Judicial Transparency Now

More on those state, sweet rides

2009-10-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Top manager resigns amid probe of idle state vehicles
By Andrew McIntosh
amcintosh@sacbee.com
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

A top Department of General Services manager resigned and a Department of Transportation employee was reassigned Tuesday as the Schwarzenegger administration reacted to an investigation by The Bee that found officials spent $5.5 million on new vehicles this year but left many idle and gathering dust for months.

Kathleen Webb, a Department of General Services deputy director who oversaw the state's vehicle fleet, offered to resign during a probe into the purchase of $1.2 million worth of hybrid Toyota Priuses, said Erin Shaw, a spokeswoman for the State and Consumer Services Agency, which oversees the General Services department.

"Her resignation, effective Oct. 31, was accepted," Shaw said.

Webb, who was appointed by the Schwarzenegger administration on June 12, 2008, earned $106,800 a year.

The Bee reported that the Priuses sat parked on the roof of the state garage for months, even as legislators nearby slashed state spending, cut state worker pay and eliminated key public services after tax revenue plunged and they needed to balance the budget.

In a related move, Mark DeSio, a spokesman for Caltrans, confirmed that an agency employee had been reassigned. It was part of a personnel action launched in connection with a number of truck purchases made earlier this year, including a flurry on June 30 – the last day of the state's fiscal year.

DeSio said that because of state personnel and privacy rules, he could not name the employee, give details about the reassignment or say why the employee had been disciplined.

The actions came late Tuesday, after Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said at a morning news briefing that officials were investigating vehicle purchases that The Bee had highlighted and would act, if warranted.

"We want to make sure that taxpayers' dollars are being used effectively," McLear said.

The Bee reported Monday that General Services and Caltrans spent more than $5.5 million on new trucks and cars earlier this year but left many idle.

Thirty-seven of the 50 Prius hybrids that General Services bought in February had no committed buyers among other departments at the time. They're now being converted into plug-in electric vehicles as part of a pilot project – with more public money.

The Bee also reported that Caltrans bought dozens more trucks while it still had pickups and larger trucks parked in its yard that it had purchased in 2006, 2007 and 2008, some with extended warranties ticking away. Those vehicles are sitting idle in Caltrans yards beneath or beside Highway 50, awaiting final assembly.

Monday night, Dale E. Bonner, secretary of the state's Business, Transportation & Housing Agency, sent a letter urging Caltrans Director Randell Iwasaki and his officials to cut spending and "wisely" buy only items "critical to the health and safety of Californians."

"Given the impact of the recession on the California economy, and the continuing strain on the state's budget, it is very important that every employee in our organization share responsibility for preserving resources, spending wisely, and incurring expenses solely on things that are critical to the health and safety of Californians," Bonner wrote.

Fred Aguiar, head of the State and Consumer Services Agency, also blasted his Department of General Services for spending the $1.2 million on the Priuses and letting them sit for months.

"The fact that the Department of General Services purchased fifty Priuses and let them sit longer than necessary is completely and totally unacceptable. As soon as agency became aware that those cars were sitting unused, I immediately ordered the department to put them into circulation," Aguiar said in a statement.

Acting General Services Director Ron Diedrich, asked to comment on Aguiar's remarks, said he agreed, adding: "The taxpayers of California expect more from government, and I will work to ensure that they get it."

Media Prohibiting Judicial Transparency

2009-07-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

Although a number of in print and television reports have covered the murder of toddler Cole Frazier, not a single editor or producer chose to reveal the name of the judge who signed the order resulting in the police taking Cole Frazier from his mother, Candice Dempsey, and delivering the toddler over to his father, Timothy Frazier, who had earlier agreed to supervised visitation, in a custody matter.

Timothy Frazier instead, manufactured a story and obtained an "Emergency Protective Order" to win temporary custody. Shortly after Timothy Frazier shot their son, Cole Fraizer and them himself.

As this nightmare began with a judicial order, journalism anyone?

The signing judge was Judge John David, "Jack" Seay. Judge Seay can be found on KillerJudges.com and case info at FamilyLawCourts.com

The question of Why the fourth estate is depriving voters of critical information remains unanswered.

Mississippi Judge Bobby DeLaughter Admits He Lied to FBI

2009-07-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mississippi judge Bobby DeLaughter pleads guilty to lying to FBI agent

Miss. — Mississippi judge Bobby DeLaughter pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge after lying to an FBI agent during an investigation into corruption.

In return for DeLaughter admitting guilt, conspiracy and mail fraud charges were dropped by prosecutors.

Previously, DeLaughter had been accused of giving an unfair advantage to former attorney Richard Richard "Dickie" Scruggs; who won millions from asbestos lawsuits.

(Scruggs, father and son, are in prison.)

Prosecutors recommended an 18-month prison sentence for Delaughter.

To make a report on other judges, see USAJudges.com or, KillerJudges.com

OHIO SUPREME COURT FAULTS DIVORCE COURT

2009-07-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Ohio's Significant Report

Between Ohio judges steering cases towards the favored few, Ohio's Divorce Court problems mirror California's.

Including, as noted in the report:

The high-court's performance review recommended more than 90 improvements and labeled 28 of them as "critical" enough to demand immediate action. Many of the concerns dealt with problems first disclosed in a series of stories published in The Plain Dealer.

In March, the newspaper reported that Domestic Relations Judge James Celebrezze steered hundreds of thousands of dollars of work to his longtime friend Mark Dottore, who charged $225 an hour to handle assets in divorce cases.

The newspaper also found that Celebrezze and his daughter, Leslie Ann, who replaced him on the bench after he retired in December 2008, used teams of special masters to mediate divorce cases rather than doing the work themselves.

Scanned from a handout January 29, 2008. Domestic Relations Judge Leslie Ann Celebrezze

In their 91-page report, Supreme Court investigators seized on the questionable practices.

When appointing receivers, their report noted, a judge must do so impartially and on the basis of merit, while avoiding favoritism and unnecessary appointments. The fees, they added, must be "reasonable, fair and affordable."

They went on to caution that, with few exceptions, a judge has no authority to appoint special masters to perform what essentially is the judge's job."

The difference between Ohio and California is the difference between night and day.

Where Ohio first admitted, then chooses to squarely face the problems judges cause, California judges from the top down, will not.

Although Chief Justice Ronald George "invited the public to apply" to the Elkins Task Force , tellingly, not a single member of the public was selected to serve.

The task force instead, is replete with some of the very people the public clearly does not accept as credible, including San Diego's member, Judge Lorna Alksne .

The Elkins Task Force which held promise, quickly deteriorated after those selected were first chosen, and second, began missing meetings.

The Sheriff's Sweet Ride

2009-04-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

When it comes to gouging the public, the hits just keep coming.

The Sheriff's Sweet Rides

One of the $32,000-plus Dodge Chargers recently purchased by the Sheriff's Department for upper-level administrators sits in the agency's parking garage.
By WILL CARLESS Voice Staff Writer

Friday, April 4, 2008 | At least four upper-level administrators at the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, including Deputy Sheriff Bill Gore, currently drive top-of-the-range Dodge Chargers, cars that cost San Diego taxpayers between $32,615 and $35,459 apiece.

The Chargers are equipped with powerful V-8 "Hemi" engines and feature leather seats. They're part of a fleet of vehicles the Sheriff's Department provides for mid- and upper- level managers from the sheriff himself to the department's information technology chief information officer. The current fleet cost taxpayers almost $780,000.

At a time when many local law enforcement agencies are cutting back on costs across the board, good government advocates questioned the provision of take-home cars to administrators, who are not on patrol or working on investigations, and the purchase of expensive, non fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Why do those employees need county owned-cars, and why such expensive cars?" said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies, and a former attorney for the state Fair Political Practices Commission. "It comes down to the appropriate use of taxpayer money at a time of belt-tightening."

All Sheriff's Department vehicles, including those driven by office workers and lawyers, are also fitted with license plates known in law enforcement circles as "undercover plates," rather than the standard California Exempt plates, leaving them indistinguishable from non-government vehicles. That policy is defended by Gore, but California law provides for the use of unmarked plates only by officers involved with investigations. The department's policy is also at odds with other local California law enforcement agencies.

Gore said the Sheriff's Department purchased the $32,000-plus Dodge Chargers for the managers as part of a deal that included buying five Chargers for the department's patrol fleet. He said the Chargers were purchased so he and some of his managers could try out the vehicles to see if they would make good patrol cars.
Related Links

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department

After a Fatal Collision, Sheriff's Deputy Unpunished

They've since decided that the cars are not ideally suited for patrol use.

The V-8 version of the Charger retails at more than $10,000 more than the standard V-6 model. Gore said the decision to buy the more powerful, better-equipped model was up to Sheriff Bill Kolender.

"We don't get the cheapest cars we can get, that's a decision made by the sheriff. That's not the way he operates -- that's not the way he treats his senior management," Gore said.

The practice of providing take-home vehicles to mid- and upper-level administrators at the Sheriff's Department has irked managers in other county departments for decades. With the exception of the District Attorney's Office, the county only provides vehicles or a vehicle allowance to department heads.

The Sheriff's Department provides a range of different vehicles for its administrative staff, Gore said. Most employees drive Ford Five Hundreds, which cost the department about $24,500. Gore said some employees -- those who are on-call or who work in the field -- can take their cars home and drive them to and from work, but that the extent to which the cars can be used outside of strictly driving to official engagements depends on each position.

The Sheriff's Department's policy of providing vehicles to administrators and managers also goes beyond what is offered at other county departments and has been a bone of contention at the county for decades. In other county departments, take-home vehicles or car allowances are rare and are usually only offered to department heads.

Gore said the Sheriff's Department has concluded that it's more cost-effective to provide employees with cars than to pay staff mileage rates. That's something the Sheriff's Department will be re-assessing this year, he said.

But Stern scoffed at the idea that providing take-home cars is cheaper for taxpayers.

"I can't believe that's the case. This is a perk, it's a way to recruit people," Stern said. "If you're going to give them a car, give them a Prius, not a gas-guzzling $35,000 car."

A 2007 Dodge Charger gets an average of 15 miles per gallon, according to a government fuel economy website. A 2007 Prius gets 46 mpg, and a 2007 Ford Taurus, the workhorse of many law enforcement agencies, gets 20 mpg.

Officials at other sheriff's departments and police departments around the state expressed amusement and sometimes shock when told about the San Diego County Sheriff's Department's new Dodge Chargers.

"I think that's a ridiculous car for law enforcement officers," said Ugo "Butch" Arnoldi, a senior lieutenant at the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. "I don't think that would be the best vehicle for an administrator, let me put it that way."

Arnoldi, who has been a law enforcement officer for 35 years, said there are other vehicles, like the Ford Crown Victoria, which are far more fuel-efficient and much better value for law enforcement use.

All the sheriff's vehicles also feature the undercover plates. Because government agencies do not pay registration fees on their vehicles, they are normally required to fit those vehicles with licenses that read "California Exempt."

The exempt plates are a signal to taxpayers that the vehicle is paid for out of tax dollars, said David Kline, a spokesman for the California Taxpayers' Association. The plates allow the public to ensure the vehicles are being used in a suitable way, he said, that government employees aren't speeding at 100 miles per hour or using their vehicles to travel to Disneyland on the weekend.

"It's a more efficient and cheaper way than painting every car with a government insignia of letting people know how their tax dollars are being spent," Kline said.

A section of the California Vehicle Code makes an exception for law enforcement vehicles "assigned to persons responsible for investigating actual or suspected violations of the law." For those vehicles, the DMV will provide license plates that look just like normal plates, so law enforcement officers retain their anonymity out in the field. Those are the plates that the San Diego Sheriff's Department puts on all its vehicles.

Gore said each vehicle the Sheriff's Department buys is passed around the department from detectives to administrators, to lawyers to undercover cops. He said because the department doesn't know who might be driving the vehicles at any given time, it has a policy of providing all the cars with the undercover plates. That's standard at most California law enforcement agencies, he said.

But that's not the case at the San Diego Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the San Francisco Police Department or the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department, among others. Officials at all these agencies said the undercover plates are only issued to police officers who need to operate incognito, including undercover officers or wardens at county jails who do not want their identity to be known by inmates who might see them park their car.

"It's standard operating procedure, when a car comes in for a chief, a captain or a lieutenant, unless they're in an undercover assignment, they don't get undercover plates," said John Alley, deputy director of the San Diego Police Department's Fleet Services Division.

Stern said there are other reasons why the Sheriff's Department doesn't want its vehicles to have California Exempt license plates that distinguish them as taxpayer-bought vehicles.

"If they're taking the car up to Yosemite, people aren't looking at the car saying 'Hey, why's that car in Yosemite?' " Stern said.

Please contact Will Carless directly with your thoughts, ideas, personal stories or tips. Or send a letter to the editor.

Dear AP: Thank you for finally finishing the story.

2009-02-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

TO: AP Wire Services:

Heads up! Journalism 101: Basic reporting in criminal court sentencing means identifying the sentencing judge.

However, missing from AP's earlier wire report featuring former city councilman Mario Beltran pleading guilty to a variety campaign law violations, (four misdemeanor counts of failing to file campaign disclosure forms and failing to deposit cash contributions); was the name of the sentencing judge.

This interested us as the judge dismissed several felony charges against the now former councilman, sentencing Beltran to (drum roll) probation.

We thought readers/voters might appreciate the given name of Judge Wrist Slap and complained.

The LA based AP reporter we spoke with refused to identify himself, (English accent) but continued to make excuses as to why the judge wasn't identified.

We obtained for readers, (voters) the name of Judge Wrist Slap and will share it with you now. Judge George G. Lomeli.

Happily for readers/voters, eventually editors decided to make a full report and later edited the story to include this information. After we did. Better late than never.

But frankly, reporting as shoddy as this is the reason for this blog.

Dear Reporters at Citizens Voice: They're not judges anymore.

2009-02-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Throughout the day reporters at Citizens Voice

repeatedly referred to the the "Judges" pleading guilty to various crimes. They're not judges anymore.

Bad reporting from Joel Rubin of the LA Times.

2009-02-07T08:06:00.000-08:00

Bad reporting. Why wasn't Rubin's article balanced? It's not as if the police don't go to great lengths to protect crooked cops.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1052440734466

More at http://www.familylawcourts.com/countylosangeles.html

It's not as if Rubin couldn't have done a little background on this. Instead, readers were not treated to LAPD's history of protecting bad cops. Bad reporting.

Palm Beach Judge Jorge "Pay back" Labarga.

2009-01-02T08:42:00.000-08:00

While appreciating Judge Payback's honesty, we are sorry this agenda won him a promotion.

Judge gets appellate spot despite payback talk

BY DAN CHRISTENSEN AND TODD WRIGHT

dchristensen@MiamiHerald.com

Gov. Charlie Crist promoted Palm Beach Judge Jorge Labarga to a seat on a South Florida appellate court last week despite Labarga's comments from the bench last year that judges will get even with lawyers who cross them, even if it takes years.

''When you pick a fight with a judge, ultimately, you are gonna lose. Not today, but five years from now, 10 years from now, six years from now. That judge is going to remember you, always, always,'' Labarga said.

``And, you know, when you do -- there is an old saying that if you go after a judge, you better kill him. Because, like I said, it's true.''

Labarga, who was also among five finalists recommended this month for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, made his remarks while presiding over an otherwise routine criminal hearing in Palm Beach Circuit Court on May 23, 2007.

Fort Lauderdale attorney Gary Kollin, whom Labarga was talking about, sent a transcript of the hearing and letter critical of Labarga to the governor's office on Dec. 2. The governor's office released them to The Miami Herald. The Herald also obtained a recording of the hearing.

A Crist spokesman said Thursday that the governor was briefed about the transcript by his general counsel, ``but they just didn't feel it was like to the level to affect the governor's decision.''

But Anthony Alfieri, founder and director of the University of Miami law school's Center for Ethics and Public Service, called Labarga's statements in open court ``injudicious and unwise.

''They damage the credibility of individual judges and tarnish the integrity of the courts as a public institution,'' said Alfieri.

Labarga said Sunday that he remembered the 2007 case, but did not recall making the specific statements.

''I go through 50, 60 cases a day,'' he said. ``If it's on the transcript, I said it. Judges are human. I had a bad day.''

Labarga said the average person could read the statements and question his ability to be fair and impartial, but he said his record shows that is not the case.

''I've been a judge 13 years, and there is no evidence that I hold a grudge,'' Labarga said. ``I have a really good record. To pick one negative incident out of my whole career is not an accurate portrayal of my overall job performance.''

Gov. Crist named Labarga, a Cuban American, to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach on Dec. 10. Labarga has been a Palm Beach circuit judge since 1996.

Labarga, 55, of Wellington, is out of the running for the Supreme Court seat. The governor asked a nominating group for a new name last week after he picked Labarga for the appeal court, a spokesman said.

2000 RECOUNT

Labarga, an activist with the Cuban American Republican Club before he became a judge, is best known for his role in the 2000 presidential recount.

In one case, Labarga ruled the county's canvassing board could not arbitrarily toss out all votes with ''dimpled chads,'' and could decide whether each dimple constituted a vote. In another, he rejected a plea for a revote by voters who said the county's unique butterfly ballot was so confusing that the election was unfair.

The court's recording system was running in May 2007 when Kollin appeared before Labarga on behalf of a client accused of selling counterfeit merchandise.

Labarga announced at the outset that he was stepping down from the case because his former law partner, David Roth, represented a co-defendant.

But when a prosecutor's concern about meeting the law's speedy trial requirements prompted Labarga to start issuing instructions to a clerk, Kollin objected. And Labarga got annoyed.

''Your Honor, I -- since you recused yourself, I would object to you making any directions to the clerk because you can't make any more rulings on it,'' Kollin said.

''I know that,'' Labarga responded. ``I appreciate you coming here and educating me. I'm just a little country guy. I just got here off the boat a few months ago. I understand those things.''

''I don't appreciate the sarcasm,'' Kollin replied.

Kollin left the courtroom, and didn't come back.

But about an hour and a half later, Labarga started talking about him again, saying Kollin wanted to ``pick a fight.

''But you know, five years from now, he may have an attorney's fees hearing in front of me, he may have this in front of me then. And you are always going to remember those guys,'' Labarga said. ``He's very combative. I have to be honest with you. I kind of wish I would have kept that case 'cause he would have been fun.''

Kollin called those remarks ''especially heinous'' in his letter to the governor. And he accused Labarga of bias, and said he violated judicial canons that say judges must avoid the appearance of impropriety, and perform their duties impartially.

PERSONAL BIAS

Alfieri called the transcript ''ambiguous,'' however, and said it isn't clear from it whether Kollin was the victim of a personal bias.

Broward County Bar President Christopher Neilson said working with a judge who seems to be holding a grudge against an attorney would make it ''extremely'' difficult to practice law.

''Everyone has a right to a fair shot, and if a judge is talking about payback that would be a difficult situation to practice in,'' Neilson said. ``Judges wield a tremendous amount of power and discretion in their courtroom when it comes to granting motions. It's sad to hear about any type of payback from a judge.''

Palm Beach Post staff writer Bill Dipaolo contributed to this report.

ABC's BOB SABO STAFF SCREWS UP, ALL WEEK.

2008-11-18T09:09:00.000-08:00

The woman at the assignment desk said she had emails on this all week on this, but no one wanted to cover it.

Yes, I did remind her it's a news story. Yes I did mention Family Court is the one court that impacts the most people. She yawned.

But when I asked her name, she refused. However she did provide the name of her boss, Bob Sabo. Maybe you can reach him at 612-588-6397.

And we're doubly glad The Pioneer Press is on the job!

This story just smells. One judge not named? Nancy Pollard.

2008-08-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Reporters would do better investigating why any parent not charged with a crime, is ordered not to see their children. Our Constitution guarantees the right to live with the Least amount of government interference. Family Court judges however, remain the single, most intrusive form of government, (when and if one can parent, and for how long) in this country. Family Court is the busiest court in the nation. Why no coverage? Or, why coverage, but judges not identified?

Another Possible Divorce Related Murder - Another Judge Not Identified.

2008-07-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

From the LA TIMES:

it would be best if the LA Times identified judges in these "news" articles

"Court records also showed that Pamela Fayed tried to get a restraining order against her brother-in-law in 2003, but the request was denied because of "insufficient facts." She contended in court papers that he had harassed her and made "hateful, racist remarks" after being fired from the family business.

(There's no indication to date the murder was divorce related. However, as getting a divorce sometimes causes the vulnerable to be killed, it's always good to identify judges who refuse to grant restraining orders.)

NBC files a report identifying NEITHER Judge in Custody Matter

2008-07-29T09:31:00.000-07:00

What is it with "reporters" who condense televised reports which identify judges, but lose the name for the web report, which lasts so much longer? Who blue pencils this relevant information? The producers? The Assignment editor? Tony Shin's televised report named one judge, Joseph P. Brannigan, (who should recuse himself from the case) but the web report lacked much in the way of relevant information. It's not "news" when half the information is missing remains a mystery.

Also not covered in this slapped together mess of a feature? The problem with San Diego Judges ignoring requests for restraining orders. www.FamilyLawCourts.com receives many complaints of the continuing problem of San Diego Judges willingly ignoring requests for restraining orders. Should NBC decide to conduct an investigation, those reports would be made available. Interestingly, one is from a different woman in Orange County, and a judge in Vista, Ca.

A Stack of Sealed cases

2008-07-12T04:47:00.000-07:00

Although we remember the cover story in California Lawyer featuring elder and probate fiduciary abuse from the bench of the now deceased, Judge William H. Sullivan ...sadly, it now appears greedy minds think alike.

More examples from the State of Washington are posted at USAjudges.com - a site where empowered attorneys and members of the public bypass the largely ineffective state judicial commissions and restore transparency to government (and three cheers for these responsible citizens.)

OC Register's Kimberly Edds Misses it... AGAIN.

2008-07-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Spoke with editor Bill Diepenbrock two days ago, who agreed the judges in family court should be named when cases they've handled are profiled. After all, how is the public supposed to decided whether to retain them or not during an election year.

The Judge in this case is none other than the star-struck, Nancy Pollard.

However, don't look for this information to trickle down into the brain of Ms Edds, with her medium sized history of sloppy reporting, failure to check sources, and an apparent ability to grasp the overall picture. Readers of of Ms. Edds column can expect to remain uninformed. As such, assigning her to actual news events remains a disservice to readers.

Five Major Articles and Not ONCE is Judge Mentioned.

2008-07-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

We've spoken to Salvador before. He agreed judges ought to be named. But so far it's been all hat, no cattle.

One has to wonder why the so called Fourth Estate continues to refuse to identify the family court judge who allowed the Lonnie Ramos family court matter to go on and on and on; ending only with an assault with a fire-arm, kidnap and international flight.

The name of the family court judge was not identified in the Orange Country Register, The LA Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX.

How else are voters to determine which judges to retain during an election year if the press flat out refuses to identify a record of their rulings?

Tim Russert Dies Suddenly

2008-06-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

We profoundly regret the loss of Tim Russert. Russert was a not only a great family man, but journalistically, The Man when it came to using his considerable intellect fairly to educate viewers

Russet was an attorney. He never would have half-reported. His reporting would have included identifying the judges involved. Seems like most journalists could learn a thing or a hundred, from him.

Judge Alex Kozinski

2008-06-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

www.FamilyLawCourts.com - Just spoke with Cyrus Sanai, the LA attorney who accidentally made Judge Kozinski call for his own investigation.

Isn't it ironic? While the Kozinski stuff began with dirty pictures, it turns out the big stuff always winds up being ultimately, as a result of family court.

For background on other big cases involving "sealed" records, see
www.FamilyLawCourts.com/burton.html

And remember, it was Jack Welch's former wife who got the ball rolling with his retirement account when they divorced after the Pre-nup expired. (Being a lawyer herself, she was smart enough to factor in an End date to their prenup.)

Former Tulsa nursing home official sentenced for exploitation

2008-06-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Separate from not identifying the judge; is the completely misleading headline.

By The Associated Press
June 4, 2008

TULSA -- A former Tulsa nursing home administrator who pleaded no contest to financially exploiting patients is avoiding prison.

Mark Ferris was sentenced Tuesday after entering the plea to two counts of financial exploitation by a caregiver.

Ferris was originally charged with nine counts of taking nearly $5,400 from the trust funds of two patients but seven counts were dismissed for insufficient evidence.

The case against Ferris will be dismissed without a conviction if he completes the terms of a two-year probation.

Why is Gordon Dillow Protecting the Bench?

2008-06-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

In his article below, Orange County columnist Gordon Dillow protects not one, but TWO judges who refused to send what seems like a career criminal to jail. Isn't the job of Fourth Estate supposed Uncover this sort of thing? Somehow, in light of two deaths, Dillow's airy "jail overcrowding" doesn't quite ring true.

