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.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Life of a witness and victim of police misconduct may be in danger; attention attorneys who visit clients in Delaware County jail, New York: the personnel of Delaware County jail opens legal mail and searches attorney files as a matter of policy; the police officer who was involved in the vehicular assault on a woman on September 5, 2014 retaliates, puts her in jail on charges brought by him, obtains an arrest warrant, executes it, puts his victim in jail on felony charges and his employer blocks attorney access to his victim

The reason why I am publishing this press release is because I believe the life and well-being of my client and friend Barbara O'Sullivan who is now in Delaware County Jail may be in danger, and if anything happens to her - or to her daughter Alecia Bracci or her dogs - or to me or my loved ones - you have the answer why, through this press release.

 I just talked on the phone with Lt. Stanton, the head officer of the Delaware County Correctional Facility, New York, located in Delhi, NY.

 I called Lt. Stanton because I was not allowed access to my client, a pre-trial detainee in the Delaware County Correctional Facility ("coincidentally" while the client in question is held on charges with assault on a Delaware County Deputy Sheriff).

 Lt. Stanton revealed to me the following policies of the Delaware County Jail that I feel I need to notify other attorneys attorneys about, in case they are visiting clients in Delaware County Jail or sending legal mail to their clients who are in custody in that jail.

 The policies that Lt. Stanton told me about are as follows:

 (1) that Delaware County Jail personnel opens legal mail to inmates and pre-trial detainees as a matter of right in front of inmates, allegedly in search of contraband, and does it based on the "minimum standards" of the New York State Department of Corrections;

 (2) that Delaware County Jail looks through all attorney files of all attorneys who come to visit their client in jail, as a matter of right, allegedly as a safety measure, in the alleged search for "contraband".

My husband, while he was an attorney, came to visit his clients in Delaware County Jail for 37 years, always had closed envelopes with his clients' files, was never directed to show the contents of the envelopes.

 I, as an attorney, visited clients in Delaware County Jail for 5.5 years, was never directed to show the contents of my attorney file.

 I talked to another attorney who confirmed that in the long time that that attorney was practicing criminal law in Delaware County and visiting inmates and pretrial detainees in Delaware County jail, nobody ever asked that attorney to look at the contents of attorney file by "looking", "reading" or "flipping through the pages", or by asking to take the contents of "envelopes", "folders" or "manila folders", or by any other way.

 It is obvious that when a corrections officer "looks" at the file and "flips through the pages", she or he gets glimpses of the content of the papers inside the file, and thus learns about the contents of the file which are privileged.

 Moreover, while "flipping through the pages", the corrections officer, employee of Delaware County, can see photographic evidence that may be in the file and report the contents of what they saw to the prosecution, or to the witnesses, and witnesses in this case are also employees of the Delaware County Sheriff's office.

 Attorney-client privilege is absolute, and at no other time in no other jail (state prisons that I visited, Otsego County Jail, Chenango County Jail) was I ever directed to show to the corrections officers the contents of my attorney file.

 At this time, ny client remains in jail on a very high bail, I remain outside of the jail, and I cannot show my client any documentary materials in my  attorney file unless I also show those same privileged materials to the personnel of the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, while the charges are brought on behalf of a Delaware County Sheriff's Deputy who is claimed to be the alleged victim of my client's alleged crime, so Delaware County Sheriff's department cannot claim they are disinterested parties here.

 Of course, Lt. Stanton said that the personnel of the jail does not really want to read what they are flipping through.  And I do not care.  To me, if a literate person flips through a written material - he or she has an opportunity to read it, and that is a violation of attorney-client privilege if what the officer sees is privileged attorney file.

 I put it into an envelope for a reason, so that the contents are not revealed. 

So, attorneys who visit Delaware County Jail to see your clients, or who send legal mail to their clients, inmates or pre-trial detainees of Delaware County Correctional Facility, New York, be aware - your legal mail will be searched and your attorney files will be searched, if, as Lt. Stanton cogently put it, his personnel is not negligent...

 I have a funny feeling though that Lt. Stanton's personnel is negligent to search all attorneys' files but mine.

 "Coincidentally", the officer who came to arrest my client and was allegedly bit by a dog (I saw only a band aid on his arm during his testimony on September 22, 2014), Delaware County Deputy Sheriff Derek Bowie, was the perpetrator of a vehicular assault on my client n September 5, 2014 reported by me on the same day in this blog, who did  not report it or disqualify himself from prosecuting my client, instead, he filed a criminal complaint against her for allegedly "resisting arrest" (videotaping police misconduct is now resisting arrest?), and the arrest warrant that he had as a basis to enter her property was based on  the charges that he brought against the victim of his vehicular assault. 


