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Legal Activists' News & Views Click Headline for Full Story
February 2009
Minnesota Legislators to Discipline Judges
2-27-09 -- Saint Paul Minnesota --In response to dozens of petitions by the citizens of the state of Minnesota, an Ad Hoc committee has been scheduled to hear the evidence of the corruption within the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Spearheaded by minority whip Rep. Dan Severson, the bipartisan joint committee will convene on March 13th, 2009 at the State Office Building at 9:00AM in room 300N. The ad hoc committee was formed because the chairs of the senate and house committees that oversee matters of the judiciary have refused to hear the citizen petitions concerning corruption in the Minnesota Judicial Branch. The evidence to be presented to the ad hoc committee is massive and includes transcripts being altered, bribery, extortion, denial of access to the Grand Jury and numerous state and federal felonies by certain district and appellate court judges. Bills of impeachment against many judges will be brought. Never before in the history of the state of Minnesota, and perhaps the nation, have the legislative committees charged with overseeing the matters in the judiciary refused to listen to the evidence of crimes being committed by judges. Article Six Section Nine of the Minnesota Constitution clearly directs it is the intent of the people for the Legislature to discipline the Judicial Branch. The courageous legislators that have agreed to participate in the Ad Hoc committee number over a dozen and more are joining as citizens from across the state meet with their legislators and encourage participation. Additionally, a press conference will be held the week of March 9th, 2009 to discuss the introduction of judicial reform bills and the agenda for the Ad Hoc committee.
Contact: Rep. Dan Severson at
651-296-7808 /
In Miss., disgruntled black and white residents
2-26-09 -- In the small town of Coldwater, Miss., a group of racially diverse protesters marched up and down a road in the cool, morning breeze on Feb. 14, demanding colorblind justice and change. . . . They want Municipal Court Judge Kenneth Stockton and prosecutor Elizabeth Paige McDowell out. They want a new Board of Aldermen and a replacement for four-term Mayor Jessie J. Edwards, an African American whom they accuse of mistreating Coldwater residents. . . . As motorists zoomed passed the spectacle on Highway 51, several honked their horn to indicate support for the 25 people calling for change and holding placards with slogans such as “United for Change,” “In God We Trust,” and “Yes We Can,” President Barack Obama’s mantra. . . . Their cry for change was first heard in the town of 1,700 residents — 70 percent of whom are African Americans — after day care owner Carolyn McDale was convicted in municipal court for assaulting one of her clients last October. . . . McDale, who is African American, is appealing the case. In the meantime, she collected 600 signatures on a petition to remove the judge and prosecutor, both of whom are white. . . . “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that we have a lot of issues in this town,” said McDale, who organized the rally to call attention to what she refers to as a “broken” judicial system, an “abusive” police department, and an “insensitive” mayor. . . . Lillie Merriweather was the second name on the petition. She joined the rally to support McDale’s call for change. “I’m here for a change,” said the 40-year resident of Coldwater. “We need equality and justice.”
Public Committee on Attorney Conduct Asks Immediate Congressional Hearings into Actions of Federal Judges Blocking Series of Cases Against New York Bar Disciplinary Committee PCAC Calls Actions of Federal District Court Judges Shira Sheindlin and Thomas P. Griesa Derailing Series of Citizen Lawsuits Against New York Bar Review Committee Blatant Attempts to Cover-Up Official Corruption
8-24-08 -- Public Committee on Attorney Conduct (PCAC) has issued an immediate call for Congressional Hearings to review the concerted actions of federal District Court judges designed to shut down lawsuits charging New York Appellate Division Bar Disciplinary Committee with official corruption. PCAC was recently established through the combined efforts of Litigation Recovery Trust (LRT), a New York based rights administration organization, and Integrity in the Courts, and Expose Corrupt Courts, two Internet blogs focused on judicial and attorney disciplinary processes and procedures. The objective of the new organization is to assist in replacing the existing New York State Attorney Grievance Committees with a body controlled by non-attorneys . The PCAC is headquartered in New York City. PCAC has issued the following statement in response to the recent federal court actions : Public Committee on Attorney Conduct (PCAC) requests that the United States Senate and House Judiciary Committees and the U.S. Judicial Conference undertake an immediate review of the actions of Federal District Court Judges Thomas P. Griesa and Shira Sheindlin in blocking a series of citizen lawsuits charging the New York State Bar Disciplinary Committee with official corruption. The series of court actions showed clear evidence of corruption of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee in covering up the criminal and ethical violations of attorneys by disregarding allegations ranging from concealment of evidence, obstruction of justice, sexual assault by attorneys, pilfering of estates by attorneys, abuse of power, conspiracy and repeated violations of Constitutional rights. The judges in question halted the series of citizen lawsuits without benefit of hearing, and in some cases without reviewing the plaintiffs’ pleadings. PCAC asks the Senate and House Judiciary Committees to call immediate hearings to review the actions of federal judges in New York designed to frustrate citizen efforts to hold court officials to account for a continuing pattern of corruption and illegal activities. In announcing the issuance of the Committee’s statement, John T. Whitely, Chairman of the PCAC Organizing Committee, stated, “We now see that the bench- bar power structure in New York State is hard at work drawing up the wagons to defeat citizen efforts seeking a wide ranging reform that is long overdue. The most recent actions of federal judges using their authority to deny plaintiffs their day in court seeking to expose a continuing pattern of official corruption cannot be permitted. It is now time for