California looks at Ciavarella outcome
SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – The federal corruption trial of former Judge Mark Ciavarella was at the center of attention of Luzerne County.
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Former Judge Mark Ciavarella responds to questions along North Washington Avenue in Scranton after being found guilty of 12 of 39 counts. BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
The story made local headlines first. Then, the national press and news shows such as ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “20/20” and NBC’s “Today” aired stories.
Now, the case is being read by California lawyers, after the California Bar Journal published an article about the trial in its March edition.
The article is headlined “Could it happen here?” and is written by Janice M. Brickley, a legal advisor to commissioners at the California Commission on Judicial Performance.
“The case, an alarming story of judicial corruption and failures throughout the justice system that lasted two years, should raise a question in the minds of Californians: Could it happen here?” she wrote.
Brickley outlined the outcome of the trial, including Ciavarella’s conviction on 12 of 39 counts, including racketeering and mail fraud, as well as the indictment against Ciavarella.
READ THE FULL STORY:
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To the Editor:
In response to your article, "California looks at Ciavarella outcome", the question should be: Why is the US Department of Justice refusing to prosecute racketeering judges in California?
Ongoing large-scale false imprisonment in Los Angeles County have been documented in the Rampart scandal investigation (1998-2000).
Prof Erwin Chemerinsky concluded in 2001 "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when innocent people are convicted."
The 2006 LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel concluded "Innocent people remain in prison". It documented that the victims by and large remained imprisoned. Judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court object to their release, since it would cause "collapse of the justice system". The report further concluded that "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office,[are] the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system".
The 2010 Staff Report of the Human Right Council of the United Nations concluded "corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California".
LINKS:
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WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA?
* "...judges tried and sentenced a staggering number of people for crimes they did not commit."
Prof David Burcham, Dean, Loyola Law School, LA (2001)
* "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when innocent people are convicted."
Prof Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Irvine Law School (2001)
* "Innocent people remain in prison"
* "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office, the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system, have not produced any response that we know of..."
LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel Report (2006)
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WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA?
* "...corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California."
United Nations Human Rights Council Staff Report (2010)
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WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE STATE COURTS IN THE UNITED STATES?
* "On July 26, 2010, Laurence Tribe, Senior Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative, delivered an important speech to the Conference of Chief Justices, challenging them to halt the disintegration of our state justice systems before they become indistinguishable from courts of third world nations."
Prof Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School (2010), per National Defender Leadership Institute (2010)
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joseph Zernik, PhD
Human Rights Alert (NGO)
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