Los Angeles Times Continues Silence On Subject of Corruption

Savannah Winslow shares her latest email to Los Angeles Times writer George Skelton:

"[California Senate President] Darrell Steinberg.  Fearless proponent?  Or lapdog."

"Steinberg co-authored Senate Bill SBX2-11, the 'smoking gun' proof of judicial corruption in Los Angeles County.  SBX2-11, you'll recall, forgave the commission of (literally) ten million felonies committed by Superior Court Judges and County Supervisors under a scheme specifically forbidden by the Constitution.  The scheme involved counties illegally giving judges (who are well-paid state employees) monies under the table, hidden from the public for at least twenty years.  'Smoking gun proof' in the sense that there was no need to retroactively immunize an act unless a crime had been committed." 

"By the end of this month, at least eight judges will have been sued, as individuals not judicial officers (meaning no immunity), as a result of their having received County monies while ruling in cases in which the County has an interest, a clear denial of due process and an obstruction of justice.  Thousands of such cases will be filed before this is over.  (The geniuses who crafted SBX2-11, which included former Chief Justice Ronald George, neglected to immunize the guilty for every crime committed, just the first three, apparently, that came to mind.  Viewed in a different light, major malpractice occurred.  This legal exposure no doubt contributed to George's sudden decision to 'resign', presumably hoping that doing so would stave off the inevitable indictments.)  In the two lawsuits against individual judges that have already been filed and served, the entire court has recused itself, meaning the matter will ultimately be heard by judges in different counties ... one of the three counties where judges did not receive the payments, many of whom are jealous as hell."

"Will Steinberg again be able to cover Antonovich, Knabe and the judges' backsides?  One would think that Antonovich and Knabe already have enough to worry about, what with the collapsing [Shores] marina development / leasing deal as HUD panics and the U.S. Attorney's Office refers the matter to the FBI for investigation."

"Why are these things never reported by the Times?  Is somebody pulling strings that shouldn't be?  Does anyone over there have any integrity anymore?  (sigh)  These shenanigans have cost L.A. County taxpayers, including Times employees, over a billion dollars.  And that's just the part that's known for sure.  The unknown losses could well have neutralized the current financial "crisis".  Instead, the fatcats just keep getting fatter ... while the folks that could actually do something about it pretend to be looking in a different direction, oblivious to the impact of the crime of the century."

"Shame on those folks.  Shame."

Savannah S. Winslow

The Times' response? Crickets.  When will the media's malpractice end?  Are they somehow benefiting from the corruption?

Richard Fine Thanks Supporters

Guest post by Dr. Richard I. Fine:

Dear Friends:

Please excuse my delay in communicating with you. I am still recovering from the 18 months of incarceration.

On behalf of my wife Maryellen, my daughter Tory and myself, I thank you for all of your prayers and efforts to help win my freedom.

The fight against corruption and to restore our judicial system is not easy. However, together, we have demonstrated that we will not allow our constitutional rights to be destroyed  by corrupt judges. Judge Yaffe resigned from office after I reported him to the California Commission on Judicial Performance and sought his removal. Ronald M. George, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court who knowingly oversaw the illegal county payments to the California judges has resigned from office rather that run for re-election. We have had an impact. We currently have requests for grand jury investigations of judges pending and requests for congressional investigations pending. The crusade is gathering steam.

We must now be ever vigilant to vote out all judges and justices in California who received the illegal payments, ensure that corruption does not occur in other states and in the federal judiciary, and pursue our grand jury and congressional investigations.

We now have the momentum! Let us continue together to victory.

Once again, a BIG thank you. Without your prayers and support, I would never have survived this ordeal.

God Bless You.

Richard     

 (View video of Dr. Fine's discussion with Leslie Dutton of Full Disclosure Network here as he talks about his darkest hours ... and his new-found hope for the future.)

!! RICHARD FINE FREED !! Right Trumps Might ... Again !

In a stunning new development, whistle-blowing attorney Richard I. Fine was released from Men's Central Jail late last evening (Sept. 17th) by L.A. Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe, whom Fine had forced to reveal had perpetuated fraud on the court in continually trying to defend himself by relying on what turned out to be a non-existent court order.

Full Disclosure Network, headed by tireless Emmy winner Leslie Dutton (and aided by the equally indefatigable T.J. Johnston), was first (as usual) to learn of Fine's impending release.  Although Fine was the sole author of all legal briefs filed in his case, his freedom could never have been obtained without Full Disclosure's regular and relentless exposure of the corruption as each element was uncovered.  California citizens ... indeed all Americans ... owe a huge debt of gratitude for Full Disclosure's determination.  (UPDATE:  View Dr. Fine's first post-incarceration video interview HERE.)

Judge Yaffe announced his "retirement", effective November 1st, after Fine's legal maneuvering forced him to reveal his false statements made to numerous courts over the past three years as he scrambled to hide his corrupt acts which furthered the illegal activities of a local developer, aided by L.A. County Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Don Knabe.  But rather than disappear into obscurity as a result of the shame he brought upon himself, his family, and California's judiciary, Yaffe is instead rumored to be planning to immediately return to the bench as a retired assigned judge, positions staffed by the Administrative Office of the Courts ... an entity so rife with corruption the Legislature was recently compelled to pass a bill protecting whistle-blowers whose complaints had repeatedly been thwarted by the AOC (headed by, surprise, Chief Justice Ronald M. George, who was also recently forced to "retire" as allegations of his own corrupt acts began to snowball).  Judge Yaffe should instead experience the future he so richly deserves: he should be forced to swap places with Dr. Fine:

Dr. Fine, understandably exuberant following his triumph, will spend the weekend re-acclimating himself to freedom and the comforts of home and family.  The specifics of implementing his next move to continue the clean-up of California's shady judicial system are still to be determined.

