Dirty Political Tricks

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee met at 9 am this morning, after Senator Marsh, Chairman of the Senate Courts of Justice Committtee and the House Clerk Bruce Jamerson told a citizen in writing yesterday that the committee would not be meeting.

Immediately after the meeting started, Senator Stolle made a motion to hold a closed meeting to discuss "personnel matters" and the public was forced to leave the room. Minutes later, the public was allowed back in the room. Senator Deeds made a motion to not certify the judges that had issues and read from the list of judges (page 2, judge number 1,2,7,10&12) and one judge from page 1 of the list. We've identified five of the six judges who did not make the cut: Hon. David Williams (1st District), Hon. Timothy Wright (1st District), Hon. Bryant Sugg (7th District), Hon. Colleen Killilea (9th District) and Hon. Birdie Jamison (13th District). Delegate Melvin (in a joint committee meeting on 2/20/09) indicated that at least three of the five judges above allegedly had "temperment" issues.

There were a total of 7 JPE's done this year at a cost to the taxpayers of $770,000 ($110,000 each). Five of the six judges who were not certified today had Judicial Performance Evaluations (JPEs) done. This is a high failure rate. It causes us to wonder if Judge Finch had a JPE done, would the committee also have withheld his certification after reviewing it? Aren't violations of folks' rights, ignorance of the law and laziness, all alleged to be problems with Judge Finch, more serious problems than temperment problems? We think so.

One of the Senators inquired if Judge Gaylord Finch was to be excluded from certification too. However, Dave Albo's gentlemens' agreement came to fruition -- the Committee unanimously certified Judge Finch.

Senator Cuccinelli, to his credit, asked the committee to hear from two citizens who got wind of the meeting last night, got up at 5 am and drove almost three hours this morning to be there. Senator Marsh, without knowing what the citizens' testimony would entail, concluded that they had nothing new to say and denied them the opportunity to testify against Judge Finch because they had testified before. Senator Howell, who looked washed out, chimed in that the citizens should not be able to speak because they had nothing new to offer. One citizen, Bruce Bennett, asked to be heard -- he had never testified before about Judge Finch. Senator Marsh denied Mr. Bennett the ability to testify in this important public meeting. The other citizen had new information to share, but likewise could not testify.

We've concluded the committee has this "see no evil, hear no evil" attitude about appointing judges. They do not want the public to come and testify about questionable judges. They'd rather vote blindly after holding secret meetings and cutting deals.

Next up... we've learned Dave Albo cut another deal... stay tuned for more.

11th Hour Dirty Political Tricks?

The Pitchfork Rebellion has learned that the Senate Courts of Justice Committee intends to meet at 9 am tomorrow to vote on Judge Finch's certification. We're not surprised Judge Finch's friends want to try to get him through the committee on the last day of the General Assembly session. This looks like a desperate dirty political trick to sneak Judge Finch back on the bench at the 11th hour of the session.

We're also not surprised to learn that Senate Courts of Justice Committee Chairman Henry Marsh III told a citizen at 12:49 pm today, "Senate Courts of Justice is not meeting regarding Judge Finch."

The General Assembly clerk also told a citizen today via email that there was no Senate Courts of Justice Committee meeting scheduled for Judge Finch.

We only learned tonight that the Senate Courts of Justice Committee is in fact planning to meet at 9 am tomorrow morning.

Its pretty obvious our elected officials do not want the public to attend these meetings, even though the judicial re-appointment process is supposed to be open to the public. We would just appreciate it if they would stop playing games and start being honest with us.

Separation of Powers Deuce

This just in... we've confirmed that yesterday the VA Supreme Court Chief Justice Hassell rescinded his November 10, 2009 order requiring the Judicial Performance Evaluations to be confidential.

Now, the million dollar question is whether or not our elected officials down in Richmond will give them to the public. We intend to find out by sending a FOIA request for them.

We're glad that finally the legislators (and hopefully the general public) will see the $770,000 handiwork of the super secret Survey, Evaluation and Research lab at VCU.

Cost of a JPE: $110,000 each
Value of a JPE: worthless
For everything else, there is Visa and Mastercard.

Is Judge Finch Dying on the Legislative Vine?

The infamous Judge Gaylord Finch of Fairfax County Circuit Court (19th judicial circuit in Virginia) is still in limbo. The House Courts of Justice Committee unanimously certified him on 2/24/09 in the absence of having a Judicial Performance Evaluation, which is mandated by law (17.1-100). The local delegation went on Judge Finch's "evaluation" from the local bar association, which is a cheap substitute for the real thing mandated by law.

Despite multiple credible reports of judicial misconduct and an outcry against him because he lied in his second judicial interview before the Courts of Justice Committee members/local delegation on January 10, 2009, our elected representatives want to put Judge Finch back on the bench.

