Another American has been held in prison in solitary confinement in California for 13 months. He has been denied the right of habeus corpus, the right to be charged with a crime and tried within a reasonable time. No, he is not an al qaeda terrorist. He is a 70 year old nationally known taxpayer advocate lawyer, who has saved the taxpayers of California $1 billion dollars. He is in declining health and since January, has been forced to eat without dentures. He is not even allowed pencil and paper. His name is Richard I Fine. This is a civil rights violation of the nth degree. This informatiion is from the website, “Free Richard Fine.” Unless stated otherwise, the following facts are from the same website.
Here is Mr. Fine’s “Biography and Resume” from the website “Free Richard Fine.” It states that $1 Billion dollars have been returned to California taxpayers as a result of lawsuits filed by Mr. Fine. I am sure he ‘ruffled many feathers’ in the process.
Judges Were Receiving Illegal annual Payments from the County of $57,000 Annually.
According to Mr. Fine, the problem started when he discovered and exposed the fact that Los Angeles County Superior Court judges were unconstitutionally and illegally receiving annual payments of $57,000 from the county in addition to the $200,000 annual salary and perks they received from the state, a fact that was later verified when an appeals court found the payments illegal, These illegal payments total $300 million dollars over 20 years. In addition to being illegal, according to Mr. Fine, the payments amounted to an undisclosed conflict of interest in lawsuits filed against the county. The lawsuits against the county were being decided by judges who are being paid $57,000 annually by the county. Even my layman’s knowledge tells me that would be unethical and illegal.
According to the PR Newswire, “The County’s payments to judges over and beyond their State salaries were ruled illegal by a Fourth District CA Court of Appeals decision in November of 2008 in the Judicial Watch case Sturgeon v. County of Los Angeles.” The ruling of illegality by the court vindicates Mr. Fine’s actions in trying to keep judges from sitting on cases where they had a conflict of interest because of the illegal payments from the county. It seems Fine’s complaints against the judges was a huge factor in his disbarment. According to the Daily News.com article, “a California State Bar Court judge recommended that Fine be disbarred, accusing him of filing merit-less complaints against judges.” Fine had filed several complaints against judges, presumably related to the conflict of interest issue and evidently irritated the ‘powers that be’ and he was disbarred by the State Supreme Court.
Also according to the PR Newswire article, “All new judges (elected or appointed) will not be receiving payments from the county.” I notice the announcement specifies ‘new’ judges so I assume the sitting judges are still receiving them
The Parties Involved in the Illegal Payments were Given Retroactive Immunity by the State Legislature.
The article also states, “Recent legislation, Senate Bill SBX2 11 has now made the payments legal.” My opinion is that the fact that the state legislature felt it necessary to legalize the payments and also the fact that it also gave the parties involved retroactive immunity, proves that the payments were illegal. How can you give parties immunity for crimes that were illegal when they were committed.
According to L.A. Daily News, “On March 4, 2009, Superior Court Judge David Yaffe ordered Fine jailed indefinitely for allegedly practicing law while being inactive and refusing to answer questions about his personal assets relating to an order to pay more than $50,000 in attorneys’ fees in connection with the Marina del Rey case.”
Fine Has No Immediate Prospect pf Being Released Unless the U.S. Supreme Court Intervenes.
The article says that “the U.S, Supreme Court is scheduled to consider Fine’s appeal in a conference hearing on April 23.”
The article also says that if the the U.S. supreme court investigates the illegal payments to the judges, the outcome could affect thousands of cases involving the county.
Here is a infowars.com prison interview with Mr. Fine. He was not allowed any interviews until it was forced by Judicial Watch. If you are interested in this case, it is a must that you watch this interview,
A former policeman named Lawrence John has filed a torture complaint on Mr. Fine’s behalf with the United Nations. Here is the Full Disclosure Network video of Mr. John explaining his actions. I also admire his courage and integrity.
Judging from the information presented on the website “Free Richard Fine” and also the articles in the mainstream press, this is an outrageous abuse of Mr. Fine’s civil rights. The fact that a 70 year man in declining health could be forced to endure the physical and psychological torture of being imprisoned in solitary confinement for 13 months for any reason is unbelievable. Let’s presume for the sake of argument that he does legally owe $50,000 in court related fees. In modern-day America, we don’t have debtor’s prisons. I really admire Mr. Fine’s bravery and fortitude in being able to withstand the torture involved. The point is, regardless of the truth or untruth of the allegations that have been made, there is nothing here that deserves this kind of unbelievably cruel and inhuman treatment.
Another reason given for his imprisonment was for allegedly practicing law while being inactive. I assume that means after being disbarred. That is a crime, but he should have been charged and tried for that, not sentenced to solitary confinement with no prospect of being released.
I am certainly hoping the U.S. supreme court will release Mr. Fine promptly and I hope his disbarment is nullified,. He should also receive a very large compensation for his horrible ordeal. If the court refuses to release him, I will have lost all faith in our judicial system.
I don’t understand how the judge that sentenced him can sleep at night. If there were any true justice in life, he would be punished by having to endure the same punishment, but of course it won’t happen.
Sources:
Troy Anderson/”Supreme Court to Hear Fine Case”/Los Angeles Daily News
UN Torture complaint by Lawrence John/ YouTube Video/ Full Disclosure Network
Cassandra Anderson/”Epic Corruption and the Whistle Blower”/infowars.com
Free Richard Fine Press Coverage/sites. Google.com/site/freerichardfine/
Biography and Resume”/ Free Richard Fine
“Judges to Lose Payments from the County to Avoid Conflicts’/PR News Wire/Full disclosure Network
