Claims of California Pro Pers Vindicated: Prominent Federal Judge Verifies Institutionalized Pro Per Bias in US Courts

ABA Journal: Posner: Most judges regard pro se litigants as 'kind of trash not worth the time.'

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: Posner says friction on 7th Circuit bench led to his retirement.

Above the Law: The Backstory Behind Judge Richard Posner's Retirement.

New York Times: An Exit Interview With Richard Posner, Judicial Provocateur. 

Above the Law: Judge Posner, Uncensored: 'I Don't Really Care What People Think.'

Cleveland State Law Review: Socioeconomic Bias in the Judiciary. 

Public Pressure Compels CJP to Charge Contra Costa County Repeat Offender Judge Bruce Mills with New State Law Violations

Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Bruce Mills is facing two new charges of misconduct by the Commission on Judicial Performance.

The CJP is the controversial state agency responsible for investigating complaints of judicial misconduct and for disciplining judges.

From the East Bay Times report:

MARTINEZ — A Contra Costa judge with a history of ethics violations was charged with judicial misconduct that could warrant his removal from the bench, records obtained Tuesday show.

The two counts of misconduct include allegations that Judge Bruce C. Mills illegally doubled the sentence of a judicial rights advocate who Mills had found to be in contempt of court. Mills jailed the man for discussing his divorce online, a decision that First Amendment experts called, “outrageous” and a free speech violation.

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...

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.

Embattled CJP Director Victoria Henley Gets Earful at California Assembly Budget Committee Hearing

In this video clip, Commission on Judicial Performance whistleblower and court reform advocate Joe Sweeney testifies at a California Assembly Budget Committee hearing on March 28, 2016. The commission is solely responsible for oversight and accountability of judges in the state. 

Several days before the hearing, Sweeney's court modernization and reform organization, Court Reform LLC, released a 78-page report which raised questions about CJP judicial misconduct statistical data and how the agency spends taxpayer funds. 

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.

Rule of Law Breakdown in Sacramento County Attributed to Commission on Judicial Performance Inaction

Sacramento County judges who facilitated criminal child abductions in two family court cases remain unpunished and unaccountable, according to an updated report from Sacramento Family Court Report, a nonprofit news agency.  

Controversial Judge Matthew Gary assisted a criminal abduction by a client of divorce attorney and Sacramento Superior Court temporary judge Richard Sokol over two years ago. Judge Thadd Blizzard approved an out-of-state criminal child abduction by a client of divorce lawyer Timothy Zeff more than five years ago. Zeff's partner, attorney Scott Buchanan, also is a part-time judge in the same court. 

In both cases, the judges approved the abductions after-the-fact, weeks after they occurred.  California child abduction law specifies that post-abduction court authorization does not negate the crime. 

California Commission on Judicial Performance Receives Failing Grade in Nationwide State Integrity Investigation Project

An investigative report by Center for Public Integrity has criticized California for its lack of judicial accountability. In a nationwide state integrity investigation, California received a failing grade in the category. 

The Center is one of the country's oldest and largest nonpartisan, nonprofit investigative news organizations. The mission of the Center is "to serve democracy by revealing abuses of power, corruption and betrayal of public trust by powerful public and private institutions, using the tools of investigative journalism." 

CJP Dormant on Code of Judicial Ethics Violations by 3rd District Court of Appeal Judges

The pending Ferris v. Ferris appeal alleges misconduct by Sacramento County Judge Matthew Gary and seeks to establish a constitutional right to counsel in civil cases involving basic human needs.

An appeal from a high-profile Sacramento Superior Court case has languished in the 3rd District Court of Appeal for more than 39 months. Court watchdogs allege that the appellate court has deliberately delayed resolution of the appeal because it involves egregious and embarrassing misconduct by a prominent Sacramento County Superior Court judge with a history of similar conduct.

"This case represents one of the most unsettling examples we've seen of what we believe is cronyism between the Third District and Sacramento Superior Court," said Ulf Carlsson of the Family Court Accountability Coalition, a court watchdog organization."The trial court judge has personal connections in the appellate court, and the 3rd District is delaying this case in the hopes that the publicity will die down and the issues raised will become moot." 

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.

Holiday Satire: Commission on Judicial Performance and California Judges Have Hot, Sweaty Make-Up Sex

Commission on Judicial Performance Director Victoria B. Henley reportedly has patched up a domestic dispute with the judges of California. 

Special Holiday Edition Satire

The Recorder, an online and print news organization serving judges, lawyers and other Judicial Branch hangers-on has published a story reporting that tensions have subsided between judges in California and the Commission on Judicial Performance, the state agency responsible for oversight and accountability of those same judges.

The satire division here at the Commission on Judicial Performance Report is certainly relieved to hear this news. Having an adversarial relationship between judges and the CJP would be like gangbangers and cops not getting along. But, according to the inside account, the reconciliation didn't come easy.

Controversial Sacramento Superior Court Judge Matthew Gary Involved in Fatal Traffic Incident with Cyclist

UPDATE: The Sacramento Bee has published an investigative report about the questions surrounding this incident: click here. 

The California Highway Patrol has issued a press release announcing a fatal traffic incident involving controversial Sacramento County Judge Matthew Gary:

Commission on Judicial Performance Fails To Investigate, Prosecute Serial Misconduct Spanning Years by Sacramento County Judge

The appellate brief excerpt embedded at the bottom of this post recounts one instance of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Matthew Gary's alleged misconduct in the high profile Susan Ferris case, in connection with an illegal attorney fee sanctions order. 