Dr. Fine would like to send a big THANK YOU to all of you who donated (time and/or money) to this cause.  Without YOUR help, it would never have been possible.  Pat yourselves on the back for helping save America's future.  Thanks are also due to Troy Anderson of L.A.'s Metropolitan News-Enterprise and other reporters who saw the truth and reported it ... unlike the crooks' protectors at the Los Angeles Times, who should be ASHAMED of themselves for failing so miserably at their jobs!

UPDATE:  Full Disclosure Network reveals Yaffe's true intent in jailing Dr. Fine:

“By keeping him incarcerated for 18 months, the court has deterred others from defying its orders to the extent that it is possible to do so given the facts of this case.”  Judge David P. Yaffe

So now we know the truth, from Yaffe's own lips.  It was to intimidate any other attorney who may be considering fighting void orders created to protect and further judicial corruption.

UPDATE:  Ron Kaye, former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News, calls out Yaffe on his hypocrisy:

"Why it took Yaffe 18 months to determine Fine's confinement does not serve 'any useful purpose' is hard to understand unless you know the judge is regarded by attorneys who have appeared before him as erratic and often irrational in his decisions."

"So I guess if Yaffe resorted in the end to self-justification by calling Fine crazy, it's something he knows about -- if only a juvenile name-calling excuse."

"Maybe Fine is crazy, maybe everybody who fights for what they believe in is crazy."

"That's certainly the viewpoint of every repressive regime and of every oppressor in modern history. That's why they use gulags, and prisons for the politically incorrect."

"The legal standard for coercive confinement in a contempt of court case is five days in jail, after which it is presumed the incarcerated will not back down. Yaffe exceeded that by [526] days."

"There was never any question Fine would break. His whole life is marked by an obsessive passion for doing what he believe is right, fighting against illegal taxation and official abuses."

"As Yaffe knows, the legal standard for insanity is knowing the difference between right and wrong. The question which deserves a proper judicial inquiry is whether Yaffe -- not Fine -- can tell the difference."

Very insightful, Mr. Kaye!  You're spot on.

Still, despite all of Yaffe's faults, let us all remember that he was NOT the author of the illegal payment scheme.  The blame for that rests solely with Mike Antonovich and Ronald George.

David P. Yaffe -- When Did Being "Honorable" Stop Being A Requirement For Being A Judge?

REPOST of Sept. 11, 2009 entry:

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Judge David P. Yaffe apparently has no fans ... in fact, he seems to be utterly reviled. Little wonder he's failed to act with any shred of honor in refusing to disqualify himself from judging cases in which LA County is a party while simultaneously receiving illegal payments from the County. (Given that LA County no longer loses lawsuits filed against it when decided by its judges, many are now recognizing that the "payments" are, in fact, "bribes".)

For example, on May 22, 2001, journalist Roger M. Grace of the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, reported with refreshing honesty:

"I can’t stand him. ... From what I’ve observed, Yaffe does, to his credit, read the briefs. And he has a substantial quantum of law memorized. To his discredit, however, he’s a nasty and arrogant SOB."

"Chief among the quirks is that he indulges in a fantasy of infallibility. He decides cases on bases not advanced by the parties, but conjured up by himself, and does not permit an opportunity to brief the propositions he’s interjected. After all, a proposition spawned by David P. Yaffe could not possibly be wrong."

"My negative perception of this jurist, I have found, is shared by others. If I bring up the topic of David Yaffe in conversations, I hear comments such as 'he’s crazy' and 'he’s a contrarian son of a bitch.' (Each of the persons so labeling Yaffe is a leading practitioner.) A Superior Court judge told me he avoided talking with Yaffe at a judges’ event, saying, 'I would have puked all over him.'"

In responding to Mr. Grace's questionnaire concerning Judge Yaffe, lawyers had these things to say:

A lawyer who says she appeared in Yaffe’s courtroom two or three times when he was in a trial department comments: "I never really had a pleasant experience with him," explaining: "I found him to be rude."

She notes that he "seemed to be consistent" — that is, consistently rude. It wasn’t like he was having a bad day," the attorney says. She recounts: "My reaction was: why is this guy a judge if he hates lawyers?"

If the presiding judge asked her opinion as to whether Yaffe should be returned to a trial department, she says, "I would recommend against it." Where does he belong? "Retired," she responds.

(In a letter last year to then-Presiding Judge Victor Chavez, I made a somewhat different suggestion: "The reassignment of Yaffe to some other court would be in the public’s interest. [¶] I believe he should be in Department 95. That, of course, has nothing to do with where he should preside.")

Another lawyer recounts:

"I served on a committee with him that revised the local rules in ’94, ’95. He was very jealous of judicial prerogatives.

"The goal of the committee was to make the rules uniform. ... We were trying to abolish the secret rules, the rules on the clipboard."

That goal, he observes, was not shared by Yaffe.

MUCH more at link.

On another site, Courthouse Forum, the following comment about Judge Yaffe was lodged:

The horror stories related by [Roger] Grace in 2001 are mild compared to the manner in which Yaffe has degenerated. In my experience, he has a fascist mentality and a sadist's heart.

In one case, the City denied the existence of a hearing audio tape that was central to the case. The city submitted false declarations under penalty of perjury about the tape's not existing. Petitioner insisted that it saw the meeting being recorded. Two days after Yaffe's adverse ruling, the hearing officer was caught trying to slip the "non-existent" tape back into the achieves. Within the required 10 days, Petitioner brought the tape to Judge Yaffe's attention, reminding him of the prior false representations that the tape did not exist. Rather than hear the Reconsideration Motion, Judge Yaffe promptly dismissed the entire case and refused to even hold a hearing on the perjury and withholding of evidence.

Yaffe acts more like a mob hit man than a jurist. While I doubt he actually kills people ... his job is to kill lawsuits that harm the special interests, primarily developers. The mob analogy is not out of line. The entire superior court system is run more akin to a mob operation than a system of justice.

Lawyers do not have to fear only retaliation from vindictive judges like Yaffe, but from a host of other judges. This systemic corruption of the California judiciary places attorneys ... in a double bind: When they are silent, they endanger the public by allowing men like Yaffe to remain on the bench, but if they speak up, they endanger their other clients to which they owe fiduciary duties.

More observations about Yaffe here.

David Yaffe swore an oath to defend the Constitution.  He must be held fully accountable for violating it.

"The Flaying Of The Corrupt Judge Sisamnes"

UPDATE:  Richard Fine files Notice of Farr Hearing, set for Wednesday, May 26th at 9:30 am, Judge Yaffe's courtroom (Dept. 86) LA Superior Court.  (Dr. Fine's incarceration for "contempt of court" should have been limited to five days under the Farr Doctrine.)


UPDATE:  Yaffe repeatedly refuses to hold Farr Hearings, taking the filing fees but not holding hearings.


UPDATE:  See results of "RateTheCourts.com" concerning Yaffe.  It seems he earned solid "F"s across the board, even from staff, from those who've encountered him.  The most telling one was this:  

"I was called as a witness on a case before Judge Yaffe. Earlier, I was having dinner in a restaurant and was sitting near Judge Yaffe and I heard him discuss details of the case with attorneys representing a government entity. It looked like the dinner tab was picked up by the attorneys. Later, I saw the same attorneys in court when I was called to appear in court. The Judge did not remember me. I think it was because my presence was out of context. I feared that he would recognize me nad he would get start screaming mad like he has done in the past. I felt "FREE" once I left the court building. I never thought our court system was this crooked. It looks to me that it is NEVER about the law, but always about WHO one knows (Judge Yaffe)."

Credits:

1498-1499
Oil on panel
Bruges, Groenige Museum
http://www.aiwaz.net/gallery/flaying-of-the-corrupt-judge-sisamnes/gi637c101

Image credit: "There was a crooked man ..."
Scott Gustafson
http://www.scottgustafson.com/Gallery_DR_NR_CM.html

"Robert Kennedy speaks out against Retroactive Immunity"

REPOST of Aug 18, 2009 entry: 

Oct 21, 2007, article by Glenn Greenwald at Salon Magazine:

The very idea of "retroactive immunity" ... is so radical, so repugnant to the most basic principles of the "rule of law," that only one prior attempt can be found in recent history (at least from my research): the efforts by some in Congress in 1965 to enact a law retroactively legalizing the mergers by six large banks which clearly -- as a federal court found -- were illegal under our nation's antitrust laws.

The banks knew when they merged that they were almost certainly violating anti-trust laws. But they did it anyway. And when courts began ruling that their behavior was illegal, they ran to Congress to demand that a law be passed granting them amnesty, claiming that the consequences would be ruinous if they were held accountable under the law.

But the very concept of retroactive amnesty -- the idea that corporations could break the law and then have Congress pass a special law legalizing their lawbreaking conduct -- was so profoundly offensive to Sen. Robert Kennedy (who had been the Attorney General when the banks broke the law with their mergers), as well as then-Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, that they engaged in extraordinary efforts to try to put a stop to this Congressional travesty:

Review the rest of this "Salon" article here.

Ronald George co-authored Senate Bill SBX2-11, effectively granting himself retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution (for now) for his crimes related to the payment scheme.  If that's not the absolute height of arrogance, then what is?

Formal Demand for Grand Jury Investigations Submitted to Prosecutors

Now that Judge David P. Yaffe has been caught on the record lying to higher courts, the probable reason for his recent "retirement", taxpayers' advocate attorney Dr. Richard I. Fine (himself a former prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.) has made a formal demand upon several prosecutors for the immediate convening of grand juries to investigate the corruption rampant within California's judicial system which rewards crooked judges for approving illegal real estate development projects, among other dastardly deeds.

Review the full text of Dr. Fine's demand letter, which provides a full outline of his legal battles as the corrupt have tried to break him, here.

Will those in authority give the public a response better than the following this time around?

UPDATE:  Marketing reports inform us that almost 65 MILLION people are aware of this story ... in the United States alone! WOW!  (And what's up with the Moscow readership?)  A high percentage of readers seems to be members of the financial community, Wall Street and Main Street. We can't help but wonder what business decisions are made concerning beginning or continuing to do business in such an odiously corrupt environment. Our bet is that jobs by the tens of thousands are being relocated as we speak. Whom should we thank first? Top cop Jerry Brown? Top judge Ronald George? Supervisor Mike Antonovich? Senator Darrell Steinberg? District Attorney Steve Cooley?  Presiding Judge Charles McCoy? .... If anyone were to put together a list of the Ten Most Wanted Public Enemies, these folks would top the list today.

SOMEONE had better round them up soon before they manage to steal ALL our money.  That's truly what they want, and there's little time left to stop them before it's too late.

.

Why Are Los Angeles' Media Executives Censoring Your News? To Protect Crooks?

.

Once upon a time there was a developer who wanted to build huge, ugly buildings in a quaint beachside community in Los Angeles, California that was meant to be a wildlife preserve.  After the neighborhood opposed one such eyesore, said developer contributed to County Supervisors Antonovich and Knabe's re-election campaigns, after which the Supervisors illegally voted to approve the project's Environmental Impact Report.  (The law, with good reason, prevents recipients of recent campaign contributions from voting on issues which affect contributors.)

The developer and his attorneys knew that the EIR vote was illegal, making the EIR itself null and void and meaning that the Del Rey Shores plans should have been halted in their tracks, yet this critical information was withheld.  As it turned out, it didn't matter one bit to Judge Yaffe.  After attorney Richard Fine, who represented the homeowners, learned of the campaign contributions and their relationship to the EIR vote, and informed Judge Yaffe of the same, Yaffe simply ignored the whole thing and ruled in favor of allowing the development to continue.  Also irrelevant, apparently, to Judge Yaffe was the fact that the developer had been given a sweetheart leasing deal by the County Supervisors, allowing him to profit hundreds of millions of dollars that instead should have gone to LA County taxpayers.  You know, the same folks who keep being forced to foot the bills for all the other corruption that's being uncovered these days.

Why would Judge Yaffe make such a clearly dishonest ruling?  Because he (and all other superior court judges) was receiving secret payments from LA County Supervisors which were blatantly illegal under the Constitution (which says that only the state can pay such judges (in order to help prevent any temptation of corruption)).  Those who think the Bell City salaries are outrageous should be stunned to learn that these judges have been bribed to the tune of $300 MILLION dollars (to date) by LA County Supervisors.

At the time of the Fine case in question, Marina Strand Colony II Homeowners Assoc. v. County of Los Angeles, Del Rey Shores, et al, in 2008, judges were receiving an extra $46,000 per year above and beyond their legal salaries of $178,000 per year and benefits worth another $30,000.  Having gotten a secret raise in their secret bonuses last year, the judges are now taking an extra $57,000 per year, giving them a total salary which is far above what even US Supreme Court Justices make.

Why on earth would County Supervisors be paying State Judges "bonuses", legal or otherwise?  Because, as it turns out, the County Charter says that Supervisors' salaries are to equal superior court judges' salaries.   Translation?  The Supervisors figured out a way to give themselves bonuses ... without even telling the public about it, much less having to get the public's approval.  (Also, L.A. County never loses anymore when it's sued, thanks to the bribed judges' always-favorable rulings.  Those lawsuit savings are used to finance the illegal bonuses.  Sweet, eh?  Too bad for those injured citizens who had a right to sue; L.A. County is not interested in justice, only cash for corrupt politicians.)

These judges are taking money from L.A. County on the one hand, while ruling over cases in which the County is a defendant on the other.  This is called "having a conflict of interest" and "temptation of bias".  Judge Yaffe received almost $200,000 from L.A. County while it was a defendant in the Marina Strand case over which he ruled, and over $500,000 since he became a judge.

This was all outrageously ILLEGAL!

The California Constitution says so, as does the case Sturgeon v. County of Los Angeles (Oct. 2008).  Once boxed into a corner, do you think anyone decided to do the right thing and go straight?  Heck no!  Instead, the judges (headed by Ronald George and the Judges Association, with the support of County Supervisors) used taxpayer funds to purchase the services of a lobbyist who greased the right palms in the Legislature.  Rather than penalties or punishment, they got ... retroactive immunity!  Yep, that's right.  Ten million felonies were immunized from criminal prosecution by Senate Bill SBx2-11 , passed in February 2009 by California Senate President Darrell Steinberg and his cronies.

So in case you were wondering, that's why no judge will free Richard Fine.  To do so would be an admission that Judge Yaffe's receipt of the payments was illegal, making him (and other judges who did the same) corrupt.  It'll never happen because it's been made quite clear that there isn't a single judge of honor, justice or dignity on any bench in Los Angeles County ... despite their sworn oaths to uphold the Constitution.

But there's still one other major problem they cannot overcome:  SBx2-11 does not immunize the Supervisors for giving themselves the same illegal bonuses they gave the judges.  (Intelligentsia we've interviewed are appalled at the "sheer stupidity" of the construction and passage of SBx2-11.)  Will Steve Cooley, current D.A. and A.G.aspirant, prosecute?  Hardly.  He was bought off years ago.  How about current A.G. and gubernatorial aspirant Jerry Brown?  Ditto.  He quashed the one investigation that was opened into the legality of SBx2-11 last year.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich has himself been caught engaging in illegal activities before ... including attempting to influence a judge in a lawsuit in which his constituents were involved.  His illegal activities luckily ultimately resulted in greater taxpayer protection from corruption by politicians (by passage of the "Antonovich bills") but Antonovich himself managed to wriggle out of his legal troubles by appealing to higher, and equally corrupt, judges.  But unless we're able to put a complete stop to the current corruption, we'll have no protection at all ... we'll just keep paying and paying and paying ... while they cry that the state is broke and needs more money (as they smile inwardly to themselves, believing they'll get away with it ... again).

What's a decent American to do?  One, we must STOP these crooks from continuing in political office at every opportunity that arises.  And if you have some spare time ... and the desire to help save this state before it careens completely over the cliff, call or write the following and voice your opinion:

Judge David P. Yaffe,
Superior Court of Los Angeles County
111 N. Hill Street, Dept. 86, Los Angeles, CA  90012
(213) 974-5881

Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff  - (He freed Lohan and Hilton, yet keeps Fine in jail at the whim of a known-corrupt judge?  And "solitary confinement" is the most expensive type of incarceration there is.)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
4700 Ramona Blvd.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(323) 267-4800
webemail@lasd.org

Charles McCoy, Presiding Judge
Superior Court of Los Angeles County
111 N. Hill Street,
Los Angeles, CA  90012
(213) 974-5600

Michael D. Antonovich
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
500 West Temple Street, Room 869
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 974-5555
(213) 974-1010 FAX

Don Knabe
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
500 West Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-974-4444
213-626-6941  FAX

Steve Cooley,
Los Angeles County District Attorney
210 West Temple Street, Suite 18000
Los Angeles, CA  90012-3210
(213) 974-3512
(213) 974-1484  FAX
webmail@da.lacounty.gov

Jerry Brown,
California Attorney General
California Department of Justice  
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255 Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
(916) 322-3360
(916) 323-5341  FAX
  
Darrell Steinberg,
California Senate President
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento,  CA  95814
(916) 651-4006

(916) 323-2263  FAX

Arnold Schwarzenegger,
California Governor
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-445-2841
916-558-3160  FAX

Which brings us back to our headline.  Why are L.A. media executives preventing this story from being reported upon?  The guilty parties have been stealing from taxpayers for over twenty years.  We know that several of the Times' journalists are fully aware of the corruption, and its implications, yet they print mostly puff pieces, full of laudatory praise for judges.  Only one conclusion may be drawn, that the Times is in someone's pocket.  The question is simply whose.

Richard Fine needs a hero, an honest judge.  Is there one out there anywhere?  Hello!  

It's time the pigs were pulled away from the cash trough and returned to the sties they crawled out of.  The sanction they're trying to collect against Dr. Fine was assessed at a secret hearing (yes, really), one which Dr. Fine was prevented from attending and objecting to because they purposefully did not serve him with notice (and have since been forced to admit he was not served, yet Richard Fine remains in jail).  And to whom is the sanction to be paid over to, if ever collected?  Why, it's the Del Rey Shores developer, Jerry B.Epstein, the man who already stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars (monies which should have gone to taxpayers, if a proper lease was used).  Yes, Jerry B. Epstein is the other core reason Richard Fine is, and remains, in jail.  If he were to drop his collection attempts, Dr. Fine could be freed immediately.  Epstein, however, apparently wants that extra $47,000 from Richard Fine as further punishment for daring to interfere with his plans.  

Will any future lawyer be brave enough to take on well-connected developers?  Hardly!  Not after the grinder that Richard Fine has been put through.  (Those lawyers that are cowering today are part of the reason why corruption can exist and flourish.  Pat yourselves on the back for being part of the problem, guys and gals.)

The longer the swine continues to feed, the larger the ultimate angry crowd will be.

THAT crowd will consist of the families and friends of THIS crowd, those who literally gave their lives to keep us free from people like the crooks we see in office everywhere these days:

The corrupt would be wise to beware the rage of us honest and decent citizens, because we've literally HAD IT UP TO HERE with them.  Ditto for all the folks in positions to do something, but won't.  Your mothers must be sooooo proud of you.

As suggested above, please do what you can to register complaints and to remove these folks from office.  And please donate to help Richard Fine continue his one-man battle to end corruption in the judiciary.  He's still sitting in jail, bravely upholding his oath to protect and defend the Constitution.  He's lost eighteen months of his life behind bars (so far) as a result.  Isn't that enough torture to inflict on a person who's committed no crime whatsoever?

Think on it, and let your conscience be your guide.

Egads! Gov Appoints Felon as Calif. Chief Justice!

Immediately upon the heels of the "retirement" of California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed Tani Cantil-Sakauye to replace him.

Ms. Cantil-Sakauye, as a former superior court judge, was a recipient of the illegal payments to judges by county supervisors and parties appearing in lawsuits before her.

Ms. Cantil-Sakauye and her colleagues were confirmed by the Judicial Council and the State Legislature to be felons who required immunity from criminal prosecution for their receipt of the bribes and their commission of (literally) ten million felonies, thus Senate Bill SBx2-11 was drafted and passed (with the considerable assistance of Ronald George, another former recipient of the payments).

Ms. Cantil-Sakauye, California's next Chief Justice, is an unindicted felon.  And after SBx2-11 is challenged and voided, Ms. Cantil-Sakauye, Mr. George and their 2,100 corrupt colleagues will again be facing prison time for their crimes.

Is this the best Gov. Schwarzenegger can do?  Are there NO uncorrupt judges from which to choose?  If that's the case, citizens need to know so that steps can be taken to remedy the situation before the final nail is driven into the coffin of what was, not so long ago, California's promising future.

If Gov. Schwarzenegger prefers to go down with the ship, he's certainly free to do so. But aligning oneself with felons is hardly the material of a legacy to be envied.  His, it appears, will instead be noted for his failure to lift even the tiniest finger to intercede, leaving us all to wonder how much he's been paid to abet these criminals.

Is Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger on board with having the Kennedy name associated with all this slime?  Bobby Kennedy sure wasn't.

UPDATE:   From Pinoy Big Blogger: "The California governor recently appointed Cantil-Sakauye to head a Judicial Council committee charged with overseeing the operations of the Administrative Office of the Courts, which runs the court system."

Would that be the same AOC which pays $1,000 per sq.ft. of courthouse construction when the going rate is $55 per sq. ft.? Yes, indeedy. Clearly, Schwarzenegger's candidate is FAR more corrupt than we previously knew. (See Update # 2 in following post for details.)

Splat! Humpty Dumpty Knocked Off His Wall! (Update: Stench of Rotten Contents Sickens Victims)

What a week it has been!  And our first item of news, bombshell though it is, pales in comparison to the second.

