If you are not tuning in to Pennsylvania’s broadcast of their three-ring Judicial circus, you are really missing a great show. They desperately continue to reach into their designer brief cases and pull out tricks – but they are just not working. As Attorney General Kathleen Kane stated “They can arrest me ten times” but she will continue to do her job. Since her announcement of discovering thousands of pornographic emails on State servers, Kane has been indicted and has had her law license suspended – by senders of those emails. She was arrested twice based on allegations by Frank Fina and Mark Costanza, former OAG prosecutors, who now work with Philadelphia DA Seth Williams. Many of these highly offensive and graphic emails were sent by them while they were investigating convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky.
The PA Supreme Court bench that suspended her law license included Justice Michael Eakin, who also is guilty of sending racist and graphic emails. But that didn’t phase the General either, even after some of these characters called for her resignation. The Judiciary is just a row of dominoes falling down one by one, after the General kicked the first tile.
Who could have expected that the first female and first Democrat Pennsylvania Attorney General would be spending most of her time busting our own Judicial Branch? Then again she did run on a platform to expose corruption, but it seems that many citizens are not able to recognize it now that its in front of their faces. Thus far, Justice Seamus McCaffery resigned last year, Eakin will mostly likely follow, retired Judge Feudale has been thrown onto the barbeque and Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter, who presided over Kanes indictment- has become paranoid. He stated during a hearing – that someone is following him.
I have read just about every article that has been written, regarding the maelstrom that has developed around the Pennsylvania justice system. Even though the General has effectively destroyed the credibility of scores of prosecutors, attorneys and government officials from the previous administration, the majority of regional newspapers are putting out very slanted stories in favor of the miscreants. The average person is ignorant of the fact that our cable companies and media outlets are owned either directly or indirectly by these deviants that have infiltrated our government. I can fully attest to the fact that the mess exposed by the General, was already known by an exclusive group of people like me, that have been struggling to break free of what can only be described as a judicial crime syndicate. Her courage and resolve have brought a measure of solace for the court system casualties, by exposing to the nonbelievers that justice in Pennsylvania has been nothing more than a myth for decades.
Having viewed the first released batch of graphic emails sent between judges and prosecutors, Kanes use of the term “offensive,” was an understatement. They could only have been worse if they were videos instead of pictures. But I do not believe that her goal was to show that these men who sent these emails, are perverts. All men are perverts to some degree given the opportunity- its human nature. That is not to say that their reputations and careers are not completely trashed.
The emails are just a tool; the General’s probable objective has been accomplished. She has proven that given their responsibilities, these pillars of justice were just a little too cozy to be impartial in a court of law. The cordiality was completely missing in these communications. Add the money that exchanges hands between most of them during election time, and you can completely eliminate any chance of due process, especially true if you come into their territory as a non-paying, non-club member and attempt to represent yourself. I have witnessed and experienced this as both a participant and a spectator at many hearings in Montgomery County Courts, which is also the venue of choice to try to railroad AG Kane.
Pennsylvania judges are now giving the performances of their lives in this three ring circus, with the General as the Ringmaster. They are jumping through hoops trying to weaken this woman of steel. The myriad of charges they have trumped up against her in their efforts to silence her, are dwarfed in comparison to the 6000 emails being incrementally released. With each batch, another judge falls off the bench and another public attorney crawls under their desk to conjure up another scheme against Kane.
With all of their brandishing that the Judiciary can police itself, the General really hit the ball out of the park exposing how the Judicial Conduct Board (JCB) really operates. Its been over five years since Judge Ciavarelli was convicted for abusing thousands of children in his court, in the Kids for Cash scandal. While that caused a media frenzy, very little attention was paid as to who was responsible for allowing him to get away with it for almost seven years. Rumor has it that about 40 different complaints were filed by the families of those children, while Joseph Massa, Esq was the Chief Counsel of the JCB. Has anyone asked whatever happened to him? He was quietly given an honorable discharge at a beautiful retirement party – no doubt with a sizable public pension. But since his disappearance, little has changed. The JCB is supposed to protect the public from judicial misconduct, but since they operate in secrecy there is no way to measure their effectiveness or integrity.
His replacement, Robert Gaci, is continuing this tradition, and showing to be of the same caliber, with the handling of Justice Michael Eakin’s involvement in the email scandal. His Board found no wrongdoing, and has yet to address the failure of Eakin to recuse from the bench which decided to suspend Kanes law license, before she was convicted of breaking any laws. In light of her having publicly released racist and graphic emails sent by him, Eakin may have had just a slight conflict of interest.
The JCB receives about seven to eight hundred complaints per year. In 2013, only six cases received any attention. When I say attention – I mean they get a letter in the mail that that they had been a bad boy or girl. Only one judge that year is no longer on the bench. He got to resign and keep his pension. With what we are seeing now in the initial attempt by the JCB to dismiss the complaint against their crony, Justice Michael Eakin, is there any doubt how many of the other hundreds of complaints, that were dismissed, were actually valid?
My own case is a good example of JCB self-reaching. I filed several complaints between 2008 and 2012 were all dismissed. However, the fourth one in 2013, happened to be one of those six that did result in an action. Although it was deemed as “dismissed” by Chief Counsel Graci this time, the Defendant, Montgomery County Judge Kelly C. Wall is still on the bench. She had failed to address very time sensitive motions for four years, and neglected to report it under Rule 703, that judges are supposed to file every six months for late dispositions. She caused my family great financial damage, but is still collecting her salary. Wall did however, recuse “herself” a few weeks after I met with members of the JCB. When asked if he was responsible for her removal, Graci stated he cannot comment on any actions the Board may have taken. Through another channel I found out Wall got a letter of reprimand, I got a dismissal letter and was told by Chief Counsel Graci, that they have no mechanisms for restitution. Now I have a new judge that is just as bad – and am in my ninth year still in family court.
Kane is using our modern day tools – the ubiquitous emails – to expose that we have an entire branch of government that has gone awry. While those of us in civil, and especially in family court, are waiting for our hero to appear, so far the focus has only been on the criminal venues. The condition of the Judiciary in the civil courts is quantitatively, if not qualitatively just as bad. But for the very observant, Kane is giving an enema to the entire system, while risking her own career. Her battles are very clearly beginning to have an effect outside her realm, ironically again emerging first in Montgomery County. Last week, they proudly made an announcement that they are changing from an “attorney driven” to “court driven” judicial administration, while at the same time admitting they had a backlog of 5000 cases back to 1980.
I found this admission a bit shocking. Since when are courts “attorney driven?” What this truly means for those of you that have been trapped in their clutches, is that they are sugar-coating what was really racketeering between judges and lawyers. Because if they admitted to that, they might have to confiscate all the money that was extorted from you, used to buy their fancy houses and cars – and give it back to its rightful owners. That is unless people are willing to form an army, march on the court houses and demand restitution.
While so many of us have been screaming into thin air, AG Kane has finally brought this all to the surface. One Senator, Anthony Williams, has picked up a baton and demanded that Justice Eakin resign, and that we amend the State Constitution to separate the JCB from its marriage to the Supreme Court. He is one of the few legislators who is not a lawyer, something we need more of. I do not think the full immensity of this is finished rising to the surface, like pond scum after a storm. Pennsylvania is going to be skimming the scum as it continues to surface for a long time. The question is, how they are going to handle all the collateral damage?
Even though Kane has chosen not to run again for office, if there is a write-in option, I will be filling in her name. There hasn’t been so much affirmation on corruption since President Kennedy made his “secret society” speech. If only they had invented email in 1961.