The appeal in the case is pending at the controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. 

The proceedings have been reported by the Sacramento Bee, and are being closely watched by court reform advocates. Interest in the case and family court corruption in Sacramento County on social media, YouTube, and Vimeo has reached viral levels among family court reform watchdogs.

The embedded document package also includes the court reporter transcript from a hearing in the case recording that Gary ordered Ferris to pay $2,500 to the opposing attorney, Timothy Zeff, based on Ferris' "body language." 

Whistleblower Document Leak: Judge Repeatedly Gives Perjurious Testimony During Second CJP Prosecution - CJP & Special Masters Ignore

Monday Document Dump - CJPR Exclusive

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Peter McBrien's personal 
vendetta against Ulf Carlsson was detailed and reenacted 
in the 2014 documentary film Divorce Corp.

False testimony under oath by Judge Peter McBrien is documented by the Commission on Judicial Performance in this set of whistleblower leaked documents, embedded at the bottom of this post. 

The CJP is the state agency responsible for the oversight and accountability of judges in California.

The CJP did not refer the perjury of Judge McBrien to law enforcement, nor add additional counts for violations of the Code of Judicial Ethics to its existing misconduct proceeding against the judge. CJP watchdogs allege that judges under investigation by the CJP routinely give false, misleading or perjurious testimony without consequences.

Judge Peter McBrien Felony Criminal Prosecution Records Leaked by Whistleblower Reveal False, Misleading Testimony to CJP

Friday Document Dump - CJPR Exclusive

In 2000, Judge Peter McBrien faced 
a felony criminal charge for the 
destruction of trees in a public park.

The whistleblower leaked criminal investigation report of Judge Peter McBrien by Sacramento County District Attorney's Office Criminal Investigator Craig Tourte is embedded at the end of this post.

To view additional records from the 2000 prosecution and conviction of McBrien, click here. To read the Sacramento News and Review cover story about the case, click here.

In 2009, McBrien was caught lying under oath to the Commission on Judicial Performance about the circumstances surrounding his 2000 criminal conviction. 

The CJP ultimately declined to remove McBrien from the bench, instead imposing ostensible discipline of "public censure."  The CJP did not hold McBrien accountable for his false testimony during the judicial misconduct prosecution. 

Sacramento Judge Serial Code of Judicial Ethics Violations Against Disabled, Indigent Litigants Without Lawyers Remain Ignored by CJP

Larscheid, Buchanan & Zeff family law attorney Timothy Zeff requested and was granted an unlawful $920 child support order by Judge Matthew J. Gary. Zeff's partner, Scott Buchanan, is a family court judge pro tem. The order financially devastated 52-year-old disabled, single parent Susan Ferris. Evicted from her Sacramento home and now homeless, she sleeps on the couch of a Bay Area friend.  

A Sacramento County judge who engaged in continual violations of state law and the California Code of Judicial Ethics remains unaccountable and unpunished three years after the misconduct occurred. 

The victims of the misconduct were indigent, disabled pro per litigants who could not afford an attorney and faced opposing spouses represented by veteran family law lawyers who also worked as part-time judges in the same court. 

CJP Inaction Against Contra Costa County Judge Laurel Brady Enables Serial Unauthorized Practice of Law by Court Appointed Receiver

Whistleblower leaked court records indicate that Judge Laurel Brady
enabled the unauthorized practice of law by receiver Kevin Singer.

Court records leaked to CJP Report by a government whistleblower indicate that Contra Costa County Judge Laurel Brady aided and abetted the unauthorized practice of law by non-attorney court appointed receiver Kevin Singer.

The records are embedded at the end of this article, or available at this Scribd link.   

Singer is not a member of the State Bar of California yet was permitted by Judge Brady to file an unlawful notice of motion and motion for order. 

Court appointed receivers have limited powers defined by statute, and are not permitted to practice law unless they are a member of the state bar, according to attorney Peter Davidson.

Sacramento County Judge Thadd Blizzard Role in Criminal Child Abduction Remains Unscrutinized by Commission on Judicial Performance

Sacramento County Family Court watchdogs 
assert that JudgeThadd Blizzard punished 
court reform activist Robert Saunders for his 
1st Amendment-protected protest activities.  

A whistleblower leaked court reporter transcript obtained by CJP News reveals that Sacramento County Judge Thadd Blizzard last November retroactively endorsed an unlawful out-of-state "move away" and child abduction at the request of local judge pro tem attorney Richard Sokol. 

The unprecedented ruling went against San Francisco constitutional law attorney Archibald Cunningham, who the transcript reflects was dumbfounded by the decision. 

The complete transcript is embedded at the end of this post, and can also be viewed or downloaded at Scribd.

The bizarre chain-of-events began in June 2013 after Cunningham's pro bono client, Robert Saunders, filed paperwork seeking child visitation under an existing temporary custody order.

After the visitation paperwork was lodged, Sokol's client, April Berger, abruptly moved to Hawaii with the parents' twin daughters. Berger did not obtain court permission prior to the move.

CJP Ignores Video and Court Records Establishing Abuse of Authority, Code of Judicial Ethics Violations by Controversial Sacramento County Judge

A startling courthouse security video leaked by a government whistleblower records the illegal 2009 assault and arrest of indigent, disabled pro per litigant and family court reform activist Robert Saunders. 

During a March 9, 2009 court hearing, Judge Matthew Gary ordered the self-represented Saunders arrested and jailed for contempt of court. Two outside, independent judges who later reviewed the incident determined that both the contempt charge and arrest were illegal.