in reliance upon court documents that I either personally have or had in my possession or court documents reported on the Internet.




Year
Name of Court
State
Name of reporter, if any
Name of Judge
Description of fabrication


1.
Approx. 2013
Delaware County Family Court

New York
Will post upon verification with the transcript, I report contents from personal knowledge of what happened in the proceedings and from memory of contents of the transcript
Carl F. Becker
Failure to reflect in the transcript the presence of children at a court hearing where Judge Becker demeaned and belittled a female child, claiming that she is not “college material”; refusal of the court to have the stenographer correct the mistake of transcript regarding appearances, settlement of transcript by law was by the same Judge Becker whose misconduct was being covered up

2.
2014 – hearing;

2015 – fabricated transcript of hearing from audio file
Delaware County Family Court

New York
Will include the name of stenographer upon verification with the source
Rita Connerton
Judge Connerton held an ex parte hearing where she discussed my motion, and then lied to me in a letter that she did not discuss my motion at that hearing.  The transcript of the hearing where Judge Connerton is shown to discuss my motion, contrary to her lies in her letter that she didn’t, included me as appearing at the hearing, even though that was directly contradicted by contents of the transcript and by Judge Connerton own statement in an earlier letter confirming that I was not present at the hearing.


2011
Sidney Village Court

New York
The failure was by the judge
Steven T. Rose
Failure to record picking of the jury and conferences


2011
Bloomville Town Court

New York
The failure was by the judge

Yvonne Pagillo
Failure to record picking of the jury


2014
Walton Village Court
New York
The failure to record was by the judge

Richard Gumo
Failure to record court conferences, public reprimand


2014
Delhi Town Court
New York
The failure to record was by the judge

Richard Gumo


After public reprimand for failure to record court conferences, and after a pledge to the NYS Judicial Conduct Commission to record conferences – another failure to record a court conference in a politically charged case People v O’Sullivan which was later dismissed because of an arrest warrant fabricated by Judge Gumo’s court clerk and Judge Gumo’s lying under oath


2014
Delhi Town Court

New York
The failure to record was by the judge

Richard Gumo
Failure to record arraignment in a politically charged case People v Alecia Bracci which resulted in an acquittal, refusal to provide transcripts of the trial


2014
Appellate Division 4th Judicial Department


Referee Steven Sirkin, fabricated transcript accepted, despite an audio of the conference confirming fabrication.
The fabrication was accepted by the 4th Department court


Transcript falsely claimed that:

1)     A conference was an evidentiary hearing held on notice – it was not a hearing, no notice of a hearing was ever given, and no such stipulation was ever made;
2)     That I made stipulations at the hearing;
3)     That signing of the transcript by any witnesses is waived –I agreed to no such thing;
4)     That I testified as a witness.


2015
Appellate Division 4th Judicial Department

New York
Debra Garrison, see also the comment on my blog that Debra Garrison allegedly missed out a paragraph in another court proceedings and refused to provide audio file to verify veracity of her reporting
Referee Steven Sirkin, fabricated transcript accepted, despite an audio of the conference confirming fabrication.
The fabrication was accepted by the 4th Department court


Transcript falsely claimed that:

1)     A conference was an evidentiary hearing;
2)     That I made stipulations at the hearing;
3)     That I was sworn as a witness;
4)     That I testified as a witness.


2016
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
Federal court
Transcript sealed, identity of reporter unknown
Judge Lawrence Kahn, David Peebles, former magistrate whose term expired at the time of fabrication

Held a motion hearing regarding me without notice to me and sealed the transcript of the hearing so that I or any other member of the public would not be able to access the transcript


2015-16
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York
Federal court
N/a
Chief Judge Gary L. Sharpe
Hidden the entire record of disciplinary proceeding, including a court order, a motion to vacate, recuse and disqualify and the decision on that motion, with no hearing



Delaware County Supreme Court
New York
N/a
Judge Robert C.  Mulvey, see online ratings for this judge here
Failed to provide a stenographer to take record of a conference, misrepresented in a court decision what happened at the conference: claimed I waived service of a motion when I did not, and brought my client as a witness to witness that;

Judge Mulvey was promoted to Appellate Division 3rd Department despite my report of his misconduct to the NYS Judicial Conduct Committee

3.
2009
19th Judicial District Court, Lafayette
Louisiana
Kathleen D. Mathews who continues to work as an official court reporter in the Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court for the 15th Judicial District in the State of Louisiana

Transcript did not reflect that disclosures of the judge regarding her irreconcilable conflicts of interest were added into the audio file by an outside expert who “spliced” the court audio file without disclosure of that to litigants; the fact of splicing was proven by testimony and evidence at trial, the attorney who brought up the problem was suspended despite being right, the judge was promoted from trial court to appellate court, see also commentary about the case

4.
2016
Appalachian Circuit Court

Georgia


The transcript did not reflect the judge using racial slur against a participant in criminal proceedings; the journalist and his attorney who sought access to the audio file to verify contents of the transcript were sued by the stenographer, whose legal fees were paid by chief judge of the court out of court account, arrested, charged with a felony and thrown in jail by the judge’s former law clerk – turned prosecutor; were released only after a public outrage in the media


The above evidence shows that failure to create a proper and reliable court record is a pervasive problem in state courts throughout the United States, and that measures should be undertaken to have court records created not by court stenographers, by digitally, and to prevent tampering with such digital records, as well as punishment against those who seek verification of authenticity of such records.



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