Category: Courts

Panepinto Pennsylvania Supreme Court 2015

Panepinto Pennsylvania Supreme Court 2015
Paul Panepinto

It’s easier to hit the party button than to research those on it. We are not judging party button pushers. It is wiser, after all, to vote for the group that might look after one’s interest when one knows the other side certainly won’t.

Still, it is best to do the research and vote the person.

Which gets us to Pennsylvania Supreme Court Race 2015.

There are seven people running: three on the Republican ballot, three on the Democrat ballot and one independent.

The Republican nominees are Judith Olson, Michael George and Anne Covey. The Democrats are David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty. The independent is Paul Panepinto.

The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO has endorsed all three Democrats and in fact, Dougherty is the brother of infamous Philadelphia IBEW boss  John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty.

Unions are also giving money to Ms. Covey, a Commonwealth Court judge from Bucks County who spent years as a labor lawyer and served on the Labor Relations Board.

So that gives us a pretty clear indication that ticket splitting is the thing to do this Nov. 3. Those who care about keeping their homes will vote for endorsed Republicans George and Ms. Olson along with independent Panepinto.

We are not labor bashing here or defending greedy corporate types. Pennsylvania labor leaders, however, are not one whit interested in saving decent jobs for working people.  Their prime motives are saving their near-one-percenter lifestyles by keeping the legally mandated automatic dues deductions and the one-percenter pensions of state workers.

Regarding the backgrounds of the Supreme Court candidates, all are judges. As noted Ms. Covey sits on Commonwealth Court, the state intermediate appellate court regarding decisions by government regulatory agencies; Wecht, Ms. Donohue, and Ms. Olson are on Pennsylvania Superior Court, the intermediate appellate court for criminal and civil cases; George is an Adams County Common Pleas Court judge, and Panepinto is a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judges.

Ms. Covey is the only candidate not recommended by the state Bar Association.

Ms. Olson and George have been endorsed by the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association.

Hat tip Donna Ellingsen.

Panepinto Pennsylvania Supreme Court 2015

 

Obamacare Law? LOL

So the Supreme Court, yesterday, June 25, found by a 6-3 vote that when Congress said that  Obamacare subsidies could only be obtained via state exchanges they were just goofing. Forget the turmoil and compromises (and blatant dishonesty) when the law was passed– something that should  be everybody’s memory,  Congress put in  that clause because they were goofing. Obamacare Law? LOL

At least in the view of six Supreme Court judges — including “conservatives” John Roberts and  Anthony Kennedy.

Americans have to wake up to the reality that the nation’s political division is not between Democrats Republicans but between those who want power and wealth and those who want to live in peace with their neighbor.

Let’s not forget that corporate America was and remains a strong supporter of Obamacare.

Obamacare Law? LOL

Dem Judicial Candidates Refuse Bar Review

The Delaware County (Pa) Republican Party, today, April 27, called the refusal by Democrat judicial candidates Lawrence DeMarco and Lawrence Abel to share their qualifications with the members of the non-partisan Delaware County Bar Association “insulting and disappointing.” Dem Judicial Candidates Refuse Bar Review

The Delaware County Bar Association has long asked its members to evaluate the qualifications of judicial candidates who are seeking to serve on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.

After reviewing their qualification, the members of the Bar Association are asked to rate candidates as “Well Qualified,” “Qualified,” “Not Recommended,” or “No Opinion.” While the Republican candidates for judge, Anthony Scanlon, Margaret Amoroso, and Dominic Pileggi each submitted their qualifications, Democrats DeMarco and Abel refused to submit their qualifications and take part in the process.

“Voters should be concerned by the lack of experience and qualifications of Democrats Abel and DeMarco if they refuse to even submit their background for review and evaluation by the non-partisan Delaware County Bar Association,” said Andrew Reilly, chairman of the Delaware County Republican Party. “Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Demarco only joined the Bar Association a couple years ago and Abel’s application to join the bar was only submitted a few weeks ago.”

“Delaware County residents deserve and expect better from their judges than the partisan games that DeMarco and Abel are playing,” said Reilly. “It is hypocritical that they refuse to have their qualifications judged by their peers but they want to sit in judgment of others on the bench.”

Each election for Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, the Delaware County Bar Association’s Judicial Selection/Retention Committee asks the bipartisan members of the bar association to rate the qualifications of each judicial candidate. To ensure a non-partisan and fair process, the Judicial Selection Committee is led by two co-chairs, one attorney and bar association member who is a registered Republican and one who is a registered Democrat.

Dem Judicial Candidates Refuse Bar Review

Ignorantia Legis A Good Excuse

Michael Cottone has published an article in the Tennessee Law Review describing how literally no one now can keep the centuries-old principle ignorantia legis neminem excusat lady_justicei.e. ignorance of the law excuses no one.

He noted that it was a great thing in its day when laws were few and based on a commonly understood morality.

Today, however, with the advent of “regulatory crime”, which are laws written to enforce administrative schemes and called “public welfare offenses”, literally nobody can know what all the laws are.

He cited as an example a guy who got lost on a snowmobile during a blizzard and ended up on federal land where snowmobiling was illegal. Rather than be cut slack he was prosecuted. That sort of thing does not happen in a just society.

Traditionally one needed intent to become a criminal.

“Tellingly, no exact count of the number of federal statutes that impose criminal sanctions has ever been given,  but estimates from the last fifteen years range from 3,600  to approximately 4,500,” Cottone said.

Cottone notes that Congress, according to one study, enacts 60 new criminal statues a year and this does not include new regulations that carry a criminal penalty.

“Our criminal justice system fails to be “understandable” so as to comport with the internal morality of law—especially because of the highly technical nature of regulations,” he wrote.

