Beware of Court in NY State

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/n...&en=bd5050a3b3cb004e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Wow, you'd expect this kind of treatment in other stereotyped areas of
the country. I think I might take my chances with the one-toothed
banjo picker. Just to be fair, I remember a "court" in Cook Co, IL where
they had similar "hearing officers" deciding the fates of abused children.
LOL, 200 people all lined up at 9:00am --everyone had the same hearing
time posted. On the plus side, the hearings lasted about 2 minutes
each. On the negative side, it would suck to be last. This was the first
and last time I went to court in that county as a professional witness
when the "judge" continues the same orders from 6 months before,
took no testimony, and didn't even bother looking at the recommendations
on any of the reports just handed to her. I could've messed with the
"judge" and asked her if she wanted to know if the kid was at least still
alive or not. However, why risk detention for "contempt of court" when
I'd rather get out asap and go south to the backwaters where at least
I can have some commo with the judge that is relevant to the case......

So here's a thought, if this is how "judges"/"hearing officers" handle these
kinds of cases --even the futures of abused kids, then it's no wonder that
our Second Amendment rights have constantly been under assault!

 

You said it, brother. Here in Upstate New York I've seen some .. well, sort of good things in court, but more often than not in these small towns you see some VERY very bad practices by both law enforcement and the court system. That town in the article you posted in only about an hour and a half from where I am, and the whole area is saturated with corrupt little towns.

 

The justices are either elected or appointed by some one who is elected. Given the local level of the problem, how hard would it be to get the word out to the voting community? A few votes makes a big difference in a small town election. I still prefer localized government/justice system over an even less accountable centralized government/justice system.

 

Is this a joke?

 

Hell, beware of court in ANY state!! And whatever you do, DON'T piss of the judge. I saw a guy come to court drunk once - it was not pretty! Stupidity is very expensive when you get a judge involved.

 

Why does it take so long to clean this sort of stuff up?

Why does it take years and thousands of dollars to right an obvious wrong?

Why doesn't the state do its' part to ensure that the law is being upheld in these places?

The problem is much deeper than simply the local justice system.

 

Because it's NY

 

The state Attorney General (Elliot Spitzer) is too busy trying to become Governor to worry about little things like corrupt judges.

Sincerely,

Prof. A. Wickwire

 

Henry Bowman wrote:

"I still prefer localized government/justice system over an even less accountable centralized government/justice system."

As for getting the word out, I wonder how hard it is for a local "judge" to let it be known that he will order the arrest and imprisonment of anyone opposing him or voting against him. Should guarantee he has the job for life.

IIRC, judges in NY state are the ones handing out pistol licenses, so perhaps Mr. Bowman has a good reason to support his local "judge", but I don't think the system works very well. It might be OK if the courts are limited to parking violations, but when they can hand down jail time or heavy fines, it is not a good system.

Jim

 

in va

its not much better
2 years ago on my birthday i was getting my thumb stitched up in emerg clinic after earlier in the day conducting a safety demonstration with a razor knife. my phone rings its the stafford county sheriffs office telling me there is a warrant out on me and would i like to come take care of it. i am puzzled since its been quite q while since i did anything that would cause me to be charged. 15 years at least.i got stitched and headed over to see what was up. i assumed identity theft or at worst wondered could i have written a check somewhere or had one stolen from me.
i get there and when the deputy comes out shes got green paper uh ohh felony warrant. i am now convinced there is some mistake. its for felony construction fraud. she cuffs me takes me across street to jail to process me. as we go through the drill i read the upside down criminal complaint . my name is not in the charges anywhere except where it counts. it describes someone else getting a check and failing to perform the work to a ladies satisfaction. i ask the deputy why i'm charged and not mentioned in the criminal complaint she goes huh? and reads it she is smart enough to see right away something is off. she calls her boss and the magistrate on duty. end result? book him sort it out in court.
now heres what the deal was. i had bid on a job 3500 labor for a bathroom renovation and some lil odds and ends. they didn't like my price. cool no hard feelings. a young man who was my helper asked if it was alright if he took the job i said sure and said i'd help with some parts too hard for him.
i did my part set tub did tile everything was great lady cooked me dinner and was tickled pink it was a great job. and the guy was gonna pay me when he got paid. they had a falling out over them being unclear as to what was gonna be done for what price. she went to court and swore out the complaint i mentioned earlier. my name not in it. when they serve a warrant they need an address. she didn't have one for neal. her claim is that the magistrate( ahigh school friend of hers) said if you don't know the adress for one guy swear out the warrant for the one you do know(i'm in the yellow pages) so its cuffs back on up the road to another magistrate who agrees with cop and me that something is seriously wrong but he sets bond and i wait 4 hours to make it.

but the story has a better side i call the head magistrate next day at 3:30 and leave him a message describing what happened nhe calls be back at 8 am next day apologises for taking so long to gt back to me and says his preliminary check indicates a mistake has been made at his office and they will take care of it. they did. the head guy is a retired marine major gets things done. magistrates in va get minimal training 20 hours or so. we had one in fairfax who followed a complaintant outside and punched him out guy was friends with the defendant

was quite an eye opener never been locked up and innocent before

 

Why on earth would you let someone be a judge without at least going through law school first? It would cost more to have lawyer-judges BUT...

Your judges would be:
a) smart and literate enough to get through college and into law school
b) legally educated enough to pass the bar exam in the state where they judge
c) actually understand the law that they are supposed to be applying to parties in lawsuits and criminal cases.

Wow, judges that understand the law hearing cases in which lawyers who understand the law make arguments based on law and facts. What a crazy and revolutionary way to pursue justice!

 

Wow a disagreement over home repairs is a crime, let alone a felony in your state. Here we would take a brief report and advise them to go to civil court.

 

Back in the old, old days, the court would establish personal jurisdiction in civil cases by physically taking custody of the defendant and bringing him to the court to stand trial. Courts aren't still supposed to be doing this.

 

not only a felony

but you can be charged and arrested purely on the plaintiffs statement nothing else. in this case i never had a contract with the woman nor did she at anytime ever give me any funds. the other guy never paid either but i took one of his checks from me for the job

 

Bewar on ANY court in NY, even the larger ones, with "real" judges. Some are very good, some are very bad, but MOST will support whatever the town government wants them to. Probably to keep their jobs.

I've had a couple "altercations" with the town coucil, and once was even hit with a whole slew of charges FOR TRAINING DOGS ON MY OWN 10 ACRES OF PROPERTY. They "threw the book at me", finding any kind of law on the books that remotely resembled (and a few that didn't) my/our activities.

Of course, they all got thrown out in court (save one-$50 fine-and technically that wasn't for something really illegal (unless you stretch the law to th limit), but I guess he felt he had to do something. (this is one of our "good" judges, I did jury duty with him, used as much common sense as he can get away with.)

BUT, it cost me $2000 (some donated by other members of my dog club) to have my day in court, and we were effectively banned from training here, by the judge, with NO legal precident.

Lawyer said I could fight it all, and 99% chance of a win, but it would cost thousands of dollars. I guess you CAN'T really fight city hall. (Unless you have really deep pockets.

 

I'm thinking a good lawyer would have handed you the deed to her house. And maybe the Magistraits.