Dillow omits which judges sentenced Ruiz to how many years for his crimes and continuing with a complete lack of research, this paragraph;

Instead, a court commissioner GORDON: Which Court Commissioner?!? fined Ruiz $390 plus costs, put him on three years informal probation and ordered him to undergo alcohol counseling. Even after Ruiz violated his probation by skipping out on a counseling session, another judge simply renewed it.

Perks of Government Work - No Tickets!

2008-04-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

from The Orange County Register...the hits just keep coming.

Special license plates shield officials from traffic tickets

By JENNIFER MUIR

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

It's 1:45 p.m. on a Wednesday in February and a Toyota Camry is driving west on the 91 Express Lanes, for free, for the 470th time.

The electronic transponder on the dashboard – used to bill tollway users – is inactive. The Camry's owners, airport traffic officer Rudolph Duplessis and his wife, Loretta, have never had a toll road account, officials say.

They've never received a violation notice in the mail, either. Their car is registered as part of a state program which hides their home address on Department of Motor Vehicles records. The agency that operates the tollway does not have legal access to their address.

Their Toyota is one of 996,716 vehicles registered to motorists who are affiliated with 1,800 state and local agencies and who are allowed to shield their addresses under the Confidential Records Program.

An Orange County Register investigation has found that the program, designed 30 years ago to protect police from criminals, has been expanded to cover hundreds of thousands of public employees – from police dispatchers to museum guards – who face little threat from the public. Their spouses and children can get the plates, too. [No mention why it took the newspaper a couple of decades to discover this.]

This has happened despite warnings from state officials that the safeguard is no longer needed because updated laws have made all DMV information confidential to the public. [Warnings, but no actual, action.]

The Register found that the confidential plate program shields these motorists in ways most of us can only dream about:

•Vehicles with protected license plates can run through dozens of intersections controlled by red light cameras and breeze along the 91 toll lanes with impunity.

•Parking citations issued to vehicles with protected plates are often dismissed because the process necessary to pierce the shield is too cumbersome.

•Some patrol officers let drivers with protected plates off with a warning because the plates signal that the drivers are "one of their own" or related to someone who is.

Exactly how many people are taking advantage of their protected plates is impossible to calculate. Like the Orange County Transportation Authority, which operates the tollway, many agencies have automated processes and have never focused on what happens to confidential plate holders. Sometimes police take note of the plate and don't write a ticket at all.

The Register used public records laws to obtain OCTA computer logs for the 91 Express Lanes and found 14,535 unpaid trips by motorists with confidential plates in the past five years. A Register analysis showed that was 3,722 separate vehicles, some running the toll road hundreds of times.

That's only about $29,500 in tolls, but under the penalty schedule set by state law, fines for chronic violators can reach $500 per toll, which would total more than $5 million for the confidential plate holders with multiple violations if they ignored warning notices. OCTA officials said that if they had been able to notify these people, they believe most would have paid before penalties ballooned.

Among the top violators on OCTA's list were Dwight and Michell Storay (he's a parole agent with the Department of Corrections), with 622 violations; Lenai and Arnold Carraway (she's an Orange County social worker), with 239 violations and Susie and Mike Stephen (she's a Chino Police Department dispatcher), with 227 violations.

Speaking through a corrections spokeswoman, Storay denied driving the toll roads without paying. He showed records indicating that he has a valid toll road account and said he had contacted the OCTA to settle the matter.

Lenai Carraway showed a reporter evidence that she had a toll road account, but had no evidence that she'd paid the tolls that OCTA listed as delinquent. Carraway said she planned to contact OCTA.

Susie Stephen did not respond to repeated requests for an interview; Chino police officials said they would investigate the situation.

It's impossible to tell whether every motorist included on the list knowingly exploited their confidential plates—and many of those contacted by The Register insisted it was some kind of mistake.

But by the time a California Highway Patrol officer recognized Loretta Duplessis' Camry from a "heavy hitter" list of toll evaders and pulled her over Feb. 27, the couple had racked up $34,805.95 in penalties from OCTA, according to a note the officer wrote on her citation. The couple did not respond to repeated requests for comment, including a note left on their front door in Riverside County.

An activist who lobbies for fair traffic laws said the entire program is out of control.

"They've exempted themselves from the rules they're enforcing," said Chad Dornsife, director of the Best Highway Safety Practices Institute. "They know it, is what's really sick about this. This isn't some surprise that when the camera comes out they don't have to worry about it."

Proponents of the program argue that confidential plates offer a necessary protection.

"I would highly doubt that anybody is registering their vehicles on a confidential basis to do anything but protect themselves," Garden Grove Police Capt. Mike Handfield said. "I just don't think people are thinking they're getting away with anything….Is the value of having a confidential plate and protecting the law enforcement community from people who might hurt them, is that worth that risk? I believe it is."

The Register asked the DMV for a list of the number of motorists participating in the program and the agencies they claim as an employer. But the DMV refused to provide those records unless The Register paid $8,442, which officials said was the cost of extracting the list from its database.

The Register felt that was an excessive cost to obtain public records; the DMV has refused to waive the fee.

CONFIDENTIAL HISTORY

The DMV first started withholding police officers' addresses from the public in 1978, back when anyone could walk into a DMV office with a license plate number and walk out with the car owner's home address. The purpose was to block criminals from finding out where police live, then using the information to harm the officers or their families.

Under the Confidential Records Program the name of the police agency appears in lieu of the officer's address.

In the first seven years of the program, lawmakers added judges, district attorneys – and themselves.

Since then, the list of people afforded confidentiality has swelled to include jail guards, district attorney investigators and National Park Service rangers, as well as city council members and city attorneys, among others.

Officials can keep the secret plates when they retire. If they change to a civilian job, they can stay shielded for another three years.

In some cases the secret plates have been negotiated as part of a labor contract. For example, museum security officers were added as part of an employment agreement with the state's public safety union in 2001.

Meanwhile, public access to DMV information was nearly eliminated in 1989 after the death of actress Rebecca Schaeffer. A private investigator found Schaeffer's home address through the DMV on behalf of an obsessed fan, who gunned down the 21-year-old at her Los Angeles apartment. Lawmakers responded by making every motorist's information confidential.

Today, addresses for every driver in the state are off limits to the public. Some businesses, such as insurance companies, financial institutions and businesses that contract with police to process citations, still maintain limited access through strict agreements with the DMV.

The level of protection granted to all motorists makes "it all but impossible for unauthorized individuals to receive residence address data from the DMV," officials told the Legislature in 2004.

The DMV said private data now available on the Internet makes it easy to find home addresses. "Such ready access makes it unnecessary to use DMV as an access point."

None of the lawmakers or agencies interviewed by The Register was able to point to a case where a person was harmed by information obtained through the DMV in the nearly 20 years since the Schaeffer case changed the law.

Still, police and lawmakers say that increasing access to information on the Internet makes it even more imperative that records are protected.

"The street has become a technological freeway that is being used by everybody, so the more layers of confidentiality you can add to those who need it the better," said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Since 1980, lawmakers have passed 19 pieces of legislation adding more groups, revising the language or increasing the punishment against people who use the DMV to harm people with confidential plates.

In 2001 Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza, who is now a state senator, sponsored legislation that allowed police chiefs to give the plates to non-sworn employees in "sensitive" positions, such as those testifying against other law enforcement officers, records show.

"Law enforcement came to me and asked me to sponsor it," said Oropeza, D-Carson.

This year, Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Alameda, is sponsoring a bill that would add some zoo veterinarians, animal control agency workers and humane society shelter workers to the program. After introducing the bill, he added firefighters and code enforcement officers, as well. He said the union that represents those workers – the American Federation of County Municipal Employees – asked for the protection to stave off retribution from criminals, such as people who run criminal dog fighting rings.

DMV employees must process requests for confidential records manually at a cost of $220,000 a year. The workload expands every time lawmakers allow a new group to participate in the program.

'COURTESY TO LAW ENFORCEMENT'

As the program has grown, so have the benefits.

Some police officers confess that when they pull over someone with a confidential license plate they're more likely to let them off with a warning. In most cases, one said, if an officer realizes a motorist has a confidential plate, the car won't be pulled over at all.

"It's an unwritten rule that we would extend professional courtesy," said Ron Smith, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer who worked patrol for 23 years. "Nine out of 10 times I would."

California Highway Patrol officer Jennifer Hink put it a little differently. "It's officer discretion … (But) just because you have confidential plates doesn't mean you're going to get out of a citation."

Many police departments that run red light camera programs systematically dismiss citations issued to confidential plates.

"It's a courtesy, law enforcement to law enforcement," San Francisco Police Sgt. Tom Lee said. "We let it go."

Four Orange County cities with red light cameras told the Register earlier this year that they don't have time to track down the addresses. The private companies that process the citations don't have access to the shielded information. Police officers do have access, but not the time.

State law requires police to mail out red light camera citations within 15 days; Orange County allows only 11. "It takes eight to 13 business days to receive that information back from the DMV," said Santa Ana Police officer Gary Fratus. "There are far too few to do it … The time frame is not conducive for us."

Some departments, for example, the cities of Los Alamitos and Los Angeles, send the citations to the agency listed in place of the home address. But they have no way of knowing whether the person ticketed ever received the citation. In Orange County, inactive red light camera citations are dismissed after a year.

San Diego is the only department interviewed by the Register that does the necessary work to track down protected plate holders. Laguna Woods and Santa Ana began doing the same this year after the Register began asking questions.

The shielded plates can also be a free pass to park illegally.

"Many agencies, especially parking citation processing agencies, report that the process is so cumbersome and costly that they simply dismiss the parking citation as it is not worth the time and effort necessary to identify the vehicle owner," the DMV told the legislature in 2004.

Sen. Oropeza said the problem isn't the confidential records program, it's that police are enforcing the law unevenly.

"Professional courtesy, that's a total inappropriate response," Oropeza said. "And to say they don't have time is totally inappropriate …The law should be applied equally to everybody."

DMV spokesman Mike Marando said the agency may be able to come up with a more streamlined method of accessing the shielded addresses.

"We'll be happy to work with them," Marando said.

TROUBLE WITH TOLLS

Toll road operators face an added barrier in collecting payment because they don't have legal access to confidential addresses. The two agencies in Orange County handle the problem differently.

The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operates the Foothill, San Joaquin Hills and Eastern toll roads, said it mails delinquent toll notices to the agency listed in lieu of the home address, and believes such tickets are getting paid.

"There is the potential that the violation may not be forwarded by the agency to the individual, but we have yet to experience that condition," Frank Barbagallo, deputy director of toll operations wrote in an e-mail.

The OCTA, the agency that runs the 91 Express Lanes, sends the violations to a collections agency in New York, which attempts to find home addresses through its own means.

It's an automated process OCTA inherited when it purchased the toll road in 2003. OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik said that is why the agency was unaware of the thousands of confidential plate violations that had gone unpaid. The violations make up a fraction of the 14.5 million trips on the toll road each year.

After obtaining the OCTA logs, the Register used media access rights at the DMV to attach names to the license plates, then attempted to contact the top violators through the agency that employed them. The Register also tried to find personal telephones and attempted to contact the violators that way. Most motorists did not respond to the calls.

"With so many violations I'm stunned that the toll road wouldn't have at least reached out," said Orange County Sheriff Capt. Dave Nighswonger, who was contacted by The Register about a jail guard, Edward Lutz, who had 171 toll violations over a two-year period. "We can encourage our employees to reach out to them and reconcile that."

News of the violations caused officials in many of the agencies to launch internal investigations. The Los Angeles World Airport Police Organization, which employs Duplessis, said it was initiating a complete review of its confidentiality records.

Several agencies said their employees had toll accounts in good standing but had failed to add new vehicles to their accounts or had problems with their transponders. Some violators contacted OCTA after hearing from a reporter and paid the past-due tolls.

Unlike most motorists with toll account problems, many of these violators won't have to pay delinquent fees. Because of the protected plates, OCTA did not find them within the 66 days required by law and can't assess fines.

So Lutz, for example, the Orange County jail guard, simply paid the outstanding tolls, about $300, Nighswonger said.

Regular toll road customers caught in a similar situation are typically found through their DMV records, sent violation notices, and charged tens of thousands of dollars in fines if they ignore the bills.

As an example, the penalties on the account of an Orange County couple who accrued some 80 toll violations in 2003 because of an expired credit card ballooned from $580 in tolls to $53,550 in civil penalties, court records show.

After The Register found the toll road scofflaws, OCTA's Zlotnik acknowledged that the agency may not have been doing all it could to track them down. "Since this issue has arisen, we're looking at ways to address the situation to help prevent this from happening in the future," he said.

The Register found few checks on the confidential plates program.

The DMV does not independently audit the system, relying on the responsible agencies to monitor their own participants. But that doesn't always happen.

The San Bernardino Police Department could not identify a woman named Brenda Orantes, who ran up 411 violations on the 91 tollway under a confidential plate obtained through that department, the records show. Lt. Scott Paterson said Orantes is not an employee and is not listed as a relative.

A few agencies audit their program and were able to give a count of their participants. Fullerton Police, for example, said that 273 vehicles and 338 drivers have confidentiality through the department.

But most of those contacted, including the California Highway Patrol, the LAPD and the California Department of Corrections, were not able to tell a reporter how many people have obtained DMV confidentiality through their departments.

"We don't have a system to go through," LAPD Sgt. Leland Sands says. "That's not something that we would check."

This time the social worker is shielded

2008-04-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

Government shielding Incompetence. Social worker not identified. This is too common to allow to continue.

Social Workers Immune From Suit Over Investigation C.A.

By STEVEN M. ELLIS, Staff Writer

The Third District Court of Appeal ruled yesterday that social workers who released a minor back into her father's custody less than three days after she had been removed because of his PCP-induced behavior are immune from liability in the minor's suit over her father's subsequent attempt to kill her.

Affirming the decision of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Eugene L. Balonon, the court ruled that employees of the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services are entitled to discretionary acts immunity under Government Code Sec. 820.2 because state law requiring an investigation of the potential risk to a child prior to such a release imposes a discretionary, rather than mandatory duty, and because the social worker's admittedly "lousy" investigation was nonetheless a "considered decision balancing risks and advantages."

Mijalina Ortega, then 11 years old, was taken into custody by Child Protective Services on Aug. 21, 2001 after her father was found screaming in the street and arrested. Her mother was absent, and tests showed later that her father was under the influence of phencyclidine, or PCP, a hallucinogenic drug that can create profound psychological disturbances for days after ingestion.

A social worker conducted an investigation whether releasing Ortega from custody would place her at risk under state law requiring such an investigation and initial decision within 48 hours, but allegedly failed to look into the father's background or the effect of his PCP use.

Ortega's father had both a history of domestic violence and substance abuse, and Ortega had previously been removed from his custody in 1998 when he was arrested in her presence on outstanding warrants.

Nevertheless, on Aug. 24, the social worker released Ortega into her father's custody.

Four days later, Ortega's father approached her in their shared apartment with nail polish remover and told her to drink it to kill herself. When she refused, he brought her a knife and told her to use it kill herself.

When she again refused, he stabbed her in the heart. Ortega fled, but her father chased her down, pulled her back into the apartment, and stabbed her in the lung.

Ortega fled the apartment a second time and collapsed before receiving medical attention.

The stabbing led to a 22-year prison sentence for her father.

Ortega brought suit in 2005, alleging that the social workers violated mandatory duties imposed by statute and were negligent in releasing her into her father's custody because they failed to determine the facts surrounding her entry into custody, failed to determine the potential for existence of conditions placing her at risk if released, and failed to perform tasks identified in the CPS handbook.

Anticipating that the defendants would assert a defense of discretionary acts immunity under Sec. 820.20which provides that, "[e]xcept as otherwise provided by statute, a public employee is not liable for an injury resulting from his act or omission where the act or omission was the result of the exercise of the discretion vested in him, whether or not such discretion be abused" Ortega alleged that the social workers's failures related to operational, ministerial matters not subject to their discretion.

However, Balonon granted summary judgment for the defendants, holding that they were entitled to discretionary immunity because investigations are uniquely discretionary activities with highly subjective decisions.

On appeal, Justice Richard Sims III wrote for the Court of Appeal to affirm Balonen's ruling.

Rejecting Ortega's claims that Sec. 815.6 which requires an investigation and determine potential risk to child imposes discretionary, rather than mandatory duties, Sims wrote:

"[T]he statute and regulation relied upon by plaintiff merely required defendants to conduct an investigation and determine the potential risk to the child. Neither of these are ministerial duties, and both involve a formidable amount of discretion."

Sims also rejected Ortega's claims that the CPS handbook which sets forth specific protocols to be followed in conducting 48-hour investigation set forth ministerial, rather than discretionary duties.

Noting that the social worker had conducted an investigation albeit on "woefully inadequate information" - that was a considered decision balancing the risks and advantages of releasing Ortega, Sims said that "the exercise of discretion invariably entails the collection and evaluation of information."

He continued:

"Thus, the collection and evaluation of information is an integral part of "the exercise of discretion immunized by section 820.2. The distinction urged by plaintiff would eviscerate section 820.2 immunity, because in every case there would have to be a trial on the step-by-step actions which comprised the investigation forming the basis for an exercise of discretion.

"This is an untenable result."

Justices Coleman Blease and Ronald B. Robie joined Sims in his opinion.

The case is Ortega v. Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services, C054262.

How Bad Can Alabama Reporting GET?

2008-03-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Former Millbrook Police Officer Sentenced to One Year in Prison
WSFA 12 NEWS STATION Failed To Identify the JUDGE

March 27, 2008 10:48 AM
Is this a joke?!?
Stay Informed and Help Us Cover The News
What We're Working On emails from WSFA 12 News.
Talk to WSFA 12 News About This Story
(Hey, how about Doing the story?)

Montgomery, Al. (WSFA)-- A former Millbrook police officer who pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct charges in January will serve one year in prison.

Francisco Aponte was arrested in May of 2007 for the rape of a Millbrook woman while he was on duty.

The victim told medics at the hospital she had been attacked and raped by a Millbrooke officer.

When Chief Kenneth Bradley of the Millbrook P.D. learned one of his officer was involved in the case he immediately turned the case over to the Elmore County Sheriff's Department.

Aponte was fired immediately after being taken into custody.

A grand jury then indicted him in July of 2007 for rape, sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct.

On Thursday morning, he was sentenced to one year in prsion.

Oregon's KATU Doesn't Name Judge in murder of Shane Stephens, age 10

2008-03-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Father and son, 10, dead in apparent murder-suicide at Oregon coast.
Judge Modifying the Restraining Order Not Named.

Story Updated: Mar 19, 2008
By KATU Web Staff

FORT STEVENS STATE PARK, Ore. - Clatsop County officials are investigating an apparent murder-suicide involving a Portland man and his 10-year-old son.

Officials with the Clatsop County District Attorney's Office said their bodies were found inside the father's vehicle at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria.

Investigators say the father, identified as Rockland Stephens, 49, ran a hose from the tail pipe into the cab of the vehicle. They said the man and boy both likely died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The deaths reportedly come shortly after events connected to a child custody battle.

Police say Stephens had his son, Shane, (pictured at right) for the weekend and was supposed to return the boy to his mother's house in St. Helens but never showed up.

KATU News has learned the child's mother obtained a restraining order on Jan. 17 citing concerns about Stephen's conduct.

On Jan. 22, a Columbia County judge issued an order modifying the original restraining order allowing alternate weekend visitations by Stephens.

Shane's mother had accused Stephens of fleeing to Fiji with another child, who is now an adult, in order to prevent her from having custody.

An investigation into the deaths is continuing.

(As this was an updated version and the judge is still not named...much work needs to be done given the history of behavior of the father. - Editor.)

Kids Dying in State Care - Judges not named.

2008-03-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

All these reports - but not One judge identified. Why?

***
Report finds holes in city's child-protection safety net

Judging kids' risk is an 'ongoing problem,' it says

By Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Chandler Grafner, 7, died from starvation.

An outside review has criticized Denver's child protection agency for a long list of management problems, including failure to check for abuse by non-family members such as boyfriends.

The outside review was requested by the Denver Department of Human Services after a 7-year-old boy was starved to death and a young girl was subjected to sexual abuse and then died. In both cases, social workers had been warned of the danger to the children.

A separate review of a dozen such cases statewide is expected by early April.

"It is clear that risk and safety assessment continues to be an ongoing problem, both within Denver County and in the state," the Denver review warned.

The review found that Denver social workers often do not interview unrelated adults in abuse cases, even though they often turn out to be the source of the threat to the child.

The report also blames a checklist, created by the state to help caseworkers decide when a child is in danger. Instead of helping, the report says, the checklist has caused caseworkers to focus only on impending danger and not other issues, such as chronic neglect caused by a caregiver's substance abuse.

Improper use of the checklist "has caused workers to minimize risk factors that jeopardize safety of children still living in the home," the report said.

State officials said they would consider the criticism before responding.

Denver already has added to the checklist, ordering interviews of all caretakers and all adults in a home, checks on their backgrounds, and checks for previous child-welfare reports on the family from another county.

The review was sharply critical of management at Denver DHS while praising its intention and reforms aimed at keeping children safe in their family homes. Denver's re-abuse rate - when a child suffers a second incident of abuse after coming into social services care - is 2.7 percent, less than half the national standard.

But families told the reviewers their caseworkers were uncaring and hostile, while caseworkers said they were working in a punitive environment and powerless to help children and families. Social workers and judges cited each other as obstacles to good care for the children.

White blamed low morale on the recent child deaths, inquiries and personal blame. "It's really hard to lose children who've sat on their laps," she said.

Officials said families often don't get the help they need, including mental health or substance abuse treatment, even when they ask for it.

Denver DHS director Roxane White said all the recommendations would be accepted. She will find the money to add 25 caseworkers on top of the 40 approved earlier this month.

Six more legal staff will be hired to help caseworkers prepare for court and to comply with court orders, White said.

Total cost of addressing the issues was estimated at $1.75 million.

She said one conflict occurred because judges insisted on sending children to facilities that Human Services found to be doing poorly with the children they already had. She said the court now has "some really great new judges."

But even then, White said, "We will never be able to fill all of the gaps in child welfare. Human services isn't our top priority as a country."

White is leaving her job soon to take over a new Denver- based human services foundation.

Nameless Judge Dismisses Hate Crimes Against Gays.

2008-02-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Reporting begins badly, then gets worse.

While Keagan Harsha of WCAX's VT News television station so called "reporting" of the hate crime did Not identify the judge dismissing the charges; in an ongoing display of non-reporting, both AP and Boston Globe merely condensed the already poor coverage, to even less, for reader consumption.

Original REPORT quoted: "In somewhat of an unusual fashion the judge put the case on the stand" - which amazingly enough, continues without identifying the judge.

(Is this the Fourth Estate's version of "Find Waldo" in a story? One wonders What journalism school teaches this kind of stuff?)

Boston Globe - from AP Reports

Judge dismisses hate crime charges
February 24, 2008

ST. ALBANS, Vt.—A judge has dismissed hate crime charges against two teenage sisters accused of slashing tires and spray painting anti-gay slogans on vehicles owned by two gay men, citing a lack of evidence.
more stories like this

Melissa Gaboury, 16, was released on Friday, after spending several months in prison.

Prosecutors said they believed they had enough evidence -- a can of spray paint, a large knife and razor blades that they said were found in the vehicle Gaboury had been driving -- and said she had contradicted herself during police interviews.

"I feel very bad for the victims in this case because they went through this and they pressed forward and we tried to put it together for a trial in a relatively short period of time and the judge didn't feel we had the evidence to convict her," Franklin County Prosecutor Jim Hughes said.

The judge also dismissed the charges against Gaboury's 18-year-old sister who was expected to go on trial next week in the same case.

------

VT: Hate Crime Case Dismissed

St. Albans, Vermont - February 22, 2008

It's a bizarre twist that neither the prosecution nor the defense saw coming-- bringing an abrupt halt to the case of an alleged hate crime by a St. Albans teenager.

In somewhat unusual fashion, the judge put the state's case on the stand... questioning evidence linking Melissa Gaboury, 16, to the crime.

Gaboury was accused of slashing tires and helping paint anti-gay phrases on cars belonging to two gay St. Albans men last October.

The judge dismissed the case citing a lack of evidence.

"In my experience, I've never been involved in a trial or seen a trial where an acquittal has been given at the end of the state's case," said defense lawyer Elizabeth Hibbitts.

That means Gaboury is free to go home after spending the last several months behind bars.

"It just tore me apart. I finally get her back," said Gaboury's mother, Crystal Ann Lesperance-Meilleu.

"I'm just really relieved to be out of this whole mess," said Gaboury.

The state argues that it did produce sufficient evidence linking Gaboury to the crime scene. Although no one actually witnessed the crime being committed, the state argues that a can of spray paint, a large knife, and several razor blades were found in a vehicle Gaboury had been driving. And the state says the 16 year old contradicted herself several times when questioned by police.

"I feel very bad for the victims in this case because they went through this and they pressed forward and we tried to put it together for a trial in a relatively short period of time and the judge didn't feel we had the evidence to convict her," said Franklin County Prosecutor Jim Hughes.

After the case was dismissed, the judge called the jury back in to see if they agreed that the state had failed to produce enough evidence.

Melissa Gaboury's 18-year old sister was scheduled to go on trial next week in connection with the same crime. The judge also dismissed that case, after the state failed to prove it had more convincing evidence against the older sister.

The dismissal means it's very unlikely anyone will be charged for committing this hate crime. That leaves a lot of questions unanswered and a Vermont couple on edge.

Asked who she thinks committed the crime, Gaboury answered, "I don't know and I don't want to get involved."

Keagan Harsha - WCAX News

Arizona Columnist Fails to Mention Judge in Children's Deaths

2008-02-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

(Although Roberts Often Exposes CPS Related Deaths - seldom mentioned are the judges who go along with the agency.) How does this help the reader when Judicial Elections come around?)

Another child dies under CPS' watch
Feb. 23, 2007
Laurie Roberts

Marina Rodriguez holds up the letter her 8-year-old grandson wrote, the one saying he was afraid. In November, she faxed it to Child Protective Services, trying desperately to get someone to listen to her fears about what was happening to her grandsons.

Two months later, one of them was dead.

"When Fabian died, I asked (the caseworker), what happened to that letter," Marina said. "She said, 'Well, that was disregarded because it was coerced."

Four-year-old Fabian Silva is the fifth Tucson child to die in the last year while CPS was supposed to be watching. Just a week before he died, 5-month-old Jahyr Holguin was gone, one month after a hospital reported suspicions that the baby was being abused. His mother's boyfriend now sits in jail, awaiting trial for murder.

On Tuesday, the House Government Committee will hear a package of bills aimed at better protecting the most vulnerable among us: children whose parents can't or won't do the job. It'll be a political fight, with some legislators determined to protect CPS from prying eyes.

If we're lucky, they will, finally, be drowned out by those who know the sad stories of 4-year-old Ariana Payne and her 5-year-old brother Tyler, and Brandon Williams, an autistic boy who was 5 when he was beaten to death. And now of Jahyr Holguin and maybe Fabian Silva.

Rep. Jonathan Paton has seen enough. He and Rep. Kirk Adams are proposing to rip away the shroud of secrecy that allows CPS to covers its failings. "We've had (five) kids now who all have three things in common," Paton said. "Parents investigated by CPS. CPS determined their parents were safe and all (five) are dead. . . . The public has a right to know if policies were followed or not followed so we can make a better decision about how the agency is run."

Fabian's grandparents, Marina and Martin Rodriguez, saw their grandsons regularly until Halloween, when Fabian was hospitalized with a concussion and other injuries.

The Rodriguezes were there at the hospital when the CPS worker showed up on Nov. 1. It was the first and last they ever saw of her. Meanwhile, they say they had a falling out with their daughter, who had recently moved in with her boyfriend, and were cut off from contact with their grandsons.

All through November, Marina and Martin say they called CPS with their concerns, but the agency wasn't interested in talking to them.

Not even after another report was filed in mid-November, this time by a teacher.

Not even after Marina faxed over the letter from her other grandson. While Fabian was in the hospital, she says the boy's father asked his older son to write down what he was feeling. He wrote of being hit, of being scared.

"She (the caseworker) wouldn't talk to me," Marina said. "Then she stopped taking my calls."

On Jan. 26, Fabian was taken to University Medical Center, where he died the next morning.

Tucson police Sgt. Mark Robinson said detectives are still investigating his death. CPS took custody of the older boy the day Fabian died.

CPS spokeswoman Vicki Gaubeca confirmed that the agency received reports on Oct. 31 and Nov. 13. She said they spoke to the Rodriguezes on Nov. 1 and by phone on Nov. 9.

"In addition," she said, "CPS caseworkers interviewed all adults and children living in the home, the biological father, great grandparents, local law enforcement and medical and hospital personnel."

Everybody, it seems, but the people who were begging to tell their story.

Martin, a retired Army counterintelligence agent, said the CPS worker finally agreed to meet with them - after Fabian died.

"I said, how can you conduct a proper investigation that's one-sided? And she goes, 'Well I wasn't about to interview 40 people.' "

OC Register Reporter Fails to Name Judge In Licensing Death

2008-02-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

Why not inform the public?
How else can voters make a choice to retain these judges during an election year?

Home where baby died had earlier death, state violations
Records show child died at Laguna Hills home in 2001. Operator says her own child died as well. State is investigating.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ
The Orange County Register

LAGUNA HILLS - A 6-month-old infant who died earlier this month was the second to die at a Barkstone Lane child care facility that has a history of neglect complaints and citations by state regulators.

The state's Department of Social Services has received more than 20 complaints regarding Moulton Ranch Day Care, operated out of a two-story home in Laguna Hills. The state has found the facility to be in violation of state regulations more than 25 times since 1993.

Officials substantiated complaints that Patricia Edwina Baltayan, who owns the day care center, drank wine on at least one occasion while taking care of children, sprayed children's bottoms with cold water when they had potty-training accidents, and scrubbed little boys' genitals until they became raw, state records show. Several other complaints were found to be inconclusive.

Paramedics responded to the home Feb. 8 after receiving a call that a child stopped breathing. Before authorities arrived, a 911 dispatcher instructed someone at the scene how to administer CPR, said Capt. Mike Blawn of the Orange County Fire Authority.

A sheriff's deputy arrived at the home first and took over CPR on 6-month-old Damian Rivera. After firefighters arrived, the baby was taken in the back of a sheriff's cruiser to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, where he was pronounced dead.

Daniel Rivera, the child's father, said it was only Damian's third day at the child care facility.

A cause of death has not yet been determined. Sheriff's officials said they found no suspicious circumstances in the death.

Damian's mother, Janay Labrado, 20, said doctors told her that her son's heart just stopped. She would not comment further for this story.

Rivera's father said he and family members suspect Damian may have been a victim of sudden infant death syndrome. But state records showing complaints and violations against the facility have caused him to worry about Damian's care.

Shirley Washington, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Social Services, said the department is cooperating with local authorities who are investigating Damian's death. A report from the coroner's office is not expected for six weeks. All deaths that occur while in the care of a licensed day care facility are investigated by the department, she said.

Complaints filed against day care facilities are also followed up by state regulators and reviewed on a case-by-case basis, she said. Officials make a decision to close down a facility when there is an imminent danger to the children in their care. Moulton Ranch Day Care remains open.

Most complaints alleging lack of supervision by Baltayan were found to be inconclusive, according to records obtained by the Register.

However, regulators did verify instances in which a 12-year-old was left alone to care for children, and several instances in which children were left unattended in highchairs.

In an interview at her Laguna Hills home, Baltayan said she did everything she could have done to save Damian Rivera. She added that many of the complaints filed against her were not true.

"They're not right and the people that know, know the truth," Baltayan said of the complaints. "I loved what I was doing, but at this time it's too traumatizing."

Seven years ago, another child in her care also died.

State records show that in May 2001, paramedics were called to her home when a 6-month-old child stopped breathing.

Baltayan said she did CPR on that baby before he was taken to Mission Hospital. He died at the hospital three days later, May 4, 2001.

The cause of death was determined to be chronic tracheitis and peribronchitis – an inflammation of the trachea and bronchial tubes, according to state records. State regulators deemed the death to be due to natural causes.

Baltayan said Damian was the third child on whom she had to administer CPR. Her own child had a reaction to medication and stopped breathing, she said. Baltayan said the child subsequently passed away, but she declined to give any more details of that death.

"I just know I can't do this anymore," she said. "I've had a lot of loss in my life."

Baltayan has talked about quitting before.

Records show that in an August 2007 visit by the Department of Social Services, Baltayan requested to be placed on inactive status, saying she only baby-sat friends' children.

However, she was never moved to inactive status.

When Damian stopped breathing earlier this month, she was taking care of two other children, Baltayan said. She is licensed to care for up to 12 children.

Baltayan was first licensed by the state in 1988. Since then, she's faced several citations from the Department of Social Services.

Records show that state officials met with Baltayan in May 1993 to discuss "concerns about long history of being overcapacity" and told her not to use highchairs for timeouts.

In 1995, she received a seven-month suspension for lack of supervision, drinking while caring for children, and caring for children while her home was being sprayed for ants, according to records.

"On at least one occasion, respondent drank wine in the facility during hours of operation," read a decision by an administrative law judge. "This occurred on the day that respondent attempted to keep her facility open while preparing for and having the facility chemically treated."

Her license was reinstated and the judge decided that the violation "although serious, is conduct that can be corrected with proper discipline containing strict conditions and a period of suspension."

In June 2006, state officials held a conference with Baltayan, the regional manager for the Department of Social Services and other officials because of "concern the Department has regarding the numerous violations of State regulations."

Among the issues discussed at the meeting were allegations of adults in the facility without criminal clearances, lack of supervision, children being left unattended with a 12-year-old assistant, overcapacity, and hazardous materials being accessible to children.

From 2006 to 2007, the department visited Baltayan's home 10 times.

"We have visited that facility quite a bit," Washington said.

When complaints were verified, Baltayan was set up in a plan of correction.

In December 2006, the Department of Social Services investigated a complaint alleging that Baltayan had caused soreness to boys' genitals and threatened children with cold showers after potty-training accidents. That complaint was substantiated through interviews by a license evaluator.

According to state records, eyewitnesses reported they saw Baltayan on different occasions pulling back on children's foreskins, causing one child to scream and cry "so loudly that the eyewitness was concerned the neighbors might call the police."

One witness reported seeing drops of blood during this process.

According to records, Baltayan appealed the department's finding, and asked for expert medical opinions.

In an e-mail sent to the state department, Baltayan also said that the allegation of spraying children with cold water was inaccurate and that "the vocabulary in these investigations are crude and suggest that children are being subject to a house of horrors rather than supported in a loving environment that cares for the whole child."

The appeal was rejected in an April 4, 2007, decision.

Daniel Rivera said he and family suspect Damian may have been a victim of sudden infant death syndrome, in which children under 1 year old die unexpectedly while sleeping. According to the California SIDS Program, a program under the California Department of Health Services that helps individuals affected by SIDS, 171 babies died from SIDS in California in 2004 – about 31 out of every 100,000 births.

"If it was natural causes, we can live," Daniel Rivera said. "If it's something someone could have prevented, someone needs to pay."

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361

Judge not there...Reporter Doesn't Check it Out.

2008-02-15T12:09:00.000-08:00

Sadly, in the story below, the Judge causing the problem wasn't identified in the article.
Journalism 101 - ignored.

Court: Late Arrival Did Not Justify Immigration Hearing in Absentia

By STEVEN M. ELLIS, Staff Writer
Friday, February 15, 2008
Page 1
An immigration judge exceeded his authority by proceeding with an in absentia removal hearing after the alien showed up late, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday.

Voting 2-1 to grant Juan Antonio Perez’s petition for review of a decision ordering him removed in absentia because he failed to appear at his scheduled removal hearing on time, the court held that Perez had not failed to appear—despite arriving two hours late and after his attorney had already left—because he arrived just before the immigration judge finished for the day.

However, in a sharp dissent, Judge Pamela Ann Rymer wrote that “[t]hose facing removal should show up on time and be ready to go forward when their case is called.” She also said that “[a]t the very least, they should be in court within a few minutes of the scheduled time, or call in to explain that they will be late.”

Perez, a native and citizen of Mexico, entered the United States without inspection in 2000 and filed an application for asylum and withholding of removal in 2002.

The former Immigration and Naturalization Service—now part of the Department of Homeland Security—initiated removal proceedings against him and served him with a notice warning that failure to appear at his scheduled removal hearing could result in a removal order being entered in absentia.

Perez was making his way to the courthouse on the date of the hearing when his car overheated in the middle of rush hour traffic. He pulled the car off of the freeway and waited for it to cool, but the car overheated again after he restarted it and tried to drive on surface streets, so Perez left it and found a bus that would take him to the courthouse.

He entered the courtroom approximately two hours after hearing was to start, and the immigration judge was still on the bench. Perez approached the judge’s assistant, handing her his notice of the hearing, but at that moment the judge stood and left.

The judge’s assistant told Perez that the judge was done for the day, and that Perez was too late. The judge issued a removal order later that day.

Perez timely moved to reopen the case, but the judge denied the motion, reasoning that Perez “failed to show that his failure to appear was due to exceptional circumstances.”

The Immigration and Nationality Act requires removal in absentia of an alien who fails to appear for a removal hearing if the alien is removable and received notice of the hearing. The proceedings may only be reopened if the alien can show that the failure to appear was the result of exceptional circumstances beyond the alien’s control, such as battery or extreme cruelty to the alien or any child or parent; serious illness of the alien; or serious illness or death of the alien’s spouse, child, or parent.

The Board of Immigration Appeals summarily affirmed the judge’s decision, and Perez appealed. Although he conceded that he could not show exceptional circumstances, Perez contended that he had not failed to appear because he had arrived at the hearing while the immigration judge was still on the bench.

In an opinion by Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who was joined by Judge Betty B. Fletcher, the court agreed, rejecting Rymer’s conclusion that the decision was both inconsistent with precedent and unworkable.

“The dissent is wrong on both counts,” Reinhardt said. “We have never held that a petitioner who arrived while the [immigration judge] was still in the courtroom failed to appear. We refuse to do so now.”

Reinhardt rejected Rymer’s suggested rule as being “no more workable” than the majority’s decision, saying that a petitioner’s failure to appear would depend on the “fortuity” of when the case is called.

“The circumstances of the present case illustrate why the dissent’s rule would lead to unduly harsh results,” he wrote. “Even assuming that a car’s mechanical failure does not constitute exceptional circumstances, the reality is that cars break down and overheat.”

He continued:

“Under the dissent’s view, removal could be required under these circumstances. This would be so even where, as here, a petitioner makes a good faith attempt to (and does in fact) appear in immigration court despite the occurrence of an unforeseen event and despite the fact that the IJ is present in the courtroom and able to hear his case…

“We see no reason for so harsh a result.”

The case is Perez v. Mukasey, No. 04-73029.

Ex Cuts off Dying Wife's alimony. Reporter doesn't name Judge allowing it.

2008-02-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

Why are reporters protecting judges when Journalism 101 requires identifying the players?

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=73455

By: Dave Balut

Hudson, Fl. - Margaret Cochran is 51-years-old and wonders if she'll make it to 52. She has terminal ovarian cancer.

"I am in pain, I have problems with some of my organs working like kidneys bladder and so forth," said Cochran.

Having stage four ovarian cancer is bad enough, but Cochran has a more immediate concern. She says her ex-husband stopped paying alimony in November.

"I had contacted his wife to say why aren't you paying alimony and his response was, aren't you dead yet?" said Cochran.

Cochran's ex-husband is Stephen Paul Coleman, a 50-year-old former attorney who owns a mortgage company in Jacksonville.

Records show he's ordered to pay $1,650 a month in alimony, but a court statement indicates he's more than $11,000 behind.

"It's life or death. If I don't get it, I have nowhere to live, no medicine. No food no shelter, no vehicle, I would have nothing," said Cochran.

"If he's just ignoring it, the court's not going to have a lot of sympathy for him," said family law attorney David Plante.

Plante says the Florida Department of Revenue helps collect alimony if the person is also owed child support, but not alimony alone. So Cochran must go back to court.

"It's incumbent on him then to prove that he doesn't have the ability to pay for some reason to avoid the contempt power," said Plante.

Cochran has gone back to court in Jacksonville for alimony. She tried to have the case moved closer because of her health, but the judge said no.

"I don't think anyone should spend their last days on earth being drug through court, not being able to pay your bills," said Cochran.

Her church has helped with food and utility bills but Cochran says she's more than $8,000 behind in medical bills.

"I'm afraid I'm going to be on the street," said Cochran.

Our phone calls to Cochran's ex-husband Stephen Coleman were not returned.

But now, Cochran has some help from a family law specialist who heard about her situation. St. Petersburg attorney Wendy Doyle has offered to represent Cochran, free of charge.

Clark County judge accused of sexual misconduct.

2008-02-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

Clark County judge accused of sexual misconduct

Del Vecchio confident 'hearing will clear my name'

By DAVID KIHARA
REVIEW-JOURNAL

The special prosecutor for the Judicial Discipline Commission has accused Family Court Judge Nicholas Del Vecchio of sexual misconduct and abuse of power, including coercing a judicial assistant into having a sexual relationship with him.

The complaint alleges that the relationship dates to before Del Vecchio was a judge, when the judicial assistant, the daughter of his ex-wife, was 14.

Del Vecchio took nude photos of the girl when she was between the ages of 14 and 16 and had her perform oral sex on him, the 38-count complaint states. The complaint adds that Del Vecchio kept the photos after he became a judge but later destroyed them.

The document, which is not a criminal complaint, also accuses Del Vecchio of using racial slurs against black and Hispanic court staff and of coercing staff into buying him lunches and airline tickets.

The commission's special prosecutor, Mary Boetsch, filed the formal complaint with the Judicial Discipline Commission on Friday.

The investigation into Del Vecchio's behavior on the bench dates back to May 2006, when the Clark County Office of Diversity began looking into allegations of sexual harassment. The office investigates allegations of sexual, racial and religious harassment in the workplace.

Del Vecchio, 50, denied all accusations against him Friday night.

He said the diversity office found that there was "insufficient evidence as to all the charges."

Del Vecchio strongly denied that he had a sexual relationship with his ex-wife's 14-year-old daughter in the early 1990s. She was named in the complaint as Rebeccah Murray.

"I feel confident that a hearing will clear my name," he said.

It was unclear whether authorities had or intended to file criminal charges against Del Vecchio.

Del Vecchio and Murray broke off contact in the mid-1990's but she wound up working for him when he was serving on the bench in 2002.

Del Vecchio sought to arrange a special work schedule for Murray that would allow her to work for him, according to the complaint. The request was refused by Chief Judge Kathy Hardcastle.

The complaint says he went around Hardcastle and adjusted Murray's schedule to allow her to work and attend law school at the same time, but did so on the condition she have sex with him. Murray didn't want to have sex with Del Vecchio and had to get drunk to do it, the complaint states.

When she tried to end the relationship, Del Vecchio was hostile to her and threatened to fire her, the complaint says.

Murray filed a sexual harassment complaint against Del Vecchio with the county's diversity office in May 2006.

Del Vecchio sexually harassed other court staff, according to the complaint. He told a family court employee, Beata Funk, that he wanted to have sex with her and wanted her to wear tight shirts while campaigning for him, the complaint says.

The complaint also accuses Del Vecchio of:

• Telling another judicial assistant she should date certain attorneys because it would help him get campaign contributions from them.

• Making offensive racial comments to a Hispanic bailiff, calling him a "lazy Mexican."

• Directing a bailiff who had a part-time job with a commercial airline to obtain free tickets for him.

• And making staff baby sit the child of a girlfriend.

Only the Judicial Discipline Commission has the authority to suspend or reprimand a sitting judge, court officials said. Del Vecchio will have a chance to respond to the complaint. The commission could then have a public hearing to consider the merits of the charges.

Chuck Short, county court administrator, said the court began investigating Del Vecchio in 2006 and reported its finding to the Judicial Discipline Commission in the summer of 2006.

"At this point, the court hopes the Judicial Discipline Commission will move at lightning speed to take action due to the egregious nature of the charges," he said. "Anything less is a disservice to the community, the judge and the lawyers and individuals with cases pending before the judge."

Del Vecchio was first elected as a Family Court judge in 2000. He had lost seven previous elections. He has filed for re-election and drawn challengers Ellen Bezian, Cynthia Giuliani and Vincent Ochoa.

Ochoa, a family law attorney who has argued cases before Del Vecchio, said he was surprised when he learned the extent of the accusations. He said the judge never asked him for anything inappropriate such as a free lunch.

Ochoa said there were rumors around Family Court that Del Vecchio was being investigated, but he was shocked to learn the details of the inquiry.

"I knew he had some problems, but I never dreamed they were this bad," he said. "I think it's an embarrassment to the judiciary."

Review-Journal writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this story. Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.

CA Judges and DAs Plan to Eliminate Elections.

2008-02-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Heads up Californians. District Attorneys and Judges recently met to decide whether they should take away the right of voters to elect their judges.

What's troublesome is these elected officials feel, according to the article below from Metropolitican News; is that they have a right to.

(Readers may remember it's Bonnie Dumanis who wants less prison time for former Deputy Bruce Lowell, who shot his wife in the face, killing her in front of their small son. See (Dumanis has higher political aspirations and so courts police associations.)

Feb. 5, 2006 By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer

Several members of a judicial task force suggested yesterday that the time has come for California to find a new way of selecting and retaining trial judges.

The system of direct elections 'gave me an opportunity' to become a judge, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis acknowledged. 'But I do think it is a sleazy process.'

Dumanis made the comment in Burbank during a meeting of the Judicial Council Task Force on Judicial Selection and Retention. The task force is part of the

Statewide Commission for Impartial Courts, which was appointed by Chief Justice Ronald M. George last September.

Dumanis is one of three task force members who came to the bench by winning election to open seats. She won open seats on both the San Diego Municipal Court and the San Diego Superior Court before being elected district attorney in 2002.

The task force chair is Third District Court of Appeal Justice Ronald Robie, who won an open seat on the Sacramento Superior Court in 1980 and was elevated to the Court of Appeal 19 years later. Other members include Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Terry Friedman, who won an open seat in 1994, and David Wesley, who survived an election challenge in 2004.

Robie and Friedman both said they disliked the process.

Friedman, a member of the state Assembly at the time, agreed with Dumanis and others that elections give candidates who could not hope for a gubernatorial appointment the chance to serve. In his own case, he pointed out, it was highly unlikely that a Republican governor would have named a Democratic elected official to the bench.

But although he was 'lucky' enough to prevail, Friedman said, 'it was a terrible process.' He commented that his opponent, Valley attorney John Moriarity, 'ran as if it were a legislative office.'

Friedman offered no details yesterday, but his runoff contest with Moriarity was the most expensive judicial contest in county history to that point. Moriarity criticized Friedman for his liberal politics and membership in the ACLU, and Friedman, while not responding in kind, outspent his opponent, in part by raising money through transfers from Democratic candidates and donations by groups that had supported his legislative campaigns but usually did not involve themselves in judicial races.

Friedman said yesterday that at the time, he feared he would be defeated because he 'chose not to respond politically' to the attacks.

Earlier in the day, state courts Administrative Director William Vickrey made a presentation to the task force based on the system used in Utah, where Vickrey worked before taking up his current post.

In Utah, he explained, judges, both trial and appellate, are appointed by the governor, with the approval of the state Senate, from a list of three to seven candidates nominated by a commission. They then must seek retention by the voters, but prior to the retention election, an evaluation is conducted by the state Judicial Council.

The evaluation includes an independently administered survey of lawyers who have appeared before the judge and are asked to rate his or her performance in 14 categories. In the case of judges who regularly conduct jury trials, jurors are surveyed as well.

In addition to the survey results, judicial participation in judicial education, promptness in deciding cases, and physical and mental fitness are figured into the evaluation, and the results are published in the official ballot pamphlet when the judge faces retention.

The pamphlet also includes an explanation of the system of judicial appointment and retention.

The advantages of the system, Vickrey said, are that it keeps partisanship out of the process, while giving voters information that they can use to come to a reasoned decision.

The model would have to be modified, he acknowledged, for use in California, which has about 10 times as many judicial officers.

One option discussed by the task force was 'triggered retention' a system in which the Judicial Council or some similar body would evaluate judges and determine whether they merited retention. If a candidate failed to obtain the required amount of support within the evaluating body, whether a simple majority or more, the judge would have to take his or her case to the voters.

That and other options for retention elections are to be studied by a smaller group of task force members named yesterday. The group will be chaired by Court of Appeal Justice Walter Croskey of this district's Div. Three.

Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company

Darren Mack's "sentencing"

2008-02-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Interesting in what was missed during the hoopla of the sentencing of Darren Mack.
Although it could be expect since it involved one murder and one attempted murder.

What was missed was that although Charla Mack received support orders; Judge Weller never allowed them to be enforced. Which explains why Charla had trouble keeping the lights on while Darren continued his over-the-top, lifestyle.

But as far as no firearms at all in the courtroom - Why? A tacit admission deputies are not trained to prohibit attacks, perhaps?

See below for the s-l-o-w-e-s-t moving deputies east of the Mississippi. Please note however, how many deputies arrived and then stood around aimlessly; uselessly, after the attorney was knocked out by the prisoner.
http://videos.kentucky.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=1693323

Bad cop, no dough nut!

