By today's date nine years ago, I was ordered to answer a letter sent from the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana. I was told I must respond by December 26, 2002 or face additional sanctions.
Merry Christmas, Richard.
The way this office works is to inflict as much pain as possible on the presumed innocent. A presumption of innocence does not apply to a lawyer placed in their sights. The presumed guilty must suffer. A letter in response to a demand from the disciplinary counsel is supposed to be penned in pain.
The office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana could have written to me on December 1, 2001, or January 1, of 2002. Or a year before, or a year later.
There was no particular urgency, because the concern of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana was something I had done in 1999: I had complained in confidence to the Fifth Circuit Judicial Council about the misconduct of a federal judge. The Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana also objected th my having filed two recusal motions, also in 1999.
But the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana wanted to send me a Christmas letter. So they did. There was nothing to stop them.
My response was sent back by return mail.
I wrote to the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana that I was telling the truth in my motions of recusal directed to a federal judge. I told the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana that I had spoke the truth when I wrote in confidence to the Judicial Council of the Fifth Federal Circuit.
I pointed out that the Judicial Council never bothered to investigate my accusations.
There is nothing that requires supervising circuit court judges to investigate the misconduct of a district judge.
I asked the the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana to forward my letter - and theirs if they like - to the US attorney for Louisiana.
Send them the whole file. Please.
Since the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana is not going to investigate the judge, send the paperwork to the US attorney. Since the judges on the Fifth Circuit are not going to investigate a judge they are supposed to supervise, send the paperwork that you have from me to the US attorney. Please.
No response to this request was ever made to me. You have to cooperate with the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana, when they write to you.
But when you write to the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana, this office does not have to cooperate with you.
The office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana is there to prosecute you. They are there to inflict as much pain as possible - even before you are found guilty of any violation of the ethical rules that govern the conduct of lawyers in Louisiana.
The office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana is not there to uncover the truth.
Turns out, one of the unwritten rules for lawyers is: don't complain in confidence about the misconduct of a federal judge because you will be punished if you do.
If you discover your judge is taking gifts from lawyers in his court - let it go.
If you discover your judge is bending the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to benefit the boys who are gifting him - let it go.
If you discover your judge is in business with lawyers, who bring cases before him - let it go.
If you file a confidential complaint with the supervising judges on the Fifth Circuit and your judge lets opposing counsel in your clients' case know that you are the one who complained about him - let it go.
If you discover that the supervising judges are not going to do anything with your confidential complaint - let it go.
If you find out that your judge is free to make decisions touching on his own financial interests - let it go.
Let it all go, boy - says the office of the Disciplinary Counsel of Louisiana, because we are here to protect the judges. We work for judges after all, and they have as much interest in protecting an officer of their court from a be-robed miscreant on the federal bench as a moo cow has in the outcome of the Kentucky Derby.
Oh, and since you did not let it go, since you actually expected the judge to be held to an ethical standard of some kind, we are going to put you before a committee of lawyers who practice before the judge you pissed off.
Boy, we are going to take away your law license.
We are going to wreck your ability to have an income as a lawyer.
Just go away, boy. Since you think we are here to get to the bottom of things, just you go away.
You hold a law license at the pleasure of our judges, and they sure don't want anyone making waves about judges getting $$ from the lawyers. They do that themselves.
Merry Christmas.
