Ex-lawyer jailed 14 months, but not charged with a crime

Ex-lawyer jailed 14 months, but not charged with a crime

www.cnn.com

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Once a dapper Beverly Hills attorney known for his bow tie, Richard Fine has been held in solitary confinement at Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail for 14 months, even though he's never been charged with a crime.

Fine, a 70-year- old taxpayer's advocate who once worked for the Department of Justice, is being held for contempt of court.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This is a truly interesting and very disturbing story of a 70 year old man being held now for 14 months in solitary confinement on a Contempt of Court Charge in Los Angeles California.

Fine who is a recently disbarred Beverly Hills attorney who has waged a decade long battle against what he contends is corruption in the Los Angeles County Judiciary, actually won initially in getting supplemental payments to County Judges barred in the California Constitution, only to have State Lawmakers turn around and create and pass a separate law that allows the Counties to do so at their own discretion.

There is no denying he is a pain in the side of the Los Angeles County judiciary as the lead attorney who headed his disbarment based his case on what he contended were frivolous corruption lawsuits against the Judiciary when Fine failed to win initial cases against the County on behalf of plaintiffs.

Yet statistics show that 9 out of 10 lawsuits brought against the county are ruled against by the Judiciary in favor of the county.

Being a Taxpayer’s advocate probably has not helped him either.

His contempt charge stems from refusal to turn over financial documents of a client in a case where the plaintiff lost with Fine representing them, and was ordered to then pay the opposing side’s attorney fees and court costs.

Whether right or wrong in his actions one thing is for sure, for a 70 year old family man and once successful Beverly Hills attorney to endure 14 months of solitary confinement on principle alone certainly suggests he does indeed have a lot of principles and is prepared to stand up for them.


www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is over the top, bless Mr. Fine's heart, now if they can hold someone like him without charge just think of what they are doing to Jane and John Doe.

Don't buck the system folks or you may find yourself in Mr. Fine's position.

Thank you Proto for bringing this to our attention.

CA is a backwards and arrogent state. rich people have made it so lad back and ritzy, its disgusting really.
contempt of court? an eldrly man no less? IM no law major..but contempt of court usualy means up to like, 3 ro 4 days in the slammer, and no more?
for thier to be no charge is a direct violation of judicial law, we all know that. unless they put a communist judge on the bench

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


This sounds like California. This isn't the worse thing happening in the jails and court system out here. At least hes in solitary, who knows how long he'd last in a tank. With money on his books, hes prolly just fine.

At least they are not avalanching him with charges. Or giving him a public defender who works with the DA, or a public defender who won't even talk to you, or look at your case properly.

[edit on 24-5-2010 by onequestion]

Originally posted by onequestion
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

This sounds like California. This isn't the worse thing happening in the jails and court system out here. At least hes in solitary, who knows how long he'd last in a tank. With money on his books, hes prolly just fine.

At least they are not avalanching him with charges. Or giving him a public defender who works with the DA, or a public defender who won't even talk to you, or look at your case properly.

[edit on 24-5-2010 by onequestion]

The Los Angeles County Justice System is very over crowded and the Judiaciary suspect to day the least.

They appear to simply be refusing to release him on the contempt charges until he provides the information regarding his clients financial records he is refusing to release.

The bad thing is that he is being held in indefinite suspension and chances are had he been charged with the actual refusal to disclose versus contempt he would have long ago been released.

You have to admire him sticking it out on principle though.

Thanks for posting.

His heart is in the right place but to bad his attorney indoctrination has worked against him. he is in jail by his own consent to give jurisdiction to the court and make himself a ward of the court by contracting with said court. Not to mention they see him as a traitor so I am sure they are even breaking thier own laws to keep him confined.

Wow, I don't know if anyone here knows what solitary, or isolation is like, but I can tell you what it's like in Santa Barbara County, which is near Los Angeles.

They strip you down completely naked, then they stick you in a square tiled room with nothing in it.