Reforms are needed desperately.

Abuse of the legal process is by definition unjust and those entrusted to uphold it yet abuse it will face an inevitable backlash.

Cottone’s article can be found as a pdf download at this link.

Ignorantia Legis A Good Excuse

 

 

 

Sexual Violence Guide For Judges

Adam Kuklikowski of Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape informs us that the third edition of Benchbook on Crimes of Sexual Violence in Pennsylvania by Superior Court Judge Jack Panella is  available and can be found online here. Sexual Violence Guide For Judges

The book is a guide for  judges in handling crimes of sexual violence and addresses the steps of sex offense cases. It also includes detailed information regarding preliminary arraignments and hearings, standards of proof and the setting of bail and bail conditions to ensure the safety of victims and witnesses.

The guidelines are reasonable and the Commonwealth can take pride in its rape laws.

There are some issues, though, namely in Chapter 1 “The Dynamics of Sexual Violence Crimes.” For instance  Section 5 “False Reporting”  has the subhead “Reality: Statistically, very few people lie about being raped”. Why would that pointless yet prejudicial phrase be in a benchbook for judges? How about “Reality: Statistically, very few people lie about being robbed”? Or “Reality: Statistically, very few people lie about being beaten to where they can’t walk for a month”?

We suspect that the reality is that  “statistically” there are more people who lie about being raped than being victims of other crimes. There are female sociopaths out there as well as male ones, after all, and we don’t want to throw out the presumption of innocence.

The subhead for Section 6 is Realty: “The overwhelming majority of sexual assaults are perpetrated against women.” The section then goes on to say “It is difficult to determine the number of male victims of sexual violence for a variety of reasons.” So, how do you know what the reality is Judge Panella? The words in the subhead say “perpetrated against” not “reported by”.  That particular bit is sloppy writing and sloppy thinking. And, again, what is the point of even mentioning it?

Otherwise — and we confess that we did not read all 742 pdf pages — it seems a useful and valuable tool.

Sexual Violence Guide For Judges

Rick Perry Attack Smacks Of Totalitarianism

Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney of Travis County, Texas was arrested for drunk driving April 12, 2013.

Video of her arrest showed her being abusive and threatening officers with retaliation.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 45 days in jail and a $4,000 fine.

She refused to resign, though.

Travis County is one of the few Democrat counties in Texas and contains the state capital of Austin. One of the jobs of the Travis D.A. is to head the The Public Integrity Unit (PIU) which is funded by the state and investigates public corruption, insurance fraud, and motor fuels tax fraud. 

The Travis County DA also holds the chief responsibility for enforcing the government and election code statewide.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry felt that a person who scoffs at the law and abuses law enforcement officers was not fit to hold the position. He said he would veto the $7.5 million state funding for the PIU unless Ms. Lehmberg resigned.

Ms. Lehmberg again refused and Perry vetoed the allocation.

What happened next was that a grand jury was empaneled in Travis County and indicted Perry on the felony charges of felony charges of abuse of official capacity and coercion of public servant with a maximum sentence of 109 years in prison.

Perry, today, Aug. 16, issued a statement saying that he “wholeheartedly and unequivocally” stands behind his veto calling the indictment as “nothing more than an abuse of power.

” I cannot, and will not, allow that to happen,” he said.  “I intend to fight against those who would erode our state’s constitution and laws purely for political purposes, and I intend to win. I will explore every legal avenue to expedite this matter and bring it to a swift conclusion. I am confident we will ultimately prevail, that this farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is, and that those responsible will be held to account.”

Thank you, Gov. Perry. We wish you were a Pennsylvanian.

Here is the video of District Attorney Lehmberg showing her respect for the law.

 

 

Rick Perry Attack Smacks Of Totalitarianism

 

Rick Perry Attack Smacks Of Totalitarianism

Wade McCree Should Be Sued

Wade McCree Should Be SuedCircuit Court Judge Wade McCree in Action

Wayne County, Mich. Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree  had a divorce case before him.  He found the wife attractive, sent her provocative text messages from the bench and eventually had sexual relations with her resulting in a child which was aborted.

McCree, needless to say, came down pretty hard on the husband in his ruling.

Unfortunately for McCree, this and other unjudicial acts came to light and the Michigan Supreme Court suspended him from the bench for six years without pay.

And the husband, Robert King, sued him.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against King cited the doctrine of judicial immunity for decisions judges make on the bench that stems from the Bradley v Fisher decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 1871.

King’s lawyer, Joel Sklar, is appealing to the Supreme Court.

We hope he wins. It should be obvious that once a person who happens to be a judge reveals himself to be corrupt the protection should end and justice prevail.

Wade McCree Should Be Sued

 

 

Oprahization Of the Delaware County D.A.

Oprahization Of the Delaware County D.A. — The prosecutors in the Delaware County (Pa) District Attorney’s office seem to be watching Oprah Winfrey when they should be reading Jefferson and Blackstone.

Delaware County Daily Times columnist Gil Spencer had articles, here and here, regarding a father who was brought to trial on various child sex charges solely on the word of a disturbed young neighbor who had a known grudge.

The prosecution had no corroborating evidence and Sherlock Holmes was not needed to see inconsistencies in the girl’s story i.e porn was not found in the house. Nor did there seem to be any consideration — or maybe even investigation — into the history of the accused and accuser, or the accuser’ background.

Fortunately, the jurors had a better understanding of truth and justice than the trained lawyers. The man was acquitted albeit at a cost of $10,000 in legal fees.

And, of course, innocent men can go to jail.

Oprahization Of the Delaware County D.A.
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