In what was to have been a recap of recent events, we were preparing to report the celebrations of Richard Fine's team of supporters at the news that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe is resigning in October, prior to November's elections.  (Yaffe wasn't even up for re-election this year.)  He was predicted to become the scape goat who would be sacrificed over the bribery scheme, even though he was only one of thousands who'd participated.

But no sooner had we begun to contemplate the real-world consequences of this news, we learned that California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George announced his own "retirement", effective January 2, 2011.

What a stunning success for those who've worked tirelessly this past year and a half to bring the corrupt to their knees!

HOWEVER, the most important crisis to be dealt with at the moment is the one concerning an innocent man having been locked in solitary confinement for almost a year and a half (so far) for refusing to knuckle under to corruption.  He was put there by a corrupt judge (Yaffe).  Now, Yaffe's ultimate boss and an author of the bribery scheme, "Long-Con Ron", is also "retiring".  After 16 months of fighting back, finally the dike has finally begun to break.  Isn't it about time Richard Fine was freed?

He honored his oath when no one else would  ... and it has literally cost him everything.  But this champion of the taxpayers, a man who stood to gain absolutely nothing for digging in his heels on behalf of homeowners and taxpayers who were being royally screwed with the court's assistance, has brought about the beginning of the end for a large number of California's powerful.  It's an absolute shame that he has yet to be acknowledged for his tremendous sacrifice.  It's a tragedy that he remains behind bars as the dominoes continue to fall and the righteousness of his convictions proven even further with each departure.

And as for Mr. George, we hope he's not foolish enough to think his resignation will stop the oncoming train that is barreling his way in the form of criminal indictments.  No, George belongs behind bars alongside everyone else who participated in robbing taxpayers blind and completely corrupting our judicial system to the point that there is ZERO faith in it anymore by anyone remotely familiar with present-day operations. 

Developer Doug Ring died last Fall under under circumstances we heard police officials considered to be indicative of suicide.  Most curious was the insider opinion that it was ultimately because of "the Fine case".  (The foregoing must be considered to be "opinion" and not "fact" as police officials will never confirm it publicly.)  Ring had made millions off the backs of taxpayers over the years, his reputation repeatedly intertwined with allegations of malfeasance in his real estate transactions involving public officials. 

As Fine's support team has said from the beginning, they will not stop their efforts to fully expose the corruption until all the corrupt actors have been removed from office and forced to face true justice.  "Retirement" in no way relieves anyone from facing justice; the criminal prosecutions of those involved remain on the team's agenda.  If their efforts continue to be successful and the dominoes continue to fall, we'll hopefully be seeing the departures of Jerry Brown, Mike Antonovich, Don Knabe and Darrell Steinberg soon enough, accompanied by the prosecution of another prominent developer who's at the heart of the most egregious crimes at hand.

Still, who would have thought such a small group of people, highly dedicated though they are, could ever have helped accomplish the results we've seen in the past week.  Dr. Fine's supporters are a literal "justice league", examples for all decent Americans to emulate in our efforts to rid our government of its greedy, arrogant, corrupt members ... no matter how lofty their titles.  Perhaps someday we'll even learn the details of the story behind the story of "the little team that could".

 The "Justice League", as portrayed by DC Comics

Excellent job, guys and gals!

In the meantime, Mike Antonovich  and his ilk ought to be consulting with lawyers.  Their time has certainly come, and that particular bucket of sludge is on the proverbial verge of hitting the fan, we hear.  (Three laws were created to protect citizens the last time Antonovich was caught trying to influence a judge.  We expect to be taking advantage of them shortly.)

 

 Mike Antonovich and Ronald George, breaking ground at the Antelope Valley Courthouse.

We close with a thought for Governor Schwarzenegger:  although you refused to become involved when you were notified about the corruption, claiming it was a "judicial" matter with which you could not interfere, you have the perfect opportunity now as outgoing governor to establish a decent legacy for yourself by freeing Richard Fine, ordering an independent federal investigation into the activities alleged, putting the State's finances into receivership so that the rest of the corruption can be unearthed and rectified, and restoring the due process rights of your constituents.  We're pretty sure history will remember you more favorably if you find the decency to take the high road here.  Not one of your movie characters was a coward.  We hope to learn the real man is not one either.  Time will tell ... and time is running out.

UPDATE:  Recent post-dated filings of minute orders by Judge David P. Yaffe reveal the undertaking of a callous CYA to deny having been caught out by Richard Fine.  One attempts to justify Yaffe's citation to a non-existent order upon which his whole defense relied; the other wormily reveals that Yaffe is now about to consider whether Dr. Fine's continued incarceration could ever serve its purpose of forcing him to answer questions to aid developer Jerry B. Epstein in extracting almost $47,000 from him in collecting upon Yaffe's bought-and-paid-for but nonetheless still invalid judgment.  Our Magic Eight Ball is quite clear in saying the answer is "No".

It's time for "Judge" Yaffe to give it up and do the right thing ... IMMEDIATELY! No hearing is necessary for him to order Sheriff Baca to see to Richard Fine's immediate release. The disgust of Yaffe's honest and decent colleagues across the country ought to be motivation enough, and the pretense of properly dotting "i"s and crossing "t"s is merely heaping additional torture upon the already frail body of an innocent man being held in solitary confinement who's been prevented from eating solid food for two months now due to a broken dental plate Sheriff Baca has maliciously refused to have fixed.

FREE RICHARD FINE! NOW!  Each minute of delay is yet another crime ... against him, and against humanity. 

UPDATE # 2:  Complaint filed by Sacramento whistle-blower Michael Paul regarding courthouse construction costs of $1,000 per sq. ft. when the standard reasonable rate is $55 per sq. ft, an EIGHTEEN THOUSAND PERCENT markup!  Holy moly, that's a heck of a lot of bribery and kickbacks.  Mr. Paul was fired for his trouble.  Defendant "Administrative Office of the Courts", the staffing arm of the Judicial Council, is headed by ...?  If you guessed Ronald George, you get a cookie!

UPDATE # 3:  News of Ronald George's imminent departure is bringing other stories to us, stories confirming George's long-rumored "Star Chamber" court ... complete with secret deliberations and the handling of cases "off the books".  We'll report more on this soon, when we've obtained permission to print the details.

Update # 4:  Speculation has begun regarding George's replacement, Associate Justice Corrigan seemingly the prime candidate.  We'd like Governor Schwarzenegger to understand that there are no acceptable candidates presently sitting on the Supreme Court:  four of the justices were former recipients of the illegal payments themselves when they were former superior court judges; two of the justices sit on the Judicial Council, author of Senate Bill SBx2-11, which purports to pardon the commission of ten million felonies.  None of these people are acceptable as justices, much less as chief justice.  The only justice who didn't receive the payments and who doesn't sit on the Judicial Council is Justice Werdegar, but we submit that said Justice is also not a viable candidate due to her continued willingness to rubber-stamp Ron George's activities rather than thwart them.  ~ If an "honest" judge is sought, can there be any better candidate than Dr. Richard I. Fine? ~

New readers:  Please visit the official "Free Richard Fine" website to catch up on the underlying story of Dr. Fine's saga, review documents filed in the case, and peruse mounting press coverage.

Calif. Chief Justice Ronald George Tells BALD-FACED LIE in Bid to Stave Off Forced Resignation Over Bribes to Judges

By:  Savannah S. Winslow

On January 5, 2010, Dr. Richard I. Fine filed a verified complaint against the State Bar of California, et al, concerning their frauds upon the court in obtaining his disbarment after falsely convicting him of "moral turpitude" for revealing the bribes being paid to judges by county supervisors, and to prevent his clients from continuing to litigate against a developer who'd bought illegal votes from LA County Supervisors and shortchanged taxpayers by several hundred million dollars.  (Business as usual in LA County, as it turned out.)  Said developer had also compromised two State Bar presidents by retaining them at the time of Fine's disbarment proceedings.

The California Supreme Court, named as a necessary party since it was the entity upon which the State Bar perpetuated its fraud, filed a Motion to Dismiss Fine's complaint which, most disturbingly, contained the following astounding fabrication:

"The Sturgeon decision specifically found that the payment of local judicial benefits was ... [not] a basis to seek recusal of a judicial officer receiving such benefits."  (See "Memorandum of Points and Authorities", page 2, footnote 2.)

The Sturgeon decision said no such thing!  Recusal (disqualification) was not even raised in the Sturgeon case (which was brought and won by Judicial Watch following Dr. Fine's exposure of the payments being illegally made to judges).

This was a cheesy, COLOSSALLY STUPID attempt to posture "We win, Fine loses."  How dark and twisted must be the mind of a judge who is so arrogant he/she feels free to tell blatant, easily disproven, lies.  Here are seven who did just that:

The man seated in the middle, above, Chief Justice George, was formerly the chief judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court around the time the payment scheme was first concocted, a scheme which was instituted by and between the LA chief judge and LA supervisors.  And as a judge of the LA Superior Court himself, George would have received the illegal payments along with everyone else. 

The Supreme Court's motion is a fantastic insult to the intelligence and character of Carla M. Woehrle, the Federal District Court Magistrate Judge to whom the Fine v. State Bar II matter has been assigned.  How appalled she surely must be at their arrogance!  It had seemed fairly certain until now that the judges had successfully circled their wagons and were covering for each other equally ...

... but this slap in the face will hopefully make clear to Judge Woehrle that she's being played (again) and cause her to draw the line at being used as yet another guinea pig puppeteered by the payment scheme masters, and the filing of a Rule 11 "Motion for Sanctions" by Dr. Fine is surely not far behind.

It was galling that George and his cronies tried to pardon themselves for committing Ten Million Felonies after George obtained passage of Senate Bill SBx2-11 in his role as Chief of the Judicial Council, which co-authored SBx2-11.  (Adding insult to injury, taxpayers were shafted yet again as George used taxpayer funds to pay lobbyists to stroke legislators to pass the bill which pardoned him.)

The blatant lie about the contents of the Sturgeon decision (issued October 2008) was also absolutely ridiculous in that Dr. Fine demanded Judge Yaffe's recusal a year before the Sturgeon decision was even considered.  Thus, even if the claim were true, it's irrelevant to what happened at the time.  The Supreme Court justices knew all this when they filed their brief, but they opted to lie and again violate their oaths as they lamely continue to try to save their own skins.

It's widely acknowledged that judges are nothing more than failed lawyers, and this ridiculous lie put forth by the highest court in the state provides all the evidence we need to see that that is true.  Yet we elect them to interpret the law ... and the power goes to their heads, resulting in these employees of ours fooling themselves into thinking they're superior to us.  Huge egos constrained by small minds is a recipe for certain disaster ... and Los Angeles taxpayers are bearing the brunt of this one. 

