Tani Cantil-Sakauye Still Unaccountable, Unpunished for Alleged Misuse of State Funds, Financial Fraud Against Taxpayers

Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court and Chairperson of the California Judicial Council.

Watch the ABC news report video:

Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye Caught Using Highway Patrol as Personal Limo and Security Service from Sacramento Superior Court News on Vimeo.

Institutionalized Socioeconomic Bias Revealed in Traffic Courts Scandal: Judges Still Unaccountable for Systemic Code of Judicial Ethics Violations

Statewide traffic courts scandal news reports expose institutionalized socioeconomic bias against the poor by California courts and judges. Over two years later, no disciplinary action taken against a single judge by the California Commission on Judicial Performance.  

Damning Report Cataloging Career Spanning Misconduct by Judge Bruce C. Mills Leaked by Whistleblower Group

Judge Bruce C. Mills

A report cataloging serial acts of misconduct spanning more than 10 years by Judge Bruce C. Mills has been leaked to the public by a court watchdog and whistleblower group.

The 51-page dossier collected both public and "secret" discipline prosecutions against the judge by the Commission on Judicial Performance, the state agency responsible for judge oversight and accountability. The report is embedded at the end of this post.

The report reveals that in addition to two well known public disciplinary actions taken against the veteran Contra Costa County jurist, Mills was also found guilty in three additional incidents where the type of discipline and name of the offender were "private" and not revealed to the public.

The group identified Mills as the offending judge in the secret proceedings by reverse engineering details from the public disciplinary actions and cross referencing the information with old CJP annual reports. The acts of public and private misconduct occurred in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2013.

Judge Bruce Clayton Mills was appointed to the bench by Governor Pete Wilson in July, 1995. Mills worked as a Contra Costa County prosecutor from 1985-95, and was in private practice from 1984-87. The judge is a 1984 graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.

Appellate Justice Cole Blease Cover Up: Dismisses Appeal Documenting Serial Misconduct by Trial Court Judge

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Matthew J. Gary has, again, escaped accountability for serial misconduct against self-represented litigants who can't afford to hire an attorney. Last week, 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Coleman Blease dismissed an appeal documenting criminal conduct by Gary. Gary is one of the most incompetent and corrupt judges in California.

Justice Cole Blease has a storied history of helping conceal and cover up misconduct
by trial court judges and attorneys. Blease has repeatedly violated California
Code of Judicial Ethics canons 3D(1) and (2), which require all judges to
report attorney and judge misconduct.

The order issued by Blease is embedded at the bottom of this post. Additional documents from the case are curated at the Justice Cole Blease Controversy Scribd collection.

Former Sacramento Family Court Judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye Blamed for Statewide Court Corruption Problems

California court watchdog groups charge that the leadership of the state Judicial Council bears primary responsibility for a string of court scandals compiled in this video from the California Courts News YouTube Channel. An ABC News 10 investigation into misuse of the California Highway Patrol by the chief justice as a taxi and shopping service is included. 

Indifference and incompetence by Judicial Council Chair Tani Cantil-Sakauye and senior management at the agency has resulted in an epidemic of court corruption in California, including a Los Angeles County court clerk accused of stealing $6,000 from people filing name changes, a case fixing scheme uncovered by the FBI in Orange County, and a massive, statewide traffic courts scandal. 

Commission on Judicial Performance Director Victoria B. Henley Makes Bank at CJP Protecting Judges

Commission on Judicial Performance Director Victoria Henley is paid more than the Governor of California for running a protection racket for judges. 

Special Sunday Satire by RoadDog

Keeping a lid on the epidemic of judicial corruption in California don't come cheap. The Boss of Bosses of the California Commission on Judicial Performance - the state agency that used to be responsible for keeping the state's judges in line - banked $194,000 in pay last year. Can you say "protection racket?" That's some OG gangsta shit. Who wants Victoria Henley's job? Raise your hand.   

Commission on Judicial Performance Controversy: Judge Discipline Process Secrecy Questioned

The Commission on Judicial Performance and Director Victoria B. Henley have long been criticized for excessive secrecy when investigating allegations of judge misconduct in California. 

A Central Valley political science professor has published an editorial criticizing the state Commission on Judicial Performance for conducting secretive, "under the radar" deliberations when it considers allegations of judge misconduct brought by the public. After he filed a complaint against a court commissioner - which was summarily dismissed by the CJP - Tamir Sukkary was surprised at what he learned about CJP procedures. 

