By
Dr. Richard Cordero, Esq.
Ph.D., University of Cambridge, England
M.B.A., University of Michigan Business School
D.E.A., La Sorbonne, Paris
Judicial Discipline Reform
New York City
http://Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org
Dr.Richard.Cordero_Esq@verizon.net,
DrRCordero@Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org
This article may be shared and posted as widely as possible
non-commercially, in its entirety,
without any addition, deletion, or modification,
with credit to its author, Dr. Richard Cordero, Esq., and
indication of this website: www.Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org.
A. Why you are invited to join forces to pursue judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform
1. President Trump’s presidency is pervaded by what Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell charitably called “drama” when he said, “We could do well with less drama from the White House”. Since Trump was only a presidential candidate, many commentators have used a more poignant term to describe the product of his personal conduct and managerial style: chaos(*>OL2:488¶1).
2. Last year, I took a different approach when, thinking strategically(†>OL2:416), I described Trump’s chaos, not as a destructive force, but rather as an opportunity to expose judges’ unaccountability and consequent riskless wrongdoing(*>jur:5§3; ol:154¶3) and advocate judicial reform(*>jur:158§§6-8). I wrote(†>OL2:488¶8):
Chaos Candidate Trump has added; more he will cause. But if he can harness his chaos and that of The Dissatisfied With The Judicial And Legal System, he can use chaos as the force that unrelentingly and unmitigatedly exposes the full extent, routineness, and gravity of judges’ wrongdoing(*>jur:65§B). Trump’s chaos can subject judicial public servants to accountability to their masters, We the People.
*† The materials corresponding to the (blue text references) are contained in my study of judges and their judiciaries, which is titled and downloadable thus:
Exposing Judges’ Unaccountability and
Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing:
Pioneering the news and publishing field of
judicial unaccountability reporting* †
* Volume 1: http://Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org/OL/DrRCordero-Honest_Jud_Advocates.pdf >all prefixes:page number up to OL:393
† Volume 2: http://Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org/OL2/DrRCordero-Honest_Jud_Advocates.pdf >from OL2:394
1. Knowledge prompts duty
3. People like you, who read this website, are likely to, and many who contact me definitely, have superior knowledge about the judiciary and its judges’ conduct in practice as opposed to its prescription in theory. That knowledge imposes on you a higher duty of care of judicial integrity: Knowledge commands action for the common good; otherwise, the knower is liable to the charge ‘you knew about that harm to us but did nothing to warn us’. Thereby the knower becomes an accessory after the harm done and before the next harm encouraged and facilitated by his or her silence(*>jur:88§§a-c).
B. The facts and tenet underlying judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform
1. The facts
4. Judges cannot hold other judges accountable who have been their peers, colleagues, and friends for years and will continue to be for more. They know about each other’s wrongdoing and implicitly shout at each other, “If you take me down, I’ll bring you with me!”, e.g., by ‘trading up to a higher fish’ in plea bargain(*>jur:69¶9). For holding them unaccountable today, they expect to be similarly treated by them in future. Their conduct is determined by the principle of reciprocally assured unaccountability required by mutually dependent survival(†>OL2:466¶11; 468§A).
5. Politicians recommend, endorse, nominate, and confirm for judgeships people of their ilk, who know how the power game is played. Thereafter they cannot turn against the very people whom they vetted and for whose honesty and competence they vouched by investigating them for being dishonest and incompetent, never mind find that they engaged in wrongdoing(*>OL:191¶¶3,4; OL:265§2). The appointer cannot indict his appointee without indicting himself.
6. They also hold judges unaccountable for fear of their awesome power to retaliate by, among other things, declaring even the key pieces of politicians’ legislative agenda unconstitutional(*>jur:23fn17). Such declaration prevents the fulfilment of their key electoral promises and diminishes the accomplishments on which to run for reelection(*>jur:22¶31).
7. Judges, held unaccountable by themselves and politicians, are irresistibly attracted to the material, professional, and social benefits(*>OL:173¶93) that they can grab risklessly by abusing their powers(†>OL2:267§4, 505). In the absence of any adverse consequence, wrongdoing thrives rampant. Theirs is shown in detail by the facts and statistical analysis discussed at *>jur:§§1-3.
2. The tenet
8. The tenet underlying judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform is implicit in the principle of “government of, by, and for the people”(*>jur:82fn172):
a. We the People are the sovereign source of political power. We are the masters of all public servants, including judicial public servants, whom we hire to serve us. We are entitled to hold all of them accountable.
b. In particular, We are entitled to hold judges:
1) accountable for discharging their duty to ensure due process and equal protection of the law, and exercising in our interest the enormous power entrusted to them over our property, liberty, and all the rights and duties that determine our lives; and
2) liable for abusing that power for their own material, professional, and social benefit(*>OL:173¶93); and for compensating the victims of their breach of duty and abuse of power.
3) After exposing the full extent, routineness, and gravity of judges’ wrongdoing, We will be in a position to determine how and how far to exercise our right to detect, prevent, and punish it by reforming judges’ conduct in practice and in theory(*>jur:158§§6-8).
C. The thesis: Trump’s chaos opens a realistic opportunity for judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform because it will suck in judges and enable The Dissatisfied With The Judicial And Legal System to become a constituency
9. A realistic opportunity for judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform results from Trump’s chaos. In brief, every disputed issue in our country ends up before judges, whether it is the ban on Muslim immigration, Obamacare, abortion, gun ownership, same sex marriage, voter identification and voting districting, campaign financing, etc. The more this is the case and stirs up national debate, the more we can highlight the political importance and grievances of the huge(*>OL:311¶1) untapped voting bloc of The Dissatisfied With The Judicial And Legal System. Trump will need and appeal to them; and we will advocate for them and help them become a self-aware and assertive constituency.
10. Accordingly, Trump’s conduct and policies will end up in court and even in the Supreme Court, in connection with, for instance:
a. the revised ban on Muslim immigration;
b. deportation of immigrants;
c. the probe into the interference of Russia in the past presidential election;
d. the invocation of presidential privilege to quash subpoenas for Trump’s tapes of conversations in the White House and to prevent production of White House staff to testify before congressional committees and the special counsel;
e. obstruction of justice;
f. Trump’s removal from office under the 25th Amendment to the Constitution on a declaration essentially of his mental disability;
g. conflict of official and personal business interests;
h. the emoluments clause of the Constitution;
I. timing and corrupt purpose of a presidential pardon;
j. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s refusal to produce subpoenaed documents and Congress’s potentially holding him in contempt;
k. the scope of the Russia probe and the powers of Former FBI Director Robert Mueller to conduct it as special counsel;
l. Mueller’s eventual firing just as Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY Preet Bharara; and
m. the expected White House shake-up by Trump, which may provoke ‘spit and tell’ retaliation by those fired, with him countering by ordering the Department of Justice to prosecute them for having leaked information;
n. etc., etc., etc.
11. No doubt, Trump’s chaos will spin a whirlwind of lawsuits. Through them, Trump will not only focus national attention on judges through media reporting, but also heighten tension with them by doing what he has already done, thus causing again Democrats as well as Republicans to react either in support of him or of judges’ independence: He will disparage “so-called judges” who in his view treat him “very unfairly” because for one reason or another they are biased against him; and he will feel justified in diminishing them because, as his Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller stated critically and he approved:
“We have a judiciary that has taken far too much power and become in many cases a supreme branch of government”(†>OL2:527).
12. Subsequently, Trump’s Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, revealed a concurrent sentiment when he stated, thus outraging many:
“I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific [U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson for the District of Honolulu, Hawaii] can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power [to issue his revised ban on Muslim immigration].”
13. That judiciary and its judges Trump is bound to attack in an effort to survive his own chaos. Thereby he will cause the judges to react by applying the judges’ unwritten ‘canon’ of conduct that Then-Judge, Now-Justice Neil J. Gorsuch enunciated when he, though nominated by Trump to the Supreme Court, commented on his “so-called judge” derogatory remark about District Judge James Robart for having suspended nationwide his ban on Muslim immigration: “An attack on one of our brothers and sisters of the robe is an attack on all of us”(†>OL2:527).
14. That ‘canon’ describes conduct that is not determined by reflection upon principles based on the law, professional duty, or social norms grounded in ethical consideration. It expresses the judges’ gang mentality. That is the way the gang survives in the hood. From the point of view of ‘we against the rest of the world’, every act of every non-gang member is a potential deadly threat to every member, their turf, and their material privileges and ‘respect’ in the hood, earned through sheer abuse of power and brutal retaliation. When the act is done by none other than the president of the enemy gang, the gang’s reaction reverts to its tribal, primitive, atavistic origin: ‘Us against the savage animal at the entrance of the cave’. The gang versus tyrannosaurus rex. Their fight to the death is preprogrammed by the survival instinct. It is in the nature of savages, gangs, and judges.
15. By Trump picking a fight with the judges, he will render realistic the opportunity for us to make him and his top officers aware of the significant moral and electoral support and donations that he can receive by appealing to the huge(*>OL:311¶1) untapped voting bloc of The Dissatisfied With The Judicial And Legal System. Simultaneously, we can appeal to The Dissatisfied as their advocates and organize them strategically to assert their First Amendment right “to petition for a redress of their grievances”(*>jur:130fn268) against unaccountable judges and their consequent riskless wrongdoing.
16. That is how we seize the opportunity in Trump’s chaos for judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform: by applying the principle of strategic thinking(OL2:445§B, 475§D) “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
17. hat calls on us to identify our main enemy: It is the one that has abusively taken our property, liberty, and rights, and can still wreck our lives by bullying us at will: the gang. T-Rex will be gone sooner or later. Before he does, we need his jaws to chase the gang out of the cave so that we can hold it liable for what it took from us and subject it to us: We the People.
D. The need to join forces to realize the opportunity in Trump’s chaos for judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform
18. We can ever more effectively take advantage of the opportunity that Trump’s chaos offers for judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform advocacy if we join forces by engaging in harmonious activities aimed thereat and even coordinating them. Concrete examples of how each of us and all of us can do so given our respective status are provided in the next section.
19. However, to take full advantage of this opportunity we must join forces in a more organic framework that allows and at once requires us to think and proceed strategically. For such junction, I have developed a for-profit business plan. It is available upon request and discussed in an earlier article hereunder (also at †>OL2:560), which is followed by its Table of Contents to provide an overview of it(†>OL2:563).
20. In synthesis, the plan calls for raising the investment capital necessary to set up an office and form a multidisciplinary academic and business team of highly competent and responsible professionals capable of rendering an ambitious array of judicial wrongdoing and reform advocacy services(jur:128§4) to paying clients(jur:119§1) -e.g., representation, litigation, investigation, seminars and courses, advanced information technology research and development of software for auditing judicial decisions in search of patterns of wrongdoing- and in the public interest –e.g., submission and access to databases of complaints against judges and research materials, analysis of court statistics, how-to articles.
21. Whether by joining forces through harmonious and coordinated activities, or by running the for-profit business, we will be able to pursue simultaneously two interests that are consistent with each other:
a. to work for the public good by making progress in the realization of the noble ideal of ‘government, not of men and women, but by the rule of law’(*>OL:5fn6); and
b. to advance our careers by making nationally recognized names as well as earning tangible, valuable rewards(*>OL:3§6), eventually having the option of earning our living as members of the business.
E. The initial harmonious and coordinated activities that we can pursue to expose judges’ wrongdoing and advocate judicial reform
22. We can from now on engage in the following illustrative activities to inform the public about judges’ wrongdoing and so to outrage(†>OL2:461§1) the public at judges that it is stirred up to demand that incumbent politicians and those who will soon run in the 2018 mid-term primaries and main campaign, lest they be voted out of, or not into, office(†>OL2:517¶16), denounce judges’ wrongdoing and conduct or call for nationally televised congressional public hearings -like those being held by the Senate Intelligence Committee to hear the testimony of Former FBI Director James Comey and others- on people’s own and third parties’ experience at the hands of unaccountable judges who engage in consequent riskless wrongdoing.
23. We all can strive to insert that issue among the core ones of the national debate and the mid-term election so that being either for exposing or for covering judges’ wrongdoing is a decisive choice for incumbents -including Trump and his decision to campaign for or against somebody- all candidates, and voters(*>OL:356). To that end, we can do the following:
1. The media members
24. A nationally known court reporter and a newspaper editor(†>OL2:511) can:
a. investigate(*>OL:194§E), interview, and write articles on the issue(†>OL2:483);
b. promote its investigation(*>OL:344; 374; †>OL2:524) at journalism schools(*>Lsch:23) or by individual(*>jur:xlvi§H) students or those taking a team reporting class;
c. facilitate the organization by students of a multimedia public presentation(*>jur:97§1) as part of a course(cf. *>dcc:31);
d. induce talkshow hosts(*>OL:222§1) to hold a weekly or monthly show(*>OL:146¶1) and even form a coalition(†>OL:113, 142) for judicial wrongdoing exposure, which can become a powerhouse of American politics, just as Roger Ailes developed Fox News into a conservative politics force to be reckoned with;
e. produce a documentary(†>OL2:464, 536, 537);
f. call for, and produce an unprecedented and potentially trend-setting nationally public hearings held in the public interest by a board of national media outlets, prominent court reporters, editors, news anchors, investigative journalists, and schools of law, journalism, business, and information technology;
g. thereby winning a Pulitzer Prize or commanding a higher salary with the same or a different employer;
h. see to it that a series of my articles is published; and
I. that I teach a related course at a school(cf. *>dcc:1, 23);
j. am invited to make a presentation(*>OL:54) to their colleagues or at a school(*>OL:197§G); and
k. am interviewed.
2. The law professors
25. A preeminent emeritus law professor(†>OL2:542, 543) and a tenured law professor(*>jur:xi) at an Ivy League law school can:
a. draw the attention of deans(†>OL2:539, 541) and the legal community(†>OL2:453) to the issue, and thereby become courageous academic figures that pioneer the study of judges’ conduct in practice as opposed to in theory; cf. Professor John Banzhaf III of George Washington Law School taught a public integrity class that successfully led three of his students to sue Former U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew for having taken kickbacks and bribes while governor of Maryland, which he was forced to pay into the state treasury with interest;
b. organize the first academic conference ever on the issue(*>jur:97§1; *>OL:253), to be held during the 2018 primaries;
c. innovate on the role of law schools to turn them into independent, apolitical entities that instill in students the moral strength and develop their skills to hold judges accountable(†>OL2:452), thus developing an academic niche for the school and a practice area niche for students;
d. promote the creation of an institute of judicial accountability and reform advocacy(*>jur:130§5);
e. apply their influence to allow me to present(*>OL:197§G) to their students, faculty, and student organizations(*>Lsch:1, 2):
f. see to it that I teach a related course(*>OL:60, 42; dcc:1, 23); and they can
g. request of law journals and book publishers(*>jur:x) that they publish my articles(†>OL2:483) and study(supra ¶2) of judges and their judiciaries.
3. The politician
26. A local politician(†>OL2:487) can:
a. adopt the issue to appeal to the huge(*>OL:311¶1) untapped voting bloc of The Dissatisfied With The Judicial And Legal System, placing the issue at the core of her platform and turning it into her brand to enter the national scene and become a national leader that runs for national office; and
b. invite me to address her supporters at her rallies and fund-raising events (*>OL:46, 51).
4. The members of courts
27. A member of a court, even a judge (*>OL:180), can:
a. share with me on a confidential, Deep Throat (*>jur:106§c) basis inside information on judges’ conduct, individual and coordinated wrongdoing, and operation of their judiciaries (†>OL2:468); and
b. eventually become a whistleblower and end up:
1) on the cover of Time Magazine as the Person of the Year(*>jur:iv/fn.iv) and
2) as the main character in a blockbuster movie or bestseller, like All the President’s Men(*>jur:4¶¶10-14), for her courageous service in We the People’s interest(*>OL:4¶7) and practical support to the rule of law principle that Nobody is Above the Law,
3) thus earning the national merit and name recognition to become this generation’s version of the historic Watergate figure of Deep Throat(*>jur:106§c). Why should a president be investigated and leaked on but not a judge?
5. The members of district attorneys’ offices
28. A member of a district attorney’s office can
a. provide me confidentially inside information on:
1) how the assistant district attorneys (ADAs) perform in connivance(*>jur:L; ix/c-e) with judges to avoid the latter’s retaliation and abusive exercise of power by making capricious and arbitrary rulings and orders(*>Lsch:17§C), whereby ADAs try to preserve and enhance their “winning scores” and chances of a promotion;
2) how ADAs’ choice of both cases to prosecute and manner of prosecution is influenced by the district attorney’s dominating goal of securing his reelection to ensure a tenure at least as long as that of his predecessor; and
b. manage to pass on to defendants and other litigants the information on how they can work together in small groups to audit(*>OL:274) judges’ decisions and other writings in search of patterns of judges’ wrongdoing(*>OL:282, 304, 308); and refer them to me for a free of charge seminar on auditing judges;
c. eventually becoming a whistleblower(supra §4) and gaining enough public recognition and gratitude to run for district attorney; and
d. use his or her connections to cause community and grassroots organizations to invite me to present the issue in person or at a video conference.
F. Work through which we can have a consequential and historic impact here and abroad
29. By thinking strategically(†>OL2:445§B, 475§D), we can seize the realistic opportunity that Trump’s chaos offers to launch the process of judicial wrongdoing exposure and reform. We can even take advantage of the opportunity to set in motion the development of a Tea Party-like, single-issue civic movement(*>jur:164§9) that seeks to hold judges accountable through, among other things, citizen boards of judicial accountability(*>jur:158§§6-8). This out-of-court strategy(OL2:461§1) is justified by the incapacity of judges to hold their peers accountable and of politicians their appointees(supra §B.1).
30. This would constitute progress of historic(*>jur:xLv§G) proportions by We the People in asserting our status: We are the source of all political power. We are the masters of all our public servants. We have the right to hold them accountable and liable to compensate the victims of their wrongdoing. That assertion will express the awareness of self-identity and power of the movement: The People’s Sunrise(*>OL:201§J).
31. As with so many socio-economic innovations that started in America and set the example for the rest of the world, our analysis, business plan, and experience can travel abroad. We can take action in our country that can reach The Dissatisfied With The Judicial And Legal System in other countries. We can inspire them with the ideal of Equal Justice Under Law and share with them our means to advance its realization. We can set a trend that makes them aware of who they are: We the Peoples of the World, asserting our universal right to justice and our power as masters to ensure that our servants administer it fairly and impartially according to the rule of law.
32. By initially joining forces and then developing into a well-integrated team of competent and responsible professionals ‘dedicated to a mission greater than ourselves’, our work in life can be consequential and historic. In addition to deservedly earning material and professional rewards(*>OL:3§6), we can earn the highest reputational one: We can become recognized here and abroad as the Peoples’ Champions of Justice.
G. Contact me to schedule a presentation in person or at a video conference
33. Therefore, I respectfully invite you to contact me to choose a convenient time for us to meet so that I may present to you, if here in New York City, in person, or if otherwise, at a video conference, my invitation to join forces to take advantage of the realistic opportunity that Trump’s chaos offers for exposing judges’ unaccountability and consequent riskless wrongdoing and advocating judicial reform. On that occasion, we can discuss the extent to which everyone can initially get involved and how discreetly or publicly.
34. Hence, I look forward to hearing from you. To that end, you may contact me by email sent to the following bloc of email addresses:
DrRCordero@Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org, Dr.Richard.Cordero_Esq@verizon.net, Dr.Richard.Cordero.Esq@cantab.net, RicCordero@verizon.net, Corderoric@yahoo.com.
Visit the website at, and subscribe to its series of articles thus:
www.Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org> + New or Users >Add New
.Dare trigger history!(*>jur:7§5)…and you may enter it.
* http://Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org/OL/DrRCordero-Honest_Jud_Advocates.pdf
Sincerely,
Dr. Richard Cordero, Esq.
Judicial Discipline Reform
New York City
www.Judicial-Discipline-Reform.org
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-richard-cordero-esq-0508ba4b
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