Corruption in LA? Couldn't be.

April 24, 2010 3:08 PM

A successful former prosecutor and anti-fraud lawyer found that judges were being illegally paid 'bonuses' of over $40k a year by a local government, and that this local government seemed to win every case brought against them when brought before these judges. After trying to present this in court, he was thrown in jail without a warrant or a trial, where he has been in solitary confinement for over a year. He was also disbarred. What horribly corrupt place is this? Haiti? Nigeria?

Would you believe Los Angeles?

Richard Fine's case was presented to the US Supreme Court yesterday.

posted by eye of newt (38 comments total)

Would you believe Los Angeles?

Yes.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 3:12 PM on April 24, 2010 [7 favorites]

it's not like Mr. Fine is a kook or something.

It's difficult to tell from the links gathered here, but this has the stink of tax-protestor kookery all over it.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:16 PM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's difficult to tell from the links gathered here, but this has the stink of tax-protestor kookery all over it.

I agree, but if he has been jailed for (essentially) contempt for more than a year, that does seem pretty dubious to me.

On the other hand, if that allegation is wrong and these sites are misrepresenting the case, I wouldn't be shocked.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 3:24 PM on April 24, 2010

Would you believe Los Angeles? Of course.

I miss LA so much, I find even its corruption endearing.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:43 PM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seeing as this case has indeed made it all the way to the US Supreme Court, and having read a few things about it in the last 15 minutes, it seems to me that this is indeed, a pivotal case of our times. If judges are allowed to simply lock up people and deny them all rights without appeal, we're all doomed.
posted by MikeWarot at 3:43 PM on April 24, 2010

Yeah, but Steven Seagal Sex Slave Scandal?
posted by biffa at 3:45 PM on April 24, 2010

Wait a minute. There's a Steven Seagal Sex slave scandal?

I knew there was something off about that guy.
posted by Dreamcast at 3:52 PM on April 24, 2010

Remember Judith Miller? She was originally ordered held for up to 18 months for contempt when she refused to give information. The sentence got some attention at the time. Fine seems to be in jail for contempt for refusing to give information about his financial assets, and there are allegations that disbarring and imprisonment are retaliatory for his attention to judges' bonuses. Retaliation and corruption do not seem the main point; coercive contempt charges and imprisonment are the focus.
posted by dilettante at 3:52 PM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

Seeing as this case has indeed made it all the way to the US Supreme Court

I'm stretching the bounds of my understanding of SCOTUS procedures, but so far as I can tell, Fine's petition for cert was heard yesterday, but there's no indication that it was granted. Anybody can appeal to the Supreme Court, but that's not the same thing as the court finding sufficient merit to hear the case.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:56 PM on April 24, 2010

stink of tax-protestor kookery all over it.
--Horace Rumpole

I found lots of things about Richard Fine where he fights the misuse of collected taxes, but I haven't found anything where he is against paying taxes or even taxes in general.
posted by eye of newt at 4:03 PM on April 24, 2010

According to the Supreme Court website, yesterday was a conference day, and the justices would begin by discussing the writs of certiorari - whether to accept or reject cases that had been filed. The case does not look like it has really made it before the Supreme Court, although it still may.
posted by dilettante at 4:07 PM on April 24, 2010

MetaFilter: has the stink of kookery all over it
posted by bwg at 4:20 PM on April 24, 2010 [3 favorites]

I don't know anything about Richard Fine, except what I've seen in less than the last week. I am adamantly opposed to crooked judges and fraud in principle. (Is there a pro-corruption party somewhere?). From what I've heard lately, Fine is a good tax lawyer who has won more than a few case but lost some too. Do either of those facts mean that corruption is endemic in the California courts?

I don't think I'd like to spend an hour talking to Richard Fine. I don't think I'd agree with him on much. I don't think that judge's having contract with the state necessarily makes them evil or even biased. I do think that only having judges that don't need to be paid is a horrible idea!

But , fuck, the way he has been treated isn't right. In truth, I don't know what is the right way to do this any more. If he is off his nut, a strong possibility, that no longer means he won't find an audience, a rabid audience. (Hell, it helps him find one.) It doesn't mean it will be harder for him to harass and keep the courts from conducting there legitimate business. But this can't be the way to shut him up. Period. And it is possible for all his nuttery, he might have some legitimate points.
posted by Some1 at 4:21 PM on April 24, 2010

Seems to me the only time a major media outlet will treat something like this as news is when the defendant is a person who by social ranking, and esp. in LA, by race, should otherwise have the means to fend off excessive pressure from the justice system (this includes Miller).

In my limited experience working with groups like the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the specter of crazy jail time hangs over poor people of color every time they are pulled over.

iow, oh look, old white guy from the Valley is doing excessive time for, you know, anything - now that's news.
posted by victors at 4:26 PM on April 24, 2010

I found lots of things about Richard Fine where he fights the misuse of collected taxes, but I haven't found anything where he is against paying taxes or even taxes in general.

I'm digging deeper into this because I'm definitely getting the impression the OP isn't all there is to this story. It does smell like kookery. I present the following two small quotes from one of the links:

The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department employed unverified and unvalidated online public access system (OPAS) and unvalidated case management system (CMS) to present the false pretense that Richard Fine (1824367) was arrested and booked at and by the authority of the non-existent Municipal Court of San Pedro.
...
In recent submission to the United Nations, for the 2010 Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in the United States, Human Rights Alert and Dr Zernik highlighted the role of unverified and unvalidated OPASs and CMSs in the precipitous deterioration of integrity of the US justice system, and pervasive alleged abuses of Human Rights by the US government. The submission called for international monitoring of the California and US courts

I'm not claiming there aren't lots of human rights abuses in the USA, nor that corruption isn't a problem. But this isn't the type of quote you get from non-kooks truly confronting abuses or corruption. It is indeed the way tax kooks speak, even if this particular one isn't the same type of kook.
posted by Justinian at 4:28 PM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

eye of newt: “I found lots of things about Richard Fine...”

links, links, links
posted by koeselitz at 4:28 PM on April 24, 2010

Ok, I feel pretty confident at this point that the KOOK ALERT siren should be firing. Here is a partial list of those "involved the perversion" of this case according to "Dr. Joseph Zernik", the guy filing stuff for Fine. Note that this is quite long. That is not an accident:

Those involved in alleged perversion in the case of Richard Fine (partial list)

LA Superior Court
1) Judge David Yaffe
2) His clerk
3) Counsel for the two developer - Joshua L Rosen
4) The two large developers
5) Clerk of the Court John A Clarke
6) Presiding Judge Charles McCoy
7) Clerks and presiding judge going back 35 years - who continue to publish false and deliberately misleading Local Rules of Court on entry of judgment, including Ronald George - Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.
8) Daily Journal and its editor Martin Berg - makers of the allegedly fraudulent CMS (case management system) SUSTAIN.

LA Sheriff Department
1) Lee Baca
2) Sergeant Burson
3) Commander Liang
4) James Lopez, Chief of Staff
5) about 10 members of the Warrant Detail
6) Some Sheriff Deputy(s) in San Pedro.

California Courts of Appeals 1st, 2nd, 4th
In their actions relative to the case of Richard Fine and Sturgeon v LA County, which was likewise alleged target of perversion, as documented in the Motion to Intervene.

California Judicial Council and Chief Justice Ronald George
In alleged perversion documented in the Motion to intervene relative to retainer of Kevin McCormick

US District Court
1) Magistrate Carla Woehrle
2) Judge John Walter
3) Other judges who recused, but never initiated corrective actions in view of the perversion.
4) Clerk Terry Nafisi
5) Record Supervisor Dawn Bullock
6) Pro SE Clerk Chris Sawyer
7) Courtroom Assistant Donna Thomas
8) Chief Judge Audrey Collins - who never initiated corrective actions, even after being reliably informed, and who failed to establish the practice and procedures of PACER and CM/ECF and NEFs (Notices of Electronic Filings) in Local Rules of Court.
9) Aaron Fontana - false counsel for sheriff and his law firm partners
10) Kevin McCormick - false counsel for Judge David Yaffe and the LA Superior court, and his law firm partners.

US Court of Appeals
1) Chief Judge Alex Kozinski - in issuing the unsigned, falsely noticed denial on the petition and served with no authenticating NDA (Notice of Docket Activity) at all.
2) Circuit Judge Richard Tallman - ditto on the petition
3) Circuit Judge Richard Paez - ditto on the petition
4) Circuit judge - - ditto re: Mandate on the appeal
5) Circuit judge - - ditto re: Mandate on the appeal
6) Circuit judge - - ditto re: Mandate on the appeal
7) Molly C Dwyer - clerk of the Court - ditto
8) All Judges of the Circuit Court - for failing to establish the practice and procedures of PACER and CM/ECF and NDAs (Notices of Docket Activity) in the Local Rules of Court.

US Supreme Court
1) Danny Bickell
2) Justice Anthony Kennedy - he noted the denial of Application on a separate piece of paper, not on the Application, as required by Rules of Court, thereby opening the way for Danny Bickell to complete the alleged perversion in the denial.
3) All justices of the Supreme Court - in allowing the conduct of the court as seen in actions of Danny Bickell in various cases.
4) Paul Beach and his law firm partners - false counsel for Sheriff

Administrative Office of the US Courts
For development and concerted implementation of allegedly fraudulent OPASs (online public access systems) - PACER of the US District Courts and US Courts of Appeals, and CMSs (case management systems) - CM/ECF of the US District Courts and US Courts of Appeals.

All US Judges
Who never said a word in view of the large scale alleged fraud in the OPASs and CMSs of the courts introduced in the past 1-2 decades.

WAKE UP SHEEPLE.
posted by Justinian at 4:33 PM on April 24, 2010 [4 favorites]

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/05/local/me-contempt5

He's in jail for contempt for refusing to answer questions to a judge about his finances, related to a case he lost. Apparently he can get out of jail by 1) signing a form that says he'll answer questions 2) showing up in court and answering the questions.

There may very well be endemic corruption of the entire court system in California. But it looks like Richard Fine is attempting to become a martyr to... something. I'm still not clear exactly what.
posted by zota at 4:38 PM on April 24, 2010 [4 favorites]

Contempt of court is an arbitrary procedure. In most cases it requires no or little due process. When Sri Lanka does this, it's a violation of international law (see e.g. Fernando v. Sri Lanka, CCPR/C/83/D/1189/2003), but when LA does it, it's fine. Stupid.
posted by 1adam12 at 4:40 PM on April 24, 2010

Uh, saying that "contempt of court" may be subject to abuse is a far cry from how this case was presented in the absurdly biased original post. I'm coming to the conclusion that this post is basically bullshit. The framing, anyway.
posted by Justinian at 4:41 PM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

For what it's worth (not much, maybe) the Richard Fine wikipedia page was deleted because, as the consensus seems to be there, most sources on the story are "spurious and non-reliable." The one opposer of the deletion, the person who wrote the article, sounds pretty high-tone to me, but you can judge for yourself.

More interesting are the worthwhile links about Richard Fine listed there. Particularly intriguing is this article in the California Bar Journal from 2007:

A State Bar Court judge has recommended disbarment of a Beverly Hills lawyer he compared to a bully and a gladiator for misconduct that was “in a class of its own.” RICHARD ISAAC FINE [#55259], 67, faces the loss of his license for a pattern of repeatedly challenging judges who ruled against him — acts that involved moral turpitude.

Continuing that pattern, Fine moved for a new trial and reconsideration of the bar court’s ruling, and just as several superior and court of appeal judges did before him, Judge Richard Honn denied the motions. Fine was placed on inactive status Oct. 17. If the disbarment recommendation is upheld after all bar court proceedings are exhausted, it will be sent to the Supreme Court.

Honn found that Fine committed 16 acts of moral turpitude by repeatedly challenging judges who ruled against him, filing frivolous actions and meritless appeals and making misrepresentations to the court. Fine’s actions, Honn wrote, were done “out of spite, for revenge and to harass almost every judicial officer who ruled against him.” When his efforts to disqualify judges in various state courts failed, Fine took his campaign to the federal courts, where he filed more lawsuits against the same judges.

The article goes on to say that this whole campaign was initiated when a judge in a class-action suit that Richard Fine had won denied Fine's request for disbursement of attorney's fees first and instead gave the first settlements to his clients. Apparently Fine took this personally, and has been on the war path ever since.

I don't know. This seems like an interesting situation. Here's a story that more directly and (apparently) even-handedly deals with the case; the authorities claim that Fine would be released immediately if he consented to answer questions about his personal finances, questions that he has thus far refused to discuss.
posted by koeselitz at 4:45 PM on April 24, 2010

A Fox News affiliate offering a less biased version of the story than the original post.
Ouch.
posted by zota at 4:59 PM on April 24, 2010

Okay, links.

Government misuse of collected child support payments.

California's budget crisis has been in the news recently. The state stopped all payments to state employees when they didn't pass a budget. That is because of a case Richard Fine successfully fought: Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Connell

His disbarring and 'moral turpitude', and even his present confinement in jail are a result with his fighting in support of homeowners being evicted because of developers in Marina del Rey. The developers have contracts with the city of LA, who seem to never lose any case, because....

Oh, and the President and President Elect of the State Bar Association who disbarred Fine were also attorneys for the developer.
posted by eye of newt at 5:12 PM on April 24, 2010

Yes, the links in this post are biased. After reading the pleadings, it looks like Fine isn't in jail because of some sort of shady retaliatory plot by LA's judges; rather, Fine is in jail because he was trying to avoid responsibility for committing malpractices in a case, in which his actions resulted in a dismissal of an action he filed for his client.

According to the fed magistrate's recommendation and report in Fine's habeas corpus petition in fed court, the dispute stems from Fine's own actions in mishandling of the Marina Strand case that he filed, but was dismissed because he missed a deadline for requesting a hearing. In the meantime, Fine was disbarred on a charge unrelated to the Marina Strand case. Marina Strand obtained a new attorney and requested relief from dismissal of the case based upon Fine's admission of his missed deadline. Judge Yaffe ordered Fine to pay fees and costs arising from the pleadings filed by Fine's former client to obtain relief from Fine's mishandling of their case.

Fine was ordered to appear for a judgment debtor examination, at which Fine refused to answer questions or produce documents in response to subpoenas, even though Commissioner in charge of the proceeding overruled Petitioner’s objections. Then the real parties in interest in the Marina Strand case sought the contempt order against Fine on five of contempt charges, only two of which Judge Yaffe found Fine guilty of. One of those two charges was that Fine continued the unauthorized practice of law, despite being disbarred.

In the words of the magistrate's recommendation and report:
Thus, although Petitioner portrays himself as a crusader against biased judges, the record indicates that he was content to litigate his case against the County in front of Judge Yaffe, without attempting to disqualify him, for over a year, until (1) Judge Yaffe ruled against Petitioner’s personal financial interest, and (2) Petitioner no longer had standing to seek disqualification.11 On this record, there is no merit in Petitioner’s claim that he was denied his right to an impartial adjudicator in the contempt proceeding because Judge Yaffe was disqualified and should have recused himself in the underlying action. Therefore, state court adjudications rejecting this claim were neither contrary to nor an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:17 PM on April 24, 2010 [4 favorites]

Let it be known that for added effect, I have been reading this thread in the rushed gravelly monotone of Jack Webb.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:22 PM on April 24, 2010

His disbarring and 'moral turpitude', and even his present confinement in jail are a result with his fighting in support of homeowners being evicted because of developers in Marina del Rey.

This is just plain false. Dr. Zira, above, posts a more reasonable interpretation of the facts.
posted by Justinian at 5:24 PM on April 24, 2010

Here's the Opinion in Fine's disbarment case.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:25 PM on April 24, 2010

There is a city by the sea
A gentle company
I don’t suppose you want to
And as it tells its sorry tale
In harrowing detail
Its hollowness will haunt you
Its streets and boulevards
Orphans and oligarchs it hears
A plaintive melody
Truncated symphony
An ocean’s garbled vomit on the shore,
Los Angeles, I’m yours
posted by jontyjago at 5:28 PM on April 24, 2010

Also, the State Supreme Court -- which voted 6-0 for Fine's disbarment -- meets in San Francisco. Not only is the original post a completely distorted account of the legal facts, it also fails to legitimately complain about Los Angeles.

I mean, come on.
posted by zota at 5:28 PM on April 24, 2010 [2 favorites]

Thanks for that helpful explanation, Dr. Zira.

And one thing we can note (which you mentioned, but I want to highlight) is that this is the federal magistrate's recommendation. This isn't part of any (real or imagined) California State Bar Association plot.
posted by koeselitz at 5:28 PM on April 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

I think the case is interesting whether or not it turns out he's just a crazy lawyer. Sorry to keep posting in my own post. People should be able to argue without my meddling.
posted by eye of newt at 5:32 PM on April 24, 2010

His disbarring and 'moral turpitude', and even his present confinement in jail are a result with his fighting in support of homeowners being evicted because of developers in Marina del Rey.

Except that his present confinement in jail is a result of his failure to accept responsibility for how he screwed his clients in the case he filed for them. Instead of paying the fees and costs of the motions his clients had to file to fix his error, he's defending his actions by throwing poo at the judges.
posted by Dr. Zira at 5:32 PM on April 24, 2010

Wait a minute. There's a Steven Seagal Sex slave scandal?

ooh baby I sure hope so. I smell a Seagal/Mr. Slave South Park episode by years end!
posted by mannequito at 5:49 PM on April 24, 2010

A Yes...But


As long as I cringe over how contempt charges are use by the likes of Ken Starr or against journalist who won't give names of their contacts, I must wince (at least) when contempt is used in this way. And here, more than for Starr or in the Miller case there is an easy alternative remedy; just issue a summary judgment against him. Fine maybe a fine work of skuzz, but this case and the result still stinks.
posted by Some1 at 5:50 PM on April 24, 2010

So if the post is bullshit, should it maybe go away in favor of a better one?
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:21 PM on April 24, 2010

Would you believe Los Angeles?

Would you believe "flagged?"
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:29 PM on April 24, 2010

And for those lacking the frame of reference, L.A. Daily News = NY Post, and that's being generous. A real story, if it existed, would be in the L.A. Times.
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:32 PM on April 24, 2010

Was it necessary to insult Haiti and Nigeria?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:40 PM on April 24, 2010