Pay For Justice?

Despite the fact that I am basically a socially liberal type of guy, I do find it a bit exasperating when I hear stories in the media that utterly fail to get to the heart of the matter. For example, a recent story on NPR is about how beneficial it is for renters going through eviction to have an attorney. The conclusion, for some, is because having an attorney has an "incredibly strong evidence base" we as a society should provide free attorneys to people who receive eviction notices. The only question is who should pay for the lawyers, renters or the general public. 

The real question is why do you need a lawyer at all? Think about it. If having an attorney makes so much difference it means one of two things:

1. Either you should be evicted and the lawyer got you out of it in which case having a lawyer serves to unjustly punish the landlord.
2. The eviction notice was unjust and the lawyer prevented an unjust eviction. Which means... you have to pay lawyers to receive justice. Seems like a shakedown to me.  

In either case, lawyers get paid. They always do. 

Guilty But Is It A Trend?

Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts for the murder of George Floyd. Yes! Some see the conviction as a seminal shift away from police being allowed to get away with, well, murder. I would like that to be true as well but I think although it is real progress, it is incremental.  In the end, I do not believe Chauvin was convicted so much because of what he did but because of the long, painful video showing exactly what happened. If there was no video, I doubt Chauvin would even have been charged let alone convicted no matter how many eye witnesses there were. With the video, everyone was able to watch the murder. There was no reasonable doubt that Chauvin thought his life was in danger. Even the police testified against him which is highly unusual. 

The reality is the greatest tool we have to reduce crime, harassment and violence by the police is the smart phone. But that tool needs to be used and and if its evidence is ignored, people need to protest. That is the way to better world. 

Reform of our legal system, unfortunately lags far behind. As my case has show, evidence alone is not enough. I have evidence as good as it gets but it is simply ignored. Some day there may be protests agaisnt bad lawyers, judges and prosecutors but will be a painfully slow journey getting there. 

Dads Surviving Divorce

I recently discovered the YouTube series Dads Surviving Divorce  (DSD) which offers tips on dealing with a toxic divorce. I wish I had know about this site earlier. I encourage you to check it out. 

Interestingly DSD has been around about as long as DivorceInjustice.org has. 

The Purple Wall Of Silence

In the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin's killing of George Floyd there are currently many media reports about cracks in the "blue wall of silence" due to several police officers testifying against Chauvin. Historically, police officers have been reluctant to testify against or report misconduct by fellow officers. 

There is another wall of silence which exists in our society. It is what I have termed the "purple wall of silence" which is when lawyers knowingly turn a blind eye to crimes and ethical actions committed by other lawyers. (Why purple? Because it is the traditional academic color for law as well as the color for royalty - royalty often being considered above the law.)  

The Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB) is the attorney run entity tasked with enforcing the lawyers rules of professional conduct in Minnesota. The reality is the LPRB operates mostly for show as it only takes action in a minute fraction of the complaints it receives and has never as far as I can tell disciplined a lawyer for lying in family court. The county attorney has stated in writing that lawyers only commit fraud when they are under oath and the term "fraud upon the court" does not exist in Minnesota statues. Both are not only false but outrageously false. Despite my repeated attempts the county attorney's office has refused to clarify their statements. 

Furthermore, In my case many lawyers have seen the evidence agaisnt Nelly Wince but none has reported it as is required by their professional rules. They chose silence over duty. To my knowledge no lawyer in the state's history has ever been disciplined for failure to report a violation of another lawyer. 

Not only is the purple wall of silence similar to the  blue wall of silence but it is intimately intertwined with it. Police officers also have a duty to report crimes by fellow officers but failure to do so is rarely if ever prosecuted. One of the primary colors that make up purple is blue. 

Although there are many good police officers and lawyers when a defined group becomes above the law in practice, it will attract bad people to the group. Once members, these unsavory people are not easily removed because the group acts to protect their own, no matter how abhorrent or even outright criminal their behavior is. 

The Chauvin trial will hopefully begin the process of tearing down the blue wall. I can only hope the purple wall goes with it.

Well Said

A very articulate and well-informed father confronted the California judicial council on corruption in family court. Wow!

Here is the quote he gave at the end: