Digitally signed by

Human Rights Alert Joseph Zernik

DN: cn=Joseph
PO Box 526, La Verne, CA 91750 Zernik, o, ou,
Fax: 323.488.9697; Email: jz12345@earthlink.net email=jz12345@ear
thlink.net, c=US
Blog: http://human-rights-alert.blogspot.com/ Date: 2011.05.09
Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/Human_Rights_Alert 02:10:36 +03'00'

11-05-09 Ethics questions forwarded to University of Chicago Law Professor Richard Posner
Date: Mon, 09 May 2011 01:51:19
To: rposner@law.uchicago.edu,
From: joseph zernik <jz12345@earthlink.net>
Subject: Request for opinions regarding the ethical duties of US judges

Professor Richard Posner

University of Chicago Law School

Dear Professor Posner:

I write to request your personal opinions on the ethical duties of US judges:
1) Is a US judge ethically required to produce his/her Oath of Office upon request
by a party appearing before him/her in court?
2) Is a US judge bound, pursuant to his/her Oaths of Office, by an ethical duty that
is not delegatable to "initiate appropriate action when the judge becomes aware
of reliable evidence indicating the likelihood of unprofessional conduct by a
judge or lawyer"?
The Oaths of Office say:
I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will ... perform
all the duties incumbent upon me as ________ under the Constitution
and laws of the United States. [underline added - jz]
I, _________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the United States... I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same; ... I will well and faithfully discharge the duties
of the office on which I am about to enter. [underline added - jz]

3) In case a US Judge is not bound by such duty pursuant to the Oaths of Office:
Is a US judge bound, pursuant to the Code of Conduct of US Judges, Canon 3
B. (3) by an ethical duty that is not delegatable to "initiate appropriate action
when the judge becomes aware of reliable evidence indicating the likelihood of
unprofessional conduct by a judge or lawyer," or is the use of "should"
aspirational only?

The Code of Conduct of US Judges, Canon 3 B. (3) says:

B. Administrative Responsibilities.
(3) A judge should initiate appropriate action when the judge becomes
aware of reliable evidence indicating the likelihood of unprofessional
conduct by a judge or lawyer. [underline added - jz]

4) In case the use of "should" in the Code of Conduct of US Judges is aspirational

only:
z Page 2/3 May 9, 2011

What would it take to make a US judge act upon such aspirations?

5) Should Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, be
bound by an ethical duty that is not delegatable, to "initiate appropriate action",
in view of the recent official Professional Staff Report of the Human Rights
Council of the United Nations, which referred to "corruption of the courts and
the legal profession" in California? [i]
6) Should Anthony Kennedy, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,
who holds oversight of the 9th Circuit, be bound by an ethical duty that is not
delegatable to "initiate appropriate action", in view of the recent official
Professional Staff Report of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations,
which referred to "corruption of the courts and the legal profession" in
California? [i]
I believe that you are uniquely qualified to opine on such matters.
Your response on these questions would be greatly appreciated.
Truly,

Joseph Zernik, PhD

Human Rights Alert (NGO)
______
LINKS:
[i] 10-04-19 Human Rights Alert (NG0) submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2010 Review (UPR) of
Human Rights in the United States as incorporated into the UPR Staff Report, with reference to "corruption of the courts and the
legal profession" in California
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38566837/

Human Rights Alert is dedicated to discovering, archiving, and disseminating evidence of Human Rights violations by the justice
systems of the State of California and the United States in Los Angeles County, California, and beyond. Human Rights Alert
focuses on the unique role of computerized case management systems in the precipitous deterioration of the integrity of the justice
system in the United States.
_______
http://inproperinla.blogspot.com/

Flag Counter: 119

http://human-rights-alert.blogspot.com/
Total Reads: 405,060
Followers: 562
http://www.scribd.com/Human_Rights_Alert
http ://twitter.com/inproperinla
http://www.liveleak.com/user/jz12345
Total Item Views: 308,330
http://www.examiner.com/x-38742-LA-Business-Headlines-Examiner
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERT SAY ABOUT THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CRISIS?
* "...a system in which only the little people have to obey the law, while the rich, and bankers especially, can cheat and defraud
without consequences."
http://www.scribd.com/doc/50753639/
z Page 3/3 May 9, 2011

Prof Paul Krugman, MIT (2011)

_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA?
* "...judges tried and sentenced a staggering number of people for crimes they did not commit."
Prof David Burcham, Dean, Loyola Law School, LA (2001)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/29043589/
* "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when
innocent people are convicted."
Prof Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Irvine Law School (2001)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27433920/
* "Innocent people remain in prison"
* "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office, the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends
must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system, have not produced any response that we know of..."
LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel Report (2006)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24902306 /
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA?
* "...corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California."
United Nations Human Rights Council Staff Report (2010)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38566837/
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE STATE COURTS IN THE UNITED STATES?
* "On July 26, 2010, Laurence Tribe, Senior Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative,
delivered an important speech to the Conference of Chief Justices, challenging them to halt the disintegration of our state justice
systems before they become indistinguishable from courts of third world nations."
Prof Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School (2010), per National Defender Leadership Institute (2010)
http://www.nlada.net/library/article/national_dojspeechto%20chiefjustice07-26-2010_gideonalert
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES?
* "More than 100 law professors have signed on to a letter released today that proposes congressional hearings and legislation
aimed at fashioning "mandatory and enforceable" ethics rules for Supreme Court justices for the first time. The effort, coordinated
by the liberal Alliance for Justice, was triggered by "recent media reports," the letter said, apparently referring to stories of meetings
and other potential conflicts of interest involving Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas among others."
More than 100 law professors, as reported by the Blog of the Legal Times (February 2011)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49586436/
_____________________________
WHAT DID CHIEF JUDGE OF THE US COURT OF APPEALS, 5TH CIRCUIT, SAY ABOUT THE US JUSTICE SYSTEM?
* "The American legal system has been corrupted almost beyond recognition..."
Chief Judge, US Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, Edith Jones, speaking before the Federalist Society of Harvard Law School
(February 2003)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/50137887/
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SAY ABOUT THE US JUSTICE SYSTEM?
* In a speech in Georgetown University, Senator Leahy, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee called for a "Truth and
Reconciliation Commission" on the US Department of Justice.
Transcript of Senator Leahy speech (2009)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/38472251/