Join the GOOGLE +Rubber Room Community

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Prince George County Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett Frees Former Marine Brandon Raub From The Psychiatric Hospital He Was Sent To After Posting On His Facebook Page

Prince George County Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett Frees Former Marine Brandon Raub From The Psychiatric Hospital He Was Sent To After Posting On His Facebook Page
Prince George County Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett ordered the release of former Marine Brandon Raub, who had been detained “for psychiatric evaluation” after posting anti-government messages on his Facebook page – according to Morning Sun. From Editor Betsy Combier: Thank you, Judge Sharrett!

Brandon Raub
Brandon Raub Facebook Fiasco: How Posting on Your Timeline Could Land You in the Madhouse
LINK

Prince George County Circuit Judge W. Allan Sharrett ordered the release of former Marine Brandon Raub, who had been detained “for psychiatric evaluation” after posting anti-government messages on his Facebook page – according to Morning Sun.

The judge said that the involuntary commitment order issued by a magistrate against Brandon J. Raub was invalid “because it contained no allegation or basis to hold him.”

“This is a great victory,” said John Whitehead, an executive director at the Rutherford Institute – a civil liberties organization defending 26-year-old Raub. “He’s a good human being. He just got caught in some weird bureaucratic meanderings and the judge recognized that there’s really no true facts to hold this man in a psychiatric ward,” Whitehead added.

Raub, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was released from the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center late yesterday and was on his way back to his home in the Richmond area. He had been taken into custody on August 16 after being questioned by Chesterfield County police and federal agents over the aforementioned Facebook posts.

The FBI said the interview was prompted by complaints from people who read his "ominous" posts, including some that spoke of a "pending revolution." Another post said “a day of reckoning” was coming, and an additional one said: “Sharpen my axe; I’m here to sever heads.”

However, witnesses of the arrest shot a video of Raub being taken away from his home in handcuffs. They later posted it on YouTube, where the video went viral prompting support for the veteran and criticism of the government – which online comments said it stepped on Raub’s civil liberties. Raub, however, was never charged with a crime.

“People a have right to go on Facebook or the Internet (and) say things that people might not agree with,” Whitehead said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re crazy or should be incarcerated for it,” he added.

Or, does it?

Brandon Raub and the Victory for the Bill of Rights
LINK

In a victory for the Constitution, specifically the First and Fourth Amendments, former United States Marine Brandon Raub was ordered released from a psychiatric institution by a federal circuit judge. Raub had been taken into custody on August 16 after a triumvirate of freedom-hating jack-booted thugs comprised of the Secret Service, FBI, and local authorities in Virginia questioned Raub about posts he made on his Facebook page. Apparently irked by Raub’s responses, the officials sent Raub, against his will, to a mental hospital.

Raub had no doubt made a series of bizarre statements on his Facebook page, including claims about an imminent civil war in the U.S., the government raping children, and 9/11 being an inside job. Though these opinions are ridiculous, ridiculousness is not illegal. In fact, thanks to the First Amendment, ridiculousness is quite constitutional.

This would include inflammatory speech, so long as the speech in question is not meant to incite imminent lawless action, as the Supreme Court outlined in Brandenburg v. Ohio. That the authorities in this case did not arrest and charge Raub with any crime, indicates they were well-aware that formal criminal action against him was not feasible from a legal standpoint. Instead, it appears Virginia has a very low legal threshold for institutionalizing its citizens. John Whitehead, Raub’s attorney, told Business Insider, “I could call [the police] right now and probably get you committed if you were in Virginia,” adding, “They can arrive at your door based on somebody's testimony or your Facebook page and take you away to a mental hospital.”

That is scary prospect. What’s even scarier is the fact that the federal and state governments appear to be trolling the Facebook pages of private citizens for posts that deviate too far from what they consider to be the acceptable range of opinions. Whether you agree with Raub’s crackpot theories—and hopefully you do not—it is vital to the perseverance of the Bill of Rights that all freedom-loving Americans denounce the illegal detention of Raub as blatant violation of the most fundamental constitutional principles of freedom of speech and freedom from unreasonable seizure.

