Five Year Update: Santa Clara County Judges Responsible for Probate Court Scandal Remain Unpunished, Unaccountable

County judges must impose tighter rules for managing vulnerable residents' estates:

California Judicial Branch and CJP Dogged by Controversy in 2016 - Year End News Wrap: CJP and State Auditor Initiate Court Battle, More...

Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye obstructs
State Bar reform.

State Auditor Files Response to CJP Lawsuit Trying to Block Legislature Ordered Audit of Judge Oversight Agency

"I don't know what they are afraid of." Attorney Myron Moskovitz

From the Daily Journal:

Attorneys for the California State Auditor submitted a response Monday to a writ filed last month by the Commission on Judicial Performance challenging the auditor's jurisdiction.

The CJP sued Auditor Elaine M. Howle in San Francisco Superior Court in October, seeking to limit the scope of an audit ordered by the Legislature in August. The CJP is the state agency that investigates and disciplines judges charged with misconduct...

San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Calls Commission on Judicial Performance Sleeping, Toothless Watchdog, Secretive as the CIA

California Judiciary's Toothless Watchdog, San Francisco Chronicle:

"The Commission on Judicial Performance is as secretive about its operations as the CIA. In response to a public records request from First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit that has greatly improved Californians’ access to government records, the panel refused to disclose complaints or even the number of complaints filed by judge or by county.

CJP and Director Victoria Henley Grant De Facto Immunity to Supreme Court Chief Justice for Abuse of Authority, Administrative Malfeasance

From Edward R. Murrow and Emmy Award winning KXTV ABC 10 News investigative reporter Thom Jensen: 

Court Watchdog Group Invokes Canon 3D(1), Demands Sacramento Superior Court Presiding Judge Kevin Culhane Rectify Improper Judge-Clerk Relationship

Kern County Judge Cory Woodward was punished by the Commission on Judicial Performance for having an improper personal relationship with his courtroom clerk. Sacramento County Judge Matthew Gary reportedly has had a similar relationship with his courtroom clerk, Christina Arcuri, for at least four years. 

"[I]t is time for this charade to end." 

Sacramento Family Court Corruption, a Facebook watchdog group with over 600 followers, has issued an open letter to Sacramento County Presiding Judge Kevin Culhane regarding an alleged improper relationship between a Sacramento Superior Court judge and his courtroom clerk. 

The whistleblower group alleges that Judge Matthew Gary has been in a consensual, personal relationship with his clerk, Christina Arcuri for more than five years. Both Gary and Arcuri also have been involved in a number of controversies involving the alleged mistreatment of indigent, disabled, and financially disadvantaged family court parties who are self-represented.

Florida Judge Punished For Rudeness in Legally Jailing Family Court Witness - California Judge Who Illegally Jailed Family Court Parent Remains Unaccountable, Unpunished

In August 2014, Commission on Judicial Performance Report posted an article about a government whistleblower leaked courtroom security video from Sacramento County. The video recorded controversial Judge Matthew Gary ordering the arrest and incarceration of family court reform activist Robert Saunders in 2009. 

As we reported, two outside independent judges who reviewed the incident determined that the arrest was illegal. The criminal charges against Saunders, including resisting arrest, were dismissed by Judge Richard Gilmour. 

Despite both video and documentary proof that Judge Matthew Gary's actions were illegal, and a violation of multiple sections of the Code of Judicial Ethics, after seven years the Commission on Judicial Performance has failed or refused to discipline the judge.

Sacramento Superior Court Racketeering Allegations Eerily Similar to 1994 San Diego County Court Corruption Scandal

An alleged racketeering organization composed of judges and local attorneys who work in the family law division of Sacramento County Superior Court bears striking similarities to criminal activity uncovered in San Diego County in 1994.

A recently unearthed editorial from the Los Angles Daily Journal provides a firsthand account of the court corruption that sent San Diego judges James A. Malkus and G. Dennis Adams to federal prison, and put judge Michael Greer on federal probation for three years. The editorial is embedded at the end of this post.

New Report Confirms Institutionalized Socioeconomic Bias by California Judges Ignored by Commission on Judicial Performance

A report by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area has documented systemic socioeconomic bias and economic exploitation of the poor throughout courts in California. 

The report, Not Just a Ferguson Problem - How Traffic Courts Drive Inequality in California, begins with this introduction: