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.


Friday, January 15, 2016

#NewYorkValues - sexual predators and felons convicted for corruption in public office are better than civil rights attorneys

Just wrote a blog about judges and lawyers engaged in sexism and sex crimes, and mentioned Bryan Hedges, a judge who was taken off the bench in 2012 for molestation of a 5 year old child.

And - why, oh why did I check out his attorney registration status?

Because here it is:


That's right, "no record of public discipline".

Let us check out once again our recently convicted felons, New York Senators and attorneys John Sampson, Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver.


John L. Sampson - a convicted felon, former New York Senator, former Chair of Committee for the Judiciary.  

Was convicted on July 24, 2015 of obstructing justice and making false statements to the federal authorities.


Felons Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos, convicted of corruption, are also listed as practicing attorneys with "no record of public discipline".




I wrote about it last month.

Nothing changed this month.

I guess, I will have to make the appropriate inquiries with the NYS Court Administration as to why it still lists automatically-disbarred felons as practicing attorneys without any record of public discipline.

As to child molestor Bryan Hedges, an attorney with "no record of public discipline" - it is obvious that New York state has a preference, you know, those touted #NewYorkValues.

Better a felon or a sexual predator than big-mouth civil rights attorney who - the horror! - make motions to recuse a corrupt judge.  And are suspended for that, like I was. 

Hedges, Sampson, Silver and Skelos are surely better to have as  licensed attorneys "with no record of public discipline" than somebody like Leon Koziol - a civil rights attorney who testified about judicial corruption to the Moreland Commission.  And was not reinstated because of it.

Any fury in the media against government corruption in New York.
Against corruption in New York courts?
To disbar convicted felons?
To reinstate civil rights attorneys whose only fault was that they fought for their clients and against corrupt judges?

No.

The only fury is about fighting for the abstract #NewYorkValues.



2 comments:

  1. a county clerk told me not long ago that their exists a "public file" and a "private file", could the answer as to why it states "no record of public discipline" be due to a private file? The word public should not have to be in there, it only allows them to play word games more than they already do...

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