Thursday, December 29, 2022

Two-Faced Dusterhoft

Richard Dusterhoft is the type of person who irritates me. Not only did I catch him red-handed obstructing justice but he just kept doubling down on crime once caught. 

Late last year Dusterhoft left is job as director of the criminal division at the Ramsey County Attorney's Office. Why? Was it because he didn't want to work in an environment where crime was not only regularly committed but regularly covered up? Sort of. But not crimes committed by the prosecutors office. He left because  of "his frustration with policies he says are designed to keep offenders out of jail."

This is the same guy who as criminal division director at the Ramsey County Attorney's Office told me, in writing:

"You specifically suggest that your ex-wife’s attorney committed “fraud upon the court” and mention there is no statute of limitation on such a crime. That is probably because there is no such crime in Minnesota. A person could be held in contempt of court by a judge. Absent that, there is no other similar charge."

 The U.S. 10th Circuit Court disagrees:

"Fraud upon the court is fraud which is directed to the judicial machinery itself and is not fraud between the parties or fraudulent documents, false statements or perjury. ... It is where the court or a member is corrupted or influenced or influence is attempted or where the judge has not performed his judicial function --- thus where the impartial functions of the court have been directly corrupted."

Dusterhoft not only ignores crime committed by lawyers, he believes they are immune to fraud, at least when committed upon the court. 

His statement that he left the county attorneys office because it was too soft on crime wins the award for the most two-faced, disingenuous statement of the year. 

Friday, December 23, 2022

Too Far

Although it may sometimes seem like I am anti-lawyer, I am not that way at all. In fact, I have a huge respect for the law and those lawyers who use it to ensure justice and equality.  What I do not like are lawyers who use the law as a weapon to commit crime. If I am anti anything, I am anti-crime and anti-corruption. 

When I head the story of a lawyer who was denied entry to see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, which she was attending with her daughter, because she worked at a legal firm which was in litigation with the Rockettes owner MSG, I thought it was ridiculous. Note that the banned lawyer did not even work on the case. It was guild by association. This seems is a clear case of a corporation using its leverage to punish the employees at a law firm in order to influence the case outside of the law.  

We can do better. 

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Love It!

A judge has ordered a U.S. lawyer who defended two Russians accused of operating a large botnet to pay Google's legal fees. It just goes to show there are a few good judges out there. 

The defendants, who initially pursued a strategy of counter suing Google for interfering in their sprawling cybercrime business, later brazenly offered to dismantle the botnet in exchange for payment from Google. The judge in the case was not amused, found for the plaintiff, and ordered the defendants and their U.S. attorney to pay Google’s legal fees.

I hope every lawyer and judges hears about this case. Lawyers do not have legal immunity to crimes they commit when they are representing a client. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to such actions.  

Friday, December 9, 2022

Intentional Torts Not Covered By Malpractice Insurance

If an attorney makes a mistake they are covered by malpractice insurance (assuming they carry it), but if they intentionally commit a crime, well that is a different matter. Most if not all malpractice insurance policies do not cover crimes such as fraud. 

Not that this matters much because the reality is that crimes committed by attorneys are so common they has become normalized. Attorneys are rarely held accountable for such crimes. Rarely but not never

Aiding and abetting and conspiracy claims find their roots in criminal law.   In the civil context, they lead to liability for those who help other actors or a main actor (usually for lawyers it is the client) to commit some tort against a third party.  In practice, this often involves a claim that the lawyer helped the client either commit a fraud on a third party or breach some duty (usually a fiduciary duty) to a third party.

A number of jurisdictions have common law protections for attorneys that can shield them from aiding and abetting claims.  These cases say, as a general matter, that attorneys are privileged to perform honest legal services for their clients and they are protected as a matter of public policy from liability arising out of the those honest legal services.  The theory underlying these cases is the concern that if attorneys are worried about being sued by third parties for representing their clients, then attorneys cannot be effective advisors and advocates for their clients.  These cases are typically older than the cases that allow in-concert liability claims against attorneys, and therefore, while they should be used to respond to such claims, these cases may or may not be persuasive to a reviewing court.  Of course, the question of whether an attorney who aids a client to commit a tort is performing honest legal services that public policy would wish to protect could be another weakness to this argument.

My own  case is a bit different in that Nelly Wince knowingly committed fraud herself. Yet even with overwhelming evidence the legal system just ignores it. 

Our society will be a whole lot better off once lawyers are held accountable for their crimes. I do believe this will happen but it will be a long road to get there. 

Thursday, December 1, 2022

The Supreme Court is OK With Corruption

The Supreme Court is apparently OK with corruption

The first case centered on whether Joseph Percoco’s conduct in taking a $35,000 payment from a real estate developer when managing Cuomo’s re-election campaign in 2014 is covered by a federal law that requires that “honest services” be provided to the public. Percoco says that because he was not working for the government at the time, he had no duty to provide honest services.

The second case involves Louis Ciminelli, a real estate developer based in Buffalo, who was convicted of wire fraud for seeking to rig the bidding process for redevelopment contracts in the city. His lawyers argue that his conduct in ensuring that his company would be a preferred bidder, which involved trying to influence the selection criteria set by the state to benefit his company, did not rise to the level of fraud.

Justices seemed sympathetic to the defendants during both oral arguments. In Percoco's case, a majority of the nine justices appeared concerned that allowing nongovernment employees to be criminally charged would draw in other influential figures in the halls of power, such as lobbyists. Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch remarked that Washington is "full of such persons."

