I have a friend. He is an African American. He really wanted to become a court security guard. But, first, he is an African American, and, second, he is not related to any judges, or their current employees, relatives or friends by blood or marriage.
And he did not get that job.
Which, to me, is not surprising, because I did not see one court guard in Delaware, Otsego, Chenango or Schoharie Counties who would not be white.
And the same with the police force, State police stationed here and local police, with one exception in Delaware County Sheriff's Department (one officer who is not Caucasian). And the same with corrections officers.
So, my friend (whose name for apparent reasons I will withhold) who served this country in the military and should be respected instead of being put down and discriminated against, told me this about coming to one of the local courts on a civil case "the courts here are not used to see somebody like me in court and not in shackles".
Also, people call me, whether to seek my advice as an attorney or simply to chat, believe it or not, about my blogs, and give me information from a variety of dependable sources about relatives working in the court system and in the local governments.
I am not even talking about, for example, Delaware County, where I don't know whether there is an employee of the County who DOES NOT have a relative working in the same county. It is a pure land of kissing cousins. And, according to the County's answer to my FOIL request, the County does not have an anti-nepotism policy.
These blood connections are difficult to trace because women change names in marriage, have children outside of marriage, sometimes, on the opposite, women do not change names when they marry and you might never guess certain people are a husband and wife or are related in any other way, but within the "6th degree of consanguinity or affinity", requiring them to be disqualified from certain cases as a matter of law.
I keep hearing from my clients that a certain person who is allegedly a blood relative of a certain judge is doing something wrong to them in court, and that the victim cannot complain because information about blood ties is kept like intelligence secret and disclosed in whisper behind closed doors, usually by an attorney who is pissed by a judge - but not pissed to the point that the attorney would care to make this information public.
Because, as I've written many times in this blog, attorneys are afraid of retribution from the most honorable people in the world - judges.
Recently, I've got some more information about alleged blood ties of judges to certain people in the local court system which may present certain disqualification or even misconduct issues. And, I am investigating these issues through FOIL requests - I will see how successful those FOIL requests will be.
But here is a suggestion to the public - since it is a public court system funded by taxpayers money, to put it bluntly, you and me pay for this mess - shouldn't there be simply enacted a law REQUIRING judges to publish their family tree, down to the 6th degree of consanguinity and affinity (same as rules of disqualification for juror fact-finders), with names of all people in that family tree, places of work, names of spouses, etc.
So that a litigant entering a case may consult that family tree and at least see whether the judge has blood or marriage ties to witnesses, parties or attorneys in a certain proceeding.
Oh, and, of course, I would include into that law not only consanguinity and affinity, but close friends, law school buddies, campaign contributors, and non-formalized romantic relationships, like dating, boyfriends and girlfriends.
Too much invasion of privacy? If that is too much for a judge to give the public who elected him or her information to decide for themselves whether the judge in a certain case is or is not disqualified, he or she should choose another profession.
And, of course, I would couple that requirement with mandatory online publishing of judge's semi-annual financial reports instead of hiding them and not providing them even on FOIL requests, which is what happens now.
And, of course, I would require judges to disclose their memberships and memberships of all members of the judge's family tree, up to the 6th degree of consanguinity and affinity, in ALL, and I mean, ALL "charitable", social, social networking organizations, with a schedule of events in those organizations and a disclosure of membership in those organizations and what kind of perks a judge - or his family - might be receiving from them.
And it goes without saying, especially given the current culture of cruel persecution of attorneys and pro se parties criticizing judicial misconduct, that it is equally important to not only be able to learn about judicial disqualification, but also be able to do something without it without a risk of sanctions.
Allowing peremptory challenges to judges, as many states already allowed, would be a good start.
Such a system will not eliminate all issues of judicial disqualification, but it would at least provide a first step toward a real and effective access to court, guaranteed by the Constitution - instead of the pure white land of kissing cousins that we have, at least here, in the neck of woods of upstate New York.
And, personally, hypothetically, I would feel much better if I know that the mother (sister, brother-in-law, or the mother of the sister of the brother-in-law) of a recused judge does not have access to my own or my client's private file, simply because she is a court employee.
