JUSTICE ARTHUR SCOTLAND: Court of Appeal Judges Use Highway Patrol as Personal Uber Security Service

Controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Arthur Scotland makes a cameo at 2:15 of this news report. Read our special report on Scotland and the the ethically-challenged Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District. 

JUSTICE ARTHUR G. SCOTLAND CONFESSES TO PRACTICING LAW WITHOUT LICENSE, MORAL TURPITUDE ACTS: 3RD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL HISTORY

Justice Arthur G. Scotland with Justice George Nicholson from the controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal: Scotland admits to acts of moral turpitude, including serial unauthorized practice of law violations and disregard of the law as an employee of the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

Retired from the 3rd District Court of Appeal, Scotland now is Of Counsel at Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP Sacramento office. For more information, visit the document embedded with this post.

Read our Special Report: Sacramento County Family Court Operates as RICO Racketeering Enterprise, Charge Whistleblowers. 

Justice Arthur Scotland: Federal Crimes Alleged by Sacramento Superior Court Whistleblowers - 18-page Catalog

Arthur Scotland criminal allegations catalog at issuu.

• Read more about controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Arthur G. Scotland. 
• Read more about the controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento.

Read our Special Report: Sacramento County Family Court Operates as RICO Racketeering Enterprise, Charge Whistleblowers.

Hon. Laurie M. Earl To Receive Judicial Council Distinguished Service Award

Judge Laurie Earl Named as Recipient of Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence

Judge Laurie M. Earl was named the 2013 winner of the
Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence.

Sacramento County Superior Court Presiding Judge Laurie Earl has been named as one of six winners in the 2013 Judicial Branch of California Awards. Earl was selected to receive the Ronald M. George Award for Judicial Excellence. The award honors members of the judiciary for their extraordinary dedication to the highest principles of the administration of justice. The award was previously called the Jurist of the Year Award. Earl will receive the award later this year at a special ceremony in San Francisco. Past winners include former Sacramento County Superior Court judge and 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Arthur Scotland, and current Supreme Court Associate Justices Carol Corrigan and Ming Chin.  

According to the Judicial Council press release about the award:

Presiding Judge Laurie Earl, Superior Court of Sacramento County, chair of the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, and co-chair of the Trial Court Budget Advisory Committee, was selected for her visionary and collaborative leadership and dedication in the groundbreaking effort over the past year to create greater equity in how funds are allocated among the 58 trial courts.

To continue reading, click Read more >> below...

Judge Peter McBrien Commission on Judicial Performance Whistleblower Leaked Transcript of Judicial Misconduct Prosecution - CJP Victoria Henley

Judge Peter McBrien Judicial Misconduct Prosecution Leaked Oral Argument Transcript

Friday Document Dump

Sacramento Family Court News has obtained a confidential court reporter transcript from the Commission on Judicial Performance prosecution of family court Judge Peter J. McBrien. The CJP is the government agency responsible for oversight and accountability of California judges. The document contains the complete 2009 oral argument by CJP prosecutor Andrew Blum detailing McBrien's misconduct in the Carlsson case. 

The published 3rd District opinion in Carlsson - authored by three appellate justices without past employment in Sacramento County Superior Court - "developed a certain notoriety" throughout the state, according to Sixth District Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Conrad L. Rushing. Justice Rushing characterized McBrien's conduct in the case as a "judicial reign of terror." To view Rushing's statements about the Carlsson case, click here. 

Court watchdogs point to the Carlsson case as one example of the preferential treatment family court judges provide attorneys who serve as temporary judges in the same court. Almost every ruling issued by McBrien in the case was in favor of the party represented by judge pro tem attorney Charlotte Keeley, according to the 3rd District. As a result of the appellate opinion, which overturned McBrien's decisions and ordered a new trial, the CJP charged McBrien with multiple violations of the Code of Judicial Ethics, including willful misconduct in office, persistent failure or inability to perform his duties, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute, and improper action within the meaning of article VI, section 18 of the California Constitution.

For further information about the McBrien CJP prosecution, and to view the confidential CJP transcript, click Read more >> below...