So I guess public officials taking bribes and bid rigging are jut fine because such crimes are so common. 

A lawyer recently told me that the issue with my case is not that my facts are in question nor is it that the law isn't clear. The issue is that such crimes are just so common the justice system ignores them. That my friends is called institutional corruption. It could well be the downfall of our country. 

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Family Court Judges: Cannibals Of The Courts

The Foundation for Child Victims of the Family Courts has a really interesting article about family court  judges.

Somehow in the mountains of literature written about family court aberration and dysfunction, the voices that are missing are those of the executioners: the men and women in black robes. Those who speak out about the need for “reform” in family court seem to believe that these judges are not active entities, participants, even prime movers in the corruption.

Perhaps the reformers believe they cannot speak about the judges because judges have “absolute immunity.” That is, they are unaccountable. But their “absolute immunity” leads to a code of conduct that in no way, shape, or form is related to ethical work.

Judicial immunity leads to all sorts of bad behavior by judges. Where there are no strong checks on abusive behavior, such behaviors becomes institutionalized. 

One of my pet irritations in life is when the legal system complains about judges being overworked. Baloney. Most judges, at least in family court, spend as little time in court as possible and rely on clerks or often whichever lawyer in the case they like to write their opinion. Often they don't even read the material in the docket. 

Ignoring the issues of power and money, directed by dangerous unethical authorities in control, is to abandon hope and allow the lives of protective parents and their children to be destroyed.

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Where Have All The Men Gone?

There is a distinct lack of men in Russia these days. Where have they gone? It is no secret. Hundreds of thousands have been mobilized. To date over 300,000 have become casualties, including over 75,000 dead, in Putin's disastrous and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands more have fled the country because they do not want to fight or are agaisnt the war. Of course the ones who fled tend to be the better educated ones. Russian women complain about the lack of good men to date. 

All of the most reasonable guys are gone," said Tatiana, a 36-year-old Muscovite. 

Somewhat counter-intuitively there has been a marriage boom in Russia. The explanation for this is simple. If you are in a relationship and get drafted, it is beneficial to marry your girlfriend so that she gets spousal compensation when you are killed. Cold logic. 

If women were required to do military service the same as men, I wonder if there would be any wars. Men are often considered disposable. A son, husband or father who dies in battle is a hero. A daughter, wife or mother who dies in battle is a tragedy. Tatiana above wouldn't be worried so much about finding dates if she was drafted herself. 

Sunday, November 13, 2022

"IsA" Voting

Unfortunately, in elections there are many races where the incumbent has no challengers. The only option if you do not like the candidate is a write-in. In the election this week where I live not a single county judge had an opponent. Nor did John Choi in his bid to be reelected Ramsey County Attorney.  

I voted write-in candidates for three offices including county attorney and a judge.  In two of those elections, the incumbent ran unopposed.  Why? Because I simply can't vote for criminals

In essence, my vote was a protest vote. Now I could have written-in "Mickey Mouse" or my last dog's name but instead I used what I like to call the "IsA" method. Here is how it works:

  • Rather than John Choi for county attorney, I wrote in "Choi IsA Crook".
  • Rather than Mark Ireland for county judge, I wrote in "Ireland IsA Crook".

It puts a smile on my face. Humor is the best way to cope with adversity. 

Saturday, November 5, 2022

Rule Of Law

Rule of Law is the basis of our legal system. Rule of law means the law applies to everyone. It applies to the President, it applies to law enforcement officers, it applies to legislators, it applies to judges, it apples to lawyers. Everyone. 

Unfortunately, this ideal has never quote been achieved in the U.S. We have many people who believe they are above the law, notably including our former President. Also, it seems, lawyers in Ramsey County Minnesota.

When a county does not have rule of law, equally and justly applied to all, the population loses all respect for the law and you end up with situations like this:



Contrast that with a county where rule of law works pretty well.

Friday, October 28, 2022

Sometimes Lawyers Are Punished

Although it is rare, sometimes lawyers are punished. In Minnesota several attorneys have been charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud

There a lot of layers to just how bad and unsurprising this is. 

First off, as far as I can tell, the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB) only took action until after the lawyers were charged. This is "normal" for the LPRB as they virtually never discipline attorneys until after they are charged by law enforcement.  Which just demonstrates what a farce self-enforcement is. 

Secondly, several chiropractors were also recently charged for similar fraud. Unsurprising. To be a so called "doctor" of chiropractory all you need to do is graduate from a chiropractic school. To graduate pretty much all you need to do is pay the bill. Chiropractory is not a medical science. It is an alternative to medicine. Its was invented, according to its inventor, when a ghost informed him of it. Like traditional Chinese medicine (which Mao cynically promoted simply because he could not afford real medicine for the populace) it has at best a placebo effect. Just like faith healing. Although to be fair, the placebo effect is real. 

Thirdly, it is hardly shocking that insurance fraud exists. Or at least it should not be. It is easy to do and quite financially rewarding. Other areas were fraud is rampant include automobile repair, roofing, and small business expenses. It isn't that all these areas are 100% corrupt but crime is very commonly committed. And sadly tolerated. 

Nothing, however, is quite as bad as family law. 

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Law Firm Accused Of Crimes

I was far from shocked to learn a former Wall Street Journal reporter is suing a law firm for hiring Indian operatives to illegally hack into his emails. But then I saw that an aviation executive is suing the same firm.  Then I looked up the firm. It is Dechert LLP, which happens to be one of the largest law firms in the world. In 2018 it was ranked as the 43rd highest grossing law firm in the world.

The allocations, if true, mean that one of the largest law firms in the world in engaged in criminal activity as part of its normal operations. And they don't even do family law, which is the legal practice where crime by lawyers occurs most often. 

I guess I should not be surprised given people like the John Choi, the Ramsey County Attorney in Minnesota believe lawyers are immune to committing fraud. All lawyers not just ones in family law. 

Just how bad is the legal industry anyway? 

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Alex Jones Verdict

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered by a jury to pay $965 million to family members of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims’ relatives and an FBI agent for promoting the idea the shooting was a hoax. Good. 

A few weeks ago the Supreme Court ruled Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell can move forward. They declined to consider Lindell’s attempt to block the case. Dominion is seeking $1.3 billion in damages, claiming it was harmed by false statements from Lindell and other allies of former President Donald Trump that Dominion rigged its machines in favor of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Good. I hope Dominion wins its case. 

The above cases are defamation cases. Jones and Lindell make false statements which harmed people emotionally and financially. 

In my case I have absolute evidence crimes were committed which harmed me and my children emotionally and financially. Yet, it has proven almost impossible to even get a lawyer to take on my case. Why? Because corruption it the legal system is so deep and widespread that even lawyers who to try to act honestly are unwilling to take on cases related to crime within the justice system for fear of reprisal. 

Hopefully, some day justice will come for me and my family. I keep trying. 

Monday, October 10, 2022

Judge Caught Whipping Girlfriend

Unbeknownst to him at the time, Michigan judge Jason Kolkema was filmed apparently whipping his girlfriend with a belt during an argument in his western Michigan apartment. This was two weeks after winning a primary for the circuit court.

Now you might view this as a one off which will be dealt with quickly, which is what I initially thought, until I learned judge Kolkema has a long history of inappropriate behavior, possibly including getting away with clearly criminal actions.  

Kolkema, arraigned Sept. 19 on domestic violence charges, has a history of losing his temper, behaving violently around women and children – including spitting on a 12-year-old girl – and has violated court orders, lied about his relationship with his client-girlfriend, battled an Adderall addiction and failed to pay child support, according to a decade's worth of court and police records reviewed by the Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, and interviews with multiple people tied to him and his girlfriend.

Yet, despite all this, he was able to maintain his position as a judge. 

The reality is judges, as well as lawyers in general, do not have to abide by the same rules and laws as everyone else. This is called corruption. 

Friday, September 30, 2022

Should The State Stay Out of The Marriage Business?

I have never really understood why the state is involved with marriage. I totally get religious marriages and contracts between two people for whatever they want, but why do we have this odd institution of civil marriage? 

Historically only the rich were civilly married and that was generally because marriage was considered an alliance between families. Love had little to do with it. It was all about property rights. 

A Slate article from eight years ago is still relevant

If civil marriage were to be abolished, we could replace that moribund institution with a more personalized, a la carte menu of contractual rights and responsibilities. (Religious marriage would be left intact, of course. Houses of worship will always retain the freedom to perform traditional rites and to be as inclusive or exclusive about them as they choose—the free exercise of religion is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution.) Something like a standard civil union arrangement would still be available for traditional couples, but two roommates could share property in common and serve as health care proxies for one another without taking on any additional rights or responsibilities if they didn’t wish to. A tenant could have the right to continue living in the space she had long rented without being responsible for funeral rites or having any claim to her landlord’s property. A polyamorous triad could share legal rights and responsibility for any children that came of their relationship without our having to go through a protracted political fight over whether marriage should be allowed for more than two people.

Eliminating civil marriage would inject hundreds of billions of dollars into our economy because we would not be wasting all that money on litigation surrounding marriages, especially when they fall apart.  

Culturally, I would love to see the day when a person can call another person "wife' of "husband" simply as a a term of personal commitment rather than government decree. 

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Family Court Corruption

Here is a series of videos with an interesting perspective on family court corruption from someone with first hand experience. What happened to him when speaking out is especially telling. On of the most disheartening aspects of corruption in the legal system is that doing the right thing only makes it worse. 



Wednesday, September 14, 2022

How It Is Supposed To Work

Not only are attorneys not supposed to commit crimes, which they clearly did in my case, but they are not supposed to even discuss anything with their client which might lead to a crime. Nor are the supposed to conceal information from the court about a past crime.  


This is what is supposed to happen. But it doesn't.

The attorney-client privilege protects most communications between clients and their lawyers. But, according to the crime-fraud exception to the privilege, a client's communication to her attorney isn't privileged if she made it with the intention of committing or covering up a crime or fraud.

Because the attorney-client privilege belongs to the client, the client's intent determines whether the exception applies. Most courts will apply the exception even if the attorney had no knowledge of, and didn't participate in, the actual crime or fraud.

The crime-fraud exception applies if:

  • the client was in the process of committing or intended to commit a crime or fraudulent act, and
  • the client communicated with the lawyer with intent to further the crime or fraud, or to cover it up.

Whether the crime-fraud exception applies depends on the content and context of the communication. The exception covers communications about a variety of crimes and frauds, including (to name just a few)

  • suborning perjury" (asking an attorney to present testimony she knows is false)
  • destroying or concealing evidence
  • witness tampering, and
  • concealing income or assets

Saturday, September 10, 2022

A Lawyer's View On Attorney Maleficence

I ran across an interesting perspective by a lawyer on attorney maleficence. In many ways it is a warning to lawyers on the potential consequences if they commit crimes while representing clients. 

Lawyers generally think that their only liability risk comes from making mistakes in their representation of clients.  They think that so long as their representation of the client is negligence-free, no one is going to sue them based upon the legal work performed for that client.  Think again.

More and more often lately, lawyers are being sued along with their clients, and sometimes instead of their clients, for aiding their clients in some venture which a third party believes amounts to a tort or a breach of a fiduciary duty.  Two similar common law tort claims are used for this attack: civil aiding and abetting and civil conspiracy.  Together these causes of action are commonly referred to as “in-concert liability claims.”  There are a variety of ways that lawyers can be exposed to such claims, particularly if they are not thinking of this type of third-party exposure when they provide legal services to their clients. 

Most of the article discusses breaches of fiduciary duty by attorneys rather than outright crimes such as in my case but that is probably because our legal system tends to view crimes (especially fraud) committed by lawyers as part of their normal way of doing business. (which is why I say the judicial system is institutionally corrupt) 

I like the end where the article states that intentional torts (i.e. crimes) committed by lawyers are viewed by malpractice insurance companies as excluded from their policies. 

Moreover, because most in-concert liability claims involve an element of knowledge by the attorney, insurance companies may view these causes of action to be intentional torts.  The facts of the claim should be scrutinized carefully, particularly for claims of aiding and abetting torts, like fraud, where intent is a key element.  Since most policies contain exclusions for intentional torts, insurers may take the position that not only are such claims not covered for indemnity purposes, but there is no duty to defend as well. 

Actually it is both good and bad. Because lawyers would have to pay for damages from such crimes themselves, the judicial system makes such cases all but impossible to succeed no matter how strong the evidence.  This is exactly what has and is still happening to me. 

Thursday, September 1, 2022

Forgiveness For Lawyers

Wisconsin is such a nice state. Especially to their lawyers. If a lawyer is disbarred in Wisconsin, even if they are a convicted felon, they can petition to be reinstated after 5 years

In Wisconsin, a disbarred lawyer can petition to have a revoked license reinstated after five years. And many do, even those who've been convicted of felonies.

Although Minnesota may be the nicer state. Here prosecutors such as Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, believe lawyers violate no criminal statue when they lie to the court, which is called fraud upon the court.  Choi and his criminal division director Richard Dusterhoft, stated,  in writing, "there is no such crime in Minnesota". Well maybe they believe lawyers can freely commit fraud but that clearly isn't the law. 

As far as I can tell, no lawyer has ever been convicted of and possibly never even charged with fraud upon the court in Minnesota. As I read our statutory laws, fraud upon the court is one of only three crimes with no statute of limitations, the others being first degree murder and sex trafficking of a minor. 

Minnesota is truly the nicest state...if you are a lawyer. Victims not so much. 

Friday, August 26, 2022

Corruption is Legal in America

As I have often stated, people do not understand just how deeply corrupt our legal system is. But it isn't just our legal system. It is all of government. I am shocked, just shocked to learn corruption exists in our government! 


Be sure to check out the interesting YouTube comments. Well, at least some of them given there are 6,854 comments as of when I am writing this. 

Thursday, August 18, 2022

Wow! Kids-For-Cash Judgement

I have posted before on the Pennsylvania Kids-For-Cash scandal where judges would take money for sentencing kids to private jails. Often the kids were completely innocent or had committed only minor infractions. 

Now Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, the two judges who orchestrated the scheme, were ordered to pay $200 million to the victims

Yes! I was pumping air when I read the story. Finally some bad judges are held accountable. 

"Ciavarella and Conahan abandoned their oath and breached the public trust," Conner wrote Tuesday in his explanation of the judgment. "Their cruel and despicable actions victimized a vulnerable population of young people, many of whom were suffering from emotional issues and mental health concerns."

It is a long road ahead before most lawyers and judges are held accountable for their crimes and ethical violations but it is a start. A good start. 

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Anticorruption

The National Association of Attorneys General has a page on public anticorruption. Nice words but for the most part just words not action. Rather like the lawyers rules of professional conduct which are well-written and clear but just not followed particularly closely. Indeed, for things such as lawyer truthfulness they are widely ignored. 

Rule 4.1 Truthfulness in Statements to Others

In the course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law.

I have on multiple occasions sent letters including evidence of lawyer, county attorney, and judicial corruption to the Minnesota State Attorney General but have never once received a reply. The cesspool of crime which occurs within our legal system continues unabated. 

I wish the our attorney general would live up to the quote they list at the top of their accocaitons website:

The exposure and punishment of public corruption is an honor to a nation, not a disgrace. The shame lies in toleration, not in correction. . . . If we fail to do all that in us lies to stamp out corruption we can not escape our share of responsibility for the guilt. The first requisite of successful self-government is unflinching enforcement of the law and the cutting out of corruption.

-- Theodore Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, December 7, 1903

Friday, August 5, 2022

Divorce Matters Podcast

Divorce Matters is a well-produced podcast which focuses on corruption in family court. They have been around for a few years and have wealth of interesting episodes  Check it out.

The episodes are available on their website as well as on Apple Podcasts.

Thursday, July 28, 2022

The Problems with Family Court: Power of the Judge

As ABC affiliate KXTV in Sacramento, California reported a few years ago, the main reason corruption in family court is so common is the extraordinary power judges hold over the litigants and children along with their near immunity from scrutiny.  

(Near) Absolute Power Brings (Near) Absolute Corruption

Thursday, July 21, 2022

KidsMatter Denounces San Diego Family Court System

KidsMatter, a non-profit group in San Diego, has denounced the local family court system for putting profits before parents and children. The specific evidence-based changes made include:


  1. Judges who have been recused backdating orders to before their recusal;
  2. Judges permanently removing children from their parents based upon unproven or hearsay allegations;
  3. Frivolous and fraudulent restraining orders based on false allegations;
  4. Violations by Minors' counsels, with one even admitting the San Diego Family Law courts are corrupt;
  5. Multiple and frequent ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) violations;
  6. Suppression of exculpatory evidence (evidence that would tend to exonerate);
  7. Attorney sponsored blackmail;
  8. Blocking older children from testifying despite there being specific Family Law codes allowing their testimony;
  9. Numerous documented Child Protective Services and Family Court Services abuses, resulting in the removal of children from good parents;
  10. Court sanctioned child abduction as punishment for litigants not agreeing with a judge's unconstitutional ruling 
  11. Frequent and institutionalized due process and civil rights violations of parents and their children;
  12. Intentionally blocking public access to the courts or removing of courtroom observers without cause;
  13. Conducting secret hearings without notice (euphemistically known as "Star Chambers") that result in the removal of children from their parents.

The exploitation of parents and their children stems from the deeply flawed ecosystem that attorneys and judicial officers have created for themselves in the management and litigation of divorce cases. These Family Law participants are acutely aware that a parent's love for their children is unconditional, where a mother or father will make great sacrifices and go to the ends of the earth to protect their bond and relationship with their children.

Unfortunately for these parents, the Family Court ecosystem is designed and managed by the members of the California State Bar, which was recently hit with a scathing report on April 14, 2022 from Michael S. Tilden, California's State Auditor.  In the report, Tilden outlines several issues with the State Bar, including: undisclosed conflicts of interest between judges and attorneys; misappropriation of client funds; and improper handling of judicial complaints; among other egregious violations of the letter and the spirit of justice.

What people need to understand is that this is the norm across the county. Our legal system, the very system designed to ensure justice, has become the center of crime and corruption in our country. Especially in family court. 

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Women In The MIlitary

Vox has an interesting article on some of the first female combat fighter pilots in the 1990s. The struggles they went through just to be able to have the same opportunity as a man is both historically epic and inspiring. 

I have always found it so strange that anyone would think it inappropriate for women to be in combat. Such attitudes just scream sexist. Sexism which hurts women because they are denied positions many want and sexism which hurts men because they are obligated to take on dangerous roles they may not want. 

It’s about being an individual and realizing your potential as an individual, not being a man or woman.

You cannot convince me that women can be protected from the horrors of war. … No one seems to care if I get raped on the way to my local grocery store. I’m just not allowed to get raped by the enemy.

Yet even today, we see very little outrage over sexism in the military. Nearly all combat deaths are male and draft registration is still male only.  

Allowing women to serve in all role in the military and obligating them to the same extent as men do so when required is not only right and fair but makes for a much stronger military. Those who disagree are simply blinded by their sexism. 

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Random Justice

I always feel a pang of irritation when I see stories such as this one about a beekeeping company which won a $370,000 settlement agaisnt a customer for libel. 

The irritation I feel has nothing to do with the merits of the case but are due to my inability to get back even the money I lost due to obvious and clear crime let alone damages for pain and suffering, especially as experienced by my children.  

Justice should be about the law, the facts, and the evidence. But it is not. It is about who you are, who you know, money, and a good deal of randomness.

 There is no consistency in our legal system and without consistency we cannot have a just society.  

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Judge Judy

In last week's post I mentioned a quote in the embedded video Judge Judy made regarding family court. I tracked down the video with her actual words:


What Judge Judy's actually said about family court is that it is, "the dumping ground for morons and political hacks."

I'll admit I do not know much about Judge Judy but I have to admire someone who is willing to tell it like it is even if the truth illuminates corruption and incompetence in their own profession. I really wish more lawyers and judges would realize pointing out crime, corruption and unethical behavior in there profession is an obligation and the right thing to do rather than trying to cover it up in a misguided attempt to protect their industry's reputation.   

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Family Court Is Worse Than You Think

Family court is far, far, worse than you think. This video from earlier this year does an excellent job explaining just how unbelievably corrupt family court has become. The reason? Money. Pure and simple. 


Like Trevor, I was totally shocked at how little facts, equality, and the law matters in family court. Indeed family court operates more akin to a criminal racket than a judicial process. 

One of the best lines is where the interviewer quotes judge Judy as stating family court is the "dumping grounds for morons and something else."

Thursday, June 16, 2022

An Analogy

While I was out walking an analogy popped out of nowhere into my head.  

Imagine you are walking through Target with your kids when a person with a pistol robs you and beats up both you and your children. A security guard sees the whole thing and grabs the robber. But then, inexplicably, the security officer lets the person go. All of this is captured on the video surveillance system. Later, you contact the police and they say there is no evidence the robber did anything, especially because the security officer didn't do anything.  

Now image you go to court and a lawyer commits fraud upon the court agaisnt you and your children right in front of the judge. Openly. The judge, who states he personally knows the lawyer, does nothing. You file a case with the Lawyers Professional Respectability Board and they, ignoring the evidence, do nothing. 

It is hard to believe the first scenario could ever happen. 

The second scenario is exactly what happened to me. 

Thursday, June 9, 2022

What Happens When You Try Get A Lawyer

Simone Biles and other Olympic level gymnasts are suing the FBI for $1 billion because the FBI did not follow up on credible evidence regarding sexual abuse by their former team doctor Larry Nassar.  (technically it is an administrative claim not a suit at this point) More power to them.

It is lucky Larry Nasser is a doctor not a lawyer. Good luck finding a lawyer to sue another lawyer for fraud committed in court no matter how good the evidence is against them. 

Here is where the Minnesota Lawyer Referral and Information Service run by the Minnesota Bar Association directed me when I asked for an attorney to file a civil suit against an attorney for fraud upon the court. 

The Lawyer’s Professional Responsibility Board (LPRB) oversees the lawyer’s professional responsibility office, which investigates complaints of alleged lawyer misconduct and prosecutes disciplinary actions against lawyers. To file a complaint call, 651-296-3952.

They also provide a tool to search lawyers licensed to practice in Minnesota to determine whether they have been publicly disciplined or placed on disability status.

Lawyer’s Professional Responsibility Board - http://lprb.mncourts.gov/Pages/Default.aspx

The LPRB is not a court and you do not file suits in it. You submit complaints which in the vast majority of cases are dismissed no matter what the evidence. They are essentially an organization whose function is to shield lawyers from the consequences of their crimes and violations of the Lawyers Rules of Professional Conduct. Their own statistics show they almost never discipline a lawyer and when they do it is almost always after the lawyer has been criminally charged. 

Corruption is so deep and so pervasive within the Minnesota legal system, crime has become an accepted practice. 

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Isaac Wright

Some stories give me hope. Such as the story of Isaac Wright. After being wrongly convicted of being a drug kingpin and sentenced to life in prison, he tirelessly worked to overturn his conviction. After seven years he was exonerated, went to school to get his bachelor's and law degrees and eventually the police and judicial officials who had corruptly imprisoned him were themselves arrested.

The level of crime committed by lawyers, prosecutors and judges is amazingly high. Very few people are aware of this. The situation is similar to how law enforcement was viewed in the past when it came to crimes they committed. It used to be a cop could shoot an unarmed person in the back multiple time and no one would question them if they stated they acted because they were in fear of their life. Not so much anymore.Frome Wikipedia:

Hopefully our view of judicial officials will undergo a similar change. 

From Wikipedia:

Somerset County Prosecutor, Nicholas L. Bissell Jr., who had prosecuted Wright’s case, was identified as the orchestrator of the misconduct. Bissell directed police officers to falsify reports, while he personally dictated the false testimony of witnesses against Wright. Bissell further made secret deals with defense attorneys to have their clients lie to the jury that Wright was their drug boss and that they had pled guilty and were going to prison

Dugan pled guilty to official misconduct in order to escape prison. Wright’s trial judge, Michael Imbriani, who further concealed the secret deals through illegal sentencing schemes, was removed from the bench and incarcerated on unrelated theft charges. Bissell, after learning of Dugan’s confession on TV news, took flight with federal authorities in pursuit and later committed suicide when police tried to apprehend him. Wright’s remaining convictions were vacated, and after having spent over seven years in prison, he was immediately released and ultimately exonerated of all the charges.

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Broken Justice - Change.org Petition

Mamadou Diakité has a Change.org petition to reduce crime and corruption in family court. As he states:

My goal here is to lobby the U.S. Congress for the introduction of:

  1. a required continuing education addressing professional misconduct for Family Law attorneys.
  2. an adequate case management system and ethical and technical training for attorneys and judges in Family Law. 
  3. an easier way to report professional misconduct to the appropriate professional authority. 
  4. an attorney earnings cap in certain cases of Domestic Relation. 

Diakité, asserts, "statistics show that more money passes through Family Court than any other Court and the more the attorney charges, people are willing to pay because they think money equals skills. Family Court in the USA is a highly profitable business.  The only winners in these courts are the attorneys.  This is not what it was intended to be.  Let's change it!

Unethical attorneys' conduct and bad Family Court judgements leave family broke, emotionally and financially damaged.  Please sign my petition to help me make my case and indict the system; and hopefully make legislative changes to help improve the legal process to better serve the families that utilize it."

Diakité has written a book, Broken Justice, about his experience with family court. I have yet to read the book, but my guess is Diakité's experiencing is similar to mine as well as so many others. 

Friday, May 20, 2022

Is Alimony An Outdated Concept?

Dhrishni Thakuria believes alimony is an outdated concept and I wholeheartedly agree with her. She has an interesting take on the historical reasons for alimony which I have not heard in quite the same way before: 

Alimony has an interesting history, one that was basically a somewhat derogatory assistance for women who were seen as the “weaker sex.” The law in the United States is based on the laws found in Ecclesiastical Courts in England. Since the husband was the sole owner of all marital property, and the wife depended upon him to provide for her sustenance, the English Ecclesiastical courts consistently ruled that the husband had the duty to provide for the wife after divorce as well. Otherwise she would become, “a burden of the people.” Heaven forbid there should be any burdensome women around!

Most people who desire alimony are just looking for free money. They effectively claim they are so weak and incompetent they are unable to support themselves so need their ex-spouse to do so. And keep in mind it is usually the person who receives alimony who asked for the divorce. (Of course there are cases where long-term alimony is deserved - for example, imagine a person who has a debilitating disease and cannot work at all along with a n ex-spouse who wasted marital assets due to gambling or such, but these cases are quite rare) 

Receiving alimony when you are perfectly capable of supporting yourself seems not only immoral but, given that 98%+ of the time the man is paying, quite sexist as well. The funny thing is that that men who argue against permanent alimony are taking a strong feminist position.  

This reminds me of the move The Lost City with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. In it, Tatum accuses Bullock of mans-planing to which Bullock states she can be mans-planing because she is a woman. Tatum replies that he is a feminist and believes a woman can do anything a man can. 

Monday, May 16, 2022

Injustice

My case and this site are all about justice. Justice is about fair and equal treatment under the law.  What I have found out from experience is the reality of our judicial system is much, much different.  In some cases, such as mine, the people who break the laws and rules are richly rewarded while the victims are punished. In other cases, such as below, punishment for crimes committed varies, sometimes incredibly so, depending on who you are. (click on image to enlarge)


Justice is at best inconsistent in our legal system. Which, in the end, only creates contempt for the law. 

Friday, May 6, 2022

Divorce Is Both Lucrative And Corrupt

Lucrative and corrupt are go hand in hand.

Here is an interesting new video from Dr. Brooks McKenzie on just how corrupt the divorce industry is. I like they way he handles an obviously hostile to men audience member. I'll have to check out Dr. McKenzie some more. He seems like a reasonable and even sided person. 


Friday, April 29, 2022

Morons

I sometimes watch Australian news as I like their direct and often humorous style. This video on the Russian invasion of Ukraine is both hilarious and disturbing.


Putin's FSB in faking evidence for a  fictional Ukrainian plot to assassinate one of his favorite journalists actually signed a document literally "Illegible Signature" because they were told to make a document with an illegible signature. This is what they presented to the world as evidence. 

I cannot help but compare the Russian FSB's actions to those of the Ramsey County Attorney's office who claim in writing that lawyers commit no crime when they commit fraud in court and the term "fraud upon the court" does not exist in Minnesota statutes. And then refuse to explain or even discuss their statements at all. Not just morons but dangerous ones. 

Friday, April 22, 2022

Marriage Irritations

The Atlantic had an interesting article -  a man ruminating on his divorce

For a long time after his divorce Mathew Fray would say: 

My wife left me because sometimes I leave dishes by the sink.

He left dishes by the sink and it drove his wife crazy. It took Fray a long time to realize it wasn't about the dishes. He could have easily not left dishes by the sink and his wife could have easily not cared that he did. It was just their way of expressing an ever deepening alienation with each other.

I find the story interesting because I am one of those people who does not leave dishes lying around. But when others do it does not bother me - I just put them away. I always thought of it as building karma and a what would Jesus do type of action. I rarely get upset about little things. 

When people get upset by little things I do, I just don't do those things anymore. Unfortunately, that sometimes causes me to miss that it isn't the little thing that upsets the person, it is something deeper. 

Sometimes people get together for the wrong reason, or one person believes the other is different than they really are, or thinks they can change the other person, or the other person does change but not in a good way. Every failed relationship is different. Sometimes broke can't be fixed. Sometime it shouldn't  be fixed. 

Even long after Spring lost interest in me as anything other than a source of money, I tried to keep the marriage together. I failed to realize it was well beyond fixing. Maybe I would have realized this if I had paid more attention to the little things.

Friday, April 15, 2022

Women Who Pay Alimony

Although the vast majority of alimony is paid by men (+98%), there are cases of women having to pay it as well. They are none too happy about it. Sonia Delgado is one such woman who has written in support of Florida's proposed alimony reform bill. 

However, during the divorce, I learned a word I had never known — alimony. It never occurred to me that if I left this horrible situation, I would have to continue to work to pay a significant amount of my hard-earned income to a man who refused to work, abused his familyand still refuses to even look for work.

How could this happen to me in the land of the free? It happened because current Florida law allows it to happen and divorce lawyers drain families of all their savings and assets to get as much alimony as possible for their clients ... in this case, my ex-husband. The inconsistency of outcomes in court encourages lengthy and costly litigation. And, who really wins? Divorce lawyers do.

Exactly. 

Thursday, April 7, 2022

George Floyd & The Duty To Report

After the murder conviction of George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin, the three other former officers who were present were convicted on federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights and will be tried in June on state charges of aiding and abetting the murder. 

Because Chauvin was the senior officer present many people feel the other officers should not have been charged as they were only "following orders". This is a similar defense used by many German soldiers under the Nazis and will likely be used by Russian soldiers who have committed war crimes in Ukraine.  

Although I am not completely unsympathetic to the situation the officers, other than Chauvin, were in, the fact remains they took an oath to uphold the law and protect the public.  There was no "except if the perpetrator was an officer" caveat to that oath. 

Likewise, officers of the court, which includes all lawyers, are obliged to abide by the Lawyers Rules of Professional Conduct which includes a duty to report clause. Specifically:

Rule 8.3 Reporting Professional Misconduct

(a) A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

(b) A lawyer who knows that a judge has committed a violation of the applicable Code of Judicial Conduct that raises a substantial question as to the judge's fitness for office shall inform the appropriate authority.

(c) This rule does not require disclosure of information that Rule 1.6 requires or allows a lawyer to keep confidential or information gained by a lawyer or judge while participating in a lawyers assistance program or other program providing assistance, support, or counseling to lawyers who are chemically dependent or have mental disorders.

Yet, as far as I know, not a single lawyer or anyone else in the legal system who has read the evidence agaisnt Nellie Wince has reported her. Not one. Indeed I cannot find a single example in the state where a lawyer has reported another for lying in family court, a clear and egregious violation of the rules. It is just not how things work. Time to change that. 

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Licorice Pizza

I found the movie Licorice Pizza, which won several Oscars, very enjoyable except for one, naggingly disturbing thing - the romance part. You see the male lead, who is just 15 years old, falls madly in love, at first sight no less, with the female lead who is 25 years old. Although at first she resists, in the end she falls just as madly in love with him. This isn't unrequited love, it is fully requited. 

Again, in case you missed it, he is 15 years old and she is 25. 

Imagine if the genders of the two leads were reversed. A 15 year old girl falling in love with a 25 year old man and in the end she gets him. There would be outrage. It would be cited as typical male oppression of women. People would say the movie is exactly what is wrong with Hollywood. It would be viewed as sexist. It certainly would not have won any Oscars. 

Why is that true? I think the best explanation is that our society is so fundamentally sexist we believe deep down in our collective conscious that a 15 year old boy is more responsible than a 15 year old girl. 

Same reason we believe a woman who divorces a man to be with someone else, refuses to contribute anything to the upbringing of the children yet is able to make just as much as him, ends up with lifetime alimony. It would never happen if the genders were reversed.  Which is precisely the reason I am so in favor of equal rights. 

Saturday, March 26, 2022

A Moral Holiday

The Atlantic has an interesting and relevant article about how the United States is currently going through a moral holiday

The United States is now in the midst of an extended moral holiday, in both senses. I see many manifestations of this moral holiday converging, and two in particular: first, the orgy of violence on display by supposed law-enforcement officers long before the current protests began; and second, the looting, vandalism, and other forms of public lawbreaking by rioters at the fringe of the earliest protests. This second form of lawbreaking, occurring over a period measured in days, is as nothing compared with the steady accumulation of police violence over decades. What these phenomena have in common is an implicit sense that we are in a time of accelerating change, making what was forbidden suddenly licit. Criminal acts that were heretofore shameful, such as beating unarmed, peaceful protesters or burgling a hair salon, are now performed in full knowledge that dozens of cellphone cameras are turned in your direction.

Although true, I disagree it is a new phenomenon. By many measures we are far more moral than in the past. Slavery and overt racism (when is the last time being in the KKK was considered cool?) are long gone. More recently I remember huge battles over gay marriage just a few years ago which quickly petered out to the point where it is widely accepted today. Nor do many people today argue women should be paid less than men for equal work.   

Although I think the legal industry is one where crime is rampant, I do not believe this is anything new. Unfortunately, reform in the legal system is well behind reform in other areas such as law enforcement as evidenced by the lack of reporting on the issue. Hopefully this changes. Soon. 

Friday, March 18, 2022

Florida (Again)

Both the house and senate in Florida have again passed alimony reform legislation. Now it is up to Governor Ron DeSantis to sign or veto it.  I am not much of a DeSantis fan but I hope he does the right thing for once an sign it. 

It is difficult for me to believe that anyone in this day and age would argue against:

The bill, which Gruters has promoted as an improvement on past efforts, would repeal court-ordered permanent alimony — leaving bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative and durational alimony for all divorces going forward.

Two measures written in the legislation were the subject of the bulk of debate: a 50-50 time-share presumption and the elimination of permanent alimony on previous, modifiable agreements.

Those who argue agaisnt the bill I presume also argued agaisnt the Equal Right Amendment.  

To quote Jim Morrison from the Doors, "People are strange." 

Thursday, March 10, 2022

Remembering the Equal Right Amendment Battle

In my younger days (grade school/high school), there was a huge debate over the proposed equal rights amendment. Even at the time I thought it bizarre that anyone would oppose it. It seemed to me that it would be down right embarrassing to oppose equal rights, something akin to supporting slavery.  Yet the amendment never passed. 

As the linked Wikipedia article above states it failed because:

the ERA seemed destined for ratification until Phyllis Schlafly mobilized conservative women in opposition. These women argued that the ERA would disadvantage housewives, cause women to be drafted into the military and to lose protections such as alimony, and eliminate the tendency for mothers to obtain custody over their children in divorce cases

No wonder I supported the ERA. 

Women should be drafted into the military, alimony should not be based on gender or better yet eliminated, and gender should not be take into account when determining custody. It is just has hard for me now to understand how anyone would think otherwise as it was understanding why anyone would be opposed to equal rights for women when I was a kid. 

The irony is that without obtaining the very things Schlafy feared would happen, we will never have equal pay for equal work nor equal representation of women in politics and corporate leadership positions. 

We have a long way to go to achieve a truly equal society. 

Friday, March 4, 2022

A Plea For Ethics

An article in California Legal Ethics is a plea for ethics in the legal professions.

Unfortunately there is a huge financial incentive for lawyers, especially in family practice, to not only violate their own professional rules but the law. This combined with the almost insignificant chance they will be held accountable has created a system where crime by lawyers has become endemic. 

Family law has always been difficult. Trends in society, the ongoing destruction of personal norms of appropriate behavior, the erosion of social trust, and the increased competition between lawyers for clients have made it more difficult. The lawyer-as-hired-gun meme still has currency, and it is often emphasized by lawyers themselves in their advertising, based on the idea that clients want aggressive lawyers. Many of my clients who are family law lawyers tell me that family law practice is uglier now than they ever seen it.
No, all is not fair in love, war or the practice of law. They all have ethical rules that must be followed if we are to live in a world not governed by brute force.

Only we can choose what kind of society we live in.