Westchester Guardian/The Court Report.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Court Report
By Richard Blassberg

Aggrieved Citizen Shares Letter To State Supreme
Court, Appellate Division Disciplinary Committee


Analysis:

Of all of the failures that continue to come to light with respect to New York State’s Judicial System, perhaps the most disheartening and disillusioning is the persistent failure by grievance committees and judicial oversight agencies to promptly, and appropriately, deal with the unlawful, and unethical, behavior of attorneys and judges. There is a pervasive attitude of collegiality, and downright protectionism, that works to negate the very mechanisms that are supposed to shield citizens from those who would use the courts, and their influence in those
courts, to abuse their rights.

Agencies specifically mandated and empowered to investigate and rectify improper conduct by misguided, self-serving, and corrupt lawyers and officers of the court, including judges themselves, are too often reluctant, or unwilling, to fulfill their role. Matters that should take weeks to get underway, and perhaps a few months to fully investigate and verify, often take years. Documents mysteriously become lost, and decisions are agonizingly slow to materialise. Even allegations as outrageous as those in the above matter, fully documented and acknowledged, will take long periods of time before being resolved, as all the while those who have misbehaved continue for months, and even years, to negatively and unjustly influence the cases and the lives of innocent, decent citizens.