Hon. James M. Mize Misconduct: Leaked Commission on Judicial Performance Testimony for Judge Peter McBrien

Judge James Mize CJP Testimony for Judge Peter McBrien Defense Team - Whistleblower Leak

Thursday Document Dump

Sacramento Family Court News has obtained the court reporter transcript of Sacramento County Family Court Supervising Judge James Mize's 2009 testimony before the Commission on Judicial Performance for controversial family court Judge Peter McBrien. With McBrien's felony indictment records.The CJP is the government agency responsible for oversight and accountability of California judges.Mize testified as a character witness in defense of McBrien at the judge's second prosecution by the CJP. 

According to the CJP, Mize's testimony was considered a mitigating factor that reduced the level of punishment McBrien ultimately received after being found guilty. McBrien was charged with multiple violations of the Code of Judicial Ethics in connection with his misconduct in the Carlsson family court case. Sixth District Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Conrad L. Rushing characterized McBrien's conduct in the Carlsson case as a "judicial reign of terror." 

To continue reading, and to view the whistleblower leaked transcript, click Read more >> below:

Justice Arthur G. Scotland Defends Co-Worker and Friend Judge Peter J. McBrien at Commission on Judicial Performance

3rd District Justice Arthur G. Scotland Helps Former Co-Worker Peter McBrien Beat CJP Rap and Remain on Bench

UPDATE: For updates to this article, visit our special 3rd District Court of Appeal page. Click here. 

One of the few Third District opinions to critically, and scathingly scrutinize the problematic Sacramento Family Court system was the 2008 decision In re Marriage of Carlsson, which was authored by Associate Justices M. Kathleen Butz, Cole Blease and Rick Sims. None of the three had ever worked as a judge in Sacramento County. 

The Carlsson case subjected controversial Sacramento County Family Court Judge Peter J. McBrien to a second disciplinary action by the state Commission on Judicial Performance. 

The judge's first go-round with the CJP stemmed from McBrien's 2000 arrest for felony vandalism under Penal Code § 594 in connection with the destruction of public-owned trees - valued at more than $20,000 - in Ancil Hoffman Park in Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento.  

McBrien had the trees cut to improve the view from his home on a bluff above the park. Click here for the 2001 Sacramento News and Review coverage of the case. Click here to view the original summons charging McBrien with felony vandalism. 

Click here to view the report of Sacramento County District Attorney's Office Criminal Investigator Craig W. Tourte detailing the complete investigation of McBrien's crime, posted online for the first time exclusively by SFCN. McBrien's 2009 sworn testimony before the CJP recounting his criminal case starkly contradicted Tourte's report. 

To continue reading, click Read more >> below: 

Tani G. Cantil Sakauye Spreads Cronyitis Infection From 3rd District to California Supreme Court - SFCN Sunday Funnies

Tani Cantil-Sakauye Schleps Code of Silence Policy from Third District to Supreme Court

Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye - formerly known as a 3rd District Court of Appeal justice and Sacramento County Superior Court judge - is the new chief justice of the Supreme Court of California. At the appellate court, the former prosecutor showed no mercy for the 70 percent of indigent family court litigants without attorneys who attempted appeals from Sacramento Family Court. 

Sunday Satire by RoadDog

Thanks Arnold: On Monday a new chief justice of the California Supreme Court was sworn in. Compliments of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the new CJ is the ethically-challenged Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye, a former Sacramento County Family Court judge. 

Tani has been knee-deep in the documented Sacramento Family Court corruption that began in the early 1990's, and has run unchecked ever since. After her elevation to the Third District Court of Appeal in 2005, she partnered with other Sacramento County Superior Court and Deukmejian administration alumni - including Art Scotland and George Nicholson - to keep a lid on the continuing scandals generated by her former coworkers across town. 

Tani, Art and George all come from a law enforcement background and culture, and rode to the bench exploiting their faux tough-on-crime credentials. In published, and especially unpublished 3rd District decisions, the trio have shown they still swear allegiance to the cop Blue Code of Silence. Any appeal with a claim that a Sacramento Family Court homie committed misconduct is whitewashed with two coats. 

During Cantil-Sakauye's ticket-punching tour at the 3rd, the appellate court's hostility to appeals by the 70 percent of family court litigants who can't afford lawyers was legendary. Due to the hurdles thrown up by the court, few appeals were ever decided on the merits, and no family court appeal was ever won by a financially disadvantaged, unrepresented litigant who faced off against an attorney. 

Can you say rampant cronyism? Keep an eye on the special SFCN 3rd District Court of Appeal page for all the sordid details. Click here. RoadDog sez: Time to Occupy.