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee has not certified Judge Finch. The lawmakers extended the deadline to Saturday for judicial appointments. They may work overtime over the weekend to get their buddy Judge Finch back on the bench or they will wake up and smell the coffee and let him die on the legislative vine. We suggest they do the latter. We're trying to run down the legislative shot clock.

Turf Warfare in Richmond

The Supreme Court of Virginia has not ruled yet on Elizabeth Haring's Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and Writ of Prohibition directed to Del. Dave Albo, Sen. Henry Marsh, and Linda Birtley... Nor has the high court ruled yet on the petition for an emergency injunction filed by Haring... we will keep you posted.

In other news, the turf warfare between the General Assembly in Richmond and the VA Supreme Court just gets more and more interesting. Del. Dave Albo invited the Chief Justice Leroy Roundtree Hassell to attend the House Courts of Justice Committee meeting on February 24 to explain his legal reasoning for forbidding the public to see the judicial performance evaluations (JPE) or to rescind the order. Chief Justice Hassell did not show up yesterday, nor did a rep. from the VA Supreme Court. It looks like the VA Supreme Court dissed Albo or were afraid to try to justify how the JPE can be confidential when there is no statutory authority to justify it and the Supreme Court has no Rule on that point.

After a long song and dance by many members of the House Courts of Justice Committee members about how much they really want to review the Judicial Performance Evaluations on the five judges who had a JPE done before voting on them, the entire committee then voted unanimously to certify all five of those judges without ever seeing their evaluations.

The legislators talk a big game, but that's about it. By certifying these judges without seeing the evaluations, they just conceded a lot of power to the VA Supreme Court yesterday by moving forward on these judges in the absence of the evaluations. Advantage: VA Supreme Court.

We've learned Dave Albo and two members of his committee went to meet with Chief Justice Hassell on Feb. 25 on his turf. A citizen has sent a FOIA request for meeting minutes and details. She also asked for the public to be able to attend these kinds of meetings.

Emergency Injunction Filed at VA Supreme Court to Stop Controversial Judge Finch

The following is a copy of petition for an emergency injunction filed at the Virginia Supreme Court on 2/24/09. The Courts of Justice Committee of the Virginia Legislature voted to certify Judge Finch on 2/24/09. The high court is expected to rule on the injunction request today...

IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA

ELIZABETH A. HARING, :
PRIVATE CITIZEN, :
PETITIONER :
: Record No. ______
:
IN RE: :
HON. DAVID B. ALBO :
CHAIRMAN, HOUSE COURTS OF JUSTICE COMMITTEE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOM 529
CAPITOL SQUARE
RICHMOND, VA 23218

HON. HENRY L. MARSH, III
CHAIRMAN, SENATE COURTS OF JUSTICE COMMITTEE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING ROOM 432
CAPITOL SQUARE
RICHMOND, VA 23218

MS. LINDA BIRTLEY
DESIGNEE, VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT
JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROGRAM
C/O VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
SURVEY, EVALUATION AND RESEARCH LAB
910 WEST FRANKLIN STREET
RICHMOND, VA 23284


PETITION FOR EMERGENCY INJUNCTION
Comes now your petitioner Elizabeth A. Haring,
in proper person, and respectfully requests this
Honorable Court to issue an emergency injunction to
prevent Hon. David Albo, Hon. Henry Marsh, and the
members of the Courts of Justice Committee from
voting regarding the certification of Judge Gaylord
L. Finch, Jr. and enjoining the Virginia General
Assembly from voting on Judge Finch until this
Honorable Court renders a decision on her February
18, 2009 Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and Writ
of Prohibition.

This Honorable Court has authority pursuant to § 8.01-650,

“On petition for a writ of prohibition, the court may, at any time before or after the application for the writ is made, make an order, a copy of which shall be served on the defendant, suspending the proceedings sought to be prohibited until the final decision of the cause.”

Further, pursuant to 8.01-651 this Honorable Court has said authority,

“Whenever a court having jurisdiction refuses to suspend proceedings as provided in § 8.01-650 of this chapter, a copy of the proceedings in court, with any orders entered in the proceedings, may be presented to a judge of the Court of Appeals, if an application for a writ of prohibition is pending in that court, or to a justice of the Supreme Court if the application for a writ is pending there. Such judge or justice may thereupon award a suspension of the proceedings sought to be prohibited until the final decision of the cause.”

BACKGROUND
On February 18, 2009, your petitioner filed a
petition for a Writ of Mandamus and Writ of
Prohibition directed to Hon. David Albo, Hon. Henry
Marsh III and Linda Birtley. Subsequently, your
petitioner wrote to all members of the Courts of
Justice Committee on February 19, 2009 asking that
they wait to proceed any further regarding Judge
Finch until this Honorable Court has had an
opportunity to review and rule upon her petition.
Moreover, your petitioner wrote to Del. Albo
seeking to schedule the taking of his deposition.

