Thursday, June 25, 2009

Double Books at the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit?

An Attempt to Disambiguate the State of the Records of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Relative to Petition Docketed Online Under the Name of Jailed Attorney Richard I Fine

____________________________________________________________

A) Background

The request below was sent to the Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit, and it pertains to petition posted on the docket of the court, Fine v U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, No 09-71692, originating from Fine v Sheriff Dept of LA County, No 2:09-cv-01914-JFW-CW. Such petition is posted as representing the putative Emergency Petition for a Writ of Mandate and/or Prohibition of jailed Att Richard Fine, alternatively - his putative Habeas Corpus Petition.

The petition looks nowhere like the work product of an experienced attorney like Richard Fine. One couldn't even figure out what type of petition it was. Examples of Habeas Corpus Petitions filed and argued by Att Richard Fine before the U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit, can be seen under xxx

The court records themselves reveal an inherent conflict in figuring out what type petition it was - a Habeas Corpus Petition, or an Emergency Petition for a Writ of Mandate and/or Prohibition: In the docketing text the petition is twice referred to as a Habeas Corpus Petition. However, in the letter by the Clerk of the Court (page 1 in Doc #1 in the docket) it is referred to as a Petition for a Writ of Mandate and/or Prohibition.

The main concern regarding the docketing of such petition is that careful review of the records of the U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit must lead a reasonable person to the conclusion that the petition was in fact rejected, and that it was never accepted by the Court as a valid record, and therefore, it was never Filed and it was never Entered into a valid Court File in the records of the Court. Appearance of such petition in the online docket, with the letter from the Clerk of the Court acknowledging receipt (but neither Filing nor Entering of the petition), is surely going to mislead many to believe the contrary - that such petition was accepted by the Court as a valid record, that it was Filed and that it was Entered, and therefore - that it was/is going to be reviewed and considered by the Court in its capacity as a review panel.

Of yet greater concern is the fact that in similar situations in the past, the U.S. Court of Appeals- 9th Circuit issued orders on the matter, that were ambiguous as well. Such orders could be seen by some as recognition of the invalidity of the records. However, such orders could be claimed by others as reflecting a denial proper of a valid petition upon review and consideration. Examples include, but are not limited to: (1) Zernik v U.S. District Court, Los Angeles, No 08-72714, and (2)

This writer's opinion is that allowing such ambiguity to stand is uniquely harmful for the cause of Att Richard Fine. and also for public understanding of any rulings that may be issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit on this matter - and therefore - to the appearance of Justice being done by the Court of Appeals-9th Circuit. The public may not be able to understand the nuances of such situation.

Therefore, attempts are being made to disambiguate that which should have been made crystal clear had the public gained access to a Register of Actions of the Court, where it must state clearly relative to each and every record : Filed, and/or Entered, with clear identification of the Party or Counsel who transacted the filing, the Date of Filing, the Date of Entry, and valid Verifications of each and every one of the statements regarding filing and entry by a duly authorized Clerk of the Court.

All of these critical features are missing from the "Docket" provided for public access online. Therefore, there is no way for the public (including parties and counsel) to tell what the state is of such strange and unusual record as the petition posted in case No 09-71692 Fine v U.S. District Court, Los Angeles.

Let's hope that the U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit, realize that allowing any such ambiguity to remain on such matters as whether a given record was filed and entered with the court, or not, amounts to compromised Due Process for Att Richard Fine, and that the state of such records must be disambiguated BEFORE any ruling is issued on the matter, not AFTER.

____________________________________________________________

B) June 25, 2009 Email to the Clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit: A Request for Disambiguation.
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:03:23 -0700
To:
From: joseph zernik
Subject: Urgent: Re: Request for leave to file papers in sham litigation at U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit

The matter is urgent, and time is of the essence.
.
Mr David Paris
Office of the Clerk
U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit.
Mr Paris:
Thanks for the note.

A couple of questions:

1) As the text of the paper I sent for filing in court itself states, the term "Received" is an ambiguous one.
I request to know whether the paper was stamped "Filed" by the court,

2) Will I get my conformed copy? I enclosed an extra copy and a stamped, self addressed envelope.

3) In case the paper was stamped: "Filed", I also request to know how I may be able to tell if it will ever be "Entered", since the online docket on display to the public seems to consistently avoid the proper use of the term "Enter" relative to the papers received by the U.S. Court of Appeal, 9th Circuit.

4) In case it was "Filed" and "Entered", is there any idea when the request may be addressed? I would like to file a couple of other papers in this case, and I was hoping for a quick answer on the matter of leave to file.

5) Based on all the above, I must assume that the court has its own register system, where it clearly marks for internal use the status of each file. I cannot see how any court could work off the information the way it is displayed on the Pacer online. Assuming that such is the case, I believe that such register would be deemed court record, subject to Nixon v Warner Communications, Inc (1978), where the U.S. Supreme Court re-affirmed the right to access court records to inspect and to copy.
I therefore would like to know what it would cost and what method of payments are acceptable to copy the entire court register and all court papers listed as filed or as received in the following caption - - Fine v U.S. District Court, LA, 09-71692; Originating from: Fine v Sheriff Dept: CV 09-1914-JFW(CW)

I would be grateful for your response on the issues above.


Joseph Zernik
____________________________________________________________

C) June 23, 2009 Email from the Clerk of the U.S. Court of Appeals-9th Circuit, Acknowledgement of Receipt of Paper in Fine v U.S. District Court, Los Angeles.
At 06:12 23/06/2009, you wrote:
Return Receipt
Yourdocument:
  • Request for leave to file papers in sham litigation at U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
was received by:
  • David Paris/CA02/02/USCOURTS
at:
  • 06/23/2009 09:12:54 AM EDT

No comments: