A Letter to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George

January 08, 2009

By AHRC News Services

Chief Justice Ronald M. George
Judicial Council of California - Administrative Office of the Courts
455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102-3688
415-865-4200, Fax 415-865-4205

Dear Chief Justice George:

You have stated that you are committed to providing "meaningful access to justice " through the Judicial Council which you chair. We are writing to you in order to request your immediate attention to a very serious problem in California.

You are undoubtedly aware that homeowners throughout California and the nation have been devastated by powerful economic forces in the last few years. We at the American Homeowners Resource Center - a nationwide, grassroots organization dedicated to the American homeowners - have been studying these developments. We would like to draw two related situations to your attention.

The first concerns the court system in Los Angeles County. The attached article, entitled "LA County Payments to LA Superior Court Judges Cost Taxpayers Almost 1 Billion Dollars, and Denied Constitutional Rights to the People of LA County" details a situation that is rocking the confidence of homeowners in the Los Angeles County judicial system. Homeowners have been illegally forced to pay over $300 million to the judges of Los Angeles County over the last 20 years.

The opposition to this violation of the California Constitution has reached a new crescendo with the ruling in Sturgeon v County of Los Angeles. Even though these payments have been declared to be unconstitutional, the judges in Los Angeles County continue to accept them. Homeowners are shocked that those who swear to uphold the constitution are so blithely violating it when it comes to their own pocketbooks.

Homeowners are further informed that these judges - and those of Riverside County as well - are not reporting the payments received by them from these counties on their Form 700 Statement of Economic Interest, and are not disclosing these payments to litigants in cases against these counties. Justice cannot be trusted if it cannot be seen, and it is not being seen in these counties.

In order to remedy possible bias and conflicts of interest in prior cases, we suggest that a special administrative tribunal be established where any person who is of the opinion that a judge who should have been disqualified did not disclose information relevant to the judge's disqualification, will have the opportunity to present their claim, and a decision may be made to reopen the case before a different judge. We believe that such a mechanism would relieve pressure on the "courts of record" to hear these claims.

To avoid similar situations in the future, and to ensure disclosure, we request that the California Supreme Court and the Judicial Council support the attached Judicial Disclosure Bill which would require all judicial officers to provide written disclosure of relationships which could affect their decisions. This would allow litigants to be aware of conflicts of interest held by a judicial officer.

As a corollary to these matters and to ensure that lawyers are not punished for advocating for the enforcement of our constitutional rights, we request that the Supreme Court dismiss the State Bar case number 04-O-14366 RAH against Richard I. Fine. We also suggest that you institute the necessary rules to prohibit any State Bar cases to be brought against any attorney who exercises his First Amendment rights, particularly, the right to show that members of the judiciary were receiving unconstitutional payments and not disclosing such, thereby denying litigants their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

Second, homeowners have repeatedly reported to us that when they have to go into court regarding homeowner association issues, judges in counties such as Orange and Riverside almost invariably rule against them. Once again, because there is a considerable lack of transparency, homeowners cannot investigate whether particular judges have conflicts of interests. Hence, your support of the Judicial Disclosure Bill is even more important.

Homeowners nationwide have formally requested the U.S. Department of Justice to institute grand jury investigations in Los Angeles , Orange and Riverside Counties with a request to prosecute any and all criminal wrongdoing.

In addition we formally request that the Judicial Council and the California Supreme Court take all measures to institute any and all actions, investigations, administrative and other proceedings to ensure "access to justice" is guaranteed in all courts of the State of California, the State Bar Court and any other agency under the jurisdiction of the California Supreme Court.

The citizens of California cannot have faith in their judges unless there is complete transparency. If there is nothing to hide, then transparency cannot hurt. If there are things to hide, then transparency is imperative. The citizens of California must have verified assurances that their system of justice is not corrupt.

We would appreciate a response as soon as possible in the midst of your busy schedule. These problems have festered too long.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely


Elizabeth J. McMahon
Founder
American Homeowners Resource Center
P. O. Box 97
San Juan Capistrano, California 92693

NOTES: This request for investigation was confirmed received and given to Chief Justice Ronald George on January 22, 2009. - AHRC Reports