"[I] found out from my state senator's office that the CJP's meetings are neither open to the public, nor subject to the California Public Records Act, Brown Act or Freedom of Information Act," Sukkary wrote. "Not even the CJP clerical staff is allowed to attend during deliberations. Why is the commission operating in such a secretive fashion? Isn't the commission supposed to be serving the public?"

The full editorial is posted below, or at this Scribd page. Sukkary has been profiled by CBS News in Sacramento and runs a YouTube Channel featuring educational videos on political science and the Middle East. For additional reporting about the CJP, visit California Commission on Judicial Performance News.   

CJP Secrecy Questioned by Academic in Daily Journal Editorial: Deliberations of Judicial Watchdog Should Be... by California Judicial Branch News Network - Independent Investigative Reporting on California Courts

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye Starves Courts of Funding, Spends Millions on Limo and Security Service for High Court Judges

Judicial Council Chair Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Caught on Camera Using Highway Patrol as Personal Taxi Service

Tani Cantil-Sakauye caught in the act by News10 in Sacramento.

ABC News10 in Sacramento has caught California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in the act of using the California Highway Patrol as a personal taxi and security service at taxpayer expense.

Emmy Award winning News10 investigative reporter Thom Jensen and his photographer tailed Cantil-Sakauye and her personal, armed CHP officer and driver to her home in a gated community in the Sacramento area.

As the video records, Jensen received an inhospitable reception from the chief justice and her CHP valet. At minute 1:40 of the clip, former 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Arthur Scotland is caught on camera telling a lie to cover for Cantil-Sakauye - his long-time former colleague from Sacramento County Superior Court, the Third District Appellate Court, and the Deukmejian administration...

Click here to read the complete article at Supreme Court of California News.

Sacramento Judge Jaime R. Roman Issues Illegal Blanket Order Exempting Government From State Court Rule in Child Support Cases

Judge Jaime Roman (L) with Judge Matthew Gary.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jaime Roman last month issued an illegal, standing order exempting government attorneys from state court rule requirements in child support cases. 

Roman authorized an unlawful blanket order applicable to all child support cases in Sacramento County Superior Court where the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) is directed by the court to prepare the proposed order after hearing.

To benefit the government, the order eliminates the order after hearing notice and approval requirements of Cal. Rules of Court rule 5.125. The rule specifies that modifications to the rule can only be made when appropriate to specific cases, not all cases on a blanket basis. 

The order also was issued more than a month before the rule takes effect. Both the order and rule 5.125 appear below. Judge Roman has been involved in a number of additional controversies reported by Sacramento Family Court News.   

Roman's unilateral action exceeds his authority and violates several sections of the California Code of Judicial Ethics, according to past judge misconduct prosecutions by the Commission on Judicial Performance. Among other ethical implications, providing preferential treatment to the government creates an impermissible two-track system of justice, according to the CJP. 

Roman has worked for the government most of his career, including eleven years as a Solano County prosecutor. 

Judge Jaime Roman Issues Illegal Blanket Order for Government Waiving Court Rule Requirements in Child Supp... by Sacramento Family Court News

Sacramento County Family Court Hon. Peter J. McBrien Felony Charging Document from 2000

Sacramento County Family Court Judge Peter McBrien Charged with Felony Criminal Conduct 

Family Court Controversy Documents

Family court Judge Peter McBrien 2000 felony charging document with attached D.A. investigator report. Summons in lieu of arrest warrant charging Peter James McBrien with the commission of a violation of Penal Code section 594, a felony. With the five-page investigation report of Sacramento County District Attorney's Office Criminal Investigator Craig W. Tourte detailing Judge McBrien's responsibility for the destruction of public owned trees valued at more than $20,000 in the Ancil Hoffman Park Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael, California. Judge McBrien had the trees destroyed to improve the view from his home, according to the investigators report. 

The case was resolved when McBrien pleaded no contest to a reduced, misdemeanor charge. Click here for the full story. Click here for local coverage of Judge McBrien at Sacramento Family Court News. Hon. Peter J. McBrien, is a Sacramento County Superior Court, family court judge. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye was a Sacramento Superior Court Judge from 1997-2005 and presided over the first court in Sacramento dedicated solely to domestic violence issues, working closely with Judge McBrien.