the Congress to get involved in this critical court reform process. “ Full statements of the PCAC founding members will be made available at www.pcac.8k.com. Public Committee on Attorney Conduct has been organized to review both past and present cases brought before the New York State grievance committees to provide an independent review and analysis of attorney complaints, and issue proposed findings. With respect to past cases, the PCAC is particularly interested in hearing from persons who maintain that they have been treated unfairly and unjustly by the disciplinary committees. As part of its initial efforts, the new committee is seeking documentation of all complaints against attorneys dating to January 1, 1988. PCAC represents the first bar review mechanism in the United States made up entirely of non-attorneys. Since news of the formation of the PCAC was first made public on June 17, 2008, individual complainants have begun submitting requests to the committee to review both past and current matters before the New York State grievance committees. #### For additional information please contact: John T. Whitely, Chairman Executive Search Committee Public Committee on Attorney Conduct 515 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022 Telephone 347-632-9775 / E-mail: pcacinformation@gmail.com
Common Cause of R.I. weighs in on letters about judicial nominees
8-15-08 -- The government watchdog group Common Cause of Rhode Island weighed in this week in favor of maintaining public access to the letters that are submitted to the Judicial Nominating Commission about finalists for state judgeships. . . . The commission, which recommends finalists for all state judgeships, wants to keep those letters secret, and it has asked Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch to confirm its interpretation of the Access to Public Records Act. . . . The commission asked for Lynch’s opinion following an inquiry by The Providence Journal, which is seeking access to letters either for or against eight finalists for a Superior Court vacancy. March 2008
New report by Texans For Public Justice examines questionable spending by Texas Supreme Court
03-19-08 -- A new study of political expenditures by the Texas Supreme Court’s nine sitting justices found evidence that two additional court members may have violated campaign laws that prohibit politicians from tapping political funds for their personal use. Texans For Public Justice’s new report, Supreme Spending: Political Expenditures by Texas’ High-Court Justices, analyzes the $6.9 million in political funds that the court’s nine current justices spent between January 2001 and July 2007. . . . Supreme Spending found that Justice Dale Wainwright, who was elected to the high court in November 2002, reported spending more than $7,000 in political funds to pay rent and utilities in conjunction with an apparent 2003 residence he maintained at the Gables at Town Lake, a luxury apartment development in Austin. Texas election law expressly prohibits judges from paying living expenses out of political funds. . . . Justice Scott Brister used political funds to pay himself a total of $6,805 in mystery reimbursements in the month following his November 2003 appointment to the high court. State election law prohibits such personal reimbursements unless the recipient provides an itemized accounting of what the reimbursements are for. Brister’s mystery reimbursements failed to disclose the underlying “payees, dates, purposes and amounts of the expenditures,” as required by law. None of the other justices reimbursed themselves for completely unknown expenditures. . . . Similarly, Brister reported 49 lump-sum payments totaling $22,984 that appear to have been reimbursements to himself for a grab-bag of travel expenses. In a May 2005 reimbursement, for example, Justice Brister reported a lump-sum payment of $1,189 for his flight, hotel and rental-car costs from a trip to Philadelphia. These composite payments also appear to violate state standards for itemized disclosures. http://www.tpj.org/reports/supremespending/index (For full report)
Attack ad criticized for misleading public
03-19-08 -- A citizen advocacy group denounces advertisements in the race for Supreme Court, and demands an investigation. . . . Citizen Action of Wisconsin is calling on the Wisconsin Judicial Commission to investigate Supreme Court candidate Mike Gableman's campaign for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct. . . . "We believe that the latest ad by Judge Gableman in the Supreme Court race actually violates the Judicial Code of Ethics in several important ways." . . . Robert Kraig, Director of Program for the 90-thousand member statewide group, says the Gableman campaign uses the attack ad (against Justice Louis Butler) to mislead and confuse the public. Kraig says if Gableman would do such a thing merely for political gain, imagine what the judge would do on the bench. . . . "The Judicial Code of Ethics says that you cannot make false statements about other candidates for court, and we believe that happened in the case; and you also can't deliberately cause public confusion about the judiciary, you have the legal system. And we believe the ad does that as well." . . . The public is used to attack ads containing misleading information, but Kraig says judges are different. February 2008 Juli Alexander, Executive Director of Redress, Inc. on video YOUR HONOR? (You Tube video) Juli Alexander, Executive Director of Redress, Inc. candidly discusses the present condition of the American judicial system. Examples of life destroying decisions void of common sense, morality and law handed down by judges are cited. The newest malady evolving from courtroom encounters called "Legal Abuse Syndrome" is explained. The accountability, qualifications and even the sanity of some judges are questioned and with good reason. The self policing or rather non-policing of judges is discussed and questioned. The fact that many actions have now been undertaken by judicial officers to protect themselves from the very people that they are sworn to protect is offered as a prime example of their fear of retaliation by those they "judge." The phenomenon of "power addiction" is also introduced. Don't let yourself become the next court room victim leaving a hearing wondering what happened to justice. See and hear what Juli has to say. One Hour $10 (+$.75 shipping)for studio quality DVD. Make copies for every American you know! http://www.libertyandjusticeforall.tv... |
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