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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.
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