In the days after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush insisted that the objective of the hijackers and those who sent them was to “change our way of life,” and that we mustn’t succumb to their volition. It saddens me to say that we have failed in this regard. We have allowed “terrorists” to become the government’s go-to excuse as to why we must give up a little freedom here and a few rights there. The ironic part is that Brandon Raub served in the U.S. military, which, according to established political orthodoxy, is the guarantor of our freedom. But if the current trend continues, we won’t need a military because soon there will be nothing left to defend.
Posted by at No comments:

Francesco Portelos Appeals His Rubber Room Assignment To Chancellor Walcott

Greetings Chancellor Walcott,
    I would like to appeal my capricious reassignment from Berta Dreyfus IS 49 (R049) to 8201 Rockaway Blvd., Ozone Park (CFN211). After I left the environmental engineering field and took a $20,000+ cut in salary, I was considered an excellent and effective teacher for 5 years.  I have plenty of documentation from the administration to prove it and some is posted on protectportelos.org. I also have testimonials from the public, parents and students. I have been mentioned in the news in positive articles as well as having my own innovative methods of teaching recently published. I made history by becoming the first person to win a UFT Chapter Leader position while sitting in the "rubber room" for 50 days. The school staff wants me back. I recently filed a US patent for a website I designed and working on a second for an educational e-portfolio site I call fridgework.com. I am also halfway done with my leadership in education class to become a principal or superintendent. Are these qualities not good enough for public education?
What Happened?
  As a taxpayer and community member I brought up issues pertaining to the budget, potential financial misconduct, misappropriation of funds, corporal punishment by an assistant principal and sexual harassment by another assistant principal. Just weeks after my complaints, I was prevented from entering the school building and reassigned to do nothing. That was 123 days ago. 
  Through my own investigation and FOIL requests I have found that criminal activity has taken place at my school and possibly my network office where I was placed. My reward?- An empty cubicle an hour and a half from my family! SCI has about 15 absolutely ridiculous allegations about me they are investigating. They were all made by the 3 people involved in misconduct. I ask you, the mayor, PEP and the politicians copied in this email to help rectify this sad situation.  I received notice that on September 4th I am to return back to an empty cubicle. There are a lot of people who wouldn't mind getting paid $ 75,000 to sit and play solitaire, but that is not me. By all means let SCI continue their investigation, but there is no reason for me to be out of the classroom especially when none of the allegations are about harming children.
  Unfortunately, I had to bring a federal lawsuit against the DOE and Principal Linda Hill. September 11, 2012 will be our first date in court. The students are not the only ones suffering as my family has been hit hard by this. 
Below are just a few of the many comments left on my petition site and blog.
Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , ,

Thursday, August 23, 2012

NYPD Punished For Facebook Comments

Well, isn't this interesting. The policeman who walked over to New York State Supreme Court Judge Thomas Raffaele and hit him on his throat, and the sargeant who refused to write down a complaint against this policeman, both walk. The District Attorney says there is nothing criminal going on.

Yet, if you can document something these same members of the NYPD said on Facebook that may not be proper, then you may have something to use against them. See the article below. This makes no sense.

Police Workers Punished for Racist Web Posts on West Indian Parade

By 
LINK
Nearly 20 employees of the New York Police Department have faced discipline in connection with the posting of racist or derogatory comments on a Facebook page about revelers at the 2011 West Indian American Day Parade, a heavily policed annual celebration in Brooklyn on Labor Day weekend, a spokesman for the department said Wednesday.
The comments referred to “savages” and “animals,” and one poster wrote, “Let them kill each other.” The Facebook page, titled “No More West Indian Day Detail,” elicited comments from more than 150 people, many of whose names matched those of police officers.
After an article appeared in December in The New York Times about the online remarks, the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, vowed to conduct an internal affairs investigation, saying that 20 offensive comments “were associated with names that match those of police officers.”
On Wednesday, the department’s chief spokesman, Paul J. Browne, said 17 people had since been disciplined; four of those are officers facing pending departmental trials on charges of “conduct prejudicial to the good order of the Police Department,” he said.
Mr. Browne said that seven had received the department’s lowest level of punishment, the equivalent of a reprimand. Six others received what is known as a command discipline — a punishment that sometimes entails a loss of up to 10 vacation days, although Mr. Browne said he was unaware what penalties were issued in these particular cases.
Mr. Browne said he did not know which Facebook comments in particular corresponded to each punishment.
The parade has been marred by violence. In 2011, the police tied three shootings to the parade, and seized 14 guns during the celebration the night before the parade, which is known as J’Ouvert.
Some of the comments on the Facebook page suggested that some police officers felt the event had turned too dangerous.
“Why is everyone calling this a parade,” one wrote. “It’s a scheduled riot.”
A Brooklyn city councilman, Jumaane D. Williams, who is of West Indian descent, said the punishments indicated that the Police Department had taken the comments seriously. But Mr. Williams, who was himself handcuffed during the parade last year as he walked in an area that the police had closed to the public, said he was concerned that the racist comments reflected the attitudes of a department that he said used discriminatory policing practices.
The associate legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, Christopher Dunn, said it was difficult to evaluate the punishments without knowing which Facebook comments in particular had prompted them.
“Like all public employees, police officers have a First Amendment right to speak freely in their personal lives, even if that speech is offensive,” Mr. Dunn said. “What they do not get to do is be racists in their work lives, and the Police Department can and should discipline officers who are guilty of that.