Moreover, Officer Bowie had the audacity to execute the arrest warrant obtained on his own false charges against the victim of his vehicular assault, and ask two more officers to "help him".


I wonder how a person who should be a co-defendant in the action is allowed by the Delaware County Sheriff to participate in investigation and prosecution against his own victim.  You live - you learn.

Moreover, the Delaware County Sheriff's Department has leaked information about the charges pressed by Derek Bowie to the press, and my client Barbara O'Sullivan and her daughter Alecia Bracci is now the subjects of a hate campaign on Facebook, with threats being made to their lives.

The TV news release relies on an alleged media release from the Delaware County Sheriff's Department (now it is updated, eliminating initial references to a "pit bull type dog" because of an outcry on Facebook of pit bull lovers).
The Sheriff's Department website contains no such release, see the scan of the Department's media release webpage that I made today:



All of this begs a question - is the Delaware County Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's office engage in intentional prosecution of a victim of police misconduct to cover up a crime committed by the county police officer - a vehicular manslaughter on a resident of the county made by the use of a police vehicle, done in order to destroy evidence of police misconduct that she had in her hands (the tablet she used to videotape Derek Bowie on Sept. 5, 2014)?

 See the picture that was taken on September 5, 2014 of Barbara O'Sullivan who has just escaped death or serious bodily injury after Delaware County Sheriff Deputy Derek Bowie assaulted her with a police vehicle in order to destroy the videotape she was making of his misconduct.

And here is the picture of the tablet smashed by Derek Bowie during his vehicular assault:

Since Barbara O'Sullivan had me report on my blog on September 5, 2014 that the video survived, even though the tablet was smashed, Derek Bowie needed access to Barbara O'Sullivan's house to search for the tablet - and got such access by having Barbara O'Sullivan and her daughter Alecia Bracci arrested on false charges brought by Derek Bowie.

 Derek Bowie also had another witness of the vehicular assault taken out of the house - the dog.

 The dog was clubbed, TASERED 6 times, maced, and a metal hook was brought through his nose that the shelter refused to remove until the owner of the dog was bailed out of jail and took pictures of the dog's face.

 According to testimony of three police officers in a felony hearing in Delhi Town Court on September 22, 2014, Barbara O'Sullivan followed orders of Officer Tahir Haqq and Officer Eric Alexander saw through the back window of Barbara O'Sullivan's house how Barbara O'Sullivan secured dogs in a cage, then Officer Haqq saw a dog "push by" Barbara O'Sullivan when she opened the door to surrender to the police - no intentional conduct could be charged based on this set of circumstances, yet, the Delaware County District attorney keeps pushing the charges against Barbara O'Sullivan, and I wonder why.

 I also wonder whether I am being prevented from seeing Barbara O'Sullivan in jail without having my attorney file searched by the order of the Delaware County District Attorney's office.  

 I also wonder what may happen to Barbara O'Sullivan in jail and whether she is safe here, in the hands of colleagues of Derek Bowie.

 Outside the jail Derek Bowie already orchestrated a hate campaign against Barbara O'Sullivan and her daughter Alecia Bracci by making an unofficial press release to TV stations, a highly unusual move.

 That unofficial release generated hate statements toward Barbara O'Sullivan and Alecia Bracci on Facebook like this (taken off the Facebook comments to the story published by the TV station), and those are only the scans that I took on the day after the story ran, there might be more:




















If you think that either Barbara O'Sullivan or Alecia Bracci can have a fair trial after this "trial on Facebook" orchestrated by Officer Bowie and his employer, the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, think again.

I highly doubt that Officer Bowie will ever be investigated or prosecuted for his attempt to kill Barbara O'Sullivan with a police vehicle.

Yet, Officer Bowie already succeeded in a tide of hate directed through the media and Facebook at both Barbara O'Sullivan and Alecia Bracci, with accusations that they are "look ugly",  "look stupid",  and that they should be "put down" because of what they (both) allegedly did to the dog and to the officer.



The house of Barbara O'Sullivan was, according to my information, searched to recover the tablet, but the tablet was well hidden.
The police officer in question, Delaware County Deputy Sheriff Derek Bowie, who considers it possible to commit an attempt to murder a woman with a police vehicle for videotaping his misconduct, is still on the force, still has a TASER and a pistol in his possession and still can do the same he did to Barbara O'Sullivan and her daughter Alecia Bracci - to any of you.

 Don't you think the state authorities and the feds look into what is going on in Delaware County before the same police officer hones his vehicular assault skills on another victim?

 Do you think that will happen?


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