There's not even a toilet, there's a drain, or hole in the center of the room and you are forced to go there.

There is a drinking fountain I beleive, .... but that's it, no tv, no bed, no blankets ....... nothing.

Originally posted by hawkiye
His heart is in the right place but to bad his attorney indoctrination has worked against him. he is in jail by his own consent to give jurisdiction to the court and make himself a ward of the court by contracting with said court. Not to mention they see him as a traitor so I am sure they are even breaking thier own laws to keep him confined.

You have that right my friend, he clearly has contracted into the system in a way that prevents him from being able to exercize his own sovereignty even after being stripped of his Esquire Title.

Clearly they are making an example of him for the other Officers of the Court so they think twice about representing their clients to the honest best of their ability.

Martin Armstrong makes this guy look like an amateur. Martin was thrown in prison on contempt charges for seven years before finally accepting a 5 year plea. That is, 5 years on top of the 7 already served.

His economic essays are a great read, and if he is right about a lot of this (which I think he is) then it is no wonder certain people wanted him locked up.

FWIW, he spent plenty of time in solitary and has also been beaten within an inch of his life. NY judges are just as vindictive as CA judges it seems.

Martin's unofficial site

[edit on 24-5-2010 by nydsdan]

reply to post by nydsdan


Wow, that's a case worthy of some serious research.

It's pretty clear when you run afoul of the system, that they will attempt to use every thing at their disposal regardless of it's legality to impose it's will.

Thank goodness we are all free here in the United States of America huh?





Thanks for sharing that, I definately want to look into Mr. Armstrong.

If this is a civil contempt , then he should be able to set off the incurred damages.

If this is a criminal contempt , then the injured party should be identified and asked to make amends .

In either case where the hell is the JURY to oversee the incarceration of this human soul ?

oh , I forgot , in UCC , there are no human beings but only the citizens and officers of the ship .


Disgrace , total disgrace .

reply to post by 23432


We are seeing Roman Captain's Law for sure here in this case, when the Judge simply uses their power to order and compel for the sake of the state's power and not to protect the population or arrive at a conclusion.

It is vendictive punishment aimed at nothing but forcing submission.

reply to post by IntastellaBurst


I think that may be for people who are 5150 or some sort of risk to themselves. I would think he is in a 1 man cell with a toilet and bunk. He is probably allowed to shower like 2-3 times a week or something like that, with commissary and library access.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler


It just so happens that Martin Armstrong released an essay last week titled Immoral - Not - Illegal: A Crisis in Ethics Repeating the 1930's

In the first few pages of this essay, Mr Armstrong explains exactly what is wrong with the judicial system and how it got that way. He claims that the Grand Jury and Petit Jury are not functioning as designed, and as a result we are facing tyranny. I am only 5 pages in, but it is a very timely read. Synchronicity for the win!

Didn't they do the same thing to Bill Clinton's "Whitewater" deal?

It is hard to believe the ACLU doesn't require some sort of habeus corpus for contempt via legal challenge. It amounts to the government coercing cooperation via incarceration. Where is the constitutionality in that?

There is no constitution when you are incarcerated. It is actually something they make you waive or face being jailed indefinitely.

reply to post by onequestion


I have often wished i could live a hermetic or ascetic life. And i am infinitely obstinate. To spend the remainder of my years in meditation might just be a blessing to me.

Here is an article from 2009
articles.latimes.com...

This is truly disgusting what has happened, but somehow not unexpected.

Originally posted by calstorm
Here is an article from 2009
articles.latimes.com...

This is truly disgusting what has happened, but somehow not unexpected.

Where the corporate government is concerned nothing seems to be beyond the pale anymore.

Enemy Combatants, domestic terrorists, administrative detentions, indefinate detentions without charges are all things that will continue to grow.

The more laws a nation has the less justice a nation has, and with 600,000 laws involved in our codes, justice is a thing of the past.

Thanks for posting.