In recent years, you probably heard about a slush fund down at the Los Angeles Superior Court house that Judges allegedly dipped into.
Well, Presiding Judge Robert Parkin was right in the thick of it.
In response to the allegations, an Insight news article at the time reported,
"Former presiding Judge Robert Parkin tells Insight that an account critics dub a slush fund is nothing more than "coffee-and-flowers" cash for the Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association (LASCJA). But documents obtained by Insight show the bank account served a great many purposes and that the Judges' association, a private organization, did not pay taxes on funds run through the account for the benefit of its members - who also would be subject to taxes."
The informative feature went on to note,
"On the face of it, there appear to have been one or several laws that may have been broken, but without specific information, it is impossible to know what statutes are applicable," says Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for California Secretary of State Bill Jones. At the federal level a spokesman for the IRS who declined to be named said that an act of this nature "may fall under 72.061 of the tax code fraud and false statements section."
"How much money is involved? Plenty. Just one of the LASCJA Bank of America account statements shows this alleged "coffee-and-flowers" fund with a balance of $110,000, according to copies secured by Insight."
For those of you who are in the dark, Judge Parkin was a former cop who maneuvered his way into the upper echelons of the Los Angeles Superior Court over the years by engaging in questionable self-serving tactics. In retrospect, the intelligent few have only to read between the lines to fathom how this disreputable bench-warmer carved such a corrupt niche for himself in the innermost corridors of the Los Angeles Superior Court system.
I've heard the various allegations about the dishonest actions of the man - the questionable favors that are whispered about and the old-boy network he stokes the fires for in the inner sanctum - which at times - have been difficult to pin down.
The man is elusive.
But, don't let the smiling congenial-looking face fool you.
In one clever ploy to damage the names of individuals, Judge Parkin allegedly permitted court actions to be filed against so-called defendants based on wild unsubstantiated (manufactured) evidence and languish in the court records for up to ten years without any service on the accused party.
Why?
So the enemies of the unwitting parties could secretly point to the court records whenever they chose to discredit the individuals without their knowledge.
As a matter of law a party in any action has a reasonable expectation that they be enlightened of any pending actions and that the court - likewise - allow a proper defense to which the parties are entitled pursuant to due process of Law.
Under Parkin's jurisdiction, all manner of basic rights are violated, to the detriment of the individual without due consideration from the Justice system.
I also have hard-core evidence that establishes that Judge Parkin not only has been willing to manipulate court documents to protect his precious reputation - but, also hide, and quite possibly - destroy legal papers in a deceitful and dishonest effort to not only quash any record of his own "ignorance" of the law but conceal the fact he may have discriminated against a litigant - and just maybe -taken a bribe.
For instance, years ago a young IN PRO PER litigant appeared before Judge Parkin on a legal issue in a case in which he was a plaintiff with a suit against a major corporation.
From the get-go, Judge Parkin not only proceeded to belittle the litigant when he attempted to argue sound legal issues before the Judge in open court - but stridently engaged in combative quips intended to not only provoke the individual - but insult simply because he was not represented by legal counsel.
Obviously, Judge Parkin obtained a law degree from the "Rinky-Dink" school of law.
After all, had he attended a reputable school, it may have been otherwise apparent to him that a litigant has a constitutional right to access to the courts in spite of the fact he or she may not be able to afford legal representation.
However, in this instant case, the litigant was a sly devil.
He remained calm and composed in spite of Parkin's insults and demeaning efforts to deter him from presenting his arguments in open court for the record.
In fact, the valiant IN PRO PER litigant struggled through the hearings "inspired" by the inner knowledge that the proceedings were not only being recorded but documenting the misconduct and grievous legal errors committed by Parkin which - ultimately - would end up on review in the Appellate Court.
And, that is exactly what transpired.
Of course, the litigant was not surprised when Judge Parkin denied all his "motions", and summarily dismissed the case. After all, the litigant was not as stupid as Judge Parkin.
Indeed, he saw that end scenario coming and prepared for it!
Needless to say, it came as quite a slap in the face to the Judge when the "opinion" of the Court of Appeal (2nd Appellate Court) was returned to Parkin's clerk.
Yup, the intelligent IN PRO PER litigant saw that ruling coming, too.
A reversal!
Then, something curious happened.
Whenever a party sought to secure a copy of the case file for review, the court clerks were unable to deliver it up from the Superior Court records, for some inexplicable reason.
In one computer database, Parkin alleged the file was in one location.
But, when the party queried the custodian in charge of the other database records, a second notation by Parkin asserted the case file was "elsewhere".
In fact, the file was not in either location as falsely alleged by Judge Parkin.
In retrospect, it is evident that Judge Parkin was so angered by the fact that his ruling was reversed by virtue of a legal argument presented in the Appellate Court by an IN PRO PER litigant (without a law degree mind you) that he chose to abscond with the documents to prevent them from ever seeing the light of day again.
In the final analysis, it was a deceitful and dishonest attempt to conceal his shocking reprehensible conduct in the lower court, and cover-up open discrimination he levelled at an IN PRO PER litigant whose rights he continually trampled on and violated.
Yeah, Parkin's a piece of work, alright.
Until he's removed from the bench - kicking and screaming (or in handcuffs) - the Los Angeles Superior Court will not only continue to be a corrupt legal entity - but likewise - shall remain a National joke and a disgrace to the Judiciary.