On February 20, 2009, Virginia Lawyers
Weekly conducted an interview with Del. David Albo.
In said interview, Del. Albo admitted that he cut a
deal to re-appointment Judge Finch to another term
premised upon Judge Finch retiring at the end of
2009 (see attached Exhibit 1). The aforementioned
deal is part of the “gentleman’s agreement” alleged
in the petition for a writ of mandamus and writ of
prohibition.

On February 23, 2009, Del. David Albo wrote to
your petitioner. He indicated the Courts of Justice
Committee intends to vote regarding Judge Finch’s
certification today and that there will be a floor
vote on Wednesday of this week. As of this writing,
there is no public posting of the committee meeting
today on the General Assembly website (see Exhibit
2 attached). Your petitioner has written to Del.
Albo three times in the past 24 hours seeking to
find out the committee meeting time and location
today, to no avail. Del. Albo’s refusal to notify
the public is a violation of VA FOIA law.

This Honorable Court has authority to issue an
emergency injunction. Absent this Honorable Court’s
intervention, Judge Finch may get re-appointed even
though his re-appointment process has been
procedurally defective, unlawful and illicit
because a judicial performance evaluation was never
completed re: Judge Finch pursuant to 17.1-100.

CONCLUSION
The issuance of an injunction will not
prejudice the Respondents. If this Honorable Court
fails to issue an injunction, the Courts of Justice
Committee certifies Judge Finch and the General
Assembly votes in favor of his re-appointment, this
Court will be unable to issue an extraordinary writ
as a remedy, which would prejudice your
petitioner’s case. The issuance of an injunction is
absolutely necessary to prevent a failure or defect
of justice and meet the ends of justice.
Wherefore, your petitioner prays that this
Honorable Court will issue an emergency injunction
today.

Respectfully Submitted,

Elizabeth A. Haring,
Private Citizen
Pro Se

Elizabeth Haring
210 Cornwall Street NW
Leesburg, VA 20176
Tel: 703-967-4047
Fax: 540-242-3441


CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that a true copy of the foregoing
Petition for Emergency Injunction was served
this 24th day of February, 2009 on the Honorable
David B. Albo, Chairman, Courts of Justice
Committee and the Honorable Henry Marsh III by hand
delivering copies to their legislative offices in
the General Assembly Building, Capitol Square,
Richmond, VA 23218, to Linda Birtley c/o Virginia
Commonwealth University, 910 West Franklin Street,
Richmond, VA 23284 and to the office of Robert
McDonnell, Attorney General of Virginia, Counsel
for Respondents, 900 East Main Street, Richmond, VA
23218.

__________________
Elizabeth A. Haring
Petitioner
Pro Se

Elizabeth Haring
210 Cornwall Street NW
Leesburg, VA 20176
Tel: 703-967-4047
Fax: 540-242-3441

Citizen files landmark case at VA Supreme Court

The following article appeared in the DC Examiner on 2/19/09:
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/SharpSticks/

UPDATE: Finch flap now before VA Supreme Court
POSTED February 19, 2009 11:33 AM
The pitchfork rebellion over the reappointment of Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Gaylord Finch to another eight-year term is not over, despite a thumbs up by the Northern Virginia delegation and an almost certain vote in his favor by the Courts of Justice Committee chaired by Del. Dave Albo, R-Springfield.Liz Haring, a Leesburg mom who is currently appealing Judge Finch’s ruling in her custody case, filed a petition with the Virginia Supreme Court Wednesday, asking the commonwealth’s highest court to stop legislators from proceeding with Finch’s reappointment process. In documents filed with the court, Haring points out that state law requires that “the Supreme Court, or its designee, shall transmit a report of the evaluation in the final year of the term of each justice and judge whose term expires during the next session of the General Assembly to the chairmen of the House and Senate Committees for Courts of Justice.” Haring alleges that Linda Birtley, who heads the Judicial Performance Evaluation office at Virginia Commonwealth University, submitted JPEs for other judges on Aug. 28, 2008 – but curiously not one for Judge Finch. The petition argues that absent Finch’s JPE, which is required by the Virginia Code, Albo and his fellow COJ members have no legal authority to recertify him.Haring also asks that the evaluation done by the Fairfax Bar Association, which is not required by state law, be made a matter of public record since it was discussed during Finch’s Jan. 10 judicial interview – and none of the legislators present made a proper motion to hold a closed meeting as required by Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act.Finally, Haring argues that Albo had no constitutional authority to accept a letter submitted to the Supreme Court by Finch himself – which states that he intends to retire at the end of 2009 – as a condition of the judge’s recertification. There is no provision in the Virginia Constitution to appoint a judge for less than eight years or make his/her reappointment conditional on a promise to retire, Haring claims, so there is no way to enforce Finch’s promised retirement if he gets back on the bench.The petition asks for relief in the form of a complete JPE to be submitted to the members of Courts of Justice and another public interview of Finch - with more public testimony allowed. It’s hard to see how the Virginia Supreme Court can say no to what amounts to a citizen’s insistence that the court follow its own procedures.