A summary judgment in a criminal case? We'll see...

I wrote on this blog that my disciplinary prosecutor (in the case which is claimed civil by New York law) also brought a criminal proceeding against me, for opening my own disciplinary proceedings to the public, which is what I am absolutely allowed to do by law.

In that criminal proceeding for contempt of court Ms. Gasparini - who has the audacity to lecture to attorneys about legal ethics during her taxpayer-paid time as a disciplinary prosecutor (by the way, her position is not supported by existing law) - acts as a prosecutor, as the sole complaining witness and as the alleged victim, which constitutes gross prosecutorial misconduct.

Now Ms. Gasparini, who has absolutely no clue as to criminal law and procedure, asks the court for a summary judgment without a hearing in a criminal case, where no such thing is available in criminal law.

We will see whether the court will "do the right thing", apply the law and toss Gasparini's self-interested and incompetent ravings - or violate the law, punish me for violating my own privacy.

I won't be surprised if the latter happens.

After all, several courts, since January 2013, disregarded court records clearly indicating that I was fraudulently prosecuted for an insane charge - for NOT practicing law without a license in 2008 (for not committing a crime).

After all, the disciplinary court pretends it is unaware that I have a right to open proceedings to the public and that Judiciary Law 90(10) that is used to seal documents in such proceedings may only be used as a shield for the attorney who is the subject of the investigation and never as a sword (the way Mary Gasparini is attempting to use it against me).

Throughout these proceedings, disciplinary prosecutors from two appellate divisions acted as if they have no clue of the applicable law or rules of evidence - not to mention of the attorney disciplinary rules requiring of every attorney, including a disciplinary prosecutor, elementary competency.

So - we will see whether the court will grant a summary judgment in a secret criminal case brought by the alleged victim/witness/prosecutor Gasparini to punish me for violating my own privacy.

It gets loonier and loonier by the day.

On the other hand, this case clearly highlights the problem that we have in New York (and in this country) not only in attorney disciplinary cases, but in all cases - the rule of law is dead, because justice is not blind.

Judges are actively considering status of who is asking for relief, and not legality of relief asked or legality of procedure followed.

Status trumps the rule of law practically every time in the courts and in front of judges of New York two appellate divisions that I am familiar with (3rd and 4th Departments).

The same is true with many lower court judges where I appeared as an attorney over my legal career.

Reports in the media and social media show that this situation is pervasive throughout the U.S.

Welcome to the Star Chamber where we will remain until we, as citizens of this country, undertake to introduce effective measures to address rampant misconduct of public officials, including and especially the judiciary and prosecutors - whether "civil" or criminal prosecutors.

Racists on the bench

This country will not make headway out of riots such as in Ferguson, New York City and Baltimore (and that is only the recent riots) while judges remain on the bench who ascribe to the "American Constitution Society" the following motto: "We love poor black people almost as much as we love puppies and kitties".

This is not humor.

This is not a joke.

This is pure unadulterated racism which is especially disgusting when it is coming from a judge presiding over federal civil rights cases and criminal cases (including death penalty cases), involving predominantly poor black and Hispanic people.

Judge Kopf should be removed off the bench - that is my personal opinion, based on his:

• open racism;
• considering people fighting for civil rights as narcissistic attention seekers;
• his belief that a judge may invent at least three reasons why he would allow execution of an innocent person to proceed  (all of it is in Judge Kopf's blogs).

Because of such white racist judges credibility of this country's stance as a beacon of democracy and as a fighter for human rights is below zero.

I encourage poor black litigants who have ever suffered an adverse determination by Judge Kopf in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada to make motions to vacate based on new evidence of Judge Kopf's bias against poor black people. 

And - when a federal judge equates black people with animals,  and mock them for being poor, that should surely get him off the bench.  

Will it?

To judges - "grow the **** up"! That's what your fellow judge said

Just read a blog by a sitting federal judge Kopf who ridicules people promoting gay marriage accusing them of presenting gay people as victims - and that is when just 15 years ago homosexuality was a crime and when gay marriage is still prohibited in a large number of states.

Judge Kopf has one advice to activists of the gay movement - "grow the **** up"!

Now, a judge dealing on the daily basis with federal civil rights cases should not be calling victims of discrimination attention seekers.

One could just as well tell women to "grow the **** up" and not fight for equality, voting rights, not being treated as property of men, right to contraception and abortion, right to choose her partner - not when white men are so bored by those attention-seeking women.

One could just as well tell slaves to "grow the **** up" and not fight for their freedom and not present themselves as victims when white men are so bored by those attention-seeking slaves...

Now, let's turn the tables a little bit and ask judges of this country - GROW THE **** UP and stop persecuting people who criticize you, we are tired of you doing it while you are tired of us fighting for our rights against discrimination by the government, including by you, the judiciary.

Doesn't the shoe fit - ideally?

So, judges, heed the advice of your fellow judge and - GROW THE **** UP!

Breastfeeding as breach of decorum in court? Breastfeeding ladies, engage in court observation!

This is a topic that I have never come across before - until it was raised by Judge Kopf, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada in his blog.

These are the beliefs of a sitting federal judge pertaining to breastfeeding:

1. That breastfeeding in public at a public event makes the child's parents "narcissistic".
2. That breastfeeding in court is a breach of decorum.
3. That when breastfeeding in public, the mother most "cover" herself.

It is understandable that, being a male, a judge have never experience and will never experience the physiology of breastfeeding.

Yet, what the judge is saying is essentially this:

Breastfeeding mothers, I give you a choice:

1) do not come to public events lasting for a period of time that may require to breastfeed your baby, these political events are not for you; or

2) leave you baby at home, squeeze your milk and leave the baby with a babysitter - even if breastfeeding for you is an act of interaction with your child, each time;

3) leave formula for your child or bring it with you - but do not expose to the public that abominable appendage that Madonna showed in numerous paintings to feed her baby, paintings that public admire around the world;

4) or, COVER yourself.

I would, instead, have advice for Judge Kopf - get off the bench.

Your caveman views are completely inconsistent with views of a sitting judge.  Your blog will be perfectly fine, as a freedom of speech showcase and as a relic of "old times" - without you on the bench.

And - breastfeeding ladies, members of the public, without regard whether you are in a heterosexual or homosexual relationship or whether you are single Moms - I ENCOURAGE you to come to court with your babies to observe court proceedings - AND FEED YOUR BABIES, UNCOVERED, IN PUBLIC.

Let the presiding judges DARE try to tell you that it is a breach of decorum to feed your baby where and when your baby wanted to be fed and where and when you wanted to be as a member of the public and a court observer.

If they do, they will, most likely, be taken off the bench if the case his the headlines.

Come to political events - to press-conferences, to hearings in the U.S. Congress, come to court to observe open court sessions - AND BREASTFEED your baby, uncovered.

People who not only believe that a mother may not breastfeed in public, but who would act against the mother on such beliefs, should be immediately and relentlessly sacked.

Good riddance, Carl Becker

Yesterday, I put in a blog about the local antihero, Judge Carl F. Becker, suddenly stepping down while just 2.5 years into his 10-year term (he was supposed to step down only in 2018, when he would turn 70).

Today, the local newspaper, the Walton Reporter, published an interview with Becker where he claims that he is retiring not because his health is poor, but because, on the opposite, his health is good, he wants it to remain good and he wants to be a healthy grandfather.

Looks like a bunch of unlikely reasons to me.

When Becker ran for re-election in 2012, having his cronies make false statements to the voters to get him elected and putting down his opponent by statements that comparing Becker to Gary Rosa is like comparing a Boeing 747 to a "single engine prop plane", he obviously was in it for the kill and the idea of letting it be, leaving the bench after his first alleged term (there is no legally valid certificate of election for Becker's first term on file), and being a healthy grandfather apparently never entered his mind at the time of re-election campaign.

Now, after serving only 2 years with some months of his second term, the idea of becoming a healthy grandfather caught up with Becker? 

Does not look at all like Becker's grandfatherly ideas were the real reason for his quick departure from the bench.

Looks like he is running, and looks like there is a reason why he is doing it, a reason that he is not willing to disclose to the public.

Anyway, Becker is about to become history (bad though it is) for this county, and we will see how many people would even want to remember him publicly after he's gone from the bench.

During his judgeship, practically every year, during the hunting season, the loyal Walton Reporter would publish disgusting and disgustingly large pictures of Becker, as a local celebrity, with a smug smile, over a dead bear.

I wonder whether after his retirement Becker's smug smiles over dead bears will be newsworthy any more.

Good riddance.

The Becker beast has been booted?

In an extremely short notice Delaware County Judge Carl F. Becker, the anti-hero frequently featured on this blog, announced he retires as of July 31, 2015.

Rumors that Becker was going to be booted soon circulated for a while, but I held my breath until it is official.  It is now.

It is highly unlikely that the "retirement" is voluntary.

This man has run for a re-election in 2012 while knowing that he will not be able to serve out his full 10-year term because of his age.  

Becker would have served only 6 years out of the 10-year term (ending in 2022) due to his age.  New York has a mandatory retirement age for judges at 70, and Becker was supposed to retire at the end of 2018.

Knowing that he will not be able to serve out the full term, Becker still plunged the Delaware County into the expense of having him as a judge and having to run an additional election when he reaches the mandatory retirement age, a completely unnecessary expense for this poor rural county.

Recently, Delaware County, a County with a dwindling population and ever decreasing number of court cases, has got an approval for a second judge, and Becker's buddy Porter Kirkwood immediately announced that he will run for that position.

Yet, even before the new judge was elected for the second judgeship position, and three years before Becker's mandatory retirement age, Becker is stepping down.

I've recently seen Becker in the courthouse.  Nothing indicated that his health is dwindling to the point that he cannot physically continue to serve.

Moreover, Becker has himself ruled out that his health is the reason for his early retirement, so, most likely, he was booted.

I know only two other examples when local judges retired before their term was out.

One was the Otsego County Supreme Court Justice Robert Harlem, he retired to catch an unlawfully self-bequeathed legacy of several hundred thousand dollars, a legacy that Robert Harlem had to disgorge after the New York State Attorney General has started an investigation into his and his son Richard Harlem's shenanigans.

The other was (and that was quite an interesting coincidence) Judge Nettie Scarzafawa, the judge of Otsego County Surrogate's Court who refused to sanction Robert Harlem or Richard Harlem or make them disgorge the ill-gotten gains from the Estate, so that Robert Harlem only disgorged reportedly $600,000 after the New York State Attorney General appealed Nettie Scarzafawa's brow-raising decision.

In her decision, Nettie Scarzafawa ruled contrary to the evidence in front of her and catered for a judge who secretly practiced law while on the bench, drafted a will where he bequeathed to himself more than 1/2 million dollars worth of shares of stock plus other monetary assets and benefits and involved his court personnel - secretary Irene Mann (who later became his wife), law clerk Dennis Dineen (still practicing law) and his son Richard Harlem (still practicing law) as witnesses of his unauthorized practice of law to keep his unlawful, unconstitutional and unethical practice of law while on the bench secret.

Nettie Scarzafawa retired nearly immediately on conclusion of Robert Harlem's case, citing the need to take care of her elderly mother.  I do not know whether the claim was valid or not, it is just the timing that was interesting.

When an action for fraud was brought against Robert Harlem (during his lifetime, he died in September 2012) and his son Richard Harlem and quoted the Otsego County Surrogate's case to prove that Harlem's fraud upon the court in my husband's case was not an accident or mistake, but a continuation of a long pattern of conduct, Carl Becker - surprise! - assigned himself to the case and severely punished my husband and myself for even mentioning misconduct of Judge Harlem and for quoting OPEN COURT RECORDS and OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS as to current job status and salary of Dennis Dineen in New York State Government as VIOLATION OF PRIVACY.

In our neck of woods it is apparently not important that a judge committed misconduct and betrayed public trust, but it is sanctionable heresy to make it more public than it already is - Surrogate's Court file has always been open to the public.

I complained about Becker for years.

Becker is notorious for the following cases, among the most egregious:

(1) the "blind driver" case where accepted a plea claiming that a legally blind defendant drove a car - because DA Northrup who now announced his desire to run for Becker's place - had a blind man sign away his constitutional claims for civil rights violations against the DA and all county, state and federal law enforcement involved in his arrest and seizure of his property;

(2) the "bathroom case" - where Becker influenced the jury by telling them, at the end of a long review of evidence in the courtroom and after they drank a lot of water that "he received a message from the work team in the street that the water main feeding the courthouse was severed and there is only one flush left in all bathrooms in the courthouse" - it took jurors 15 minutes to convict, only not to have to urinate and defecate into one another's excrements (while the judge had an obligation to close the courthouse because of its anti-sanitary condition and adjourn the jury deliberations to another place and time);

(3) numerous cases where Becker disregarded medical evidence and claimed that disabled people are faking their disabioity (like the New York - registered legally blind man or a man who underwent a back surgery at the time inconvenient for Becker).

All of complaints against Becker to the Judicial Conduct Commission that I filed and that I know other people filed, were so far dismissed without review - but it is possible that his retirement is part of a complaint that finally got him out, albeit not by removal from the bench which would be the preferred route.

Becker is notorious for testifying as an unsworn medical expert on behalf of parties who Becker favors.

So far I have reviewed his unsworn testimony diagnosing the following issues:   

• dental;
• gynecological;
• surgical
• eye problems etc.

And those are only the cases where I participated or cases pointed out to me by people and that I personally researched and looked through the court records.  There may be a lot more, as one thing that can be said about the Becker beast is that he is consistent in his temper tantrums and ugly behavior in the courtroom against people who he dislikes, for his own personal reasons.

I am convinced that for years Becker will be remembered as the plague of Delaware County who was notorious for his mean temper, his snapping tantrums against litigants and independent attorneys, especially female attorneys, his sleeping through trials or making facial signals to the juries as to who the judge liked and who he disliked.

Becker has a penchant at putting women down in his courtroom, by outright yelling at them or by verbally humiliating them or not allowing them to speak.  So far, the New York Court administration, the Commission for Judicial conduct, and the state and federal courts, have dismissed complaints about such behavior as not warranting discipline or being "immune" from lawsuit under the judge-created doctrine of absolute immunity for malicious and corrupt acts on the bench.

So, it is ok under the current law to be rude and offensive to women litigants and lawyers in NY courtrooms, which empowered the Becker beast and judges who act like him, even more.

Becker is notorious for being rude to parties and counsel, disregarding rights of people of low social status and attorneys representing such people, and bowing to litigants and attorneys with political connections.  For the "blue blood" parties and attorneys, Becker is known to be bending over backwards disregarding the law and the facts of the case and trying to make decision catering for the politically powerful.

Becker is notorious for concealing his conflicts of interest and, when finally confronted with them, lashing out and punishing the messengers, either on his own or through his cronies.

Since Becker worked in Delaware County government since his admission to the bar in 1974, he has amassed a lot of cronies and can be regarded as a cancer of Delaware County sprouting out metastases.

I will never believe that this man, who is known for his meanness, greed, envy to success of others borne of professionalism, skill, long working hours and empathy to people, would step down voluntarily, after he "eked" out a victory by a razor-thin margin in his re-election campaign - and after defrauding voters by false statements in that campaign.