NYPD disciplines 17 cops who posted racist Facebook comments about West Indian Day Parade 

About 150 comments were posted, referring to parade revelers as "savages" and "animals."

LINK
 
 
 
 
 
NYPD brass has disciplined 17 cops who posted racist or offensive comments on a Facebook  page devoted to last year's West Indian Day Parade, officials said Thursday.
News of the disciplinary action, first reported by the New York Times, comes almost one year after the Labor Day weekend celebration.
About 150 comments were posted on the page, referring to parade revelers as "savages" and "animals."
Investigators found that about 20 of the people who posted comments matched the names of NYPD police officers.
Paul Browne, top spokesman for the NYPD, said four cops still face departmental trials on misconduct charges.
Six cops were slapped with command disciplines and seven received lower levels of punishment.
The annual parade has become one of the city's largest events.
It is heavily policed and has been linked to violence. Last year, three shootings were tied to the parade.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-disciplines-17-cops-posted-racist-facebook-comments-west-indian-day-parade-article-1.1142642#ixzz24P2a0ew9


 


Posted by at No comments:

Police Brutality Against NYS Supreme Court Judge Rafaele Dismissed By Queens D.A.

 We often hear about police not protecting the public and becoming a problem
as cops brutalize people for no reason. In the case of New York State Supreme Court Judge
Thomas D. Rafaele (Queens), who was hit in the neck by an officer as he watched a scuffle
with a homeless man. D.A. Richard Brown saw that "the facts do not warrant the filing of
criminal charges".

We are all in danger. 
Betsy Combier
 No Charges for Officer Accused by Judge
By 
NY State Supreme Court Judge Thomas D. Raffaele
LINK
After a three-month investigation, the Queens district attorney has decided not to bring criminal charges against a police officer who was accused of assaulting a State Supreme Court justice on the street in what the judge contended was an unprovoked attack, officials said Wednesday.
The episode, which occurred just after midnight on June 1 as a crowd watching two officers subdue an unruly homeless man became increasingly restive, was the subject of what District Attorney Richard A. Brown called “an extensive and thorough investigation.”
In a statement, Mr. Brown said his office “has concluded that the facts do not warrant the filing of criminal charges” because “there is insufficient evidence of criminality to support a charge that the police officer acted with the intent to injure or that physical injury (as defined by statute and case law) occurred.”
The judge, Thomas D. Raffaele, 69, who hears matrimonial cases and has been on the bench since 2006, said that he was “very shocked” and “very disappointed” by the decision. He criticized the investigation by the district attorney’s office.
Mr. Brown said in the statement that his office had also decided not to charge the officers for their conduct in subduing the homeless man, who had been chasing people with a metal pipe, concluding that necessary force was used. He also said his office found no criminality in the actions of a sergeant, who Justice Raffaele said had refused to take a complaint against the officer who struck him.
The matter, Mr. Brown said, was being referred to the Civilian Complaint Review Board and the Police Department to determine whether Police Department rules or procedures had been violated.
The officers’ names were not disclosed.
Justice Raffaele has said that during the episode, which occurred in the Jackson Heights section, he saw the crowd becoming unruly, called 911 and reported that the officers needed help.

But within minutes, he said, one of the officers subduing the man became enraged and charged toward him. He said the officer screamed and cursed at the onlookers, some of whom were complaining about what they said was the violent treatment of the man, and then he focused on Justice Raffaele, who was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. The judge has said the officer rushed forward and delivered a sharp blow to his throat, using the upper edge of his hand, a move similar to one he had learned when he was trained in hand-to-hand combat in the Army.

