Nobody is above the law.
Well, except sometimes, when you’re a California judge.
We generally make it a point to shy away legal cases and focus on what is wrong with the judicial branch. Mostly what is wrong with the judicial branch can be found in San Francisco. However……sometimes we see a series of incidents where evidence shows ample reason to believe that a crime has been committed and thus the public trust in the judicial branch as an institution is undermined by the actions of court officials.
Things like a pattern of court record destruction and court record falsifications fall high on our exceptions list. We mention them and then we move on. Today is one of those days.
When we look at how other states handle judicial crimes, we see grand juries convened and indictments passed down. Sometimes we see judges in other states go to prison. Yet we really haven’t seen that in California because what California has to protect the public trust is a political exoneration committee that is occasionally leveraged as a weapon against those who speak out and generally want the judicial branch to do the right thing.
These folks are called the Commission on Judicial Performance.
If you’re a member of the “in crowd” at 455 golden gate you can rest assured you will never appear before the commission. There’s a number of ways to become a member of the in crowd as well. The most interesting of which runs along the lines of extortion. You’re a judicial official that has done something highly questionable and you get an incentive to join the team and exalt the virtues of our fine leadership and turning a blind-eye to… well…. everything questionable.
After all, someone turned a blind eye to your indiscretion and might have memorialized it with a William C Vickrey leadership in judicial administration award. In turn, you’re asked to simply overlook something insignificant like a price tag that is two hundred times what it should have cost to deliver ccms to the courts. Or a courtroom remodeling job that costs two to four times what it should have cost. Or reclassifying court records after the fact that were intentionally shredded to avoid subpoenas or audits.
All of this servers to greatly undermine the credibility of the leadership circle that sits in the star chamber, the commission on judicial performance and by extension, the judicial branch as a whole. Yet there are hundreds and hundreds of judges statewide that practice impeccable ethics and make our system work for the common man.
It’s a cozy relationship and frankly, it fools no one inside the branch though many of us do not discuss it because it is a breach of ethics to discuss what might be pending or impending litigation. It fools everyone outside the branch because the “they could never do such a thing because they stand for justice” belief is factored in.
Except when it isn’t.
For quite awhile now we’ve been keeping our eye upon the Marin County Courts due to the many indiscretions that have happened under that Frank Lloyd Wright designed roof and frankly, have observed disturbing patterns and all-too-cozy relationships. These relationships have served to severely undermine the public trust in the Marin County courts.
Sadly, in the ongoing saga of all that is wrong with this courthouse we add another and it is termed evidence tampering. Codified in Government Code section 6200, CA Penal Code sections 182 and 96.5, RICO, 18 U.S. Code 1512 we find this pattern of lawlessness, overly cozy relationships with law firms and a marked lack of accountability appalling.
We also concur with the recommended solution set forth in the below complaint and believe that a few public officials in Marin county should be removed from office.
Link to the Center for Judicial Excellence that covers this matter in-depth.
Judicial Council Watcher 
NewsViews
June 20, 2014
Reblogged this on News and Views Riverside Superior Court and National Family Law Abuse and commented:
“It fools everyone outside the branch because the “they could never do such a thing because they stand for justice” belief is factored in.” Litigants familiar with how the Commission on Judicial Performance operates are quite familiar with the fact that the commission protects certain members of the judiciary while sacrificing others on a public altar of sanctimonious reprimand. The behavior that is the subject of a sanctioning order is mirrored a thousand fold by other judges who are deemed to be protected. The commission relies on the fact that they have immunity for their decisions under the CA constitution. As the only organization that allegedly holds judicial officers accountable for the violation of judicial canon of ethics the organization lacks transparency and accountability and certainly does not inspire any confidence in its ability to actually address violation of ethics across the board.
Wendy Darling
June 20, 2014
Yeah, there’s that culture of “we’re Teflon and nothing can stick to us, even if we break the law” rearing its ugly head again.
Not that anyone is actually going to do anything about that.
Long live the ACJ.
Bryan Belgrove
July 18, 2015
That is certainly apparent in some judicial districts; ” for sure! “.
JusticeCalifornia
June 20, 2014
This week the Commission on Judicial Performance confirmed that they can choose to shelve the complaint about Wood pursuant to the CJP’s policy declaration 1.8.
Click to access CJP_Policy_Declarations.pdf
Not many people are aware of this.
This appears to be permissive, so let’s see if they take action or not.
Also, re Turner, JCW previously posted a 7/21/11 letter to the Judicial Council stating an objection to Turner serving on the Trial Court Budget Working Group. It was pointed out that Cantil-Sakauye had made Turner a rising star in her administration, and selected her to sit on the Trial Court Budget Working Group, Court Case Management System Internal Committee, Court Executive Advisory Committee (Chair), Litigation Management Committee, Rules and Projects Committee, and CCMS General Administrative Advisory Committee.
Placement of Turner on CCMS committees was particularly ill-advised, as Turner’s Marin court management system is an expensive mess. Page 4 of the 7/21/11 letter contains a comparative analysis of Turner’s outrageous alleged spending on Marin’s problematic case management system, based on data from Bureau of State Audits. It was pointed out that in 2008-2009, Turner spent a whopping $2,514,240 for Marin (population app. 250,000), while Santa Cruz (population 256,218) spent only $420,688, and Alameda (population 1,491,482–almost six times Marin’s population) spent $2,328,170.
It was pointed out that Nevada County’s new CourtView system cost just $642,000 to deploy, with an estimated annual cost of $65,000 for support of the system. The question was posed: Why isn’t Marin replacing its problematic system?
LOL. Marin’s system is antiquated, inefficient and hard to use. The register of actions and minute orders in family law cases are only available by going to the court to get them. If Marin had an up-to-date system, Turner and her buddies would not be able to so easily retroactively modify/falsify the register of actions and minute orders, and they wouldn’t be able to charge cash-strapped family law litigants 50 cents per page.
In reviewing what Turner and Wood just did in Marin, nobody can say they were not warned. Leaders who don’t read the handwriting on the wall, or who can read very well but purposefully utilize compromised individuals in positions of public trust to effect their purposes, should not be leaders.
Peppermint Pattie
June 20, 2014
Something wicked this way comes . . .
sharonkramer
June 20, 2014
I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the title of this post. So glad to see JCW acknowledge that the ethics problems in the judicial branch are not solely at the helm; and that once you sell your soul to the devil you can’t buy it back.
Must say, I still think that it is pure bullshit that a code of judicial ethics could cause mass tape over mouths of those who know that there is MUCH criminals activity occurring in the courtrooms themselves –not just in Marin county.
Regardless of the BS excuses, I have decided not to leave. This post has renewed my faith in JCW’s ability to understand that the problem is comprehensive, systemic and you can’t half fight crime if you want to knock it out of the judicial branch…so I’m turning my back around.
Excellent post JCW!
JusticeCalifornia
June 20, 2014
Well, Sharon, I do believe some will soon be reporting the sad fact that the SD McConnell/Huffman/appellate gang — like so many “in with the in crowd” others who think they are untouchable– are purposefully and unnecessarily inflicting pain on those who document and report or refuse to tow the party line. . .I think these people think no one is paying attention. We are. We have just learned to be quiet about it as we make the record.
You read it here first.
unionman575
June 20, 2014
https://careers.jud.ca.gov/psc/recruit1/EMPLOYEE/PSFT_HR/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_CE.GBL?FolderPath=PORTAL_ROOT_OBJECT.HC_HRS_CE_GBL2&IsFolder=false&IgnoreParamTempl=FolderPath%2cIsFolder&
😉
unionman575
June 20, 2014
Ladies and gentleman we have a Blue Light Special on this lovely Friday Night…
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26507.htm?print=1
Council to Consider Ways Courts Can Manage Their Budgets
FOR RELEASE
Contact: Blaine Corren, 415-865-7740
June 20, 2014
JusticeCalifornia
June 21, 2014
Under the “Transparency and Accountability” section of the AOC report to the Judicial Council for the upcoming meeting:
“Demonstrating transparency and accountability through ongoing monitoring and reporting on the use and allocation of public funds.
Programs and activities include:
Budget monitoring, administration, and reporting
Various fund monitoring activities
TCAS fiscal/HR Phoenix systems
Internal audit services
Mandated reports provided to the Legislature by OCR
Staff headcount reporting
All FSO activities (Accounts Payable, General Ledger, Business Services unit
contracting/procurement activities, Treasury Services)”
hahahahaha ROTFL
Fund monitoring activities (how much omission, deception, misrepresentation can we get away with?) Internal audit services (Judnick cover our ass reports). Mandated reports provided to the Legislature (how much omission, deception, misrepresentation can we get away with?) Staff headcount reporting (how much omission, deception, misrepresentation can we get away with?)
As for Sakauye’s budget whining: It is unforgivable that litigants are going without court reporters in life-altering substantive proceedings (an appellate court recently said: if there is no transcript, it didn’t happen, or words to that effect), while Sakauye is being chauffered around on the public dime.
Wendy Darling
June 20, 2014
More whining from Queen Feckless. Please note she did not say “that falling short of full funding” will result in her no longer being chauffeured around by the CHP. God forbid that should happen. Published today, Friday, June 20, 2014, from Courthouse News Service, by William Dotinga:
Brown Signs $156 Billion CA Budget
By WILLIAM DOTINGA
SACRAMENTO (CN) – California has an on-time, $156 billion budget that shores up beleaguered teacher pensions and funds high-speed rail – but falls short of hopes for full trial court funding, the state’s chief justice said Friday.
Governor Jerry Brown signed the 2014-2015 budget Friday, less than a week after striking a deal with the Legislature that includes $108 billion in general fund spending. The spending plan, which begins July 1, is a hybrid of the Brown administration’s conservative revenue estimates and some legislative bit-chomping to increase spending in the wake of higher tax intake.
Brown touted his 32-year goal to eliminate the state’s underfunded liability in the State Teachers’ Retirement System, or CalSTRS. Nearly $276 million will go into the pension plan next year, including contributions from taxpayers, teachers themselves and the school districts they work for.
The budget also pays down some of the state’s “Wall of Debt” by $10 billion and puts $1.6 billion into California’s rainy-day fund, the first deposit since the economy began tanking in 2007.
“This on-time budget provides for today and saves for the future,” Brown said. “We’re paying off the state’s credit card, saving for the next rainy day and fixing the broken teachers’ retirement system.”
The budget also uses the Golden State’s greenhouse-gas cap-and-trade scheme to permanently fund Brown’s dream of a high-speed rail network, with 25 percent of the polluter fees going to the floundering – and unpopular – project.
But although the new budget earmarks an extra $40 million to the Judiciary for courthouse construction, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said in a statement that for the second year in a row, “partial reinvestment in the judicial branch after five years of severe budget cuts is resulting in a reduction to access to justice.”
In a ” budget blueprint ” she unveiled last January, Cantil-Sakauye set a three-year funding goal of $1.2 billion and said the trial courts need $266 million more this year just to keep them afloat. She said Friday that falling short of full funding will result in “more disappointment, service reductions and delay for those who need our courts.”
“Going forward, we remain focused on our blueprint and the work needed to secure a careful restoration of funding in the judicial branch of government, not just for the next fiscal year, but for many years to come,” Cantil-Sakauye said.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/06/20/68925.htm
Long live the ACJ.
sharonkramer
June 20, 2014
Its ironic that “No one is above the law” was Carla Keehn’s campaign motto in the race for San Diego Superior Court Seat 20, and is now the title of a post on JCW.
Its no secret that 750 B Street in San Diego is the southern headquarters of the crystal palace. The difference is, that fraudulent legal case docs are issued from this Symphony Towers location.
I am REALLY quite pissed at lackey-endorsers, who profess to be fighting the greater fraud, while aiding lackeys to stay on the bench who help to shield corruption at the helm to continue.
You’re in or you’re out when it comes to fighting the systemic fraud in the Cal judicial branch.
Endorsing lackeys who falsify court docs to cover for McConnell’s and Huffman’s falsifications — makes you part of the problem NOT part of the solution.
Either get rid of the fraudsters and their step and fetches, who are your peers — or stop pretending that you are holier than thou when righting the Cal judicial branch.
I’m probably more disgusted with those who profess to be solving the problem right now, than I am with the fraudsters themselves.
unionman575
June 20, 2014
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26498.htm?print=1
Tell ‘em Queen : “Going forward, we remain focused on our Blueprint…
https://www.google.com/search?q=smoking+crack&source=lnms&tbm=vid&sa=X&ei=JwGlU8LeFcGsyATvzIGABA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=806
sharonkramer
June 20, 2014
Pulling out my crystal ball again. I predict that Kamala Harris will be appointed to a federal position and San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will be appointed as Cal’s Attorney General…UNLESS those officers of the court in the know start talking.
The OBT
June 20, 2014
Great post Wendy. No one is buying what Queen Feckless and her entourage are selling. She needs to take bold action; democratize the JC, move the AOC out of the crystal palace, hire a AOC CEO who will clean up that agency by reducing their bloated budget and end the elitist trappings of office that don’t fly when courthouses are closed. people are waiting in long lines and outstanding court employees are furloughed or fired. Our Queen needs to get real. I’d lose the million dollar car rides provided by the CHP tomorrow. Then do all of the above in the next 90 days. Maybe just maybe after that, our branch will have some credibility again.
Lando
June 22, 2014
How true. Lose the free rides Queen Tani. And OBT is right. It’s also tine to lose Ron George and his ” legacy”. .
sharonkramer
June 22, 2014
“Family Court Experts On Family Court Experts–The Deadly Sins: “Rampant Bias” in Custody Evaluations Cripples Most Court-Appointed Expert Reports”
http://www.weightiermatter.com/parenting/custody-mediatorsevaluators/family-court-experts-family-court-experts-rampant-bias-custody-evaluations-cripples-95-expert-reports/4130/
Compromised judiciaries covering up for compromised “court experts” is a HUGE problem — not just in family court. This kind of stuff does not occur without the blessing and even encouragment of the powers that be.
From where I’m sitting, it seems that it has gotten to the point that being an honest CA judge could be hazardous to your health and career. THAT is the true legacy of George’s SWOV.
JusticeCalifornia
June 22, 2014
Thanks for the link, Sharon. The SD story I referred to in an above comment is one of the best judicially-sanctioned court-custody-expert abuse cases I have run across. Not ready for prime time yet though.
Meanwhile, maybe the FBI will pay a visit to Turner and Wood soon?
http://www.fbi.gov/sanantonio/press-releases/2014/federal-grand-jury-indicts-former-texas-state-judge-on-bribery-extortion-and-wire-fraud-charges
FBI agent Christopher Combs: “No one is above the law”.
Hmmmm JCW, where did I just read that?
Wendy Darling
June 22, 2014
“No one is above the law.”
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Long live the ACJ.
sharonkramer
June 22, 2014
You’re welcome for the link, JC. I know I am going to get more thumbs down on this. C’est la vie. This stuff does not systemically and systematically occur without a lot of people who know what’s going on, remaining silent.
Last time I looked, the court officer oath was to uphold the Constitution — not to cover one’s ass just because their friends sold their souls or because receiprical favors are owed or because exposing fraud may politically hamper other endeavors.
I think it is a real cop-out that CA judges don’t talk about the frauds upon the court that are harming many people, allegedly because their Canons of Judicial Ethics stop them from speaking.
What kind of ethics code could be morally and legally correct, if they are aiding fraudsters to pervade a judicial system? Aren’t judges’ jobs to stop fraud and corruption and to protect the Constitution? Does that only apply if the corruption is not by other judges and justices?
Wendy Darling
June 23, 2014
From The Recorder, the on-line publication of CalLaw, by Cheryl Miller.
Perhaps the Governor’s appointments to the California Supreme Court will send the California Judicial Branch in a new direction in more ways than one. Preferably not in the downward direction it has steered its course on for the past many years.
For Governor, a Chance to Remake High Court
Cheryl Miller, The Recorder
June 20, 2014
SACRAMENTO — Former California Chief Justice Roger Traynor famously observed that the greatest judges change “not by fits and starts, but at the pace of the tortoise that steadily advances though it carries the past on its back.”
With the impending retirement of Associate Justice Marvin Baxter, the state’s high court may become the tortoise that gets a solid nudge in the tail, one appellate lawyer suggested.
“This year, 2014, I see as the beginning of a tectonic shift—as tectonic as events get in the course of judicial events,” said Jon Eisenberg, of counsel at Horvitz & Levy. Gov. Jerry Brown “has an opportunity to make a real impact on that court for a generation. And that opportunity is beginning to materialize now.”
With Justice Joyce Kennard’s retirement in April and Baxter’s planned exit in January, the Democratic governor has the chance to remake a Republican-dominated, moderate court in a matter of months. Brown already laid the groundwork in 2011 with his appointment of scholar Goodwin Liu, now seen as a potential leader of an emerging center-left bloc.
With opinion polls suggesting Brown has an easy path to another four years in office, these two impending Supreme Court nominations are unlikely to be his last. At 76, Brown would likely be the first to say that age is not an automatic barrier to performance. But Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar is 78 and Ming Chin will be 72 in August. Neither one of the Republican appointees may be willing to wait for another GOP governor to be elected.
“We’re not talking just three appointments here,” Reed Smith partner Paul Fogel said. “We may be talking as many as five.”
The dual vacancies have expanded the usual judicial parlor game of “Who will the governor pick?” to one that also asks, “What will the court look like when he’s done?”
NEW DYNAMIC
Court observers typically pegged the Republican-appointed Kennard as liberal-leaning, particularly on social issues. Her replacement is unlikely to track much differently. But Baxter charted a more reliably conservative course on both criminal and civil cases. His departure “is going to make a big difference,” said Gerald Uelmen, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. “There’s a real probability that we’ll have a more liberal majority on the court.”
Uelmen envisions a panel that, when split—this is a court that in recent years has valued consensus—will feature a Liu-led liberal wing that will include the two new appointees and possibly Werdegar. As Brown’s sole pick on the court, Liu hasn’t done much to rock the boat.
“He’s had to take the court he’s been placed in,” Eisenberg said. “He’s been pretty good about finding common ground with people like Carol Corrigan.”
http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202660311647/For-Governor-a-Chance-to-Remake-High-Court#
Long live the ACJ.
Lando
June 24, 2014
Too bad despite the above described changes we will still be stuck with HRH-2 and her arrogant, self interested and incompetent ” leadership”. I am hoping to see the day when Justice Liu replaces Queen Tani and we can once again see someone leading the California Judiciary that is open, humble, intelligent and willing to listen to all who work in and care about the California judicial system.
The OBT
June 24, 2014
How great would it be to fill Justice Baxter’s seat with Justice Humes and Justice Kennard’s seat with UCLA Law School Dean Rachel Moran? Two very thoughtful , intelligent and down to earth public servants. Those qualities are more important than politics at this point and I trust this Governor to make a careful, reasoned and smart selections for these two significant seats on our highest court, Their addition to the court along with Justice Liu would lead the court in a positive and new direction and end the failures of the Ronald George ” legacy” once and for all.
Lando
June 24, 2014
Awesome calls OBT. I would add J Jenkins to the mix when Justice Chin who has done a great job decides to retire. I agree also the political part doesn’t matter anymore. We need Justices who will lead , care and work hard to not only do a great job with their work on legal issues but who will also work to build an open, honest and creative approach to the administrative management of the courts and who will be strong enough to accept and carefully evaluate all view points. I trust all mentioned above would also not accept the arrogant trappings of office including CHP rides everywhere.
JusticeCalifornia
June 24, 2014
JCW, your “related posts” (27 days, AG Harris, Separation of Powers) hit the mark in so many ways. One of the great things about AOC Watcher and JCW is that five years of branch misconduct has been memorialized on a blow-by-blow basis. Who was told what, when, and who did or did not do something about it.
A judge was indicted in another state for taking 6,650 in bribes? LOL. When what has gone down at the highest levels of the CA judicial branch blows up — and it will– no one can say they did not know. How could a half-billion be thrown away on CCMS without a lot of people getting very rich? How could land and courthouses be so very overpriced, without a lot of people getting very rich? How could records related to billions of dollars in public funds be missing, or kept in a patently unbusinesslike or haphazard manner? (answer to the last question: hire people like Turner and Fuentes to advise you on how to handle coverups)
How many people have been involved in keeping a lid on the unbelievable waste, corruption and mismanagement in the judicial branch?
Mind boggling, isn’t it. . . .
Wendy Darling
June 24, 2014
“When what has gone down at the highest levels of the CA judicial branch blows up — and it will– no one can say they did not know.”
I’m sure the FBI is looking into that. Not. I’m sticking with I’ll believe it when I see it. Until then, it’s all about the Teflon.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
katy
June 25, 2014
To get back on track of the original title of this thread, “When the court falsifies the record it undermines the integrity of the judicial system.” The “court” doesn’t falsify the record. Officers of the court and their clerks do. When that happens, its fraud upon the court. When officers of the court commit fraud upon the court, their courts lose subject matter jurisdiction. No court subject matter jurisdiction equals no immunity from prosecution for the court officer(s) committing the fraud IF judges did not perceive themselves and their peers as being above the law.
Barbara Kauffman is absolutely right. Governor Brown desperately needs to intercede. Fraud upon the court by officers of the California courts has become a systemic problem — with the CJP being the greater problem by their willful blindness and deliberate indifference to stop judicial fraudsters. The CJP is an “independent state agency” of which Governor Brown has the responsibility to assure its integrity and efficiency.
As I have been the victim of the judicial officer with the worst ethics record in the state, falsifying a judgment; with many judges and justices continuing to use the void judgment, coram non judice, to harass me for exposing a massive scientific fraud in policy and US courts; I know first hand the harm that the SWOV mindset of the CA judiciaries causes to the lives of thousands.
While I whole heartedly believe the JC/AOC have far too much control over the courts’ coffers, I am leery of any better govern these funds occurring; when so much fraud upon the court is occurring in the courts themselves by those professing to fight corruption at the helm of the courts.
If one wants to profess they would stop the abuse of misuse of funds if they controlled them, they need to first demonstrate they are working to stop fraud in the courts — not aiding it to continue.
Let’s see how many thumbs down I get on this one. I take those as an opinion that the judicial branch only needs to be half cleaned and that the thumbers think it is okay for their peers to commit fraud upon the court.
JusticeCalifornia
June 25, 2014
Ron George and Tani Cantil Sakauye have created and perpetuated a culture of corruption that pollutes the branch, top to bottom.
Yes, the executive and legislative branches of government must step in and perform their checks-and-balances functions. And if they are thwarted, they need to legally whack whoever thwarts them upside the head, especially those in “top leadership” who are supposed to be setting an example to the branch
The legislature undertook the CCMS audit, only to find missing records and terribly unprofessional record keeping by the AOC– all the better to cover up what really happened. The “punishment”? Budget cuts that hurt the trial courts and the public, while the CJ/JC/AOC machine remain fat and happy and in control of a branch that top leadership has brought to its knees.
The legislature undertook the Marin Family Court audit, only to have the AOC collude with Judicial Council member Kim Turner and members of the Marin Family Bench to block auditor access while key family court employees “retired” and child custody evidence was destroyed, so information was unavailable to the state auditor. The TOP JUDGE in the state (CJ Ron George) had a non-lawyer AOC employee (John Judnick) write a bull#### report spouting off law excusing the evidence destruction, Tani Cantil Sakauye presented it to the Judicial Council, and the Judicial Council –made up of legal professionals– accepted that bull#### report spouting law by a non-lawyer. The punishment imposed by any of the three branches: NONE. Just the opposite, Kim Turner, in an ultimate act of nose-thumbing, was rewarded by being placed in key positions of trust and confidence on the Judicial Council, and won a Bill Vickrey award for judicial administration.
And now, things are (predictably) worse than they ever were in Marin. Kim Turner and bench members are blatantly falsifying records and violating the basic due process rights of litigants, and laws enacted by the legislature for the protection of the public. What will be the punishment? Judges in other states are being indicted for less than what these two have done. If there is no meaningful punishment this time watch for public rallies and a call for the legislature to step in and impeach Wood, elimination or severe curtailment of judicial immunity/quasi-judicial immunity, and revision of the judicial disqualification statutes. The Governor and the legislature cannot stand by and watch Constitutional, statutory and case law and rules of court enacted for the protection of the public violated at will, leaving litigants with stuck with corrupt judges via thwarting of statutory judicial disqualification statutes, no ability to appeal via thwarting of attorney fee statutes and denial of accurate orders and registers of actions to present to the court of appeal, and no oversight from the CJP because a) the CJP won’t act while a case is “pending” (and family law child custody cases are “pending” for years) and b) from what I understand, the CJP, for political reasons, targets certain judges for discipline, while excusing other judges from any repercussions for their actions. (I won’t even start addressing the intellectual dishonesty existing at the appellate level to protect favored bad judicial actors and punish those who won’t tow the party line, but we all know that exists as well.)
How is it at all ok that whistle blowers (judges, court employees, lawyers, litigants, etc.) have to continue to police the CA judicial branch, at great professional and personal cost and peril, when all three branches have been on notice of corruption at the highest levels for years? How is it ok for “top leadership” of the CA Judicial branch, once the whistle is blown, to thwart the legislature’s attempt to protect the public by performing its oversight function? How is it ok for “top leadership” of the CA judicial branch to either withhold information or give false or misleading information to the public and all three branches of government? How is it ok for the Governor, law enforcement, certain members of the legislature, and oversight entities to look the other way and refuse to investigate and take action when presented with proof that crimes are being committed? Answer: it isn’t at all ok, but that is what has been happening for decades. Legislative intervention is useless if the judicial branch is able to thwart that intervention at will, with impunity.
Do people understand how serious it is that two people who have been reported for misconduct to all three branches for years, have been caught red-handed purposefully perpetuating a false date of entry in the official register of actions, in a case where the date of entry is the key issue? Do they understand that this undermines the integrity of the official register of actions in ALL Marin cases? Do they understand that the Court of Appeal CANNOT in good conscience rely on the Marin Court register of actions in cases like this? Do they understand the legal havoc this will — and should– potentially cause?
Legal havoc is not an excuse for non-action against Wood and Turner — or anyone else–now.
In fact, what Wood and Turner just did is a DIRECT, foreseeable result of non-action by the CJP, law enforcement, and others, in letting Wood and Turner off the hook before, and in letting both of them instead be REWARDED (Wood by being appointed Judge, and Turner by getting Judicial Council appointments and awards).
Enough is enough. People have been documenting and reporting for decades, and corruption and whistleblower retaliation in the branch is worse and more blatant than ever, especially as key court employees who know where bodies are buried, and court reporters who have helped make damning records, are being systematically eliminated from the court system.
This devastating assault on the integrity of the judicial branch will continue until those who are acting unethically and illegally in the judicial branch are held accountable and PUNISHED.
sharonkramer
June 25, 2014
“The legislature undertook the Marin Family Court audit, only to have the AOC collude with Judicial Council member Kim Turner and members of the Marin Family Bench to block auditor access while key family court employees “retired” and child custody evidence was destroyed, so information was unavailable to the state auditor”
Another key problem. This business of those who cheat so bad that they can’t continue in their jobs, so they are retired with honor; needs to stop. Its promotes the concept that cheaters should continue and if they get caught, can just move on. Lack of punishment for crimes committed causes crimes to continue in the future.
I suspect that these people are not punished because to do so, would expose those who turned a blind eye as long as they possibly could. That’s why turning a blind eye makes you part of the problem. Speak when you see it, because you can’t later w/o implicating yourself.
Wendy Darling
June 25, 2014
Nice thoughts, Justice California. Valid points, too. And wishful thinking. Because no one will be held accountable for any of it.
Obviously, there is nothing really wrong in the California Judicial Branch. Because if there was something wrong, someone, among the many, many, people, agencies, members of the State Legislature, law enforcement, state and federal courts, and so many others, who have all been duly notified, informed, and provided evidence and documentation, would have done something about it. No one has, and no one will. In fact, they have all either turned a blind eye or run away as fast as they can in the opposite direction.
So there is nothing wrong in the California Judicial Branch. Really, things are “great”. Just “great”. The Teflon Effect is alive and well, and working just fine.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
wearyant
June 25, 2014
Great posts, Katy, Wendy D and JusticeCalifornia, that *should* shake up caring California citizens. Apathy still reigns … until it is *their* dog in the fight. We hear from Judge Wesley, the lone sane voice in the JC/AOC/CJ insane wilderness a while back, via California Courts Monitor:
http://californiacourtsmonitor.com/community/presiding-judge-justice-rationing-to-continue/
Long live the ACJ.
Santa, Tooth Fairies Unicorns and California Court Justice
July 14, 2015
Obedience to the system
JusticeCalifornia
June 25, 2014
Lol. With respect to Turner and Wood, and their protectors, it is a win-win situation in terms of dealing with branch corruption. Either Turner and Wood will be held out as examples and punished appropriately or, while judges in other states are being indicted on similar or lesser charges, let’s let the entire nation see how a politically well-connected Marin County, California judge and politically well-connected former CA Judicial Council Member/ current Marin Court Executive officer –both with documented “priors” –get away with backdating orders and violating basic U.S. and CA Constitutional rights to notice and the opportunity to be heard, and the right to have a true and correct official court record of actions, under the watch of Governor Brown, Attorney General Harris, the leaders and members of the CA Senate and Assembly, and Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. Lots of people are going to be watching what is going to go down right here in sunny CA, the state with the biggest judiciary in the United States (arguably in the world), which touts itself as a model for the world. And let’s not forget that Turner is a cherished alum of the National Center for State Courts, which is peddling its goods worldwide. LOL.
Anyone with any hope for political or professional survival should–finally– drop these two–and others like them– like a hot potato. Just my opinion. LOL.
JusticeCalifornia
July 15, 2015
http://www.vevo.com/watch/queen/another-one-bites-the-dust/GB2100700001
http://www.marinij.com/general-news/20150611/in-your-town-for-june-12-2015
Kim Turner has officially departed from her job as Marin Superior Court CEO. Report is SO MANY PEOPLE in Marin are celebrating Turner’s departure.
Santa, Tooth Fairies and Unicorns, love your post of yesterday. Perfect timing, watched it today. Will use it in the future on my next endeavor, to help explain what has happened to the biggest judiciary in the Western world, and why and how.
katy
June 25, 2014
Had a very odd day today. It culminated with the purchase of new carpet. I picked it out without looking at the name of it. Come to find out, its called “honorable tawney tan”. Not only do I like its looks, I’m going to enjoy every time I walk on it.
