10-11-05 Yahoo treads lightly in reporting on Human Rights in the United States... //

US defends human rights record before UN body

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AP – United States' Michael Posner, right, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy Human Rights and Labor, …

By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press – Fri Nov 5, 11:14 am ET

GENEVA – The U.S. stood accused Friday of human rights violationsranging from racial discrimination to prison overcrowding and abuses by its troops, as friends and foes lined up to chide Washington in a U.N. forum the U.S. has pledged to be an equal member of rather than shun, as the past administration did.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer said Washington was proud of its record but prepared to engage critics during the country's first comprehensive review before the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Anticipating harsh words from traditional adversaries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Iran, Brimmer took a jibe at those countries' restrictions on freedom of speech by telling the 47-nation council that the Obama administration was used to hearing criticism from its own citizens at home, in newspapers, blogs and talk radio shows.

"Some are respectful and constructive, some are not," she said. "We protect them all."

In a forceful speech that highlighted U.S. achievements as well as shortcomings, Brimmer also noted that it was "our own people, to whom we are ultimately accountable," even as she repeated President Barack Obama's willingness to hear other nations' recommendations for how the United States can improve its record.

Among the first to challenge Washington was Russia, which urged the U.S. to abolish the death penalty. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, called on Washington to better promote religious tolerance, and Mexico complained that racial profiling had become a common practice in some U.S. states.

China was among dozens of countries urging the U.S. to ratify key international conventions on the rights of women and children that Washington has signed but Congress has yet to approve. Human rights experts say the likelihood that these treaties will pass was diminished by Republican gains in Tuesday's midterm elections.

"We acknowledge imperfection," said Michael Posner, the assistant secretary of state for human rights, adding that while the "glaring original flaw" of slavery had been abolished, the Obama administration was "not satisfied with the status quo."

Responding to some domestic U.S. commentators who say that inviting criticism from countries like Iran in the U.N. forum is a mistake, Posner retorted that "this is what principled engagement looks like."

"We are trying to lead by example," he told reporters after the meeting. "We're not going to do things because some other government tells us to do them. We're going to do them because they're the right thing to do."

The U.S. came under new pressure over human rights Friday with the revelation that former U.S. President George W. Bush personally authorized the waterboarding of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The practice, a form of simulated drowning, has been described as torture and Obama outlawed it shortly after coming into office.

According to The New York Times, which obtained an advance copy of "Decision Points," due in bookstores on Nov. 9, Bush responded "damn right" when the CIA sought permission to use waterboarding.

Asked about the revelation, Posner said the U.S. has "a clear policy going forward there will be no torture, no cruel treatment."

"We're not mincing words. We're not winking and nodding," he said. "The prohibition against torture and cruel treatment applies to every U.S. official, every agency, everywhere in the world. There is an absolute prohibition as a matter of law and policy."

U.S. State Department legal adviser Harold Koh told The Associated Press that the question of whether a former U.S. president could be prosecuted for acts committed in office hadn't been resolved.

"They have carefully avoided it in past circumstances," he said. "Richard Nixon was not named as a defendant, he was an unindicted coconspirator. I know of no case in which a former president has been prosecuted."

Earlier, Koh responded to countries who bemoaned the failure to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by saying "the President cannot close Guantanamo alone" and would need help from Congress, the U.S. courts as well as foreign allies willing to take in released inmates.

"Our intensive efforts to close that facility continue every day," he said.

The three-hour meeting of the Geneva-based council, which the U.S. only joined last year after ending a de facto boycott by the Bush administration, is seen as a key test of Washington's willingness to engage the international community through the U.N. forum.

Many countries and rights groups praised the U.S. for its 20-page report — compiled with the input of civic and social organizations — though few observers expect the meeting to result in any immediate improvement on issues such as terrorism trials before a military commission, alleged unfair treatment of illegal immigrants and racial disparities in sentencing of drug offenders.

"Recognition of problems is a first step," said Antonio M. Ginatta, director of advocacy at New York-basedHuman Rights Watch.

___

On the Net:

Webcast of proceedings: http://bit.ly/USUNreview

U.N. Universal Periodic Review: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR

______

318 Comments

Joseph Zernika second ago

Reader above wrote: "Actually the criticisms were surprisingly mild considering what they could have said."
That is not the case at all... Only Yahoo decided in this case to tread lightly...
Regarding the justice system in California, the UN report referred to: "Corruption of the courts and the legal profession".
See the full report at:
United Nations Human Rights Council staff report as part of the first ever Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in the United States:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38566837/

10-11-05 Welcome Switzerland - Last New Visitor! // Bienvenido Suiza - Visitante Mas Riciente!

         

Last New Visitor Switzerland Visited November 5, 2010

10-11-03 Welcome Gambia - newest country! // Bienvenido Gambia - el país más reciente!

  
    
 

Newest Country Gambia Last Visited November 3, 2010

10-11-03 Welcome Colombia - last new visitor! // Bienvenido Colombia - nuevo visitante fin!

  
  
  

Last New Visitor Colombia Visited November 3, 2010

10-11-03 California legal ethics question: What are the duties and responsibilities of an attorney when appearing in pretense court proceedings before a corrupt judge? – Correspondence with a California Attorney

As part of the first ever, 2010 UPR (Universal Periodic Review) of Human Rights in the United States, the Human Rights Council issued a staff report referring to “corruption of the courts and the legal profession” in California. [1]

Below is correspondence with a California attorney, documenting how it works in practice in everyday life at the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles:

_____

At 09:05 PM 10/26/2010, California Attorney wrote:

Still no word from you on judge [redacted] dpt [redacted]. If you know of nothing, just let me know. I do not know if you are receiving the emails and choosing not respond, or simply not answering. thanks

Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 4:02 PM by Joseph Zernik

[redacted] Stanley Mosk Courthouse Dept [redacted] [redacted] [added – severl of them are pretense receiverships] I start most of my work off records alone. I found only eight (8) cases where [redacted] was involved, and only partial records at best. However, there is no doubt that [redacted] is a corrupt judge, on multiple accounts. It looks like [redacted] and Attorney KEVIN SINGER do the dog and pony show like Judge JOHN SEGAL and Attorney DAVID PASTERNAK. [added – in pretense receiverships] Thanks for bringing [redacted] name to my attention. 

JZ

At 03:01 AM 10/27/2010, California Attorney wrote:

What does that mean 8 cases [redacted] was involved in??

Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 5:10 PM by Joseph Zernik:

I managed to find records and reports only of 8 captions. Involved in - in some of these cases multiple judges juggled the case, apparently with no assignment orders, a typical pattern in group racketeering at the court, and [redacted] was only one of a group.

At 02:24 AM 10/27/2010, California Attorney wrote:

Yes, my case was related to another case, judge [redacted] ordered it related and transferred to probate court. [redacted] refused to cooperate and refuses to move the case over.

Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 1:19 PM by Joseph Zernik:

Although I never used these words, my report to the United Nations was summed up by the legal staff of the Human Rights Council as "corruption of the courts and the legal profession".

• Would you inform your client when a judge is presiding with no Assignment Order?

• Would you inform your client when a judge "waives" the right for notice and service?

• Would you inform your client when all Minutes in the court file fail to be signed by the Clerk of the Court or Deputy Clerk?

• Would you inform your client when Judgment or Appealable Order is not entered, yet the court enforces it in violation of the law?

I simply cannot see how any attorney can practice in Los Angeles County, California, unless he/she is either incompetent or corrupt. JZ

At 11:37 PM 11/2/2010, California attorney wrote:

Well, I do not believe I am either one of your choices

Date: Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:54:49 +0200, Joseph Zernik wrote:

• Would you inform your client that a judge in his/her case is presiding with no Assignment Order?

• Would you inform your client when the judge "waives" notice and service?

• Would you inform your client that none of the Minutes in the court file are duly signed by a Deputy Clerk, and therefore are void?

• Would you inform your client that his/her judgment was never entered?

It is a tough job for an attorney to walk between the drops...

Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 15:05:16 –0700, California Attorney wrote:

Is this happening all the time? Sorry I have not been reading each of your emails. If a judgment is not entered, I would have that corrected, and have, but as for the other three, I have never seen it, but I also have not been looking at it Im sure as closely as you. but I guess your point is that all attorneys should be. I have never been involved in a case where I thought that has happened or where my client thought something was fishy, expect for the time I helped you, and the new case I have in front of [redacted], of which you have not been providing me with much good ammunition. Trying to get rid of [redacted] for the things you told me I believe will be a waste of time and money. Maybe I am wrong, but cannot take the chance. [redacted] does not even give up the case when she is ordered to by [redacted].

Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 15:33:48 –0700, California Attorney wrote:

That is why we have you and the good organizations fighting the cause. If you are correct, like I said a long time ago, you, the public, the press will need to bring it into the open and cause change. I am a little fish swimming in a very big ocean and cannot spend the time or resources to get to the bottom of what you say is happening. However, on a case by case basis, if things arise, I will check further. FYI, when I submit a judgment and get it back executed by the court, that is what I use. If that is wrong because of the court failing to enter it, well I will look into that from now on to try and get the court to enter it in a way that you are citing, though I am not sure that is necessary given the practice and custom among attorneys, however unfortunate you say it may be due to the illegality. So it seems I am back to square one with my problem judge. Thank you for trying to help me.

Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 7:23 PM by Joseph Zernik:

You must be naive at best:

• Pursuant to the US Constitution, Art. IV s. I, and Act of Congress of May 26, 1790, for judicial records to be of "full faith and credit", the judgment must be attested by a clerk, beyond its "execution" (certification) by a Judge.

• Furthermore, pursuant to Cal Government Code, 69844.7 the court is required to maintain a “Judgment Book”.

• California Code of Civil Procedure, section 664.5 requires that such judgment or appealable order be entered in the judgment book, to make such judgment "effectual for any purpose".

If I understood you correctly, you accept judgment as valid and effectual based on certification by a judge alone - therefore, you may be advising your clients to obey or accept as judgments of "full faith and credit", and "valid and effectual" judicial records, which are in fact void, not voidable. Exposing the corruption "by organizations' is not likely to make any difference. For example - existence of secret corporations, controlled by the LASC judges, and inexplicable fund movements in and out of such corporations, was exposed already a decade ago by the Washington DC "Insight Magazine". No action was taken by FBI, IRS, or US DOJ, and such corporations continue to operate to this date. In complaint to US DOJ, I provided additional credible evidence of high-level financial management fraud at the LASC. US DOJ refuses to take action. Corruption of the judiciary and the legal profession in LASC and the United States is now rampant, and neither the Executive, nor the Legislative Branches have the power to address it. To wit:

• Already in 2007 I filed complaints regarding racketeering in the Los Angeles Courts.

• In 2008 I filed similar complaints with FBI Director and US Attorney General with voluminous credible evidence.

• Both refused to respond.

• In 2009, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Diane Watson filed Congressional Inquiries on my behalf of FBI Director and US Attorney General - why they would not address the complaints of racketeering in the Los Angeles courts.

• Assistant Director of FBI - KENNETH KAISER, and Director of US Department of Justice KENNETH MELSON responded to US Congress. I deemed their responses fraud on the US Congress.

• In 2010 I filed complaint with GLENN FINE - US DOJ IG - for fraud by the above two gentlemen on US Congress.

• US DOJ IG refused to respond.

• Senator Feinstein then filed another Congressional Inquiry, this time on US DOJ IG - Why he would not respond on complaint of fraud by FBI Assistant Director and US DOJ Director on US Congress.

• Response was due within 30 days. To this date US DOJ IG is refusing to respond. Of note, the online Mission Statement of US DOJ IG includes "restoration of the credibility of the US DOJ", and already in 2008 Patrick Leahy, Chair of the US Senate Judiciary Committee, called for a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" regarding conduct of the US DOJ.

My manuscript, now under review by a top-tier international law journal, documented the same type of conduct all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In short, what we are witnessing today is the US controlled not only by the traditional "Military Industrial Complex", but above and beyond it - the Judiciary Banking Complex. Although never stated in these terms, that was the essence of my report to the United Nations, which led the legal staff to sum it as "corruption of the courts and the legal profession". In fact, the US and state judiciary, in collusion with the legal profession, brought the US into a Robber Baron Revival Era. The outcome is historically predictable - we are back in a Greater Depression.

[redacted]

• You still have not addressed the issue of how you ascertain that LASC judges presiding in cases of your clients indeed hold Assignment Orders.

• You likewise have not addressed the issue of your conduct when LASC judges engage in the standard practice of "waiving notice" of minutes of the court, depriving your clients of their fundamental civil rights.

• You likewise have not addressed the standard practice of including in court files Minutes, which were never signed by the Deputy Clerk, and therefore are void, not voidable.

In short: the LASC routinely issues pretense judicial records, construct pretense court files, and thereby conducts pretense litigations.

At 07:27 AM 11/3/2010, California Attorney wrote:

Joseph, I read through to In Short and if you , the FBI and the senators and the UN cannot fix this, how the hell can I make a dent? This reminds of when I was helping you and became overwhelmed by the magnitude of what you alleged. As for your questions, I do not have answers without researching it, but I do know that even if you are right, there is little, little old me can or will do to make a change other than stop practicing law and starve my wife, six kids and myself. You continue to carry the torch and G-d willing the truth will see the light of day. These things cannot last forever. Until then, I will continue my quest to figure out if my judge is bias on enough grounds to get rid of her. If I am wrong, I guess I can return to your points and try to discredit the whole court in order to have [redacted] thrown out. I wish you the best for yourself and the large picture.

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:03:56 +0200, Joseph Zernik wrote:

I asked you only about clerical specifics, which I consider the essentials that a competent attorney must ascertain while representing a client in court. I was not talking about "bias". "Bias" is much more difficult to ascertain.

• I was asking about your duty to ascertain whether the judge, before whom you claim to represent your client, has any authority at all, or is just engaging in pretense judicial conduct.

• I was asking about your duty to ascertain that minutes are duly issued and signed by an authorized Deputy Clerk during judicial proceedings, and are duly served and noticed, pursuant to Due Process rights.

• I was asking about your duty to ascertain that Appealable Orders and Judgments are certified by a judge and attested by a clerk, and entered pursuant to California Code, to make them valid and "effectual for any purpose".

In my opinion, any attorney, who does not ascertain these essentials in representation of his client, is colluding with corruption of the LASC and betraying his client - permitting his client to become victim of abuse by the corrupt courts.

In my opinion, an attorney, who finds out that his client is being abused through the conduct of pretense judicial proceedings, and is too timid to disclose the true facts to his client at minimum, must immediately resign from representation. Collecting legal fees, while representing a client in pretense judicial proceedings is corrupt. My conclusion from your response is that you have no intention of doing either, but continue to represent such clients in pretense judicial proceedings. Now you understand why the UN legal staff to my surprise concluded, based on my report, corruption of both the courts and the legal profession, although I never used these terms.

LINKS

[1] 10-04-19 Human Rights Alert (NG0) submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2010 Review (UPR) of Human Rights in the United States as incorporated into the UPR staff report:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38566837

10-11-03 Historic perspective on the scope of judicial corruption in the US Robber Baron Revival Era? // Perspectiva histórica sobre el alcance de la corrupción judicial en los EE.UU. Robber Baron Revival Era?

Worldwide corruption, per Transparency International, a US based organization, which routinely fails to report on corruption in the United States.


For publication in an international law journal, I am seeking peer-reviewed papers, as reference, in order to place the level of judicial corruption today in historic perspective.
The only good paper that I have found so far was one reviewing corruption of the clerks of the US court. [1] Corruption of the clerks is claimed to be central to corruption of the courts today as well, and I claim that corruption of the clerks had to reflect misprision and corruption by judges during the same periods as well.  Therefore, periods when corruption of the clerks was rampant, were likely to also be periods of rampant corruption of the judiciary. 
However, I would rather have a reference to historic review of judicial corruption in the United States.
Any help would be appreciated.

LINKS:
[1] 10-07-23 Order in The Court - History of Clerks of United States Courts
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34819774/

10-11-02 The Judiciary-Banking Complex in Action

Foreclosures were largely through court actions based on patently false banking records. Such conduct was never stopped by the judiciary, only by the banks themselves - after markets were glutted with foreclosed properties.
See:
10-10-08 Bank of America Issues Nationwide Moratorium on Foreclosures - CNBC Foreclosure Primer

10-11-02 The Civic Duties of the Common Person in the Robber Baron Revival Era

FROM THE LAWSTER DISCUSSION GROUP

On 11/3/2010, Joseph Zernik wrote:
Janet:
I never suggested that it was the answer.  I am just pointing out to you that what you are documenting is of historic magnitude, and no solution is likely to emerge anytime soon... 
In a recent visit to Amsterdam, I found people there still talking about the "setting in of the Age of Aquarius"... To the best that I could recall, the "Age of Aquarius" was said to be "dawning" in the 1970s, as an era of "harmony and understanding"...
In contrast, I claim that we are at the dawn of a Robber Baron Revival Era, characterized by looting of the people of the United States by the Judiciary-Banking complex... 
The Era may last decades, or more, so I was just advising you not to hold your breath...
The civic duty of the common person in the Robber Baron Revival Era is to document the scope of abuse taking place under our watch.
Keep up the good job! 

jz 

At 04:32 AM 11/3/2010, Janet wrote:

Dear Joseph,
Creating a record is only one step of the process. You are deluded if you think it is the answer.
Warmly,Janet Phelan 

On 11/2/2010, Joseph Zernik wrote:

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Janet:
You are deluded if you believe that anybody could help in these matters within any reasonable time.  Instead, you should continue to write, publish...
The civic duty of the common person in the Robber Baron Revival Era is to document what is happening under our watch.  In previous periods, records were kept mostly by government and the powers that be.  People like Howard Zinn revolutionized the field with his "People's History of the United States".
However, today, it is much easier to create records of the abuse.
Keep up the good job!
Joseph

At 09:27 PM 11/2/2010, Janet wrote:

I am on deadline and just submitted an article to the Sentinel concerning a probate attorney kidnaping  his father, who is under a conservatorship (the probate attorney is now the trustee of the dad's estate and a sister is the conservator) stealing him away from his home and his wife in order to put him into a guarded assisted living facility. There has been no rationale provided for this.

In quick succession, the probate attorney then evicted his own brother from a home that the dad had granted the brother prior to the initiation of the conservatorship.  The brother has a wife and three small children, the youngest of whom is not quite two. 

Adding injury to more injury, the probate attorney then garnished the wages of the now homeless brother's wife, in order to pay his attorney fees.

The family thinks the dad is going to be dead in no time.  The judges have been cleared of conscience...they have had their consciences removed and replaced by dollar signs.  What I am so concerned about is that the legal reform community doesn't seem to respond much better.

I can get no one to help me with my case and the people I am in touch with, my ever growing pool of victims, find at best an attorney to hire who stabs them in the back. 

What happened to people? Are we so desensitized to human suffering, is it the video game culture, the fluoride, what is it? 

I go to these movies, particularly the vampire movies, like daybreakers, to get a feel for the metaphysic of our times. Over and over again I see the same theme emerging...something has happened to people and there are those among us who will now eat  us for lunch. Or more aptly, perhaps, for a few bucks.

Janet

--- On Tue, 11/2/10, william scott <04wmscott@comcast.net> wrote:

From: william scott <04wmscott@comcast.net>

Subject: RE: Why are we stymied in impotency?

To: lawsters@googlegroups.com

Cc: "'Mark Adams'" , "'Montgomery Blair Sibley'"

Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2010, 12:55 AM

Janet,

The issue in most, if not all, of the presentations you refer to is at what level is the conscience of a court shocked.  

So none of  the responses are tangents to your interests.  

What we must do is develop a conscience for the legal system..  

The use of the newspapers by W. Mark Felt should have given the legal system a wakeup call,  see My life as a G-man, but it did not.  

The discovery of DNA evidence should have forced reforms upon the system, see ABA study of Texas and Florida death penalty cases, but it has not. 

In Florida, the Supreme Court has appointed a Commission to investigate the DNA issues but with restrictions and without mention of the ABA study.  

Absolute immunity prevents the development of a conscience by the legal system and arms them with the weapons to inflict retribution upon anyone who tries to force an examination of the wrongs it condones.   

The cases you study are among the most egregious.  

The theft of my clients money and my suspension pale by comparison, but if we start with the facts of their and my case, we may be able to cause the legal system into providing justice to the people.  The system will never voluntarily admit the facts of the cases you present or the wrongful convictions in the death penalty cases, too severe for them.  We must begin with something relatively harmless.

Bill

William Sumner Scott

3109 Grand Avenue, #183

Miami, FL 33133

305 961-9949

04wmscott@comcast.net

________________

From: lawsters@googlegroups.com [ mailto:lawsters@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Janet Phelan

Sent: Monday, November 01, 2010 6:02 PM

To: lawsters@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: Why are we stymied in impotency?

I see where the discussion is going off on all sorts of interesting tangents. I would really appreciate a thoughtful response here! Thank you,

Janet