Mr. Brown said in his statement that the confrontation had occurred inside a perimeter the police had established around the man, to separate him from the crowd.
The judge, who was notified of the decision Wednesday morning, later said that the outcome sent a bad message to the public and the police.
“To be in a situation where somebody smashes you in the neck and just walks away from it because they are a police officer — when I did nothing to provoke this attack — I feel it’s dangerous, not just for me but for any other citizen, because officers end up feeling that they can do anything and that there will be no consequences,” Justice Raffaele said. “I think it has a bad effect on the police force because they feel there are no consequences.”
He said he believes most officers are “very honest and are out there trying to protect us, but a crazy guy like this who is out of control should not be walking around out there with a gun and a badge.”
He said of the prosecutor’s office, “I feel that from the beginning they did not make a serious effort to investigate this,” citing what he said was their failure to initially interview witnesses whose names he provided. Mr. Brown disputed Justice Raffaele’s account.
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Karen Brathwaite's Discrimination Case Appeal Wins In The First Department

New York Supreme Court Judge Geoffrey Wright, brother of Assemblyman Keith Wright who is currently re-forming the political legacy of his father Bruce Wright into a business of fraud and corruption, was overturned by the Appellate Division, First Department in Brathwaite v Frankel, where the City of New York wants to lay off disabled employees in order to save money.

Brathwaite v Frankel
2012 NY Slip Op 06000
Decided on August 21, 2012
Appellate Division, First Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.


Decided on August 21, 2012 
Saxe, J.P., Friedman, Catterson, Freedman, Manzanet-Daniels, JJ.
6741 105174/11 

[*1]Karen Brathwaite, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, 

v

David F. Frankel, etc., et al., Defendants-Respondents.

Brown & Gropper, LLP, New York (James A. Brown of 
counsel), for appellants. 
Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Susan 
Paulson of counsel), for respondents. 

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Geoffrey D. Wright, J.), entered August 16, 2011, which granted defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion denied.
The court erred by treating defendants' motion made pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7) and (10) as a motion for summary judgment without providing the parties with notice, as required by CPLR 3211(c) (see Mihlovan v Grozavu, 72 NY2d 506, 508 [1988]). While defendants' notice of motion sought, as alternative relief, summary judgment pursuant to CPLR 3211(c), plaintiffs never indicated that they joined defendants in "deliberately charting a summary judgment course" (id. [internal quotation marks omitted]), nor does the case involve a purely legal question without any disputed issues of fact (see Wiesen v New York Univ., 304 AD2d 459, 460 [2003]).
Treating the motion as one for dismissal pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(7), we conclude that it should have been denied. Construing the complaint liberally and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the pleaders (see e.g. Leon v Martinez, 84 NY2d 83, 87-88 [1994]), we find that plaintiffs have made allegations that, if true, would carry their "de minimis burden" (Exxon Shipping Co. v New York State Div. of Human Rights, 303 AD2d 241, 241 [2003], lv denied 100 NY2d 505 [2003]) of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law (Administrative Code of City of NY § 8-101 et seq.). Plaintiffs have alleged that they are members of a protected class (the disabled), that they were qualified for their positions, that they suffered an adverse employment action (being laid off), and that the adverse action occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination (see Forrest v Jewish Guild for the Blind, 3 NY3d 295, 305 [2004]). The inference of discrimination arises from the complaint's allegations that plaintiffs, who performed clerical work, were laid off as a result of the elimination of their job title, under which all the employees were disabled, while other job titles involving clerical work were not eliminated. After issue has been joined and discovery has been completed, defendants will have an opportunity to attempt to rebut the presumption of discrimination arising from plaintiffs' prima facie case by "setting forth, through the introduction of admissible evidence, legitimate, independent, and nondiscriminatory reasons to support [their] employment decision" (Forrest, 3 NY3d at 305), to which plaintiffs will be [*2]entitled to respond in turn. On defendants' motion addressed to the sufficiency of the pleading, however, the only question properly before the court was whether plaintiffs have alleged a prima facie case.
We note that the motion court did not rest its decision on the branch of defendants' motion seeking dismissal based on "the absence of a person who should be a party" (CPLR 3211[a][10]), and, on appeal, defendants have not argued that the dismissal should be affirmed on that ground.
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER 
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.
ENTERED: AUGUST 21, 2012
CLERK

The Manhattan Democratic Judge Selection Club

Thanks to Mr. Frank Lombardi of the Daily News, we have a peek inside the corruption of the Courts by the Manhattan Democratic Clubhouse.

In January 2007 I started working for Hank Sheinkopf in order to find out more on the controlled process of approving judges for the NYC Courts (he ran the campaign of NYC Surrogate Renee Roth, Nora Anderson, etc., all named in my case filed in District Court, Without a Prayer For Relief and RICO, and he told me that he would get Ray kelly to arrest me if I told anyone about what I knew). More about that in my book. The point I want to make here is that the courts are under the supervision of a relatively small group of political lobbyists who make sure that their "interests" are protected by the judges whom they approve. As can be seen in the following article, Death of the Duopoly, the Democratic Clubmembers may not be in sync right now with public sentiment. Of course, this is of no concern to them, but maybe we, the public, should be outraged, and obtain the help of our Attorney General....if he is interested.

BTW, Lombardi is incorrect about Geoffrey Wright - he is a Judge in New York State Supreme Court Manhattan, 80 Center Street, City Part (working for the City of New York).

Betsy Combier

Erika McDaniel Edwards, esq.

Are these two Harlem lawyers now Civil Court judges-in-making?

BY Frank Lombardi, DAILY NEWS UPTOWN COLUMNIST, Thursday, June 23rd 2011, 4:00 AM
LINK

Civil Court judges are supposedly elected, but more accurately they're usually "made" by political clubhouse leaders and loyalists.

Two lawyers from Harlem are on the fast track to being elected Civil Court judges later this year because they've been endorsed by various Democratic district leaders and county chairman, Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright.

The two judges-in-making are Erika McDaniel Edwards, a civil and criminal attorney seeking a vacant countywide Civil Court seat, and W. FrancPerry 3rd, (see also Community Board 10) a court attorney for Judge Peter Moulton, the supervising judge of Manhattan Civil Court, who is running for the District 5 seat on the upper West Side.

Both were approved by screening panels used by Manhattan Democrats, which include representatives of bar groups and nonprofit organizations.

Manhattan Democrats, in fairness, do try to endorse qualified candidates and place emphasis on diversity. For Wright, who is African-American, Perry and Edwards are the first African-American judicial prospects he's helped through the politically charged process since he became county leader in September 2009.

Wright's brother, Geoffrey, is a state Supreme Court justice in the Bronx, and their father was the late Bruce Wright, a judge who served in both the Criminal Court and state Supreme Court.

Edwards' recent clients have included financier James Nicholson, who pled guilty in 2009 to a $140 million Ponzi scheme and is serving a 40-year prison sentence.

She was an assistant Manhattan district attorney before launching her own law firm in 1998 from a Harlem brownstone, and is now a partner with Donaldson, Chilliest & McDaniel.

Perry is on leave as chairman of Community Board 10 (Central Harlem). He is also a minister in the Metropolitan Community Church, a Protestant denomination.

"Occasionally I perform a wedding, or preach somewhere," he noted.

If elected, he said he would give up his community board post and his occasional ministry.

"We all bring a lot of different things to the bench," he noted of his decision to take a sabbatical from the law in 2001 to get a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary.

Perry, who is gay, said he and his partner have two adopted children, and "the skills going into being a good parent" will give him "a greater perspective than anything else" if he becomes a judge.

Potential challengers still have until July 14 to file qualifying petitions to force a primary contest Sept. 13. But there's no indication that will happen, so they're expected to be unopposed on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Judges of the Civil Court - known as the "People's Court" - handle civil cases involving up to $25,000. They're elected for 10-year terms, at a salary of $125,600, which hasn't been raised since 1999.

Competitive races for judgeships are rare, in Manhattan as well as elsewhere in the city, because it's so difficult for hopefuls without clubhouse backing to collect the thousands of voter signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, and because it costs a bundle to wage an insurgent campaign.

Only one contested Civil Court race is shaping up this year in Manhattan, for a vacancy from District 3 (Chelsea). The two contenders gathering signatures to force a primary duel are Tony Cannataro, who has the endorsement of every club in the district and a bevy of Manhattan elected officials, and Housing Court Judge Sabrina Kraus.

