WHO SHARES THE BLAME?
All three branches of government - and the organized Bar!
"Judges are among the most powerful of public servants. They decide who goes to jail, who wins or loses millions of dollars and who gets custody of children. Public confidence in their integrity and impartiality is essential to the rule of law. While a vast majority of judges are honorable, there will always be some who engage in unethical behavior. Disciplining such judges is important business that should be transacted in public, just as any civil or criminal trial would be. In 38 states, judicial misconduct hearings are indeed open to the public. Not so in New York, where proceedings that stretch over months are held behind closed doors. Only when the results are announced does the public even learn such cases existed. By then, it is usually too late to convey in a meaningful way the strength of the case, the credibility of the witnesses and the merits of the defense. The four recent decisions in New York offer cases in point."\74/
Mr. Tembeckjian, the author, is the administrator of and counsel to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Delegation of rulemaking power from the legislatures to the courts without strict oversight by the legislators is a major cause of these problems.
NASGA members’ pleas for help from legislators are almost always met with a common response: “We can’t interfere in an ongoing litigation.” But NASGA’s position is: legislators made the law; judges violated it; therefore, it was up to the state legislators to resume control over lawless courts, which they did not do.
Federal intervention is critical to protect against violations of constitutional deprivation.
Self-policing of bench and bar and professional guardians keeps claims by family and friends buried. Members tell us that they complained to the DA, AG, and FBI and got nowhere, even when presenting evidence of forgery or other blatant criminal acts! Member attempts to file police reports are generally discouraged, preventing further action against the wrongdoer.
The risk of public exposure also explains the resistance to releasing wards from involuntary incarceration to their families. There are many groups of individuals and entities sitting on what can become a flood of damage suits if the truth were known about the unlawful operations in numerous cases. When so many individuals and entities - protective service workers, nursing facilities, medical personnel, judges, fiduciaries, law enforcement officers, and state legislators - remain silent, one is reminded of the Mafia’s “Omerta."
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Footnotes:
74 The New York Times, How Judges Hide From Justice, by Robert H. Tembeckjian (05/22/05) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/opinion/nyregionopinions/22CItembeckjian.html
"Judges are among the most powerful of public servants. They decide who goes to jail, who wins or loses millions of dollars and who gets custody of children. Public confidence in their integrity and impartiality is essential to the rule of law. While a vast majority of judges are honorable, there will always be some who engage in unethical behavior. Disciplining such judges is important business that should be transacted in public, just as any civil or criminal trial would be. In 38 states, judicial misconduct hearings are indeed open to the public. Not so in New York, where proceedings that stretch over months are held behind closed doors. Only when the results are announced does the public even learn such cases existed. By then, it is usually too late to convey in a meaningful way the strength of the case, the credibility of the witnesses and the merits of the defense. The four recent decisions in New York offer cases in point."\74/
Mr. Tembeckjian, the author, is the administrator of and counsel to the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Delegation of rulemaking power from the legislatures to the courts without strict oversight by the legislators is a major cause of these problems.
NASGA members’ pleas for help from legislators are almost always met with a common response: “We can’t interfere in an ongoing litigation.” But NASGA’s position is: legislators made the law; judges violated it; therefore, it was up to the state legislators to resume control over lawless courts, which they did not do.
Federal intervention is critical to protect against violations of constitutional deprivation.
Self-policing of bench and bar and professional guardians keeps claims by family and friends buried. Members tell us that they complained to the DA, AG, and FBI and got nowhere, even when presenting evidence of forgery or other blatant criminal acts! Member attempts to file police reports are generally discouraged, preventing further action against the wrongdoer.
The risk of public exposure also explains the resistance to releasing wards from involuntary incarceration to their families. There are many groups of individuals and entities sitting on what can become a flood of damage suits if the truth were known about the unlawful operations in numerous cases. When so many individuals and entities - protective service workers, nursing facilities, medical personnel, judges, fiduciaries, law enforcement officers, and state legislators - remain silent, one is reminded of the Mafia’s “Omerta."
_________________
Footnotes:
74 The New York Times, How Judges Hide From Justice, by Robert H. Tembeckjian (05/22/05) http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/opinion/nyregionopinions/22CItembeckjian.html