'Pity the Poor Judges'

'There’s a growing pay gap in our country that is alarming both national and state officials, who say it raises a fundamental question of American justice.

No, Bucko, it’s not about the yawning, ever-growing chasm separating your sad paycheck from the heavy haul of the executive swells at corporate headquarters. Indeed, the “injustice worrying our leaders is literally about justices — as in state and federal judges. More and more of them are wailing that they’re grossly underpaid at about $150,000 a year.

One judge in New York says she’s so strapped she had to sell a summer home in the Hamptons. “I’m working to achieve justice for other people,” she complains, yet “I don’t feel that I’m experiencing justice.”

Let me pause a moment so you can reach for a hanky and sob with her about… well, the raw injustice of $150,000 judicial paychecks. It’s embarrassing, they sniff, to sit on the judge’s throne across from a big-firm lawyer who banks 10 times what you’re paid.

Good grief, get a grip! Maybe you haven’t noticed, your honor, but millions of people can’t get any kind of job, middle-class wages are evaporating, health coverage is a fantasy, and poverty is on the march.

Besides, as my friend Jim Harrington puts it, being a judge is a public service, and doing that job should not depend on how closely your pay “matches the extravagant earnings of attorneys at elite law firms.”

Jim is a lifelong public interest lawyer in Texas who makes maybe a third of what judges do, but he notes that this is more than most folks get.

Judges’ pay should be moderate, Harrington argues, because that puts them in the position to “understand the problems of the day-to-day life” of regular Americans who come into their courts seeking a small measure of justice.

Now that’s judiciously put.

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Pity the Poor Judges

NH Man Allegedly Assults Uncle While Leaving Probate Hearing

A Hopkinton school counselor leaving a probate hearing in Manchester Friday regarding an ongoing battle over guardianship of his father allegedly assaulted his 75-year-old uncle, according to police.

In documents filed by police, the incident allegedly occurred in the Vine Street Garage in Manchester as Eugene Fox, 63, the co-director of guidance at Hopkinton Middle/High School, was leaving the third of a three-day hearing regarding issues surrounding guardianship of his father, Alden Fox. It is not known if the assault was connected to the probate case.

The guardianship issue has been in court for about two years.

Fox and his brother, Wayne, had petitioned for an emergency preliminary injunction to remove and replace Dawn Whiting, court-appointed guardian of Alden and Esther Fox's estate. Esther Fox died in July 2011. The petition claims that Whiting is bleeding the assets of the estate by incurring more than $200,000 in legal fees and is not sufficiently bonded to handle several million dollars worth of Massachusetts real estate. Whiting does not visit Alden Fox or provide funds for his daily care, the affidavit states.

Alden Fox, 92, lives on a retirement income of about $40,000 annually, and the affidavit submitted with the petition states that amassing $200,000 in legal fees is not prudent management of the estate. The court affidavit claims the legal fees were for Whiting's interest and did not benefit the estate.

The documents claim that Whiting presented to the court plans to sell waterfront property to pay creditors as if the debt belonged to Alden Fox, when she intended to use the funds to pay legal fees she created.

The parties in the probate case agreed to mediation, and the case will be taken up in early May.

Full Article and Source:
Man Allegedly Assults Uncle While Leaving Probate Hearing

Woman Ordered to Pay $10K Restitution to Victim

Ann Marie LaCourse, 48, of Sleepy Eye, appeared in court Friday (March 30) to plead guilty to financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

In the plea bargain, LaCourse will pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $10,000 within one year, be on supervised probation for one year, spend six days in jail over the course of three weekends with an additional 30 days with an at-home monitoring system.

LaCourse was fined $1,000 and faces additional impositions at her sentencing May 11 at the Brown County Court House.

She will undergo a psychological evaluation before sentencing and has already completed a compulsive gambling program.

She had been charged with four counts of financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and four counts of theft after an investigation began in April 2011, when an officer with the Sleepy Eye Police Department (SEPD) was contacted by Brown County Family Services (BCFS).

Full Article and Source:
LaCourse Pleads Guilty to Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult

Editorial: The Trust Must Be Restored

There is a maddening irony in the fact that those who lost money entrusted to an “officer of the court” must now turn to the courts to try to recover some portion of their devastated estates.

Gulfport attorney Woodrow W. Pringle III may have stolen almost $2.4 million from bank accounts he managed for children and adults unable to handle their own affairs.

Summoned to Gulfport, where he was born and raised and still practiced law, the 56-year-old Pringle left his home in Windemere, Fla., and checked into a luxury hotel in Orlando in December 2010. There, according to a medical examiner’s ruling, he committed suicide.

On the morning of his death, Pringle emailed Harrison County Chancery Clerk John McAdams, saying: “I want to apologize for abusing your trust. I abused the trust of my family, friends, judges and so many others. I was able to do this for so long because people trusted me and believed in me. I am truly sorry and want you and everyone else to know that no one ever knew this was happening.”

Since then, one lawsuit has been filed against Harrison County and two against McAdams over Pringle’s misdeeds. McAdams also is suing Pringle’s widow on behalf of seven victims whose money allegedly went to buy the Pringles’ house.

The purpose of these lawsuits is to recover money, not to uncover how Pringle was able to dupe so many for so long.

What is certain is that chancery clerks, including McAdams, have for years failed to follow a state law that requires them to compose a list each year of guardians or conservators who are delinquent in filing accountings of the money they manage for children and vulnerable adults. Chancery Court judges then have the authority to demand those accountings from delinquent filers, the law says.

Pringle managed such accounts for McAdams and the chancery judges of Harrison County. Hours before his death, Pringle acknowledged betraying the trust those officials placed in him. But more than a year later, it is still unclear why those officials did not do more -- or at the very least, what the law requires -- to verify that trust.

The lawyer for McAdams, Donald Dornan of Biloxi, said: “We were all shocked … when Woody Pringle had embezzled funds from all these vulnerable adults and minors over a period of years. Now that we’ve investigated it, we know that he was very meticulous in presenting falsified accountings to the chancery judges and secretly depositing guardianship and conservatorship funds into his own trust account. Nobody knew what he was doing.”

Pringle started stealing as early as 2004, according to the forensic accounting undertaken after his death. He kept getting by with it with “some song and dance … something he made up,” as one attorney put it.

“He seemed to know what he was doing,” McAdams said of Pringle.

But why didn’t anyone else know?

Full Editorial and Source:
The Trust That Pringle Stole Must Be Restored

AL State Bar Rejects Complaint Against Lawyer Richard Horne in Fake Will Case

The Alabama State Bar has determined that there is insufficient evidence to discipline lawyer Richard Horne, whom a local insurance agent had accused of ethical lapses related to a will that a jury determined was a fake.

A one-page letter from the general counsel’s office of the State Bar informed the complainant, David Stroecker, that it was not taking action.

“The Disciplinary Commission has completed its review and consideration of this matter, and has determined that there is insufficient basis for a finding that there has been a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct,” the letter states. “Accordingly, the Disciplinary Commission has dismissed the complaint.”

Stroecker, a Mobile insurance agent whose stepdaughters contested the will, said he was surprised and disappointed by the bar’s decision. He said he plans to appeal and added that State Bar officials told him they would consider an appeal if he had new evidence. He said he plans to present the Alabama Supreme Court ruling upholding the Probate Court judgment.

Full Article and Source:
State Bar Rejects Complaint Against Lawyer Richard Horne in Fake Will Case

See Also:
Allegations of Faked Will, Crumbling Finances, Dog Prominent Lawyer

GA: Bill Allows Judges More Power to Search Criminal Histories

House Bill 850 didn’t make it out of the state Senate before the 2012 legislative session ended.

But that’s OK with Forsyth County Probate Court Judge Lynwood “Woody” Jordan Jr., who helped author the bill, because the language still made it through the legislative process.

“It didn’t make any difference, because what happened was they did a little bit of horse trading there at the end,” Jordan said. “There was another bill, House Bill 257, which was on the floor. And Renee Unterman, a senator from Gwinnett who was handling that bill for me in the Senate, offered an amendment which included my language. That was added and it passed.

“The name of the game is to go ahead and get it through. ... It doesn’t really matter how it gets there, just that it does.”

If signed by the governor, Jordan’s portion of the bill would allow judges to request national background checks on individuals seeking to be guardians or conservators.

Currently, probate judges can request a background check. That check, however, covers only criminal history in Georgia.

Full Article and Source:
Bill Allows Judges More Power to Search Criminal Histories

Abolishing Judicial Immunity

I realize that abolishing judicial immunity opens up an entire new “can of worms”, but this must be accomplished.

(I am busy “holding the wolves at bay” in all the various suits, etc. I face as a result of my ill-founded and illegal conservatorship)

When I have more time to consider this topic, I will present to you how we can effectively abolish judicial immunity and control the “tsunami” of law suits that would tend to follow.

Abolishing judicial immunity would have an immediate and definitive impact on judicial conduct, and do more for correcting the now-listing ship of our judiciary than any new form of “COJ” [Court of the Judiciary] could accomplish, though I do believe I’ve offered a substantial proposal of composition for a new governing body that represents Constitutional intent, and we would still need a judicial governing “watch dog” body.

I believe abolishing judicial immunity is consistent with the founding father’s intent [TN Constitution Judicial Election and Selection], and would ultimately stream-line government as well as bring immediate correction, governed by conscience as opposed to rule.

Full Article and Source:
Pauper v Probate: Abolishing Judicial Immunity

Documents Uncovered by Judicial Watch Detail Big Pharma Campaign Access to Democratic Governors During 2012 National Governors Association Meeting

Press Release: Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has uncovered documents detailing private events involving Democratic governors during the February 2012 winter meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA). These events were widely attended by unions, drug companies and other health concerns.

The events included a Pfizer-sponsored evening reception and dinner for members of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Chairman’s Board, which include donors of $100,000 or more to the organization. The reception provided attendees with personal access to the Democratic governors. A second, private reception held the following night included donors of $250,000 or more to the DGA, as well as members of the chairman’s board. Both events were closed to the press.

The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch pursuant to a March 7, 2012, request submitted to the office of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin under the Vermont Public Records Law, were received on March 16, 2012. The records show:
•Pharmaceutical companies attending both of the privately held events for major donors to the DGA included Allergan, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Pfizer. Amgen, Lilly, and Merck attended only the first event. Bristol-Myers Squibb attended the second reception open to donors of $250,000 and above.
•Donors attending both receptions from the health care industry included Aflac, Amerigroup, Norvo Nordisk, and the United Health Group. American Health Care Association and eHealth attended only the first event. Blue Cross Blue Shield attended the second reception.
•Union organizations and trade associations attending both receptions included International Council of Shopping Centers, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, National Education Association, and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Full Press Release and Source:
Documents Uncovered by Judicial Watch Detail Big Pharma Campaign Access to Democratic Governors during 2012 National Governors Association Meeting

OK Insurance Agent Accused of Defrauding Elderly

A former Collinsville, Okla., insurance agent was arrested March 28 in Florida for allegedly exploiting a group of senior citizens in Oklahoma for money.

Marshall Virden, 54, allegedly convinced senior citizens in Broken Arrow, Okla., during an investors’ seminar, to cash in their annuities and invest it in gold. Instead of purchasing gold, Virden allegedly embezzled the victims’ money, according to a Newson6.com report.

Authorities said there could be dozens of victims and many may not yet know they’ve been scammed.

Virden allegedly convinced at least one elderly couple to cash out their annuities and buy more than $20,000 worth of gold before pocketing the cash, according to media reports.

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