Vexatious Litigant Law Misuse Against
Involuntarily Self-Represented Mother by Alameda County Judge Somnath
Raj Chatterjee and Attorney Dominic Perrino Alleged
Sacramento Family Court Report Long-Form Investigative Reports
Controversial divorce attorney and part-time Sacramento Superior Court judge Charlotte Keeley (R) leaves a family court hearing with client Katina Rapton. Keeley works as a volunteer judge in the same court.
Judge Jaime Roman Controversy: Issues Vexatious Litigant Order Against Opposing Party for Part-Time Judge Divorce Attorney Charlotte Keeley Without Holding Required Court Hearing
Originally Published April 17, 2013
News Analysis & Opinion
The Sacramento Family Court News analysis team has been working overtime scrutinizing and trying to make sense of a controversial 20-page statement of decision issued on Nov. 14 of last year by Supervising Family Court Judge Jaime R. Roman. Click here for our initial report from 2012.
The unprecedented ruling - which was made-to-order for Judge Pro Tem attorney Charlotte Keeley - rewrites California vexatious litigant law and procedure. Watchdogs hold Judge Roman responsible for putting taxpayers on the financial hook for the costs of yet another unnecessary appeal from family court, and the federal litigation.
In another pointless appeal caused by judicial misconduct, Judge Matthew J. Gary unsuccessfully attempted a similar rewrite of putative spouse law and in 2011 was reversed in full by the Third District Court of Appeal. Our analysis indicates that Judge Roman's order likely is headed for the same fate.
Off-the-Rails at Conjunction Junction
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The confusing legal rationale of Judge Roman's 20-page decision is constructed from a series of allegedly consistent conjunctions conjoining components of the Family Code, Code of Civil Procedure, and court rules. For example, Roman writes at page six:
"The State Bar Review Department held in In the Matter of Moriarty, 4 Cal. State Bar Ct. Rptr. 9 (Review Dept. 1999): 'gross negligence is a well-established basis for finding an act of moral turpitude.'"
"Is guilty of any deceit or collusion, or consents to any deceit or collusion, with intent to deceive the court or any party... Any violation of the provisions of this section is punishable by imprisonment..."
California 6th District Court of Appeal Justices Include: Mary J. Greenwood, Administrative Presiding Justice; Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian, Adrienne M. Grover, Allison M. Danner, Cynthia C. Lie,Charles E. Wilson, Daniel H. Bromberg, Associate Justices.
Description: Inns of Court is an exclusive club of lawyers and judges that exists all over the country, but in Santa Clara it has proved to be a real problem when it comes to the social, professional and conflicts of interest judges have out of the public eye with lawyers who appear before them in lawsuits.
This week Inns of Court hosted a swanky dinner for the California Supreme Court Chief Justice who came to talk about the state's court reporter crisis. A crisis that largely impacts self- represented parties in family court who are unable to get a transcript to appeal a bad ruling.
For the first time in over 30 years a reporter recorded this fancy event that is paid in part with public funds.
Please support freelance and independent journalists who cover the courts, police, attorneys, judges, private judges, and minors counsel - matters more than most folks know!
Sacramento Family Court Report Long-Form Investigative Reports
"After a judge blocked the public from remotely listening to a public hearing on First Amendment issues, and denied a media request, he got served with a disqualification motion for failing to remove himself from a case and disclose his conflicts with the attorneys in the case, as the law requires.
"Disqualification motions are rare. Just thinking a judge is acting unfairly or with bias is not enough. So when a local social media journalist got served with a civil harassment case he hired a lawyer, filed a motion to strike the lawsuit (anti-SLAPP), and then filed a disqualification, which floored the judge.
"Keep watching judges and the lawyers who appear in cases before them and keep watching court hearings for others, it matters more than you know."
Related News Posts: Special investigations by Sacramento Family Court Report.