Seethroughny.net shows a rate of pay for Carl F. Becker for 2014 at $172,114.

When retired, Becker will get one half of that in pension.

By stepping down 3 years and 5 months before mandatory retirement, Becker will lose $294,028.10.

I highly doubt that he did that voluntarily.

So, people of Delaware County can rejoice now - at least one beast who was never fit, by character, skills or integrity, to be a judge, is going away, and doing it early.

Yet, before he went, Becker ruined lives of many people - and people should be now extra vigilant, when electing a new judge come November, not to yoke themselves with a similar one or worse than Becker.

Don't tell me there cannot be anybody worse.

Becker was elected because many people thought that the there cannot be anything worse than the previous judge, judge 

And - beware that the beast of Delaware County, while retiring early, still holds out hopes for a "judicial hearing officer stuff".  Be vigilant and be sure that Becker does not get appointed to the position of a judicial hearing officer and is not appointed to YOUR case - that would be a true disaster, guaranteed.

And - we have two "winners" running for the two judgeships in Delaware County in November of 2015:

Porter Kirkwood - notorious for his incompetency and lack of integrity; and

Richard Northrup, the current Delaware County DA - the Delaware County DA who considered  it possible not to prosecute a nephew of his employee for vehicular assault and attempted murder - while prosecuting the employee's nephew's victim

Once such people get to power, they will not get better.

They will get only worse.

I can only say this - people of Delaware County, voters, you've got rid of one beast, don't yoke yourself with two others.

Former prosecutors (and County Attorneys) are political animals who will always have prosecutorial mentality and will always honor their ties with the local government over and above the law.

These are people whose connections in the local governments are vast, who holds a wealth of information about, possibly, each person who will appear in front of them if, God forbid, they are elected, so you will never be able to figure out whether an adverse decision against you was done on the record or on extrajudicial knowledge about you that the judge has.

You will, most likely, never know what they know about you, what disqualifying conflicts of interest they have - and do not expect them to disclose those conflicts of interest, that will never happen, as my own experience as an attorney and my friends' experience with both of these individuals, Kirkwood and Northrup, shows.

An attorney who had to obtain a government job and stick to it for years because he or she could not survive in private practice is not a good candidate for a judge.

Once again - one beast is out, come November don't exchange one beast for two new ones.  Don't think it can get worse than Becker, because where Becker was not punished, the followers can repeat what he did and now, because of impunity, do much worse.

Use your vote carefully.

If we are serious about court reform - let's start cleaning up the house

Various grass roots groups and independent individuals raise, in the press, in social media, in documentaries, in rallies, the issue that corruption in court proceedings is pervasive and that court reform is necessary.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Here is what, in my personal opinion, may help clean up court proceedings in the United States, on the state and federal level.

1/  Deregulate the legal profession and remove control of attorney's livelihood from the government.  It will not cost the state any money to simply say - finita, we do not any more regulate who represents you in court, as long as you've chosen that individual and gave him/her a Power of Attorney.  

For substandard services or professional misconduct of court representatives there are private cause of action for professional malpractice, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty etc.  Your counsel is independent from the government and can challenge the government without fear of being stripped of his/her livelihood.  For that, you pay with having to watch out for yourself on your own as to quality of your counsel's services.

Such a measure will increase supply of legal services, drop prices in the market for such services and increase variety of services and creativity of providers.

2/ For the same reason as deregulation, abolish rules and statutes allowing judges to impose sanctions upon attorneys and parties for expressing themselves in litigation.

3/ Legislatively, or on state and federal constitutional level, abolish all restrictions to jurisdiction of federal courts to review civil rights cases - all deferences, abstentions, immunities, specific pleading (plausibility) requirements etc.

4/ Legislatively abolish any and all time and page restrictions for pleading a civil rights case.

5/ Legislatively prohibit discrimination against civil rights appellants, from putting them on the "fast track" to deciding their cases by "troika courts (three, most often, senior status judges)" through "summary orders".

6/ Cut the terms of judges to one year maximum to prevent judges from colluding with influential attorneys.   Make elections secret, through secure Internet hubs, and allow anybody who meets educational requirements to preside over judicial proceedings to register and run for a judge, no party approval  and no approval by groups of supporters to register should be required.  

7/ Simplify court rules and procedure.

8/  Teach judicial duties and requirements of the law for such duties in high schools, preparing every citizen to be able to serve as a judge by appointment, on a case-by-case rotational basis.

9/ Eliminate the pension and state benefits as a lure for incompetent losers who come to the bench because they cannot survive in private practice and spend their time on the bench avenging their incompetence against independent attorneys and litigants represented by them.   

10/ Make rotational appointment process transparent and public, so that members of the public can see, in an online register, what is the order of assignment of attorneys or members of the public as judges in every court on every particular date.

11/ Allow peremptory challenges of judges, especially where judges are fact-finders.

12/ Allow voir dire of judges, on the same principles as voir dire of jurors.

13/ Mandate judges to file their financial disclosures with the clerk of the court where the judge is serving, allowing anonymous access to those financial disclosures by the public.

14/ Equalize rights of pro se parties and representing parties in rules of service, subpoena powers et.  If the legal profession is deregulated, allow all court representatives and all pro se parties the same powers in service and non-judicial subpoena powers.

15/ Abolish absolute judicial and prosecutorial immunity for corrupt acts in office, legislatively, or on state or federal constitutional levels.

16/ Legislatively mandate all courts to publish their decisions online and make them accessible to search engines, for easy legal research by the public.

17/ Make the texts of the laws, from federal to state local laws and agency regulations, readily available to the public through easily searchable online free online databases.

18/ Until such databases are in place, abolish or suspend statutes presuming that lack of knowledge of the law is no defense.


19/ Offer free courses to eliminate illiteracy easily accessible to the public.

20/ Until such courses reach all illiterate people in the country, abolish or suspend laws punishing pro se illiterate people for imperfect pleadings or for lack of knowledge of the law.

21/  Allow all cases to be resolved out of court, through arbitration and mediation, including some criminal cases (95% of cases in this country are resolved through plea bargaining anyway, and most of them are for non-violent crimes).

22/ Abolish jail sentences for non-violent offenses, applicable retrospectively, and release all prisoners who are in jail for non-violent offenses.

23/ Equalize the scope of discovery between criminal and civil cases.  At this time, discovery in civil cases is more generous than in criminal cases, while stakes for criminal defendants are higher than in civil cases.

24/  Allow video and audio recording by private individuals of court proceedings.

25/ Open all proceedings to the public with very few exceptions, such as juvenile proceedings.

26/ Fully ratify the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and give a private cause of action, as other UN member states allowed, for violation of individual civil rights by the United States, federal and state governments.

27/ Legislatively abolish any and all "rules of finality" where justice was not served, and allow litigants to re-litigate matters until rule of law is correctly applied, as written.

28/ Legislatively prohibit to punish litigants and their representatives for making constitutional arguments and for making motions to recuse a judge.

If at least a fraction of these changes is implemented, court proceedings will be much cleaner than they are now and people will have a lot more trust in the integrity of the country's justice system.

Most of the solutions that I've pointed out are being offered by different scholars and members of the public for decades.  It is time to finally do something about court reform.

Let's remember that courts were established to put the predictable, uniform, status-blind and even-handed rule of law as a barrier to personal vendettas.

Why do we need to clean up the courts urgently is very clear - injustices can easily lead to public unrest, and the frequency and concentration of injustices, misconduct and corruption in this country's courts can easily - and soon - urge the public to public disobedience and unrest.

Let's start cleaning up our courthouses.