The cost of waging a Civil Court race in Manhattan can range from $100,000 for a district level contest to $200,000 for a countywide race, according to James McManus, the longtime district leader from Hell's Kitchen (now tamely called Chelsea).

Three years ago, the last contested Civil Court race for a Manhattan countywide seat ended up costing its two contenders a combined $227,387, according to spending reports.

An insurgent, Nancy Bannon, won that year over her clubhouse-endorsed rival, Michael Katz, although he outspent her 2-to-1. So beating the clubhouse gang isn't entirely impossible, just improbable.

flombardi@nydailynews.com

Uptown politics: Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright sits in judgment on racial balance of judges

BY FRANK LOMBARDI, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER, Thursday, February 17, 2011
LINK

Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright has "made" more than a dozen judges since becoming the Manhattan Democratic chairman 17 months ago.

But none of the new judges is African-American.

"We've chosen judges who are gay, Asian judges. We even have a Dominican judge - but we haven't done any black judge yet," said Wright.

It's not that he's unsympathetic to the need for diversity among New York judges. As of the latest count by the state court system, of 1,166 sitting full-time judges, 947 are white (81%); 121 are black (10%); 67 are Hispanic (6%) and 20 are Asian (2%).
Manhattan Democrats head Keith Wright describes judge-picking procedure.

Uptown politics: Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright sits in judgment on racial balance of judges
BY FRANK LOMBARDI, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER, Thursday, February 17, 2011
LINK

Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright has "made" more than a dozen judges since becoming the Manhattan Democratic chairman 17 months ago.

But none of the new judges is African-American.

"We've chosen judges who are gay, Asian judges. We even have a Dominican judge - but we haven't done any black judge yet," said Wright.

It's not that he's unsympathetic to the need for diversity among New York judges. As of the latest count by the state court system, of 1,166 sitting full-time judges, 947 are white (81%); 121 are black (10%); 67 are Hispanic (6%) and 20 are Asian (2%).

"It's just the way it turned out," said Wright. "But you know what? You can look at me and tell that will probably change at one point."

Wright, 56, who is African-American, is the son of the late Bruce Wright, a controversial city judge who was denounced by critics in his day as "Turn 'Em Loose Bruce" because of his low-bail policies.

As his son tells it, Bruce Wright might never have become a Manhattan judge - or remained one for 25 years - if the Harlem political powers back then had not gone to bat for him.

His father was named to the Criminal Court in 1970 by then-Mayor John Lindsay. But it was Harlem's own Percy Sutton who engineered the appointment, Keith Wright said. Sutton, who died in 2009 at age 89, was Manhattan borough president from 1966-77 and a longtime Harlem political power.

"My father was Percy's lawyer," a smiling Wright said in explaining how his rebel-lawyer father became a judge.

And, he continued, it was thanks to his predecessor as county leader, Assemblyman Herman (Denny) Farrell, that Bruce Wright was nominated to the state Supreme Court in 1978, when then-Mayor Ed Koch didn't renew his Criminal Court judgeship. Judge Wright retired in 1994 and died in 2005 at age 86.

Several well-placed Manhattan Democrats said Keith Wright ran into party resistance last year when he pushed for a black judicial nominee.

Other factions of the notoriously splintered Manhattan Democratic Party argued that "plenty" of black judges had been named during Farrell's 28-year party reign and forced Wright to bide his time.

Making Civil Court and Supreme Court judges is one of the few remaining powers of the city's Democratic bosses. Even the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that boss-ruled process in 2008.

But while Wright is a linear descendent of the bosses of the old Tammany Hall machine, he has inherited a largely rusted, powerless antique.

"I wouldn't say that at all," Wright said. "I think we do [have clout] and it's growing. That's why we still have candidates [for all offices] rushing to us, looking for our endorsement."

As for naming judges, he added, Manhattan has a more progressive and fair screening and nominating process than the other boroughs.

"We take recommendations [of the panels] as if they were coming down from the Sermon on the Mount," Wright said.

That may be, but anyone who doesn't get nominated by the party structure still has no prayer of forcing a party primary and getting elected, given the prevailing rules.

