Part I of this series ran on January 28, 2023, and can be found here. My complaint is now filed and now I wait.
My Attorney and I had about six communications with the District Court’s Clerk’s office about this order that was due out by September 30, 2022.
The clerks were all kind and compassionate but silent on answers or solutions. Citizens seeking information on Court orders don’t need a therapy session, we need solutions and answers.
When a Judge cannot competently perform their duties, they compromise the entire system, as they serve as the ultimate authority, both feared and respected. Coming forward on this is difficult; it exposes you to retaliation by the Judges and the Court. But, after years of slogging through the legal system, I have come to believe the courts are not where truth is found, and justice is served. Attorneys who lie can win, and money speaks. Judicial ethics appears to be on shaky ground. The entire system seems fragile.
Criminal matters required well-trained and skilled Judges to get it right. Liberty should never be taken lightly.
It does not appear as though the Court has any type of Judicial monitoring system to review order output and workload. It all has to become a dumpster fire to get fixed. With the loss of local newspapers, there is no place to shine a light and no investigative journalism to dig into these matters, so the Courts will be places of unchecked power and trust will be eroded. Someone should investigate the response time of the orders issued by this Judge and determine if there is a staffing problem or a competency problem.
On January 26th, after feeling so despondent speaking with the Clerk about the Judge’s failure to complete my order, I decided to see if this Judge was holding Court. Sure enough, he was. Thursday is his writing day, but it was Thursday, and he was in Court. Perhaps that is why orders are not coming out.
I had never seen this Judge or been in his courtroom. My personal feelings toward him and his work were so negative that I thought it might be best to create a more interpersonal relationship. I believed observing him in action might quell my anger and frustration, soften my perspective and help me find a kinder side.
It worked. Observing him in court, he was a kind and compassionate man. But, it was clear he is not committing to the Defendants when orders will be issued and their cases resolved. This is the crux of the problem.
I watched an incarcerated black man represented by a public defender who explained to the Judge that her client’s warrant and time served were not handled correctly and that she had really never seen something like this. I instantly had empathy. She believed he deserved his time served to be calculated into his new sentencing.
The Judge appeared to listen carefully and spoke directly to the defendant stating that he would look carefully into the matter and try to calculate the incarceration time correctly when he produced his order. But, he never gave any indication of when the order would be issued. Herein lies the problem. How long will this man wait to understand where he stands on his case?
Judges should be required to provide a time when an order will be issued. I’ll have an order out in 60 days, etc., instead of an “I’ll get to it when I get to it” approach. How can we hold the system accountable if there is no standard by which to hold them? When is it ok to complain?
On Thursday, I asked my Attorney to withdraw from the case. I loved my Attorney’s work and very much appreciate his commitment to my case. However, I wanted to file a request to ask the Judge to produce the notice of decision. I wanted to file a formal complaint. I didn’t want his reputation to suffer because of my request or actions.
Attorneys don’t want to ask Judges about deadlines and orders, and they don’t file complaints. They don’t want to anger a Judge and they don’t want to hurt a client. This is understandable. Citizens have to speak up to fix the system.
I signed on pro se for my case on Thursday, January 26th, and filed a request for a date for a Notice of Decision to Judge Curren.
Laurie Ortolano – Motion to request a date for Notice of Decision
I will be following up on this story, and updating the responsiveness of the Judge and Conduct Committee to resolve this matter.