Of course, who cares about my feelings or feelings of other litigants if one needs to give a job to one's loved one in a tight job market?
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Monday, September 1, 2014
A complaint has been filed to the judicial conduct commission about misconduct of Judge Frank B. Revoir, Jr., of Chenango/Delaware County Family Court and about Judge Susan Kushner of the Albany County Family Court
Today a client of mine who was a victim of judicial misconduct at the hands of the two judges named in the heading, and I, filed a complaint against these two judges with the Judicial Conduct Commission.
A judge, of course, can shut me up and prevent me from making the record for my client by a threat of contempt of court, but nobody can shut me up and prevent me from reporting judicial misconduct, both to the New York State Commission for Judicial conduct and here on this blog.
Judicial misconduct is unacceptable, it is, unfortunately, too widespread because of the concept of absolute judicial immunity for malicious and corrupt acts which poisoned the minds of judges and taught them to think about themselves as Gods almighty who can do on the bench whatever they want, no matter how unlawful or unethical, with impunity.
I always reported judicial misconduct and will continue to do so, no matter how various individuals and organizations try to intimidate me and thus prevent me from doing it.
As to this particular complaint, have permission of my client to publish on this blog and in my new "video" blog the full contents of our complaint and the full content of the audio recording and pleadings in court proceedings that was the basis of our complaint about Judge Revoir.
Judge Revoir followed in the footsteps of Judge Kushner whose behavior I described here and here, positioning the Family Court as debtor's court punishing parents for being poor.
I have written about Judge Revoir's conduct on August 29, 2014 and about conduct of judges such as Judge Revoir here, here, and here.
There are, as poor litigants must know, a lot of judges who consider poor people who come to court, and their attorneys who try to properly represent them, as dirt).
I have never looked into Judge Revoir's background, and only after August 29, 2014 proceeding in front of him when he was impermissibly and outrageously rude to me and to my indigent client and actually called my legal arguments lying, did I actually look into his background, and much about his behavior has become clearer to me.
Judge Revoir claimed in his pre-election statement as a judicial candidate that he had Judge Kevin Dowd as his mentor.
You can read about the "honorable" qualities and actions of Judge Dowd here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
If Judge Revoir had Judge Dowd for his mentor, that can explain why Judge Revoir considers legal argument as lying, prejudges actions as he did on August 29, 2014, demonstrates bias to parties with higher social status and is disrespectful and even openly rude with attorneys raising issues of judicial misconduct - I can see Judge Dowd's school right there.
The reason why I even started to take on judicial misconduct is because of egregious bias of just one judge - judge Carl F. Becker about whom I wrote a lot in this blog, just run the search for the keyword "Becker" in the "search" window.
If you are in Judge Becker's court, and especially if you are a female attorney not belonging to a powerful and well-connected law firm, or a party with a low social status, you can count on being put down, humiliated and demeaned by Judge Becker.
Unfortunately, Judge Revoir showed me on August 29, 2014 the same rudeness as I have started to already forget since Judge Becker recused from my cases 2 years ago.
In his rudeness, Judge Revoir even surpassed his mentor, Judge Dowd.
Judge Dowd at least demeans people without much yelling.
Judge Revoir yelled at me at the top of his lungs, simply for trying to put legal arguments on behalf of my client on the record, I thought he will have a stroke.
I am putting in this blog, so that the Judicial Conduct Commission is unable to do what it usually does - toss a complaint against a judge, based on documentary evidence and affidavits of a victim without reviewing it.
The complaint is supported with an affidavit and 11 documentary exhibits.
The recording of the court proceedings where Judge Revoir lost control of himself (I have the official audio recording) is a large file and needs to be broken into pieces in order to be uploaded, which will take some time.
A judge, of course, can shut me up and prevent me from making the record for my client by a threat of contempt of court, but nobody can shut me up and prevent me from reporting judicial misconduct, both to the New York State Commission for Judicial conduct and here on this blog.
Judicial misconduct is unacceptable, it is, unfortunately, too widespread because of the concept of absolute judicial immunity for malicious and corrupt acts which poisoned the minds of judges and taught them to think about themselves as Gods almighty who can do on the bench whatever they want, no matter how unlawful or unethical, with impunity.
I always reported judicial misconduct and will continue to do so, no matter how various individuals and organizations try to intimidate me and thus prevent me from doing it.
As to this particular complaint, have permission of my client to publish on this blog and in my new "video" blog the full contents of our complaint and the full content of the audio recording and pleadings in court proceedings that was the basis of our complaint about Judge Revoir.
Judge Revoir followed in the footsteps of Judge Kushner whose behavior I described here and here, positioning the Family Court as debtor's court punishing parents for being poor.
I have written about Judge Revoir's conduct on August 29, 2014 and about conduct of judges such as Judge Revoir here, here, and here.
There are, as poor litigants must know, a lot of judges who consider poor people who come to court, and their attorneys who try to properly represent them, as dirt).
I have never looked into Judge Revoir's background, and only after August 29, 2014 proceeding in front of him when he was impermissibly and outrageously rude to me and to my indigent client and actually called my legal arguments lying, did I actually look into his background, and much about his behavior has become clearer to me.
Judge Revoir claimed in his pre-election statement as a judicial candidate that he had Judge Kevin Dowd as his mentor.
You can read about the "honorable" qualities and actions of Judge Dowd here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
If Judge Revoir had Judge Dowd for his mentor, that can explain why Judge Revoir considers legal argument as lying, prejudges actions as he did on August 29, 2014, demonstrates bias to parties with higher social status and is disrespectful and even openly rude with attorneys raising issues of judicial misconduct - I can see Judge Dowd's school right there.
The reason why I even started to take on judicial misconduct is because of egregious bias of just one judge - judge Carl F. Becker about whom I wrote a lot in this blog, just run the search for the keyword "Becker" in the "search" window.
If you are in Judge Becker's court, and especially if you are a female attorney not belonging to a powerful and well-connected law firm, or a party with a low social status, you can count on being put down, humiliated and demeaned by Judge Becker.
Unfortunately, Judge Revoir showed me on August 29, 2014 the same rudeness as I have started to already forget since Judge Becker recused from my cases 2 years ago.
In his rudeness, Judge Revoir even surpassed his mentor, Judge Dowd.
Judge Dowd at least demeans people without much yelling.
Judge Revoir yelled at me at the top of his lungs, simply for trying to put legal arguments on behalf of my client on the record, I thought he will have a stroke.
I am putting in this blog, so that the Judicial Conduct Commission is unable to do what it usually does - toss a complaint against a judge, based on documentary evidence and affidavits of a victim without reviewing it.
The complaint is supported with an affidavit and 11 documentary exhibits.
The recording of the court proceedings where Judge Revoir lost control of himself (I have the official audio recording) is a large file and needs to be broken into pieces in order to be uploaded, which will take some time.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
A yet another method of discrimination against poor civil rights litigants was invented - delete important court cases from a cheap public retrieval system
I have written in this blog and in my other blog dedicated specifically to discrimination against pro se litigants in court, about various ways how courts may and do frequently discriminate against the poor, indigent and unpopular litigants.
Civil rights litigants, especially civil rights litigants suing judges are topping the lists of "unpopular" litigants.
Civil rights litigation is all but dead - with all the barriers invented by the trial-level and appellate-level courts to "clean their docket", or, in other words, get rid of civil rights cases without ever reviewing them on the merits.
More and more often, sanctions follow against civil rights plaintiffs, victims of unconstitutional conduct of government officials, for the mere fact of bringing a civil rights lawsuit - and that is where the court dismisses the case without reaching the merits, or, in other words, the court punishes a civil rights plaintiff while at the same time refusing to see whether what the civil rights plaintiff is saying about being the victim of unconstitutional conduct by a governmental official, is true or not.
Recently, a brand-new way to discriminate against civil rights litigants was revealed.
Legal research is a big effort and comes at a high price in preparation of any appeal. Civil rights litigants often proceed pro se, especially in cases where attorneys increasingly are afraid to take such appeals, for fear of sanctions "for frivolous" conduct.