It helps to have a Percy Sutton plugging for you, or a Keith Wright, as we might see this year.

flombardi@nydailynews.com

 

Posted by at 1 comment:

Westchester D.A. Janet Di Fiore: More Bad News

Wednesday, August 22, 2012


WESTCHESTER D.A. JANET DIFIORE COVERS UP CAR THEFT FOR PEDOPHILE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

Pedophile
1st Deputy Commissioner
Phil "Sandusky" Gille  

Ready. Set. Go…… The cover up is now in full swing to deflect all media attention away from “Nanny Gate”, the scandal on the part of Westchester District attorney Janet DiFiore.  Mount Vernon Exposed has gained more insight into the cover up and who the alleged players are.  Mount Vernon Exposed will continue to cover this event and bring you news not found anywhere else.  No holds barred. 
           
           A few weeks ago we have all read he coverage courtesy of the Journal News regarding the recording with 1st Deputy Commissioner Phil Gille and Westchester Independence   party chairman Guilio Cavallo.

Gille can be heard on tape admitting that Janet DiFiore sent her team of rogue 
investigators to investigate a "trumped up" complaint filed by Human Resources Director Valerie Raynor, wife of Terrence Raynor, Chief Criminal Investigator for Janet DFiore. Terrence Raynor was recently sued for bilking Westchester County taxpayers out of more than $40K for claiming S.T.A. R. exemptions on three different properties at the same time.


Corrupt D.A. 
Janet DiFiore
Mount Vernon Exposed has recently reported that 1stDeputy Commissioner Phil Gille is a known pedophile and has been preying on young boys for more than 20 years.  Gille is Westchester’s own Jerry Sandusky, the disgraced Penn State football recently convicted of raping and molesting young boys at Penn State University.  After our coverage on Gille, Mount Vernon Exposed was inundated with calls and emails seeking to know how Gille was involved in the “Nanny Gate” cover up and how did/does Gille benefit from such a cover up.  We will now explain detail for detail Gille’s motives and reasoning for covering up the “Nanny Gate” scandal.

Approximately two weeks ago, Gille’s Westchester County issued car was stolen by one of his young male lovers.  Gille reported the theft to his superiors in the County Executive Rob Astorino’s administration. While Astorino’s administration was frustrated and angered at Gille’s negligence, Gille was assured that the incident would be covered and made to look as if it never occurred.  If the public became aware of Gille’s activity it would be damaging for Astorino and his administration.

 The Astorino administration then sent detectives from the Westchester County Police to Gille’s residence at 21 Fairfield Place in Yonkers, NY.  To date, there is no evidence or records on file to suggest or indicate that Gille was ever issued a county vehicle even though most employees would confirm same.  No police report was ever filed at any police department, anywhere in Westchester County or the State of New York. 

Corrupt Chief Investigator
Terrence Raynor
When detectives arrived at the residence and rang the doorbell, they were greeted by a 15 year male, dressed in only a tank top and underwear.  When questioned by the detectives the 15 year male told detectives that he was an acquaintance of Gille’s and that they just returned from shopping and having dinner.  When detectives tried to get further information regarding the minor, the minor told the detectives to ask Gille about the extent of their relationship.  According to sources, Gille and the minor are sexually involved, and have been for some time now. Gille has also hired numerous of his “boy toys” to various positions in the Department of Social Services.  The Astorino administration is fully aware of Gille’s conduct and his pedophilia hobby. 

Westchester County detectives then took this information back to Terrence Raynor, Janet’s crooked Chief Investigator.  DiFiore then instructed Raynor and her 1st Deputy John George to pay Mr. Gille a visit and tell him that if he didn’t cover up and squash the “Nanny Gate” investigation they would prosecute him for having sex with a minor and statutory rape.  Raynor and Janet’s deputy also paid a visit to Kevin Plunkett and advise him of same.  Raynor and George told Plunkett that they would arrest Gille in the Department of Social Services and would say that he was the source of the “Nanny Gate” leak and his reasons for doing so was to damage Janet’s reputation and to clear the path for Plunkett to run for Westchester District Attorney.  Plunkett can be seen on almost a daily basis going in and out of Janet DiFiore’s office. 

Plunkett and Janet are now on the same team.  Plunkett was promised a Supreme Court Judgeship position and the endorsement for Westchester D.A. in the event Janet doesn’t survive politically. All Plunkett has to do in Janet’s own words is to “fire that bitch Vasquez and get rid of whatever she was working on.  She is dangerous and can bring us all down.”

To be continued……..


Posted by THE BLACK POLITICAL CAUCUS OF WESTCHESTER at 7:53 AM 


Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)