Groundbreaking Legislation Proposed to Address Judicial Corruption in California

Janet Phelan Groundbreaking Legislation Proposed to Address Judicial Corruption in California Dr Richard I Fines Amend SBX 2 11

By Janet Phelan A piece of legislation, revolutionary in its implications, has been drafted and is now in the process of seeking sponsorship in the California Legislature. Drafted by Richard I. Fine, a former prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice, founder and chief of the first municipal antitrust division in the U.S. and Special Counsel to the Governmental Efficiency Committee of the Los Angeles City Council, the legislation contains the quiet potential of massively disrupting the court corruption that is now endemic to California Superior Courts. Fine knows about this corruption first hand. In pursuit of confronting a situation in California where state Superior Court judges were receiving “extra monies and benefits” from the counties while hearing cases in which the counties were a party, Fine was summarily jailed on a contempt of court charge in 2010 and left to rot in solitary confinement in Los Angeles County Jail. Fine stuck to his principles and sat it out. He was jailed for a total of 18 months. Summarizing Fine’s plight, Tulanelink wrote, “By law, the judicial salaries of California’s Superior Court judges are set and financed by the state. Many of the counties, however, have utilized schemes for supplementing the salaries of appellate court judges. These supplements assist the judges in their reelection campaigns and help insure favorable outcomes in cases where those counties are defendants. Attorney Richard I. Fine was instrumental in uncovering these extra-legal payments, which began in 1988 and affect more than 1,600 judges. The payments, which currently amount to about $46,000, have been routinely omitted from the financial disclosure forms required of all judges. Fine’s campaign to expose this judicial misconduct led to his disbarment, and he was subsequently tried and imprisoned for contempt by… Read More

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HOW TO PASS LEGISLATION California

JUSTICE BILL SOLUTION FOR ALL COURT VICTIMS SIMPLE STEPS TO GET AMEND SBX211 PASSED

SBX 2 11 was enacted on February 20, 2009 Here are the basics Effective May 20, 2009 as Emergency, budget trailer legislation within three days and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, after the Court held the County payments directly to State Superior Court judges violated Article VI, Section 19 of the California Constitution. SBX 2 11 made the payments legal with the counties having the option to discontinue the payments on a 180 day notice. SBX 2 11 also gave retroactive immunity as of 7/1/2008 from criminal prosecution, civil liability and disciplinary action to all judges who received the payments and all governments and employees who made the payments. Two counties stopped the payments. A December, 2009 Judicial Council Report to the Legislature showed that 90% of the Superior Court Judges received the illegal payments. That figure is approximately correct today due to the greater increase in Superior Court judges in LA County and other counties where the payments are still existing an either a non increase or minimal increase in counties where the payments do not exist. Additionally, these Superior Court judges became Court of Appeal justices and California Supreme Court justices, thereby infecting the entire California Judiciary. In 2010, SBX 2 11 was held to be “ interim legislation”, with the Legislature having the responsibility to solve the problem of the “ payments”. The Legislature has done nothing since 2010. The immediate enactment of this emergency, budget trailer legislation will: (1) solve the Judicial Crisis created by the federal and state unconstitutional and criminal payments to approximately 90% of the State Superior Court judges by counties and courts since the mid 1980s; (2) Establish a Permanent State Commission to: (a) Oversee the actions of the State Judiciary and related… Read More

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