Online law databases, such as Lexis Nexis and Westlaw require at least a year-long commitment and are prohibitively expensive.
Cheaper online legal resources are often inadequate.
A cheaper way to do legal research (for indigent and pro se clients) was, as far as I was told, to do free research of cases on the Internet, by key words, and, when key word search returns a case on point about a situation similar to what you have, to go to the federal governmental archive PACER.gov and retrieve the decision in the case, creating a precedent and quoting the law upon it relied.
PACER.gov, even though criticized for its cost of 10 cents per page which is more than the federal law allows to charge (the federal law only allows to charge enough money to maintain the retrieval system), is still much less than legal research will cost.
Law libraries in courthouses exist, but often they do not have federal cases, necessary for civil rights litigation, are not open every day, be located only in large courthouses far away from where an indigent person lives, requiring a civil rights litigant to invest in a car ride and gas, not to mention to lose a day at work, in order to do any kind of legal research in such a law library.
Well, now even a research through PACER will present a problem, because it has been recently reported that some seminal federal cases, necessary for civil rights litigants' appeals, will simply not be "available" through PACER - because many "old" and not-so-old court cases are being deleted from PACER without much fanfare.
I had an experience in trying to locate an old case in federal court not through PACER, because certain information required for PACER was lacking. From my communication with the court clerk, I understood that, possibly, the "hard-paper" archives might not even be in existence. I was not able to retrieve documents I wanted in that particular situation.
So - several questions arise in connection of cleansing court cases off PACER.
If such court cases, which were already decided, are not available on PACER - where and on what terms are they going to be available? What happened to the originals of pleadings? How can people look at them?
What will be the cost of such retrieval, not through PACER?
And, with the increasingly dropping prices in "cloud storage", why problems with PACER had to be resolved by blocking people's access to cases necessary for research instead of fixing the retrieval system?
Was it to make civil rights litigation even harder than it is now?
Civil rights litigants, especially civil rights litigants suing judges are topping the lists of "unpopular" litigants.
Civil rights litigation is all but dead - with all the barriers invented by the trial-level and appellate-level courts to "clean their docket", or, in other words, get rid of civil rights cases without ever reviewing them on the merits.
More and more often, sanctions follow against civil rights plaintiffs, victims of unconstitutional conduct of government officials, for the mere fact of bringing a civil rights lawsuit - and that is where the court dismisses the case without reaching the merits, or, in other words, the court punishes a civil rights plaintiff while at the same time refusing to see whether what the civil rights plaintiff is saying about being the victim of unconstitutional conduct by a governmental official, is true or not.
Recently, a brand-new way to discriminate against civil rights litigants was revealed.
Legal research is a big effort and comes at a high price in preparation of any appeal. Civil rights litigants often proceed pro se, especially in cases where attorneys increasingly are afraid to take such appeals, for fear of sanctions "for frivolous" conduct.
Online law databases, such as Lexis Nexis and Westlaw require at least a year-long commitment and are prohibitively expensive.
Cheaper online legal resources are often inadequate.
A cheaper way to do legal research (for indigent and pro se clients) was, as far as I was told, to do free research of cases on the Internet, by key words, and, when key word search returns a case on point about a situation similar to what you have, to go to the federal governmental archive PACER.gov and retrieve the decision in the case, creating a precedent and quoting the law upon it relied.
PACER.gov, even though criticized for its cost of 10 cents per page which is more than the federal law allows to charge (the federal law only allows to charge enough money to maintain the retrieval system), is still much less than legal research will cost.
Law libraries in courthouses exist, but often they do not have federal cases, necessary for civil rights litigation, are not open every day, be located only in large courthouses far away from where an indigent person lives, requiring a civil rights litigant to invest in a car ride and gas, not to mention to lose a day at work, in order to do any kind of legal research in such a law library.
Well, now even a research through PACER will present a problem, because it has been recently reported that some seminal federal cases, necessary for civil rights litigants' appeals, will simply not be "available" through PACER - because many "old" and not-so-old court cases are being deleted from PACER without much fanfare.
I had an experience in trying to locate an old case in federal court not through PACER, because certain information required for PACER was lacking. From my communication with the court clerk, I understood that, possibly, the "hard-paper" archives might not even be in existence. I was not able to retrieve documents I wanted in that particular situation.
So - several questions arise in connection of cleansing court cases off PACER.
If such court cases, which were already decided, are not available on PACER - where and on what terms are they going to be available? What happened to the originals of pleadings? How can people look at them?
What will be the cost of such retrieval, not through PACER?
And, with the increasingly dropping prices in "cloud storage", why problems with PACER had to be resolved by blocking people's access to cases necessary for research instead of fixing the retrieval system?
Was it to make civil rights litigation even harder than it is now?
There is no place for legal arguments in Family Court in New York - forget your pesky law when you are in a court of law?
Last week I was told by a Family Court judge that Family Court is "not Supreme Court", and that making "alternative legal arguments" in Family Court is the equivalent of lying.
I have a copy of the official court recording where the judge says that, to protect myself against allegations of "lying" - again.
Actually, raising ALL legal issues you can on behalf of a client is attorney's duty to preserve the record for a possible appeal - and failure to do that may be actionable as attorney malpractice.
But, in Family Court, a court which has limited jurisdiction and is governed exclusively by a statute (legal rules), too many legal arguments somehow amounts to lying. Of course, that "judicial opinion" is not supported by the Family Court Act.
Moreover, lying - by definition - is not telling the truth about FACTS. The distinction between facts and opinions is a basic distinction taught in elementary school. Apparently, the judge, with high school, college, law school and at least 10 years of practice, does not appear to understand this distinction.
Therefore, there may not be any "lying" in advancing legal opinions on behalf of a client, especially where at issue are fundamental constitutional parental rights.
To me, any judge who intimidates an attorney by the nonsense that her legal arguments are somehow lying should be disciplined.
I have a copy of the official court recording where the judge says that, to protect myself against allegations of "lying" - again.
Actually, raising ALL legal issues you can on behalf of a client is attorney's duty to preserve the record for a possible appeal - and failure to do that may be actionable as attorney malpractice.
But, in Family Court, a court which has limited jurisdiction and is governed exclusively by a statute (legal rules), too many legal arguments somehow amounts to lying. Of course, that "judicial opinion" is not supported by the Family Court Act.
Moreover, lying - by definition - is not telling the truth about FACTS. The distinction between facts and opinions is a basic distinction taught in elementary school. Apparently, the judge, with high school, college, law school and at least 10 years of practice, does not appear to understand this distinction.
Therefore, there may not be any "lying" in advancing legal opinions on behalf of a client, especially where at issue are fundamental constitutional parental rights.
To me, any judge who intimidates an attorney by the nonsense that her legal arguments are somehow lying should be disciplined.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Oath of protection
I hear all the time about "sworn officers" and their "presumed" integrity - while at the same time, as an attorney working in criminal courts, in family courts, in federal courts in civil rights litigation, all I see is that police, prosecutors, social services, judges can do anything they want, with complete impunity, and no disciplinary rules, no criminal investigations, no rules of ethics, no civil lawsuits can reach them, no matter what kind of open, arrogant and blatant misconduct they commit.
Those "sworn officers", being it police officers, judicial officers, attorneys for the government or private attorneys (albeit "officers of the court") are, once again, "sworn" to protect the local laws, federal laws and the U.S. and the State Constitutions (in the state where they are in).
At the very same time, all kinds of "immunities" have been invented by courts, to the point that, for example, it is impossible to prosecute a judge even for malicious AND CORRUPT conduct while on the bench. I learnt the hard way (dismissal of federal lawsuits, with sanctions), that what constitutes "conduct ON the bench" somehow includes a lot of conduct OFF the bench, simply because federal judges are also judges and simply ignore pleadings stating that certain conduct was OFF the bench and, thus, is not covered by their elaborate self-given immunity.
Apparently, if you are a judge, ANYTHING you do is absolutely immune.
The same is for prosecutors - in their "prosecutorial" capacity.
As to "investigative capacity" of prosecutors - they are entitled to "qualified" immunity, which is nearly always found.
What concerns police officers - "qualified immunity" is deemed so broad that legal scholars claim that it is practically impossible to get accountability of police officers for using excessive force, to the point of killing people.
As a recent example, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that officers were covered by qualified immunity when:
1) they wanted to stop a motorist for a light that did not work;
2) the motorist took off speeding (a bad decision, but not entitling police officers to shoot to kill - wouldn't you think?);
3) the police chose no better than to engage in a high-speed chase, thus, in my humble opinion, PERPETUATING that chase - the speeder would not be speeding if they would not be speeding after him, and it was only because of one bad light on the car;
4) the police shot at the motorist SEVERAL TIMES - and finally killed the motorists.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the officer were covered by qualified immunity, because as "reasonable officers" they were - guess - extinguishing a public safety hazard, a high speed chase. Not by stopping - but by shooting to kill.
I absolutely "love" what the court said in the civil rights lawsuit against judges who were convicted in connection with the "Kids-for-Cash" scandal - I put it on top of this blog.
“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.
Think about it once again:
It is the OATH that a person is alleged to have VIOLATED FOR PERSONAL GAIN
that REQUIRES - THE COURT OF LAW - YOUR PUBLIC SERVANTS - TO ABSOLVE
OTHER PUBLIC SERVANT - WHO IS IN THE SAME CLASS OF
PUBLIC OFFICIALS AS THE PRESIDING JUDGE - to absolve
the possible VIOLATER OF CONSTITUTIONAL OATH -
FROM ANY - ANY - LIABILITY TO THE VICTIMS OF SUCH VIOLATIONS.
Is there anything as warped as this logic? And as lawless? And as self-serving?
Based on all the above, one inevitably comes to a conclusion that the so-called "constitutional oath of office" is simply a "trigger point of protection", because, in the opinion of Judge Caputo of the federal district court in Pennsylvania - it is! The oath TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION is the basis of the conclusion that VIOLATING THAT OATH will not have any consequences to the person who took that oath, BECAUSE he took that oath.
Once again - this is a judge who HIMSELF has been sworn to uphold the Constitution. And the U.S. Constitution does not give permission to ANYBODY to violate it.
Obviously, the necessity to protect the judiciary as members of the same "corporation" is much stronger than the duties imposed by the oath of office.
The logic that the oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution is only a trigger of protection, and is meaningless otherwise, is so deeply entrenched in governmental - and judicial culture - that raising constitutional arguments in courts has become dangerous business, often leading to sanctions for "frivolous" conduct, especially if the claims of constitutional violations come against powerful governmental officials.
If oaths to UPHOLD the Constitution are only used to UHOLD VIOLATIONS of that same Constitution - do we really need the oaths of office?
Maybe, we need to eliminate all of them, as well as all immunities for violating them, and introduce clear and transparent system of duties and accountability for violating those duties for all public officials, with direct monitoring by the people - through, possibly, investigative grand jury power?
Since I do not see any other democratic mechanisms working to eliminate this perversity of justice, resurrection and empowering of investigative grand juries with criminal prosecutions of violators of public trust and state and federal laws and Constitutions should be in order.
And a legislative and, possible, constitutional reforms, on state and federal levels, are needed to implement that.
Otherwise, the so-called "rule of law" as it is now is truly a joke and is, in fact, the "rule of the few".
Those "sworn officers", being it police officers, judicial officers, attorneys for the government or private attorneys (albeit "officers of the court") are, once again, "sworn" to protect the local laws, federal laws and the U.S. and the State Constitutions (in the state where they are in).
At the very same time, all kinds of "immunities" have been invented by courts, to the point that, for example, it is impossible to prosecute a judge even for malicious AND CORRUPT conduct while on the bench. I learnt the hard way (dismissal of federal lawsuits, with sanctions), that what constitutes "conduct ON the bench" somehow includes a lot of conduct OFF the bench, simply because federal judges are also judges and simply ignore pleadings stating that certain conduct was OFF the bench and, thus, is not covered by their elaborate self-given immunity.
Apparently, if you are a judge, ANYTHING you do is absolutely immune.
The same is for prosecutors - in their "prosecutorial" capacity.
As to "investigative capacity" of prosecutors - they are entitled to "qualified" immunity, which is nearly always found.
What concerns police officers - "qualified immunity" is deemed so broad that legal scholars claim that it is practically impossible to get accountability of police officers for using excessive force, to the point of killing people.
As a recent example, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that officers were covered by qualified immunity when:
1) they wanted to stop a motorist for a light that did not work;
2) the motorist took off speeding (a bad decision, but not entitling police officers to shoot to kill - wouldn't you think?);
3) the police chose no better than to engage in a high-speed chase, thus, in my humble opinion, PERPETUATING that chase - the speeder would not be speeding if they would not be speeding after him, and it was only because of one bad light on the car;
4) the police shot at the motorist SEVERAL TIMES - and finally killed the motorists.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the officer were covered by qualified immunity, because as "reasonable officers" they were - guess - extinguishing a public safety hazard, a high speed chase. Not by stopping - but by shooting to kill.
I absolutely "love" what the court said in the civil rights lawsuit against judges who were convicted in connection with the "Kids-for-Cash" scandal - I put it on top of this blog.
“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.
Think about it once again:
It is the OATH that a person is alleged to have VIOLATED FOR PERSONAL GAIN
that REQUIRES - THE COURT OF LAW - YOUR PUBLIC SERVANTS - TO ABSOLVE
OTHER PUBLIC SERVANT - WHO IS IN THE SAME CLASS OF
PUBLIC OFFICIALS AS THE PRESIDING JUDGE - to absolve
the possible VIOLATER OF CONSTITUTIONAL OATH -
FROM ANY - ANY - LIABILITY TO THE VICTIMS OF SUCH VIOLATIONS.
Is there anything as warped as this logic? And as lawless? And as self-serving?
Based on all the above, one inevitably comes to a conclusion that the so-called "constitutional oath of office" is simply a "trigger point of protection", because, in the opinion of Judge Caputo of the federal district court in Pennsylvania - it is! The oath TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION is the basis of the conclusion that VIOLATING THAT OATH will not have any consequences to the person who took that oath, BECAUSE he took that oath.
Once again - this is a judge who HIMSELF has been sworn to uphold the Constitution. And the U.S. Constitution does not give permission to ANYBODY to violate it.
Obviously, the necessity to protect the judiciary as members of the same "corporation" is much stronger than the duties imposed by the oath of office.
The logic that the oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution is only a trigger of protection, and is meaningless otherwise, is so deeply entrenched in governmental - and judicial culture - that raising constitutional arguments in courts has become dangerous business, often leading to sanctions for "frivolous" conduct, especially if the claims of constitutional violations come against powerful governmental officials.
If oaths to UPHOLD the Constitution are only used to UHOLD VIOLATIONS of that same Constitution - do we really need the oaths of office?
Maybe, we need to eliminate all of them, as well as all immunities for violating them, and introduce clear and transparent system of duties and accountability for violating those duties for all public officials, with direct monitoring by the people - through, possibly, investigative grand jury power?
Since I do not see any other democratic mechanisms working to eliminate this perversity of justice, resurrection and empowering of investigative grand juries with criminal prosecutions of violators of public trust and state and federal laws and Constitutions should be in order.
And a legislative and, possible, constitutional reforms, on state and federal levels, are needed to implement that.
Otherwise, the so-called "rule of law" as it is now is truly a joke and is, in fact, the "rule of the few".
Collateral estoppel as the method to eliminate civil rights attorneys in New York
New York is a unique state.
It is one of the miniscule minority of cases which still gives its attorneys the least protection in disciplinary proceedings - disciplinary authorities only have to prove their case "by preponderance of the evidence".
Why?
Because courts want to clear their dockets, in other words, to do less, and do not want to confess that clearing their dockets is the true reason behind depriving attorneys of hearings in disciplinary proceedings.
How it works.
A civil court makes a decision that an attorney allegedly did something wrong. The decision is made
"by preponderance of the evidence".
If to discipline an attorney, a higher standard of proof is required (as in other states), then an attorney is entitled to a hearing.
Not in New York.
In New York the disciplinary court can simply rubber-stamp, without any further hearings, that if the lower court decided this way - right or wrong - the attorney must be disciplined.
But - wait a minute - attorney discipline exists to protect the public from attorney misconduct, isn't it correct?
And, if the lower court's decision is wrong, there is nothing to protect the public from, isn't it correct?
And, there is a dire shortage of attorneys who are willing to take cases for the poor, underprivileged and unpopular clients, as well as unpopular causes, isn't it correct?
And, attorney disciplinary bodies predominantly target solo attorneys engaged in protection of civil rights, isn't it correct?
So - when disciplinary courts deny civil rights attorneys a hearing before taking their licenses, reputations and livelihoods, they do not care whether attorneys did, in fact, commit any wrongs, and whether the public, indeed, needs protection, isn't it correct?
So, all these statements about attorney licensing and attorney discipline protecting the public is a lie to appease the public and conceal the true picture that courts are actually specifically depriving the public of their best chance of representation by suspending and disbarring, without hearings, civil rights attorneys, on pretextual grounds, isn't it correct?
It is one of the miniscule minority of cases which still gives its attorneys the least protection in disciplinary proceedings - disciplinary authorities only have to prove their case "by preponderance of the evidence".
Why?
Because courts want to clear their dockets, in other words, to do less, and do not want to confess that clearing their dockets is the true reason behind depriving attorneys of hearings in disciplinary proceedings.
How it works.
A civil court makes a decision that an attorney allegedly did something wrong. The decision is made
"by preponderance of the evidence".
If to discipline an attorney, a higher standard of proof is required (as in other states), then an attorney is entitled to a hearing.
Not in New York.
In New York the disciplinary court can simply rubber-stamp, without any further hearings, that if the lower court decided this way - right or wrong - the attorney must be disciplined.
But - wait a minute - attorney discipline exists to protect the public from attorney misconduct, isn't it correct?
And, if the lower court's decision is wrong, there is nothing to protect the public from, isn't it correct?
And, there is a dire shortage of attorneys who are willing to take cases for the poor, underprivileged and unpopular clients, as well as unpopular causes, isn't it correct?
And, attorney disciplinary bodies predominantly target solo attorneys engaged in protection of civil rights, isn't it correct?
So - when disciplinary courts deny civil rights attorneys a hearing before taking their licenses, reputations and livelihoods, they do not care whether attorneys did, in fact, commit any wrongs, and whether the public, indeed, needs protection, isn't it correct?
So, all these statements about attorney licensing and attorney discipline protecting the public is a lie to appease the public and conceal the true picture that courts are actually specifically depriving the public of their best chance of representation by suspending and disbarring, without hearings, civil rights attorneys, on pretextual grounds, isn't it correct?
Friday, August 29, 2014
Your truth may still be in bad faith!
Dialogue in the courtroom:
JUDGE: I've read your voluminous pleading, with all those exhibits, all the 5-inch-thick motion, ad nauseam.
ATTORNEY: But, Your Honor, the issue is vitally important to my client and myself, those are constitutional issues, and my arguments are supported by uncontroverted documentary evidence!
JUDGE: I will reserve on the issue of sanctions as to whether your motions was made in bad faith and frivolously.
Translation: I am still considering whether I should sanction you for presenting the truth to the court in bad faith and frivolously.
Go figure.
JUDGE: I've read your voluminous pleading, with all those exhibits, all the 5-inch-thick motion, ad nauseam.
ATTORNEY: But, Your Honor, the issue is vitally important to my client and myself, those are constitutional issues, and my arguments are supported by uncontroverted documentary evidence!
JUDGE: I will reserve on the issue of sanctions as to whether your motions was made in bad faith and frivolously.
Translation: I am still considering whether I should sanction you for presenting the truth to the court in bad faith and frivolously.
Go figure.
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