Billionaire Cleared to Sue Judge

2007-07-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Billionaire Gets Greenlight to Sue Judge, Lawyer

July 17, 2007
By Mike McKee

The Recorder

Self-made billionaire Thomas Siebel got the green light Monday to proceed with a malicious prosecution suit against a San Mateo County, Calif., judge and a former San Francisco Bay Area lawyer.

The California Supreme Court all but opened the courthouse door for the former Silicon Valley executive by unanimously ruling that a settlement in an underlying fraud suit constituted a favorable judgment that allows Siebel to sue the attorneys who brought the case.

The high court also dismissed arguments by Siebel's opponents, Judge Carol Mittlesteadt and E. Rick Buell II, that the ruling would discourage settlements, increase malicious prosecution actions and disrupt the attorney-client relationship.

Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems Inc., sued Mittlesteadt, then a lawyer but now a judge in San Mateo, and Buell, whom the State Bar lists as a Florida resident, for malicious prosecution after Siebel's company paid to settle a fraud suit with their client, Debra Christoffers, in 1999.

Christoffers, a one-time sales director at Siebel Systems Inc., had sued Siebel -- who made this year's list of billionaires in Forbes -- claiming she had been unfairly fired, subjected to gender discrimination and defrauded out of major commissions and stock options. Only the fraud claims went to trial.

Christoffers won a jury verdict of about $234,000, but only against the company, not Siebel himself. Various issues were appealed by both sides, with a subsequent settlement agreement requiring Siebel Systems to give Christoffers $352,000 as long as she paid Thomas Siebel's $52,000 in costs.

However, the agreement -- pulled together by a third lawyer retained by Christoffers -- specifically stated it would not prevent Siebel from going after Mittlesteadt and Buell for malicious prosecution. It did prevent Christoffers from assisting her ex-lawyers during subsequent litigation.

The question before the Supreme Court was whether the settlement agreement represented a favorable termination of the underlying fraud suit for Siebel. Under California law, a malicious prosecution suit cannot stand unless the person who filed it proves the underlying case was terminated in his or her favor.

Mittlesteadt and Buell had argued that the settlement agreement created an ambiguity about the merits of the fraud suit. They claimed Siebel settled, he didn't win.

The Supreme Court didn't agree.

Neither Mittlesteadt nor her appellate lawyer, Tony Tanke of Davis, Calif., returned calls seeking comment. Buell couldn't be reached for comment and he didn't respond to an e-mail. Robin Meadow, the partner at Los Angeles' Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland who represented Siebel, said he couldn't comment without his client's permission.

Judge Says FBI acted with Callous Disregard

2007-03-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

U.S. Dist. Judge determines the Reno FBI and U.S. Attorneys Office acted with callous disregard of Mr. Montgomery’s Fourth Amendment rights, as the earlier order from Judge Cooke on November 28, 2006, was affirmed on March 19, 2007.

Ruling in Trepp case raises questions about Gibbons' role

The story unfolds, below.

How Deep Does Political Corruption Run?

Although most of the case was sealed...it's looking as if Pandora's Box will open any minute - affording the general public a breathtaking display of the lengths the FBI will go to protect its perceived political interests rather than protecting Amercians from attack - although the below lack of experience by the FBI agent, is enough to give anyone the willies.

However, what's Always true is:

A good government is a transparent government.

FBI After Public Officials Not Paying 'Electric Bill. Wow! Big Crimes.

2007-03-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

In the "Why write Fiction" department - the FBI is investigating a Memphis City Councilmember who didn't pay his bills.

Sunday, 03/18/07
Memphis councilman may have violated open government law
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A councilman at the center of an FBI investigation may have violated the state's open government law when he talked privately to council members about supporting the man who would eventually become president of the city's utility.

Lawyers hired by the City Council have been trying to interview the president and CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, Joseph Lee, as part of an independent probe into the utility accounts of Councilman Edmund Ford. The lawyers are scheduled to present their findings on Tuesday.

The FBI is investigating why the utility protected Ford's business and residential utility services from disconnection even though he owed more than $16,000.

Records show Lee aided in that by telling his staff to keep Ford's utilities on.

According to a councilman and other records recently obtained by The Commercial Appeal, Ford played a pivotal role in getting Lee his position and may have violated the law in doing so.

In the days leading up to a 2004 City Council vote on whether Lee should head the utility, Council Chairman Tom Marshall said Ford lined up votes behind the scenes to ensure Lee got the job.

Marshall said Ford privately lobbied council members, claiming Lee's appointment would end "the racial gridlock we were in."

Tennessee's Open Meetings Act prohibits deliberation of public business in closed meetings or electronic communication.

In 1990, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that Shelby County commissioners violated the law when they discussed privately with each other, including in phone conversations, which candidate they would like to fill a board vacancy.

"He did ask me to consider voting for Lee," Marshall said. "He said that as far as he was concerned, it was becoming a very racial issue and we did not need that at the time."

The council eventually voted 7-5 to appoint Lee.

Ford served as chairman of the City Council's General Services & Utilities Committee, which oversees the city-owned utility, until December when he was removed from the post after his arrest on federal bribery charges.

The utility's systems were also set up to notify top utility employees if more than a dozen other Memphis politicos, including Mayor Willie Herenton and some City Council members, faced service cutoff due to unpaid bills.

In a letter to the council last week, Lee's lawyer, Robert Spence said Lee denies ever receiving monetary benefits or items of value from Ford or council members.

Spence also said Lee won't be cooperating in the council's independent investigation because he has already testified before a federal grand jury investigating the utility.

FBI is Not Interested in Crime.

2007-03-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

Slight Problem with Law Enforcement. Try to find some.

In an update to the story of lying CHP officers, The Public on the Hook for 2 Million Dollars

the FBI did get back to Steve Grassilli's attorney.
We Are Truly Not Interested.

Yes, the FBI is Not going to investigate the case. Neither is the District Attorney's office, where Bill Gore, former head of the FBI's San Diego branch, now collects a pay check. (See earlier posts.)

So the secret's out. Crooks welcome in San Diego. (As if the Pension scandal didn't convince you). Come on down.

San Diegans? Raise your hand whose surprised.

(Scanning the terrain..)

Hey look Ma, no hands.

NY Lawyers San Ethics - San Diego Wants You!

2007-03-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Partner Admits Ethics Violations While Prosecutor

New York Lawyer
March 16, 2007

By Brendan Smith
Legal Times

Faced with overwhelming evidence of his misconduct in a witness-payment scandal, former federal prosecutor G. Paul Howes has admitted to violations of six ethics rules.

Responding to charges filed last month by D.C. Bar Counsel, Howes admits he made a false statement to a tribunal, intentionally failed to disclose required discovery to the defense, and engaged in conduct involving “dishonesty or misrepresentation” and conduct that “seriously interfered with the administration of justice.”

In a stipulation with Bar Counsel released last week, Howes, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District in the 1990s, denies that he committed criminal acts or offered unlawful inducements to witnesses.

Both Bar Counsel and a 1998 Justice Department probe found that Howes disbursed more than $140,000 in federal witness vouchers to 132 people during the Newton Street gang trial and another murder trial, making improper payments to witnesses, friends and relatives of witnesses, and former police officers.

Howes is scheduled for an April 11 hearing before the Board on Professional Responsibility, which could recommend sanctions including disbarment. Howes, now a partner in the San Diego office of Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, and his defense attorney, Plato Cacheris, would not comment last week on his case. But Howes’ response to the charges states that the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not have a clear policy on witness-voucher payments at the time and that he “was continually in trial for approximately 18 months with minimal support, assistance, or supervision.”

Cacheris, who has represented Monica Lewinsky and FBI turncoat Robert Hanssen, is leading a high-profile defense team, including John Hundley and Barry Coburn from his firm, Trout Cacheris, and Steven Tabackman from Tighe Patton Armstrong Teasdale, who also used to be a federal prosecutor in the District.

Does the FBI Support Full On Judicial Corruption?

2007-03-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Interesting that the attorneys currently going gang-busters in the Nevada's Governor Jim Gibbons' corruption case, ran into a brick wall in San Diego.

(Raise your hand whose surprised.)

When they wondered why Judith McConnell routed all of the ball park cases to herself, San Diego FBI agents said they hadn't gotten the Green light in DC to open a formal investigation.

Huh?

That's core politics, not investigative work. Since when must a local office ask permission before investigating corruption? If that's true what's next?

Unfortunately, next is generally more corruption at an expanded level.

Consider the pattern within the District Attorney's Office, which may explain the too cozy relationship with the DA behind the FBI's systematic slacking.

Consider: Bill Gore who didn't investigate judges when he headed up the FBI, is now working with the District Attorney's Office.

Consider: District Attorney's Office now houses Casey Gwinn and who can explain why the FBI isn't investigating Gwinn particularly after San Diego's $20,000,000.00 Kroll report described San Diego's "Culture of Corruption" during a time GWINN was City Attorney.

Since our tax dollars are paying for this, shouldn't the public demand accountability? Or a refund? Otherwise history will simply continue repeating itself, with agents who should be fired, drawing paychecks instead, and as history demonstrates; the crooks in the District Attorney's Office have operated at the highest level.

Former deputy DA enters guilty plea

Longanbach could face jail for running private business on county's time

By J. Harry Jones
STAFF WRITER

November 10, 2001

The former head of the district attorney's economic fraud unit pleaded guilty yesterday to a felony charge of grand theft for using county employees and equipment for his personal business.

Peter J. Longanbach, 56, could face up to three years in prison and the loss of his license to practice law. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18. [Update - Longanbach easily avoided jail. With a nod to Justice San Diego Style; Longanbach was fined and sentenced to teaching poor kids how to play golf.]

Longanbach admitted he operated his real estate business on county time out of the district attorney's downtown offices.

"I used San Diego district attorney staff to prepare personal documents," he wrote in his guilty plea form. "I used San Diego District Attorney's Office fax, copy machine and telephone equipment for personal purposes, and I worked on private matters during district attorney office hours."

In a plea bargain with the state Attorney General's Office, Longanbach and state prosecutors agreed to give San Diego Superior Court Judge Kenneth So wide latitude in deciding Longanbach's punishment.

Although Longanbach pleaded guilty to a felony, his attorney, Pat Swan, will be allowed to ask So to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, which could allow him to continue practicing law. The attorney general will argue against a reduction.

While Longanbach technically could be sentenced to as much as three years in prison, Deputy Attorney General Adrianne Denault told So the state will seek no more than one year in local jail.

Longanbach also agreed to pay San Diego County $25,000 in restitution for the money stolen by his use of the secretaries and equipment.

Outside of court, Swan said the restitution is far more money than he thinks Longanbach, a Rancho Santa Fe resident, should have to pay, but said it was agreed to in order to dispose of the case.

Longanbach retired in March 2000 from his position as one of District Attorney Paul Pfingst's department chiefs after state investigators searched his house and the District Attorney's Office for evidence.

The allegations were initially raised within the District Attorney's Office by secretaries, legal assistants and prosecutors who worked under Longanbach and complained to their superiors.

Pfingst said he reprimanded Longanbach but was unaware he continued misusing staff and equipment. Pfingst's discipline in the case has been cited by many of his critics in what has become a sharply divided office.

Earlier this week the San Diego Deputy District Attorneys Association returned a vote of no-confidence in Pfingst's leadership. Two-thirds of the prosecutors who voted cast ballots against Pfingst.

A special grand jury indicted Longanbach in February on 12 felony charges following a 17-month investigation by the state.

Thirty-four witnesses testified before the grand jury, most of them fellow employees and prosecutors who worked with Longanbach.

Had he been convicted at trial of all counts, Longanbach could have faced eight years in prison.

The indictment was dismissed yesterday as part of the plea. Instead, the new grand theft charge was filed and admitted by Longanbach, who has been free without bail.

"This whole process has been extremely expensive and wearing on his family," Swan said, explaining why Longanbach agreed to the deal.

Longanbach left the courthouse without commenting.

Pfingst, through his spokeswoman Liz Pursell, said it was inappropriate to comment on the plea.

"This case has not been concluded," Pursell said. "We still have a sentencing in January."

Copyright 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

-------------------------------------

LEN DAVEY - The FBI marries the Peter Principle.

2007-03-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2007

The Peter Principle lives.

Peter Lance's "Triple Cross" aside, the Peter Principle lives, coursing through the veins of purported agent supervisor Len Davey. With the agents we spoke with, it seems to be a departmental affliction.

For newer readers, the San Diego branch of the FBI has significant problems.

An absence of professionalism coupled with an attitude most often seen in surfers who don't actually want a job - Service is not the watch-word in San Diego.

As such, San Diegans would do well to erase any visuals of hard-working crime fighting agents. With San Diego's long history of judges being convicted of bribery, we suspect there would be more if agents possessed some kind of work ethic. But this is not the case.

Neither should San Diegans picture lazy agents, avoiding work. No, a more accurate picture is it's much darker than that.

Picture a bureaucracy of agents who refuse to get out of their chairs.

Picture a bureaucracy of agents who refuse to identify themselves.

Picture a bureaucracy of agents who under no circumstances will be accountable in any manner.

Sometimes it really is just that simple.

Alleged supervisor LEN DAVEY refused on four separate occasions to identify his supervisor. He was asked his supervisors name after saying,

"Well if you insist on giving us information, you can come down..."

Insist on giving them information? We have to do their jobs too?

That seems so bizarre, we decided to record the call. When informed we were going to record the call, our G-MAN bravely hung up.

In one of several call backs, we next spoke to STEVE HARLEY Harley fancies himself a comedian. Short on material, Harley likewise refused to provide basic information. Information as to DAVEY's boss. Before hanging up HARLEY invited us to call "headquarters" adding in a sing song voice,

Have a nice day!

Then he hung up.

Another fine example of San Diego's professional G-MEN at work!

With management like this, San Diegans simply can't express surprise at the continuing level of public corruption, or any kind of future attack.

Sometimes it is just that simple.

Stay tuned.

Incompetent or Just plain Lazy? - You Decide

2007-03-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2007

Around 6:00p.m. I received a call from FBI agent John Ireland. He wanted to reschedule our meeting...the one he canceled last week.

Turns out Ireland wasn't interested in looking into the evidence I have concerning myself and a Judge who talked to his DA wife about a trial during the trial, or abuse of San Diego Police under color of authority, and a California attorney who engineered it...

Ireland informed me he was only interested evidence I have concerning certain City, County and State officials. (I am three for three in this area.) But not in any others. Why? Because he either can't, or doesn't want to see a connection. Makes his job easier.

Ergo, does this the FBI's own pr on how they see itself,
Not Worth the Time it Takes to Read?

My guess is "Yes."

In 2003, when my attorney and I first dropped by, I still believed government officials were interested in doing their job. But I was younger then and she hustled me out saying that the FBI Day Agent was but a window dressing.

This seems to be true in the case of Ireland. But is he a typical example of a not-willing-to-investigate, agent?

Don't know. No clue. So I asked Ireland the name of his supervisor, and additionally that he telephone me, tommorow.

Ireland's supervisor is LEN DAVEY and we'll see if he calls.

However, is it any wonder people are so disgusted with government?

It's almost as if government is determined to remain broken. Common sense dictates When the Justice Department issues a report featuring many FBI personnel violating the rights of thousands of Americans, they can at the Very least conduct a thorough investigation.

Yet this concept seems not only almost completely foreign to Ireland...but one he has no interest in grasping.

Time will tell if the supervisor is any better.

Stay tuned. But meanwhile for a little light reading.

FBI informers' hotel orgy led U.S. prosecutor to shelve cases

Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 8, 2006

U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton refused to prosecute a major Arizona corruption case after learning that FBI informers sexually abused an unconscious prostitute during a Las Vegas hotel orgy, according to a letter sent by Charlton to the bureau's top Arizona agent at the time.

There are no allegations that FBI personnel participated in the orgy. However, Charlton's letter complained that agents did not mention the incident in official reports nor did they advise prosecutors of possible crimes committed in the hotel room, including knowledge that "one of the women in the suite may have been raped."

Charlton's conclusion: "Our office will not prosecute any additional cases involving any of these individuals (informers) until the circumstances of the Oct. 16, 2002, incidents in Las Vegas are fully investigated."

Seventy-one U.S. military personnel, prison guards and law enforcement workers have been convicted in the sting known as Operation Lively Green, which involved undercover operatives and agents posing as Mexican narcotics traffickers. The government employees were bribed to haul cocaine from southern Arizona to Phoenix and Las Vegas, sometimes wearing uniforms and using military vehicles.

Charlton's letter of March 29, 2004, to Charlene Thornton, then-FBI special agent in charge for Arizona, suggests that crimes by informers and questionable conduct by agents were so troubling that he backed away from the case entirely.

Thornton said in an interview that she recalls the letter and Charlton's decision to drop the case. She said Charlton sought an investigation by the Inspector General's Office. After that request was declined, she said, the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility reviewed the allegations and exonerated all agents.

Charlton declined to comment.

Deb McCarley, a bureau spokeswoman in Phoenix, describes Lively Green as "one of the most successful public-corruption cases in the FBI's history" but said she could not comment further because prosecutions still are pending.

The Justice Department's Office of Public Integrity wound up pressing charges, allowing each defendant to plead guilty to a single felony with no public trials or disclosures in U.S. District Court.

Charlton's letter to Thornton spells out the Nevada events of Oct. 16, 2002, in detail: Eleven suspects had just delivered 132 pounds of cocaine from southern Arizona to Las Vegas. FBI agents rented the presidential suite at the MGM Grand Hotel for three informers who invited a half-dozen targets to join them. That night, five prostitutes were hired to participate in an orgy with the men.

The letter says one of the prostitutes fell unconscious because of drug or alcohol consumption and was draped naked over a chair. It says she may have been sodomized by informers and suspects, who also posed for pictures with the woman.

Disclosure papers from a military court previously revealed that the photographic evidence was destroyed after an FBI agent told one of the informers he "did not want to see them again."

Charlton said in his letter that, under Justice Department rules, he felt obliged to tell state or county prosecutors in Las Vegas about the suspected criminal conduct of FBI informers.

Clark County, Nev., District Attorney David Roger said he never was contacted about the MGM Grand incident by the U.S. Attorney's Office or the FBI. Police in Las Vegas said they never were asked to investigate.

Thornton said Charlton's letter contained "some conclusions that wouldn't be supported by the facts," but she declined to elaborate.

She also disputed a disclosure report in military court that says a key FBI agent was removed from Operation Lively Green as a result of the Office of Professional Responsibility inquiry.

"There was no misconduct found," Thornton said, "so there was no action taken as a result of the internal investigation."

Five months after Charlton wrote the letter, Thornton was appointed by FBI Director Robert Mueller as assistant director at the bureau's Inspection Division, in charge of internal investigations and professional conduct. She said she had no part in reviewing behavior by agents in Lively Green.

According to the military court disclosure, there was no surveillance on the hotel suite during the night in question. It is unclear why FBI agents, amid a major sting operation, would not have set up eavesdropping devices in a room rented for informers.

McCarley, the Phoenix FBI spokeswoman, said Lively Green "underscores the FBI's commitment to fighting public corruption at all levels of government. . . . (When) all remaining prosecutive activity is complete, the FBI will be in a position to offer comment on this investigation.

A Short History of the FBI's latest PR Goof

2007-03-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

The FBI's latest "Call 877-NO BRIBE" goof of a pr campaign.

A couple of attorneys and myself tried to give the FBI information a couple of years ago regarding public corruption. Discovered the "Day Agent" is little more than a window dressing.

So when the FBI's latest public relations attempt "Call 877-NO BRIBE" rolled out I called.

However, my message was "Calling 877-NO BRIBE" one of the easily identifiable pr campaigns I'd seen in a while - disguising the fact that our government is broken."

Reminded them Carol Lau, head of the U.S. Attorney's office who brought down The Most Corrupt Congressman (Randy "Duke" Cunningham) in the entire history of our country, was fired. Not that she didn't miss overlooking the obvious.

One must ask why, if former councilmember Valerie Stallings plea deal spells out her taking bribes from John Moores, why John Moores was not prosectued.

No investigation in why Real Estate Department attorney Brett Maxfield was fired after outing cozy real estate doing with San Diego's current mayor.

Suggested if they wanted more evidence of judicial corruption to give me a call. An cheerful agent telephoned.

The agent suggested I drop by their office Monday, March 5, 2007 to talk further. Not wishing to further waste my time I declined, stating a prior history of good citizen's being ignored.

So they're coming to my place on Monday to pick up earlier stuff, and more.

Naturally they asked me not to talk about it.

Me not talking won't happen. Here's why.

1. When the Marin County Grand Jury voted to investigate Family Court Judges - the DA rushed in and said the Grand Jury over stepped their role. That sparked a recall election which the Marin IJ, the biggest local paper completely torpedoed. (The Coastal Post did not) http://www.coastalpost.com/01/5/07.htm. However, the FBI decided to investigate. People they talked with reported they were asked to keep quiet. Surprise, nothing happened.

2. In the Pellicano case; Dennis Wasser, the original lawyer who suggested Pellicano go after Steve Kolodny (the most ethical and brilliant divorce attorney in the nation, Period) probably because he couldn't win legitimately against Kolodny, who represented Lisa Bonner against her ex, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian. The FBI asked Kolodny not to talk to the press and he agreed. Surprise, nothing ever happened to Wasser.

3. Peter Lance's "Triple Cross." A detailed study of utter incompetence within the FBI, richly rewarded.

4. History. San Diego has sent three judges to prison, so it's not as if they're unaware of reality. However, it was San Diego in the 70's where a bunch of Navy housewives unable to get answers from government about whether their husbands were killed or POW's, first took action. Government asked them to keep quiet - indicating things might not go well for their husband's otherwise.

For a while the wives believed Navy officials shushing them. But only for a while. Sitting around kitchen tables they decided to go to the Paris Peace Talks to ask one simple question: "Are we wives or are we widows?" To pay for the trip they had bake sales. They made bracelets. (I bought three). Keeping quiet is not the answer.

Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

See www.USAjudge.com

(the site that bypasses State Judicial Commissions to provide the public with reports on the judiciary.)

Turns out, the public has a right to worry. Our government is broken. We must fix it.

Comes now from AP

PST WASHINGTON (AP) --
March 9, 2007

The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization, according to the 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.

The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.

Still, "we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," the audit concludes.

At issue are the security letters, a power outlined in the Patriot Act that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The letters, or administrative subpoenas, are used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers — without a judge's approval.

About three-fourths of the national security letters were issued for counterterror cases, and the other fourth for spy investigations.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller called Fine's audit "a fair and objective review of the FBI's use of a proven and useful investigative tool."
The finding "of deficiencies in our processes is unacceptable," Mueller said in a statement.

"We strive to exercise our authorities consistent with the privacy protections and civil liberties that we are sworn to uphold," Mueller said. "Anything less will not be tolerated. While we've already taken some steps to address these shortcomings, I am ordering additional corrective measures to be taken immediately."

Fine's annual review is required by Congress, over the objections of the Bush administration.
The audit released Friday found that the number of national security letters issued by the FBI skyrocketed in the years after the Patriot Act became law.

In 2000, for example, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 letters. By 2003, however, that number jumped to 39,000. It rose again the next year, to about 56,000 letters in 2004, and dropped to approximately 47,000 in 2005.

Over the entire three-year period, the audit found the FBI issued 143,074 national security letters requesting customer data from businesses.

The FBI vastly underreported the numbers. In 2005, the FBI told Congress that its agents in 2003 and 2004 had delivered only 9,254 national security letters seeking e-mail, telephone or financial information on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents over the previous two years.

Additionally, the audit found, the FBI identified 26 possible violations in its use of the national security letters, including failing to get proper authorization, making improper requests under the law and unauthorized collection of telephone or Internet e-mail records.

Of the violations, 22 were caused by FBI errors, while the other four were the result of mistakes made by the firms that received the letters.

The FBI also used so-called "exigent letters," signed by officials at FBI headquarters who were not authorized to sign national security letters, to obtain information. In at least 700 cases, these exigent letters were sent to three telephone companies to get toll billing records and subscriber information.

"In many cases, there was no pending investigation associated with the request at the time the exigent letters were sent," the audit concluded.

The letters inaccurately said the FBI had requested subpoenas for the information requested — "when, in fact, it had not," the audit found.

Senators outraged over the conclusions signaled they would provide tougher oversight of the FBI — and perhaps limits its power.

"I am very concerned that the FBI has so badly misused national security letters," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., another member on the judiciary panel, said the report "proves that 'trust us' doesn't cut it."

Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "commends the work of the inspector general in uncovering serious problems in the FBI's use of NSLs."
___
On the Net:
The report is at:
www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/index.htm

www.FamilyLawCourts.com
and a good government is a transparent one: See www.USAjudges.com
a site that bypasses State Judicial Commissions to provide the public with reports on the judiciary.