Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Lokuta wants decission tossed

HARRISBURG – Saying it would be “easier to unscramble an egg than to extract untainted testimony” from her misconduct trial, former Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta on Monday filed a legal brief urging the state Court of Judicial Discipline to dismiss or reopen her case.

In her brief she blasts the disciplinary court’s chief judge, Richard Sprague, accusing him of a conflict of interest because he was the lawyer for PA Child Care owner Robert Powell. Powell has been named as one of the people that was paying bribes to the Juvie Brothers, former Luzerne County Judges Conahan and Ciavarella. I think she has a good case and at the least she deserves a new hearing.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sprague should go !!!

Anonymous said...

The FBI needs to investigate the JCB, then get rid of the whole corrupt bunch of them. They serve no purpose only their own. While they had Lokuta under fire for being nasty, they ignored the two disgraced Judges that were selling kids for cash. So what do we need them for??? What a joke!!!!

Jude Rene Montarsi said...

Do we know for certain that no one complained to the Judicial Conduct Board about the two judges involved in the "kids for cash" issue? In all fairness to the JCB, the FBI was involved in the investigation process, it is possible that the JCB referred the matter to the FBI. Do we know this for certain? If the JCB did--as it has no powers to police criminal matters (only ethical violations) it would have had to remain mum on the matter until the FBI confirmed or ruled out criminal conduct on the part of the judges.

I do agree on this point: The Judiciary is no longer capable of policing itself and member of the Bar Association. We need a completely independent--citizen run--board (like jury duty) to sit in judgement of judicial and attorney misconduct cases. Lawyers--in particular--when they are charged with misconduct--should be disciplined in public so that we know facts. Why? Because lawyers are the pool from which judges come from--and the Bar Association makes recommendations for office.

Jude Rene Montarsi said...

See this link for HALT (Help Abolish Legal Tryanny) http://www.halt.org/ HALT is an organization devoted to reforms in the judicial and attorney disciplinary systems.

Also see this link for Judicial Watch. http://www.judicialwatch.org/

For those of you interested in further reading on the matter of judicial and attorney misconduct,
see these books:

Molloy, John Fitzgerald. THE FRATERNITY: LAWYERS AND JUDGES IN COLLUSION. Paragon House: St. Paul, MN (2004).

[Former Judge] “Molloy documents terrible deficiencies in our legal system and presents practical solutions, such as separating the bench and the bar as is done in other countries in the world. Other publications that decry the ascendancy of lawyers offer no suggestions as to how their power can be curbed. This book does.”
–Book overleaf.

“…the Courts in our judicial system have, in fact, become the lawmakers, when it is very clear…that our Constitution delegated the responsibility to the U.S. Congress and the State Legislatures…[Molloy] treads on almost every sacred ground when he gives real insight into how the legal profession has changed from one of the premier professions in our society to ta business where the bottom line is financial profit…My endorsement is unequivocal. It is a fine scholarly piece with real integrity.”
—Dennis DeConcini, U.S. Senator-D (Retired).

Stitch, Rodney. LAWYERS AND JUDGES: AMERICAN TROJAN HORSES. Silverspeake Press: Reno, NV. (2005)

Stitch is a former federal agent who details years of corruption by lawyers and judges in state and federal courts, and the effects their subversion upon the United States and its people.
—Book overleaf.

Louis, Gene. SURVIVAL OF THE SLICKEST: EVERYONE’S RISK OF BEING TERRORIZED BY LAWYERS. Citizen Control Publishing: Hamilton, NJ (2006)

Beware of what lawyers don’t tell you! “Behind a wall of prestige is the world’s largest chain of gambling casinos. A crime-ring that substitutes political games and profits for justice operates these hidden businesses. Their most valuable tool is deception. Their tactics are based upon distortion and intimidation. Using their black belts in paper terror, they command the biggest guns in the world to drag their victims into taxpayer supported rape rooms. Public acceptance of this constitutional tragedy insults the great heroes who spilled their blood for a government that was supposed to protect the freedoms of its people.”
—Book overleaf.

Rothschild, Matthew. YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS: STORIES OF AMERICA IN AN AGE OF REPRESSION. The New Press: New York (2007).

“If you ever told yourself that ‘this couldn’t happen to me,’ read this book. It’s an astounding and engaging portrayal of the unintended (and sometimes intended) consequences of our post-9/11 counter-terrorism strategies.
—David Cole

Wolf, Naomi. THE END OF AMERICA: LETTER OF WARNING TO A YOUNG PATRIOT—A CITIZENS CALL TO ACTION. Chelsea Green Press: White River Junction, VT. (2007)

“Naomi Wolf’s End of America is a vivid, urgent, mandatory wake-up call that addresses momentous issues of tyranny, democracy, and survival.”
—Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of the three-volume Eleanor Roosevelt.

Napolitano, Andrew P. A NATION OF SHEEP. Thomas Nelson: Nashville, TN. (2007)

“In all of the American media, Judge Napolitano is the most persistent, uncompromising guardian of both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution, very much including the Bill of Rights. He speaks truth to power...”
—Nat Hentoff. Village Voice

Wolf, Naomi. GIVE ME LIBERTY: A HANDBOOK FOR AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARIES. Simon & Schuster: New York (2008)

“As the practice of democracy becomes a lost art, Americans are increasingly desperate for a restored nation. Many have a general sense that the “system” is in disorder—if not on the road to functional collapse. But thought it is easy to identify our political problems, the solutions are not always as clear. In Give Me Liberty…best-selling author Naomi Wolf illustrates the breathtaking changes that can take place when ordinary citizens engage in the democratic system the way the founders intended and hells how to use that system, right now, to change your life, your community and ultimately, the nation.”
—Book overleaf.

“Blasting away myths is one of Ms Wolf’s great strengths; she firebombs with knowledge and authority”
—New York Times Book Review

Anonymous said...

To Jude,

Your kidding me. Do you really think the JCB told the FBI??? Hardley! It looks like you have been doing a lot of reading, have you read Lokuta's application to the Supreme Court? The details of how they BLATANTLY railroaded her and specifically were told of the what the corrupt judges were doing - they weren't interested. They were more concerned about how nasty and unkempt she was. Read it if you haven't. Included were excerpts from the actual transcript from her hearing by Attorney Stretton where he tells the JCB on the stand about what was going on there. So they knew and if they didn't, they certainly didn't care. Even after the Judges pled guilty they dragged their feet. These kind of individuals stop at nothing and continue to do business as usual even when the FBI is on their tail. They are so used to doing whatever they want, whenever they want with no consequences for so long they are in denial that they will ever get caught. Ciavarella was playing games days before he was arrested. he knew he was going down and had law suits and played with the tax payer money up to his last moment there. They walk around with smiles on their faces and cry innocent right up until the end. That's what your dealing with and that's the same exact mentality the JCB has. They were business partners and friends?? Get your nose out of all those legal books and step into reality for a while. I live this stuff every day, I see them.

Anonymous said...

To Anonynous 4:27:

If you live this stuff, you'd know that Lokuta was a complete and utter disgrace to the bench. Her courtroom was an absolute abomination. No lawyer or litigant should ever have had to endure her psycho daily routine.

Anonymous said...

All I have to say to Lakuta is, "Are you going to overturn all of the bad decisions you made also while in the judge chair"?!?!?!?!?!?!? There are innocent people in the slammer than can;t get anybody to listen.