As an aside, members of Richard Fine's support team would like to acknowledge the "thanks" that well-wishers have sent them, grateful that the team had the bravery to have taken this dangerous bull by the horns.  But that same team reminds us that, though they are doing everything they can, "Some Gave All" and it's now our responsibility to keep the torch of liberty aflame.  Ronald Reagan was profound in saying that "all great change in America begins at the dinner table."  The change needed most desperately now is the removal of every single person currently holding public office.  The responsibility for doing so is now also on YOU to do your part.

Thousands of supporters have asked, "What can I do?  I want to help, but I don't have any idea what to  do!" The best answer is to, first, spread the word about California's rampant corruption.  Then, follow singer Ray Stevens' advice and "THROW THE BUMS OUT!"  Vote against all incumbents for the next six years, whether they be judges, county supervisors, appellate and supreme court justices, even seemingly "honest" politicians ... there evidently is no such thing anymore, and it's time to acknowledge that before it's too late.   "We the People" are the bosses here ... we always have been ... but we've done a poor job lately, mostly because we foolishly believed that honest people outnumbered the dishonest.  But we were wrong, and we haven't done nearly enough about it yet. 

So come November, search your ballot for Ronald George's name and check "NO" to the question of his reconfirmation to another twelve years on the bench, ditto for all the other supreme court justices, five of seven of whom were previous recipients of illegal county payments when they were superior court judges themselves.

In the meantime, one question must immediately be confronted:  Seven judges LIED.  Is Magistrate Judge Woehrle possessed with the courage to do something about it?  Or is "integrity" in our judicial system now also a thing of the past.  Judge Woehrle has the power to break the chain of corruption. Will she instead just become another link?

We'll close here with a link to a previous post, "Ronald George - What He DIDN'T SAY" (deliberately screwing the court staff was perhaps the most despiccable), and a reminder of what former US Attorney General Robert Kennedy thought about crooks attempting to score retroactive immunity for themselves.

Judge Woehrle's ruling is expected soon.  Stay tuned!

The Richard Fine Story, In Brief

Here's a brief beginner's summary of the Richard Fine story. We caught Fred Sottile "on the fly":

U.S. Supreme Court Chucks Due Process Rights Clean Overboard

The US Supreme Court today released its denial of Dr. Richard I. Fine's Petition for Writ of Certiorari without explanation or comment.  The ruling removed all doubt that courts are presumed to act with integrity.  Clearly, those days are gone.

In so ruling, the Supreme Court has authorized corrupt judges to continue to accept money from parties to lawsuits before them, then rule in favor of those parties' interests.  Therefore, although the Constitution confirmed all citizens' right to due process (a fair trial) for all these years, this right was taken away from all of us today so that judges can continue to steal from taxpayers and reward their cronies.

To say that it's a sad day in America is the greatest understatement of the past 250 years.  Americans DIED in wars to obtain and ensure our freedoms; the Supreme Court nullified their sacrifices in one fell swoop.

Check back later, please, for more in our continuing commentary on this outrageous turn of events, as well as the unveiling of Phase B of the developing master plan to finally rid society of its evil members in government.  (HINT:  "Vote The Bums Out" is child's play.)  And note that we have now created an online forum where fellow decent citizens can gather, discuss and plan our futures together.  (Unionized workers are particularly encouraged to join the forum and become knowledgeable about the issues. Once you discover how the judges dissedcourtroom staff over the furlough issue, you'll never believe an LA County judge again for any reason. (Short version of that story is here.))

The Supreme Court's ruling is FAR from "the end of the road" for Richard Fine, despite what some people may hope they can fool the public into believing.  In truth, and as they well know, the battle is, in fact, by no means abated, and especially interesting fireworks are expected in the upcoming clashes in (1) the Fine v. State Bar II case (where the California Supreme Court will be exposed for literally telling a bald-faced lie in a legal brief it filed with a Federal Court Magistrate Judge who had previously been used as a recurring patsy in protecting guilty judges and furthering their payment scheme), (2) action against Judge Yaffe for refusing to put a hearing on calendar to discuss whether he was exempt from the mandatory maximum 5-day limit of jail time for "coercive" incarceration victims (but the jerk kept the filing fee!), and (3) the decision pending in Sturgeon II v. County of Los Angeles, an appeal seeking to stop the continuing payments to judges.

It bears repeating that the judges and supervisors involved in the payment scheme were not made innocent by Senate Bill SBx2-11 (the ex post facto law presently being used to shield the guilty from prosecution and prison time).  They are all still dastardly crooks at heart and in point of fact, regardless of their fictitious legal status. And they are the blood-sucking enemies of We the Decent People.  We asked them very nicely to do the right thing and were ignored.  The time for niceties has passed.

In the unequaled words of Lee Greenwood,s "Proud To Be An American" :

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.
I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there's pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.
That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.
And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

Will you STAND UP with Richard Fine and his supporters? Can you even imagine what daily life will become if judges are able to keep their newly-won right to lie under oath? To take money from a defendant then rule in his favor in a case, shafting the other party in the process? To have received a pardon for committing thousands of felonies while continuing to wear the robe (a former symbol of integrity) and sitting in judgment of others accused of criminal conduct?  (That would be the height of irony, to say the least.  It will also prove to be the most embarrassing thing to try and justify to the outside world, too; mark our words.)

It's sometimes difficult to accept that, as it turns out, our greatest enemy actually came from within.  But the evidence is now plentiful that the very people we put in positions of trust are the ones who now are robbing us blind as we speak.  That's the bottom line. 

So we reaffirm that Right must always eventually win out over Evil Might, for when the opposite becomes the norm, the grand principle behind America's creation and existence will have become moot.  If the cause of judicial integrity is ever abandoned ... even for a minute ... "America" will represent a time and state of mind to which we will never be able to return.