Rep. Lembke attacks the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan and neutral judges at every corner. It is good to see some of his attacks rejected by even his fellow Republicans.
Frequent readers will recall that Rep. Lembke (who is running for state senate) sought to have a judge impeached because he did not like her ruling. Rep. Lembke started writing the judge and using his influence as a state legislator to help a friend. When we tried to get the documents, the Republicans would not release them in response to a Sunshine request.
Well, Speaker Rod Jetton has shut down the impeachment effort. Even Republicans think Rep. Lembke is nuts!
From the Lake Sun Newspaper:
An attempt by a state representative from the St. Louis area to have Associate Circuit Judge Christine Hutson investigated for possible impeachment failed. . . Lembke said the Nolands approached him after hearing him speak at a meeting last year. Lembke is one of several Missouri legislators pushing for more control over judges. Lembke attempted to use the case as an example of why judges need more oversight. The issue, he said at the time, was the decisions made by the judge. In particular, Lembke disagreed with the custody settlement.
From Rep. John Burnett:
Rep Jim Lembke (R-St Louis) dealt major setback in impeachment effort
Lembke has been one of the loudest and most outspoken critics of lawyers and the Judiciary in the past few years in the House. And in that atmosphere to be one of the louder critics of judges requires some lung strength. He had recently requested impeachment proceedings be started against a Laclede County Judge because of what he felt were mistakes in a divorce case. Speaker Rod Jetton denied the request to begin impeachment proceedings. Remains to be seen what his next move will be on that case. Lembke's Resolutions attacking judges and the Missouri Court Plan to choose judges remain alive and well and lurking in the wings awaiting further action any day now.
When you hear about the far right wing Republican attacks on the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan, know that this is what they want. Rep. Lembke wants to be able to influence judge's individual decisions. Let's hope that the voters in St. Louis don't put him in the Senate. Fired Up Missouri reports that Lembke's race for the 1st Senate District is facing problems because he is not cozy enough with Missouri Right to Life.
I am supporting Former State Representative Joan Barry in her race against Lembke for the 1st Missouri Senate seat. Please contribute to her campaign, we don't need to see Lembke in the senate where he can do even more harm
4 comments:
Will the lawyers (a horribly un-unified group) actually step up to fight these types of attacks on the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan? If not, you can expect others will take up the call because lawyers (and judges) are not the most loved group in the country. Picking on them is easy.
anonymous said...
"Will the lawyers actually step up to fight these types of attacks on the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan?"
They already have! They have allotted at least half a million dollars of Bar Dues to fighting against changes to the non-partisan plan. (I heard that they increased that to a full million, but I have not seen the minutes of the last BOG meeting-in the Bahamas) The Bar has hired lobbyist to fight against any change.
What none of those fighting to prevent change will acknowledge is the fact that the non-partisan plan that we have now, is not the non-partisan plan that was adopted by the voters in 1940.
The current plan is dominated by the Judiciary. The lawyers on the selection committee are all members of a sub-committee of the Judiciary. This Judiciary dominated committee submits three names to the Governor. The Governor must appoint one of them - or they do it for the Governor.
The Judiciary is selecting their replacements. As far as I know, Missouri is the only place in the United States where this is permitted to happen. The branch of government, intended to be the weakest, has become the strongest. They like it that way. Does anyone really expect them to want to relinquish the power that they have fought to attain?
Find a lawyer or judge that will acknowledge the truth, and then ask them if they support the current plan. If they don’t first acknowledge the truth, you must consider the rest of their testimony is porbably B.S., as any good judge would do.
As far as Rep. Lembke's filing of a Resolution to Impeach...
The House of Representatives did not vote against impeachment, as it is their constitutional duty to decide for or against. Rep. Jetton had his general counsel, Don Lograsso, investigate the complaint. Don Lograsso is a member of a sub-committee of the Judiciary.
The Speaker of the House, on advise of his counsel, nixed the complaint. I can't find any constitutional authority that would permit him to do so. A Resolution for Impeachment must be shot down by the House. This is politics at their worst. Our system of checks is useless is left unused.
Go here to take action: www.stoplembke.com
I may not agree with all his politics, but Lembke is correct in saying that the judges need more policing.
I am a victim of a 14 year fight with the court to get an inheritance as stipulated by my father's will.
The court did everything conceivable to prevent any witnesses or evidence from being admitted. I was openly and verbally abused by various judges who admitted among other things that they made decisions before we ever appeared in court, that they were told how to rule (a done deal), and that they didn't bother reading anything.
An investigative reporter did an article on my case, and offered to be a witness against the PR and his other tortfeasors. Of course, she was not allowed to testify by the judge.
One judge said that any time I tried to bring in a witness or submit evidence to the court I would be sanctioned -- and he did, over and over again.
As a result, the PR got pretty much everything and so did his friends. The PR started by taking what was valuable off my dead father, and then immediately took his car and moved into his home. I wasn't even notified about my father's death until he was being taken to a morgue, and that was by a family friend.
The Commission for Judicial Discipline is supposed to be there if the court is incompetent or corrupt. They don't want to do anything to a judge. If you contact them during the case, they won't take it because it's in process. If you contact them when it's done, they won't take it because it's over. They just take the hefty salary, west county location, staff, etc -- all paid for with money by the MO citizens.
The Commission was asked by 6 attorneys and a private investigator to investigate what was going on in this court -- they refused ! ! ! !
Who protects the citizens from judges who break the law knowing that nothing can be done to them even if they are caught.
The Commission, if it has no other alternative (in other words things become very, very public) asks the judge to resign. No matter, the judge still gets his full pension. Look up the statistics and you'll see how many complaints and how nothing is done.
In my case, the court rewarded the criminals, and probably themselves in the deal.
I was always a law abiding citizen, but this makes you think -- who is really benefiting?
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