Wendy Darling
June 26, 2014
Food for thought. Published today, Thursday, June 26, from The Sacramento Bee, by Alexei Koseff:
Quote of the day: “The report also expressed concerns that “the commission conducts its most significant decision making regarding an institution’s accreditation status in closed sessions,” which “could lead to public skepticism about the commission’s equity and consistency.”
Gosh, that sounds familiar.
Second quote of the day: “The accrediting commission wrote a scathing response to the audit, calling it “factually inaccurate” and “incomplete.”
Hmm, that sounds awfully familiar too.
Probably just another one of those “magical coincidences”.
Audit Slams Community College Accreditation Process
By Alexei Koseff
An inconsistent application of sanctions and a lack of transparency are weakening the accreditation of California’s community colleges, according to a state audit released Thursday.
State Auditor Elaine Howle criticized the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, Western Association of Schools and Colleges for its opaque accreditation process.
The audit was especially critical in the case of City College of San Francisco, which had its accreditation terminated in 2013, one year after the commission questioned its leadership and fiscal planning.
Federal regulations allow institutions up to two years to come into compliance, and the city sued to keep the college open. A judge granted a stay of closure in January, and CCSF has since been given two more years to meet accreditation standards.
The audit examined five years of actions taken by the commission, between January 2009 and January 2014, during which time 15 sanctioned institutions were allowed the full two years to reach compliance and another six were granted extensions of up to five years.
“The commission’s decision regarding CCSF’s accreditation raises concerns about its reasoning for taking such a severe action,” Howle wrote in a letter to the governor and lawmakers.
The report also expressed concerns that “the commission conducts its most significant decision making regarding an institution’s accreditation status in closed sessions,” which “could lead to public skepticism about the commission’s equity and consistency.”
According to a survey of the executives at each of the 112 California community colleges, conducted as part of the audit, 38 percent did not feel the commission’s decision-making process was adequately transparent.
In a withering conclusion, the report recommended that the state allow community colleges flexibility to choose an alternative accreditor. A bill by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, that would make that change to the Education Code is currently in the Senate.
The accrediting commission wrote a scathing response to the audit, calling it “factually inaccurate” and “incomplete.”
“ACCJC recognizes that the Auditor and her assigned team members do not have the expertise to conduct an audit of the type that was undertaken in this instance,” the commission wrote in a letter included with the report. “Audit standards require auditors to have independence and technical competence.”
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/06/audit-slams-handling-of-ccsf-accreditation.html
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
June 27, 2014
http://www.thereporter.com/breakingnews/ci_26031997/solano-county-courts-announce-closures-furloughs-layoffs-coming
unionman575
June 27, 2014
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/glenn_county_transcript/plans-for-glenn-county-courthouse-project-revealed/article_926cf616-fc0d-11e3-94e9-001a4bcf6878.html
Delilah
June 27, 2014
Drum roll, please. Let’s just throw the deck chairs completely overboard. That should make a difference, right?
http://www.courts.ca.gov/26554.htm
Chief Justice Announces Intent to Shed AOC Name
SAN FRANCISCO—Citing confusion caused by having a staff with its own name, Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye urged the Judicial Council to divest itself of the name “Administrative Office of the Courts.”
“When I and others advocate for the public on behalf of the judicial branch we often encounter confusion among those who think that the Judicial Council and the Administrative Office of the Courts are two separate entities. They’re not. Quite simply, the administrative staff exists to support the Judicial Council and provide services to the courts, the public, and sister branches of government. Unifying the council and its staff under one name, Judicial Council, will create more clarity and transparency about the role and governance responsibilities of the Judicial Council. It also mirrors the standard practice of other government bodies who do not provide separate names for their staffs.”
Council members and Judge Steven Jahr, Administrative Director of the Courts, greeted the proposal with approval. Justice Douglas P. Miller, chair of the council’s Executive and Planning Committee, said, “This identity change reflects the significant and substantive changes that we as the governing body have made in policy and responsibilities over the last three years, and eliminates confusion so many of us have confronted.”
Judge Charles D. Wachob, co-chair of the Chief Justice’s Strategic Evaluation Committee, whose report in 2012 resulted in more than 100 Judicial Council directives for restructuring and reform of the administrative staff, also supported the move, calling it “A necessary step to resolve a perception crisis” that the committee was aware of but did not directly seek to resolve because it wasn’t in its charge.
Judge Jahr said, “This retirement at once changes everything, and changes nothing. There’s only one entity, and that’s the Judicial Council of California. Neither in the Constitution, in statute, in rules, or in other formal methods, was a separate entity ever created. The change is more than superficial. It changes nothing in our organizational structure, but it does emphasize that the Judicial Council is the governing body with a staff that supports it, and it reflects a culture change that is already under way.”
The Chief directed the chairs of the council’s internal committees to prepare an amendment to the rules of court implementing the change for the council to take up at its next meeting, July 29. Judge Jahr was asked to address implementation issues within the same time frame.
See more at: http://www.courts.ca.gov/26554.htm#sthash.g8jQb8qk.dpuf
wearyant
June 27, 2014
OMG! LOL! They think new business cards are gonna solve their identity problem — and their ethics problems and perception problems and — oh, my poor brain! Too late, folks. The public is becoming very aware of what’s the haps in the crystal palace. Dream on.
Go, Elaine, GO!
Long live the ACJ
Wendy Darling
June 27, 2014
Quote of the day: “This retirement at once changes everything, and changes nothing.” Of course it changes nothing.
You just can’t make this stuff up. Really.
Long live the ACJ.
Delilah
June 27, 2014
I couldn’t agree more, Wendy. That quote is a classic. And the only things we can be sure of are death, taxes, that you couldn’t make any of this stuff up, and that nobody is going to do anything about it.
sharonkramer
June 27, 2014
”
“A necessary step to resolve a perception crisis”
There’s no “perception” crisis — unless people understanding that morals have grossly decayed in the judicial branch via the AOC, is causing a crisis for some of it not being able to easily continue. Sounds to me like brand name recognition has caught up with them.
courtflea
June 27, 2014
LOL unbelieveable, shit I almost messed me undies! talk about window dressing……and I never believed that Jahr head could sound even dumber than he already has! That foot entering his mouth has gotten larger 🙂
Ding dong the AOC is dead! dont ya feel SO much better that the AOC simply melted away…we can all go home and sleep well at night back in Kansas, knowing all is hunky dory in the judicial branch world. JCW you can close down this site, your work here is done! pleezzze! this name change is kinda like calling a crack dealer an entrapeneur.
so does this mean that “judicial council” staff will be part of the so called “policy making” Authority (according to the CJ) the JC has? hummm…..
ps and why do we care what other goverment departments call their staff? are we not a seperate branch of government? I guess they can’t make up their minds when to play that card and when not to.
Wendy Darling
June 27, 2014
“this name change is kinda like calling a crack dealer an entrapeneur.”
ROFLMAO!
Long live the ACJ.
courtflea
June 27, 2014
and to think how much this name change is going to cost…
courtflea
June 27, 2014
you know the more I ponder this, I WAS soooo confused about the name of the AOC in relation to the judicial council, that I must surely been having a “perception crisis”. Note to self: schedule appointment with shrink.
sharonkramer
June 27, 2014
Why do I get the feeling that this is simply about thwarting liability for past and futurer actions of AOC employees?
courtflea
June 27, 2014
ps I salute you Cheif for recognizing this little known crisis that no doubt effects many millions of unsuspecting citizens of the state of California!
MaxRebo5
June 27, 2014
I was happy to see the Chief eliminate the AOC in name. Now to cut it for real.
My favorite part was when she spoke of the CA Constitution and how Judicial Council members are like a board of directors. She explained how council members don’t receive any compensation under the Constitution. My thought was yeah, the CA voters never agreed to paying six figure salaries to a dozen of judges who already had good salaries and meet just a couple of times a year to set policy.
