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What is an impeachment petition? First a citizen needs to understand
that the impeachment process is a political tool of checks and balances that our
forefathers wrote into the Constitution to remove corrupt elected public
officials (including judges) from their respective offices by way of the House
of Representatives. Keeping within the context of impeachment petitions against
corrupt judges the investigative body of the House of Representatives is the
House Judiciary Committee which is charged with reviewing and investigating the
petitioning citizen's complaint of judicial misconduct. Once the investigative
results are presented to the entire House of Representatives, the articles of
impeachment against the corrupt official (judge) are to be sent to the state
Senate for trial "similar" to a court of law. The Senate will either convict the
judge for unethical behavior or acquit. This requires a two third vote in favor
of IMPEACHMENT. Regardless, impeachment is a political action (not judicial)
with its sole purpose being to remove a corrupt official (judge) from their
elected or appointed offices as punishment. Some of the side benefits to
impeachment are the judge will lose his/her state pension, they will be barred
from holding any public office, and they and their family will basically live
out their lives in disgrace. A small price to pay considering the thousands of
families and children's lives they destroyed.
Doing some research on the Impeachment Process in Pennsylvania I discovered that
up until 1968 the House of Representatives via a citizens district
representative received any complaints concerning Pennsylvania's judiciary.
Supposedly, by 1968 the population increased dramatically, and consecutively the
volume of complaints being lodged against corrupt judges proportionately
increased to a degree that it was not practical or feasible for the state
legislature to handle matters of disciplining judges. I have not found any
documented history on how the complaints against judges were actually addressed
or how corrupt judges were reprimanded, if at all, for their unethical
conduct. Recently...Michael Schwoyer, present (non elected) Chief Counsel for
the House Judiciary Committee readily points out that in Pennsylvania there was
only one corrupt judge actually impeached in two hundred years. So, in 1968 the
Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct and Review Board was born ( a virtual black hole)
to receive and investigate all complaints against errant judges.
[Unfortunately, filing complaints through the JCRB were routinely encouraged, as
matter of policy, by your district representatives under the guise that it is
the aggrieved citizens only available recourse for dealing with judicial
corruption. In the interest of their political self serving agendas a
legislator either by ignorance or diversion will never, ever advise a
constituent of their RIGHT to file an impeachment petition and in most cases
pretend they don't know an action of this type exists]. Fortunately, the
creation of the JCRB did not eliminate the impeachment clause in the
Pennsylvania Constitution. Further it did not eradicate or absolve the state
legislature's responsibilities from taking action for impeachment when receiving
a citizens petition for redress of grievances against "their" government. As to
be expected any profession or government entity that self polices itself does
not work, never did, never will, as was such with the JCRB.
By 1993 the state legislature was again being bombarded with complaints about
Pennsylvania's judiciary. Only this time the complaints were being directed at
the JCRB for nonperformance and malfeasance. Hence in 1993 the Pennsylvania
constitution was amended once again by Pennsylvania voters to establish a
Judicial Conduct Board. This disciplinary board now incorporated a two tiered
procedure for dealing with corrupt judges and the twelve member panel was to
include six non-lawyer private citizens. Three private citizens are appointed by
the board of the Supreme Court and three are appointed by the Governor. Sounds
honorable and unbiased doesn't it? Once investigations are complete the charges
(if any) are to be taken before the second stage of the JCB called the Court of
Judicial Discipline. One needs to keep in mind that this procedure is never made
public record and is totally conducted in secrecy under the umbrella of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. A prudent person would have to infer that
anything conducted in secrecy is most likely done underhanded. I remember
reading in the newspapers in 1993, that the state legislature beamed with pride
that this new two tiered method of disciplining corrupt judges would restore
the publics confidence in the judiciary and the way corrupt judges would be
investigated and disciplined. Being time tested-- twenty years later--- has
proven the legislature wrong and the JCB to be...another pipe dream!
So here we are again in 2005 where the Judicial Conduct Board like its
predecessor is an abominable failure and public disgrace. I believe that six to
eight hundred complaints are filed with the JCB each year and after allegedly
investigating these complaints barely result in some 2% disciplinary actions
against a member of the judiciary. The majority of that minuscule 2% are
prosecutions against the expendable token district magistrates. Now, anyone who
has filed a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Board knows that they are
expeditiously dismissed without any real action what-so-ever being taken against
the judge complained of. Result, the courts' victims walk away feeling rejected
, hopeless and victimized a second time by the judicial system...while the
accused judges remain untarnished and unabated from striking out again at their
next victim.
I think the above paragraph and statistics are self explanatory as to the reason
the impeachment process in Pennsylvania must be taken out of mothballs and
utilized by the citizenry. Somewhere, accountability for corrupt judges must be
established, otherwise we are going to continue this accelerating slide towards
total tyranny by the judicial branch of government. Anyone who has been through
the Family Court System and has been designated and denigrated to the status of
Non Custodial Parent or court ordered Non Parent can certainly understand that
domestic relations law and the Constitutions of the United States and
Pennsylvania are not being upheld by the family courts. In fact we have a female
judge in Blair County that boldly announces from the judicial bench that the
Constitution of the United States and Family Law are like comparing apples to
oranges.
Over the last fifteen to twenty years NCP's have slowly band together to fight a
Family Court System gone mad. It is the consensus of every NCP who has fought
this battle against family court corruption that something extraordinary will
have to be done by NCPs to "SHOCK" the general public's and political
consciousness into taking a hard look at the plight of NCPs and their children.
Wherefore it has been my contention that multiple Impeachment Petitions filed
before the state legislature at one time will stimulate the urgency for change
in law and public policy. Further, any filed impeachment petitions are put on
the legislative calendar as legislative business and are a matter of public
record...should the corporate controlled news media dare to report. Multiple
impeachment petitions should let the genie out of the bottle while raising the
awareness of our state legislators that corruption in our court system and the
ensuing status quo cover ups running amuck are not going to be acceptable any
longer.
In preparing the impeachment petition against a corrupt judge an aggrieved
litigant-citizen needs to mentally review their custody case step by step for
factual detail and procedural etiquette. To assist this endeavor a person should
review the following guidelines, but also keeping in mind that we are not
attorneys and absolute perfection is not a constitutional mandate to file. We
are talking about, good over evil...fairness and justice...right and wrong...not
form over substance. Just keep the facts as accurate as possible to preserve
your credibility and that of others who may choose to file future impeachment
petitions..
Next one must consider that judges took a solemn oath to protect and uphold the
law and Constitutions of the United States and Pennsylvania. A violation of
one or more of the above categories deprives a person of their Constitutional
right to Due Process and Equal Protection of the Law.
If you have been reduced to a mere every other weekend visitor with your child
by the court, you will need to ask yourself is this what you deserved? Was the
law followed? Overwhelmingly, the answer will be that you did nothing wrong to
warrant being separated from your children...had an excellent relationship with
"your" children... and loved them every bit as much as the other parent. It
must then be concluded that the judge or master did not fairly weigh or consider
the evidence in your case. A simple example would be [mom is a proven alcoholic
and dad drinks coffee ... both were actively involved in raising the children].
Minus any other "real and proven" abuse factors detrimental to the children's
well being, which has the greater weight in deciding custody? A responsible
disinterested person would see dad as the more stable and appropriate parent to
raise the children. How could a judge see it differently? So would it be fair
that mom should still be awarded primary custody of the children just because
she voluntarily enrolls herself in Alcoholics Anonymous? This is not equal
protection of the law when one parent is held to a higher standard of acceptable
conduct than the other parent. In this scenario if primary custody was awarded
to mom then the judge manipulated, mitigated or totally ignored the evidence in
making a preconceived custody order). In other words you were not given due
process of law...you were just "processed" through a one size fits all
production line just because you divorced the other parent.