The Chief then pointed out council members do get expenses for travel. That seemed fine to me. But basically the message I got from the Chief in going to the CA Constitution was policy making for the branch was supposed to be done on the cheap! If the council members are to receive no pay how did six figure salaries for multiple directors and tons of top “leaders” come to be? That massive expansion of the AOC seems totally at odds with the wiil of the CA public when they created the Judicial Council. It was from the start supposed to be inexpensive!
The good news is the AOC is gone in name. The other good news is now it seems all the more clear how nuts it is to have 800 employees and a very expensive office in San Francisco to staff a committee that the CA Constitition wants to be small and inexpensive. This is a massive expansion of bureaucracy the public doesn’t want or need.
My last comment is on the style of the Chief and how it shows the problem. The Chief made the announcement in her opening remarks. It was just done. Then the council members fell all over themselves to support her and it was sad to me how it lacked real dignity. This is a body that is supposed to be deliberative and debate policy ideas but in reality when the Chief says jump they just want to know how high. It was pathetic. That’s exactly how California got CCMS too. Nobody raised a critical voice to the Chief and everyone said how the AOC was the best and should be in charge. 500 million dollars later – nothing worked – and Tani gives out an award in the name of the man most responsible for it’s failure. It’s incredible.
As we all know the Judicial Council itself is the problem and that is why this page is appropriately named the Judicial Council Watcher. This is another deck chairs on the Titanic being rearranged but none of us are fooled. Cut the AOC budget and redirect those funds back to local trial courts to provide real access to justice for the public. As Unionman showed in his link today there are three court employees about to be laid off at one local court this year. I say screw that and cut the 800 strong staff to the Judicial Council first. When the 800 staff to the Judicial Council are all gone then cut local trial courts if needed but I doubt it would ever be needed. That’s my vision of leadership for CA Courts and I am proud to say it and not be one of the Chief’s yes men. Anyone can play along but real courage is standing up for what is right. These council members will be forgotten and they remind me of the teammates who doped alongside of Lance Armstrong. Those men didn’t speak out for so long and for what? They wanted to be on the winning team which was Lance’s US Postal Team to get ahead. Same process in CA courts only instead of Team Lance we have Team George/Cantil-Sakauye and everyone stays on board to get ahead. A room filled with egos all wanting to win and be at the top at any cost. That’s why the Judicial Council will remain fatally flawed under Tani.
Real leaders look for smart people with dissenting views like FDR did with his cabinet. Instead what we we have is a hot mess forever seeking more money, not being innovative, and operating in an insular us vs them environment of their own making. It needs to be fixed desperately by the other branches as this Chief is never going to change just like her appointer was set in his ways too.
What a joke this so called reform is. More comedy to come as the awards will be up next. Lol
Wendy Darling
June 27, 2014
Published today, Friday, June 27, 2014, from Courthouse News Service, by Maria Dinzeo:
As long as 455 Golden Gate Avenue is trotting out the State Constitution as justification for making the Administrative Office of the Courts part of the Judicial Council, just a point of fact that Section 6 of the California Constitution limits the Judicial Council to the following: SEC. 6 (a) The Judicial Council consists of the Chief Justice and one other judge of the Supreme Court, three judges of courts of appeal, 10 judges of superior courts, two nonvoting court administrators, and any other nonvoting members as determined by the voting membership of the council, each appointed by the Chief Justice for a three-year term pursuant to procedures established by the council; four members of the State Bar appointed by its governing body for three-year terms; and one member of each house of the Legislature appointed as provided by the house.
Administrative Office of Courts Drops Name in Image Rebrand
By MARIA DINZEO
SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – California’s chief justice announced Friday that the often criticized and ridiculed Administrative of the Courts is casting off its name because of what judges called a “perception crisis” in the Legislature, where the court budget is decided. The agency is not expected to change in personnel or function but it will now be called part of the Judicial Council.
The Judicial Council already exists, as a group of judges, court officials and others who vote on rules, allocate funds and hand out awards.
The idea of changing the agency’s name was originally conceived by former chief justice Ron George years ago. This week’s belated adoption of the idea ran into immediate criticism from a group of trial judges who said it allows inept bureaucrats “to hide behind the robes of judges.”
In her announcement Friday, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said, “Unifying the council and its staff under one name, Judicial Council, will create more clarity and transparency.”
The justification for the name change is that the staff really works for the Judicial Council, so why not make that clear.
But trial judges have for years said it is the other way around, that the staff is the titular tail that wags the council dog.
The chief justice appoints 14 of the council’s 20 voting members. The state bar appoints four voting members and two legislators also sit and vote on the council, although they are rarely present. Terms run for three years, but the members can be reappointed by the chief justice without limit.
They meet briefly and intermittently and vote on matters presented to them largely based on staff preparation. In nearly all instances, the council then votes in favor, in most cases unanimously.
In the public meeting of the council on Friday, council member Mary Ann O’Malley, a judge from Contra Costa County, said the name change would help with lobbying members of the Legislature.
“When I went to Sacramento to lobby for funds for the branch, somehow people thought that money would be going to the AOC and money would be going to the branch and money would be going to all these separate entities when you spent all the time trying to say, ‘you know, we’re one and we just need the funds to keep our branch as a whole going.'”
The judiciary saw a $145 million boost in the state budget that Governor Jerry Brown signed earlier this month. But that fell far short of the $266 million Cantil-Sakauye said was necessary for California courts to “tread water.”
At Friday’s council session, AOC Director Steven Jahr, whose future title is not clear, said, “Retiring the name AOC will produce a perceptual change, or perhaps a cultural change. Yet under the substantive law, it makes no change at all. The name is superfluous.”
He added that former Chief Justice Ron George had proposed the idea years ago during his tenure.
“Chief Justice George called me into his chambers and he engaged me in a conversation about changing the name of the Administrative Office of the Courts,” Jahr said. “He observed that the name was confusing. The staff to the council does not administer the courts. So we sat down at the justices’ table in his chambers and wrote out a variety of different names, trying to find a substitute name that would be both descriptive and also evidence the relationship between the council and its staff.”
Jahr said he and George were unsuccessful in renaming the AOC, while the bureaucracy continued to grow from 225 employees in 1992 to its peak of 1,100 in 2012. But as the staff size burgeoned, it was seen by trial court judges throughout the state as pushing its own agenda, independent of the council.
The huge agency was also the target of heavy criticism over the way it spent public money, including lavish pensions for top AOC officials, raises for AOC employees in times of great hardship for the courts, and enormous sums wasted on a software called the Court Case Management System, which was scrapped in 2012.
The leading organization in criticizing the agency under its former name was the Alliance of California Judges, a reform group made up of roughly 500 judges.
Judge Maryanne Gilliard from Sacramento, an Alliance director, said the name change was not a matter of transparency, but was instead the opposite, an effort to cloak the agency’s true nature.
“It allows in a more brazen manner unelected bureaucrats to hide behind the robes of judges,” said Gilliard. “You can call it whatever you want to call it, but at the end of the day it’s the same people in charge.”
“For at least the last 17 years, the AOC has been the tail that has wagged the dog. Subsuming their name and function within the term Judicial Council will not change that fact,” the judge added.
She said the name change is an effort to bury the agency’s past, so that when the staff goes to the Legislature hat in hand, “they are not saddled with the brand that gave them a $500 million IT failure. It’s a clear attempt to rebrand what is a failing operation.”
Recently the Alliance pushed for and obtained a formal audit of the AOC by the Bureau of State Audits, the same group that audited CCMS. The audit is being sponsored by Assembly member Reginald Jones-Sawyer Sr. and should be finished by October.
In an email statement, Jones-Sawyer said, “This is an important step toward clarifying the roles and responsibilities for who is to be held accountable for the management of the state’s courts. The audit of the Courts that I requested earlier this year, which is due to be completed this Fall, is in line with what the Courts have just announced.”
The Judicial Council is expected to pass the amendment at its next meeting at the end of July.
http://judicialcouncilwatcher.com/
Long live the ACJ.
Delilah
June 27, 2014
It’s a circular crock of shit. They’re all part of the club, and we ain’t in it. Good night and good luck.
wearyant
June 28, 2014
Oh, my gawd, Delilah, how perfect is that video! Laughing and crying, as per usual with the antics of the JC/AOC/CJ! What a find! Thanks for posting. Gotta have some comic relief from the continuous cruel assaults of the powers-that-be.
I must say, they’re on the right track for wanting to toss out the AOC brand name. Just no cigar. We all know that what’s needed and desperately wanted is the toss-out of the AOC altogether. I have my delicious dreams …
Put Wendy D in charge.
Long live the ACJ
Judicial Council Watcher
June 27, 2014
The AOC has always been the administrative offices of the judicial council. We’re named judicial council watcher because they’ve been hiding behind the robes of judges for years.
This recent re-branding only serves to confirm what we’ve been saying for nearly 5 years – they are one entity that act as two separate entities only when it is convenient, like when they’re being sued.
Wendy Darling
June 27, 2014
455 Golden Gate Avenue doesn’t have a “perception” problem. They have a reality check problem.
And as for branch “management” hiding behind the robes of judges, this has been, and continues to be, actively encouraged and condoned, with the full knowledge and consent of the Office of the Chief Justice. Sofa Man (among others) does it all the time.
Still serving themselves to the detriment of all Californians.
Long live the ACJ.
unionman575
June 28, 2014
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judicial-staffing-office-hopes-removing-name-5585716.php
JusticeCalifornia
June 28, 2014
It is interesting how eliminating the AOC name can so easily shift focus and attention to where it should be.
Somehow I don’t think this is a voluntary step, because the CJ and JC have nothing to gain and everything to lose.
Sakauye is essentially admitting that the Judicial Council– and George and Sakauye as chairs–are responsible for the waste, mismanagement and corruption that have taken place at the AOC for almost two decades. We know that, but for PR coverup/shell game purposes the AOC conveniently has been treated as a separate entity, and blamed separately for missteps.
Does this mean the Chief Justice and members of the Judicial Council should be necessary parties in all lawsuits involving the AOC? Interesting. . . .in the Halpin debacle Kamala Harris did essentially invite a lawsuit against the CJ, the JC, and the AOC for how they were administering the assigned judges program. . . .
Maybe with this change the Chief Justice will better understand her own administrative liability for what she does and what happens under her watch as chair of the Judicial Council. Maybe Judicial Council members will now understand the dangers of the SWOV mentality, and start exercising due diligence and independent judgment before blindly accepting whatever AOC garbage is set before them on the table immediately before or the day of Judicial Council meetings. Maybe the placement of known ethically damaged individuals like Kim Turner on JC advisory committees, coverups of negligent/fraudulent waste of public funds, document destruction, retaliation against AOC employees and others, and sweetheart deals with buddies won’t be so appealing anymore, when there isn’t a separate AOC to blame.
And maybe the Governor and Tani’s buddies in the legislature and elsewhere are going to have to drop the polite act and place the blame for the current administrative and ethical mess the branch is in squarely where it belongs: on Tani Cantil Sakauye. She has had multiple opportunities to clean up the branch and she has refused to do so. Team George is still at the helm, still circling the wagons, still hiding the ball, and still giving out awards to bad actors like Kim Turner. It is a disgrace.
courtflea
June 28, 2014
Does a chicken have lips? do submarines have screen doors? not likely.
JusticeCalifornia
June 28, 2014
LOL Flea, I was waiting for Wendy to say “yeah right, JusticeCalifornia maybe pigs will fly and hell will freeze over”.
JusticeCalifornia
June 28, 2014
Check out today’s interesting New York times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/28/us/in-broward-county-fla-spate-of-judges-in-dui-arrests.html?_r=0
“. . .Broward — a heavily Democratic county of 1.8 million people with many judges who are the children, spouses, siblings and fraternity brothers of other judges and some of the region’s most powerful people — seems to be ground zero for allegations of judicial misconduct. The system’s critics say that is because Broward has a highly politicized and clannish culture that is known for protecting its own, which has led some in the judiciary to feel invincible “
sharonkramer
July 1, 2014
http://voiceofsandiego.org/2014/06/30/sheriff-da-met-with-the-man-at-the-epicenter-of-campaign-finance-scandal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+voice-of-san-diego-all-articles+(All+articles+voiceofsandiego.org+–+full+feed)
San Diego! Seems the local sheriff and the local DA met with a Mexican national in March of 2012, who is at the center of illegal campaign contributions. Now throw into the equation the judge with the worst record in the state falsifying court docs, the chair of the CJP covering it up; and the jailing of a whistleblower, coram non judice, by a judicial team player in March of 2012 — with Sheriff Gore falsifying an FBI record to conceal the collusion to defraud AND DA Dumanis’s recent endorsement of this worst judge being withdrawn from public view; and one can easily understand why I am so pissed off at some of those who profess to be saving CA’s judicial branch from corruption — who also endorsed the judge with the worst record. Its a cesspool of back scratching corruption down here in San Diego. Capice?
JusticeCalifornia
July 1, 2014
Sharon, it really isn’t easy to buck a corrupt system as a lawyer or judge. You WILL be targeted for retaliation. It is not if, but rather when and how.
That said, the executive and legislative branches are being scrutinized for cronyism, but it has been largely “hands off” with respect to the CA judicial branch. Why?
I personally am waiting for the official investigation of the financial, political, business and familial ties between Freitas McCarthy (FM), the Marin bench, and closely related others.
Commissioners and Judges married to FM partners, FM judicial retention and contribution efforts, reported ties between judges, their children, their former employees, their friends, Freitas McCarthy, and Fiduciary Resources. It just goes on and on and on and on. There was even a story about how Judge Duryee’s husband, FM partner Neil Moran, threatened the Marin Women Lawyers Association regarding a judicial survey that ranked his wife lowest in terms of bias.
http://www.coastalpost.com/04/08/06.htm
“Not mentioned in the three articles cited above, is a letter dated April 8, 2004 to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, Terrence Boren* (Re: Appearance of Improper Conduct Among Judiciary) regarding “A disturbing event in early February 2004” and requesting that he, Boren, investigate. McCarthy, writing as Chairperson of the Judicial Survey Committee wrote that after the survey was finalized in February, the co-president of MCWL received a telephone call from judge Duryee’s husband, an attorney, who said among other things, that publication of the judicial survey “would drive a wedge between the MCWL and the Judiciary”.
McCarthy wrote that “… his statements may be inappropriate and were interpreted by some as a threat of retaliation by Judge Duryee. She also wrote, “We have also since heard that judge Duryee sent an e-mail to certain members of the local Bar indicating a hostile position toward the MCWL Board in connection with the survey.”
Freitas McCarthy has a stranglehold on the Marin bench. Freitas has ruled the roost with respect to judicial election campaigns. Neil Moran serves as treasurer, the campaigns are run out of FM, FM has historically been a top donor, and FM gathers support from fellow members of the bench and the community. As I recall at one point all three judges in the civil division– Adams, Sutro and Dufficy– had campaign ties with FM, whose lawyers appeared before these judges.
Let’s not forget that two lawyers hired under Duryee’s watch from a field of 50 applicants to become Marin court commissioners have now become judges. One of those lawyers was involved in defending Duryee against claims that she was biased in family law cases, and the other –Beverly Wood– worked at Freitas McCarthy with Duryee’s husband.
NOW IMAGINE being a judge on the Marin bench who complains about this. . . .or refuses to endorse a Freitas McCarthy-backed judge, or angers Wood or Duryee or Freitas McCarthy partners. They could be left out in the cold with respect to campaign support, and in fact, FM could conceivably field and support a candidate to run against that judge. . . .