If a judge did not fairly weigh the evidence in your custody case then he/she
violated his judicial canons to conduct a judicial proceeding fairly and
impartially. Evidence is something that furnishes or tends to furnish proof;
especially : something (as testimony, writings, or objects) presented at a
judicial or administrative proceeding for the purpose of establishing the truth
or falsity of an alleged matter of fact. Evidence is exactly that, not a judges
belief or what he/she distorts it to mean.
Remember these are your children, not a trophy to be won through the highly
contentious adversarial winner take all mentality of the Pennsylvania Family
Court System.
In preparing your Impeachment Petition you will be basically writing your own
story in numbered paragraphs for reference points that outline the pertinent
events that had taken place in your custody hearing, protection from abuse
hearing, or any matter that brought you before the family court system.
Code of Judicial Conduct and all the laws you need to know to file an
impeachment petition can be found online at this link.
http://members.aol.com/StatutesPA/Index.html These can also be found in any
law library and most public libraries.
On this website start out by looking under the heading...The Pennsylvania Rules
of Court.
(a) Look up subtitle Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Conduct. (Note: these are
the Judicial
Canons (ethics guidelines) that direct the course of a judges conduct.
(b) Look up subtitle Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure Chap. 1915. These
concern
custody. (Note: these are the laws that "must be followed" in guiding the
course of
civil procedure and custody litigation.
(c) Look up Pennsylvania Rules of Evidence. (Note: These are the statutory
guidelines that
must be followed during the course of litigation that permits or defeats
the
introduction of viable evidence into the case record. This includes
documentary and
testimonial evidence.
Next look under the heading... Table Of Contents for the Pennsylvania Statutes.
(d) Look for Title 23 and open it. Next, go to Chapter 53...CUSTODY. These are
the
statutes that "must" be followed in determining custody placement of
children. (Note:
these are the statutes that judges and "custody masters" must follow in
determining
divorce and custody matters. Judicial discretion does not permit a judge or
master to
willfully and wantonly ignore, redefine, or reinvent laws.
Start your document citing Pennsylvania's constitutional authority of the
legislature to impeach a corrupt public official (judge). This can be found on
the example model attached. Actual filed petitions can be found at this link.
http://pfcr.childrensjustice.org/
If you accuse a judge of committing a crime under Pennsylvania criminal statutes
then his/her conduct is felonious. From my own experiences with the court
system, judges criminal conduct usually encompass criminal conspiracy, tampering
with public records, and fabricating physical evidence, or as in my case the
judge endangered the welfare of my child. Be advised that charges like these
should be avoided in your impeachment petition because they require a greater
degree of evidence...proof to convict a judge. However, if you discover a
transcript has been deleted of material statements (evidence) and have
witnesses to this crime, or the judge refuses to provide the audio tape
recordings of the hearing, (which are public record) then by all means accuse
the judge of felonious conduct.
The body of the Petition should include your statement of facts (story) and
particulars where the judge failed to follow any of the above guidelines. This
is where you will need to chronologically identify the judges unethical conduct
(per incident) by citing the applicable state statute and Judicial Canon.
Conclude the petition by signing it and having it notarized. Most state
representative's offices can do this free of charge.
Once notarized send the document to:
The Office Of The Chief Clerk
House of Representatives
Room 129, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2020
Expect to receive a letter from the Parliamentarian claiming that the complaint
is a matter for the Judicial Conduct Board but advises that the Impeachment
Petition has been sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who will
in turn refer the petitions to the House Judiciary Committee.
A petitioner may also send a copy to their district Representative. Sending the
petition e-mail to all members of the House of Representatives is permissible.
Sending a copy to local news media or larger Pennsylvania newspapers is also
recommended.
However, do not send copies of the Impeachment Petition to any member of the
state Senate.
One should also be aware of the probability that the Impeachment Petition will
not be acted on for at least a year and will be "removed" from the legislative
calendar without further action. Wherefore, the Impeachment Petition will need
to be refiled at the next legislative session in order to be placed back on the
legislative calendar. In other words keep the pressure on.
PETITION
FOR THE IMPEACHMENT OF (insert) Judge's
name,
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, (insert) Judge's County,
PENNSYLVANIA
Pursuant to the Pennsylvania State Constitution and Article V1--PUBLIC OFFICERS
(Power of Impeachment -- section 4.), (Trial of Impeachment Section--5.), and
(Officers Liable to Impeachment--Section 6.); and Article V, Section 15 [Tenure
of Justices, Judges and Justices of the Peace], and Section 17 [Prohibited
Activities--Subsection (b)], and Section 18 [Suspension, removal, Discipline and
Compulsory Retirement]-- Subsection (d): paragraph (5).
To investigate the charges made and brought hereunder by the undersigned
Petitioner against The Honorable (insert) judges name, Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas, (insert) judges county, Pennsylvania, as more fully set forth in
the Petitioner's Affidavit in support of this Petition, attached hereto and made
a part hereof as if fully set forth, implicating Judge (insert judges name)of
(insert any or all of the following if applicable to your case--malfeasance,
nonfeasance and felonious) conduct in office so sadistic that it strikes at the
very heart of the American justice system; further implicating his failure to
uphold his sworn duties as protector of the Constitutions of the United States
of America and the State of Pennsylvania, and the laws of the State; and
implicating his/her failure to uphold and enforce the public policy of
Pennsylvania for frequent and continuing contact between a child and both
parents; and implicating his/her decisions to the contrary of said public policy
in his/her official capacity as Common Pleas Court judge as violation of
statutory and constitutional protections and liberties; and,
When warranted, to indict said Honorable (insert) judges name for (if applicable
use all or pick any combination malfeasance, nonfeasance and felonious conduct
in office, and to bind him/her over for trial on impeachment from office in the
Senate of the State of Pennsylvania at the earliest possible time.
DATED this __________ day of month, year.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
PETITIONER:
signature__________________________________________
Petitioner's name (typed)
Petitioner's
address
Petitioner's home town, PA
Petitioner's telephone number
AFFIDAVIT OF PETITIONER
IN SUPPORT OF PETITION FOR IMPEACHMENT
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA )
) ss.
COUNTY OF (insert) NAME )
(1.)
I, affiant (petitioner's name )., being duly sworn, upon oath, do hereby depose
and state as follows:
(2.)
I am a legal resident of (insert) city name, county name, Pennsylvania.
(3.)
I make this affidavit in support of my Petition for Impeachment of Judge
(insert) judges name , Common Pleas Court Judge of (insert) county,
Pennsylvania. The statements made in this Affidavit are based on my personal
knowledge.
(4.)
I am the Defendant in a post-decree civil action in the Common Pleas Court in
and for (insert) county, Pennsylvania. (plaintiffs name v. defendants name) case
number (example 96 GN 2139).
(Optional__ Petitioners closing
statement)
Thomas Jefferson has warned:
(Quote) "As for the safety of society, we commit honest maniacs to Bedlam, so
judges should be withdrawn from their bench, whose erroneous biases are leading
us to dissolution."
Frederick Douglas has warned:
(Quote) "Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found the exact
amount of injustice and wrongdoing which will be imposed on them; and these
will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they
oppress."
Carl Schurz's profound statement sums up this situation we face today:
(Quote) "My country right or wrong; if right , to be kept right and if wrong, to
be set right."
I am again asking that my state legislature take heed to the warnings of these
wise men. This unbridled reign of terror being inflicted on an unsuspecting
Pennsylvania citizenry and its defenseless children by a self policing out of
control judiciary body of our state government must be reined in through an
honest and determined legislative investigation of the Blair County Court.
FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.
____________________________
Affiant-(insert) petitioner's name.
SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME this ___________ day of
(insert) month, year, by Affiant (to be filled in by notary - petitioners
name)________________________.
Witness my hand and official seal. ______________________________________.
My commission expires: _______________
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