And if you are a lawyer who wants to run against a sitting Marin judge:
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_25038589/terms-five-marin-county-judges-due-end-this
That said, there is NO excuse for toleration of unethical or criminal activity by officials and their staff in any of the three branches.
Other articles detailing longtime Marin corruption, perhaps of interest to those interested in Marin court politics, partiality, and corruption, well, there are just too many, and many have already been circulated but here are a few more:
http://www.coastalpost.com/04/05/01.htm
http://www.coastalpost.com/04/04/01.htm
http://www.marinij.com/ci_4981933
Clearly, prior CJP actions and slaps on the hand for criminal misconduct have only served to embolden Marin judges and CEOs.
So now, 10 years later, Marin County Judge Beverly Wood and Marin Court Executive Officer Kim Turner (who was criticized by the Judicial Council in 2005 for signing off on her “friend” and “boss extraordinaire” /former Marin CEO John Montgomery’s personal charges/contracts, and then appointed to the Judicial Council a few years later) are poised to be the latest poster children for Marin court corruption, amid charges of secret hearings and evidence tampering in a case involving a former FM client. . . .let’s see what happens.
sharonkramer
July 1, 2014
Justice California, I wish you the best in stopping fraudsters. I still don’t buy that it is justifiable for judges and lawyers to remain silent because they may be retaliated against. Think of all the people whose lives have been devastated by their silence of Turner, et.al. over the years.
Its a self justification that its okay for them to remain silent because they may lose their jobs or careers. All that attitude does is aid those who do speak out to be easy targets — while the cowards self justify and claim “See we told you so. You shouldn’t speak out or they will get you”. Its the mass silence that CAUSES the retaliation for those who dare to speak.
This will turn your stomach. Justice Judith McConnell was just given an award as being Cool by the Girl Scouts. What kind of human being could be so corrupt, and then so self-absorbed to accept this award? How could anyone with an ounce of integrity, smile while they’re misleading even Girl Scouts?
http://www.ranchosantafereview.com/2014/06/13/rancho-santa-fe-resident-honored-by-girl-scouts-san-diego/
Think I may have just answered my own question. The answer is, she doesn’t have even an ounce of integrity. She just has a narcisistic ego that makes her want to appear that she does.
JusticeCalifornia
July 28, 2014
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/28/1317251/-Lawyers-Who-Criticize-Judges-Are-Being-Punished-Jonathan-Turley
The record making is brutal, but continues. More stories to tell, anon. JusticeCalifornia.
Wendy Darling
July 28, 2014
Tell the truth about corruption in the California Judicial Branch = get punished. No surprise there.
But I’m sure the State Attorney General’s office is looking into that. And the FBI. And the CJP.
Not.
Long live the ACJ.
JusticeCalifornia
July 28, 2014
Not. . .yet.
But as the massive corruption existing in CA at the top levels of the biggest judiciary in the world continues unabated, financed on the public dime. . . .those who are paid by the public to protect the public, and those who want to be elected to higher office, are going to have to explain why they were indisputably informed for years but did NOTHING.
And THAT, my friends, is the beauty of documenting and reporting. So down the line (however far that may be) no one can say they did not know.
Better to start protecting the public late, than never.
Wendy Darling
July 28, 2014
“Not . . . yet.”
I’ll believe it when I see it.
Long live the ACJ.
sharonkramer
July 28, 2014
July 28th, Daily Kos sheds light on corrupt judges who target and bully lawyers
This is a HUGE problem in California. Bullied and intimidated lawyers are leaving those wronged by officers of the courts nowhere to turn for professional counsel — when its dead obvious judges have been colluding to cover up for themselves and other judges who’ve been practicing politics, not law, in the courts. If the lawyers think they are getting targeted, they might want to look at what happens to those who can find no brave, noble lawyer when judges have been misbehaving and want it covered up.
Read more: http://wp.me/plYPz-3Oi
sharonkramer
July 14, 2015
TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR: Courts do not falsify records. Arrogent asses, who are officers of the courts and their clerks do, while committing fraud upon the court. Just ask the Chairman of the Judicial Council’s “Efficiency and Accountability Committee” how it works for the purpose of defrauding the U.S. public. That ass should be able to explain it well. And if he won’t, I will!!!!!!!
Bye, bye Dickie Huffman. You ass needs to GO for the good of the future integrity of the CA judicial branch, the Ca public and citizens all across the U.S. And please take that compromised wench, Judy McConnell with you. People have died in the past decade directly because you two asses have practiced politics – not law – from your benches.
sharonkramer
July 14, 2015
THIS is what Huffman and McConnell, et.al CAUSED to continue by falsifying court documents in a SLAPP suit. http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=983897&cmd=apop People have died from their fraud upon the court.
sharonkramer
July 16, 2015
“Upon initially reviewing the letter and the crude language contained in it, we were initially highly skeptical that Judge Saucedo—a highly regarded, dignified, meticulous judge—could have possibly written the letter and then participated in a convoluted plan to persuade his court clerk that she needed his help (financial and otherwise) to solve the problems raised by the letter. But after carefully considering all of the testimony and closely examining the documents, we reach the inescapable conclusion that Judge Saucedo did write the letter and mailed it to himself for this purpose.”
Saucedo was charged with willful misconduct by the Commission on Judicial Performance in a Dec. 19 Notice of Formal Proceedings. The charge stemmed from three-month period from mid-September to mid-November 2013 when Tovar claims Saucedo attempted to have an inappropriate relationship with her and harassed her through extensive conversations via text messaging. Saucedo testified he was attempting to mentor Tovar as he had done for many others in the past.
“Mentoring is not accomplished by providing a subordinate with thousands of dollars in gifts, including a BMW car and vacation, or expecting a ‘special’ friendship in exchange,” the panel wrote in its findings.
http://www.thesungazette.com/article/news/2015/07/15/panel-judge-put-ethics-on-the-bench/
Bryan Belgrove
June 16, 2017
I Bryan Belgrove filed my brief against the North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska on 6/20/2014, I did in fact discover interference of public records by court officials, during the pendencey of my appeal in the ninth circuit. Which the court officials have never acknowledged,enquired and/or even made any attempt to supplement the more than obvious inaccurate record that was forwarded by the lower court’s clerk, for appellate review.
Bob
June 24, 2018
Sadly, Thomas Jefferson was quite accurate and prophetic regarding his serious concerns about the judiciary.
I say sadly, because the third branch of government, the lower of the three branches, was and should be a court where citizens can redress grievances while securing their right of due process.
Sadly (again), this is something that is few and far between.
The courts are not designed for the average person, and, they are surely not designed in the name of justice, fairness, etc.
That is, unless you believe justice to be solely based on someone winning a case (usually not you or us), receiving a check as some form of compensation along with a non-disclosure agreement document for you to sign (in order to then get the check).
Non-disclosure agreements were designed in order to not reveal the crimes involved, the parties who committed the crimes, the intentional collusion, fraud, etc., that took place that helped lay the foundation for the crime, etc., etc.
Once signed, the non-disclosure agreement virtually insures that nothing will change in re the perpetrator (individual, company, corporation, etc.).
Commerce is the only thing they care about even at your expense.
And, the court is no different than a corporation.
The germ of destruction of our nation is in the power of the judiciary, an irresponsible body — working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall render powerless the checks of one branch over the other and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.
– Thomas Jefferson
“Permanent judges are liable to be tempted by; misled by favor, by relationship, by spirit of party, by devotion to the executive or legislative. It is better to leave a cause to the decision of cross and pile (flipping a coin) than to that of a judge biased to one side.”
—Thomas Jefferson, 1789
“At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed us in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping little and little, the foundations of the Constitution, before anyone perceived that invisible and helpless worm had been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.”
-Thomas Jefferson, 1823
“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”
-Thomas Jefferson