Matt Weidner – Fighting For The American People

Posts Tagged ‘Rocket Docket’

When Dale Earnhardt died the entire nation fell into despair, and shock and mourning. (ok, not the entire nation, but at least the NASCAR nation)  His death sparked a years long examination of the entire sport, serious soul searching and ultimately dramatic changes within one of America’s most revered past times. Dale Earnhardt Death

But this revolution within the sport did not come without a fight.

The death also sparked a major legal and First Amendment battle as  news organizations fought for access to the records of his death in order to understand exactly what corners were cut, what major pieces were missing and ultimately, who was responsible for the tragedy.

As we all mark the death of Florida’s much maligned Rocket Docket, it’s time we all sit down and conduct a serious autopsy of just what went wrong in this most critical  area…our court system..because what went wrong here is far more important than what happened in the Holy Land of American Motorsports. (Sorry NASCAR people, this is more important.)

I’m going to get the full report, but just to whet your appetites, please consider these facts:

A closer look at the types of dispositions within the senior judge funding time frame shows an overwhelming number of dismissals.

In the 5th Circuit, 2,317 cases, or 71 percent of the total backlog, were dismissed within nine months.

This is not a pattern unique to this five-county region: elsewhere in the state, other circuits have experienced as high as a 74 percent dismissal rate.

I want everyone, especially the press to consider these statements.  What if 70% of criminal cases were dismissed?  What if 70% of parking ticket cases were dismissed?  What if 70% of any type of cases were dismissed?

Would this not be a stunning indictment of the process and methodology that led to the filing of these cases?  Should we not all stop and ask ourselves, “How did these cases get filed if so many were forced to be dismissed later?”  And even more disturbing, if this many cases were dismissed once some amount of scrutiny was placed upon them, how many cases were not disposed of, how many homeowners lost their homes and not dismissed when that might have been warranted?

We cannot just let this go away without real inquiry and answering very, very hard questions….PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED ARTICLE.

OCALA NEWS

Today is a day to contemplate the sacrifice made for our freedoms and this day in particular I am terrified by what the comments made by public officials in the attached news article.  The bottom line seems to be this….if your bank alleges default, you have no rights.  So why even bother with a court system?  Why don’t we just let the jack booted thugs come crashing down the doors?  Wouldn’t that be a whole lot easier?

NAPLES PRESS

For a variety of reasons, I’ve been a bit quite on the blog of late.  I certainly don’t have less to say and things have not gotten better to where I feel I can stop…..I’m just biding my time…..and preparing.

Good law continues to be made in most of my cases and while that gives me some comfort, I continue to be concerned about all the bad, horrible, unconstitutional law that’s being made every day in courtrooms all across the state.  This period will be a very dark time in our court’s history…a fact that I think many people are finally waking up to now.

I get the sense that some people finally get it now and that people understand just how dark and sinister the machinations of Governor Rick Scott and the powers in Tallahassee really are. The Bar, the bench and the entire legal community are absolutely retching now as they see legislative proposal after proposal that attack the very foundations of our legal system….and the attacks are just going to keep coming.  Everyone just stood aside and shrugged their shoulders as long as the attacks were coming at people in foreclosure courts….they cheered when the absurd “Rocket Docket” was established…..but those were just the opening salvos in a very dangerous war…..and now they’re coming after the entire court system…..remember what I said…..

First They came… – Pastor Martin Niemoller

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Anyway, we’re too deep now for any of the easier fixes that could have worked when we all started sounding the warning alarms.  But Watch tonight’s episode of 60 Minutes where they will be delving into some of the consequences….and problems….

60 Minutes

Many of the attorneys that are out there fighting for homeowners and consumers show the very highest honor and calling that is the profession of law.  The attorneys that are fighting for homeownerrs– and especially those who articulate that the fight for homeowners is also a fight to protect the integrity of our courts, our judges and this heart and soul of this country– show the general public the highest calling of the profession.

But this fight is not without severe and profound consequences for those attorneys who soldier on in this battle….but this battle must be fought because the fundamental rights of every single American are at stake every single time a homeowner walks into a courtroom and every time  a homeowner loses a home in a non judicial foreclosure proceeding.  As I endure the very real attacks, I must continue to be clear that my objectives are to support and defend our country, our courts, our judges from what is occurring.  I’ve been sharing some thoughts about how the attack on court laws and procedures had resulted in a fundamentally unfair system and wanted to share some feedback to those comments I received from Michael Olenick at Legalprise because I found his comments so powerful….

One thing I remember, is how similar the
Star Chamber resembles foreclosure court.  People make bad comparisons
to the Chamber all the time and they’re usually wrong .. but rocket
docket really is a dead on parallel.

* The Star Chamber was mainly used for evictions. I’ll skip the
treatise in English land law except to say that was functionally the
same as a foreclosure.
* The torture you hear about was uncommon until the end, when the
Chamber became widely used for political persecution.  The primary
purpose of the chamber was rigged foreclosure hearings.  People
described it as eerily normal; out would come the chancellor (judge),
his helpers, and the defendant would have a brief rigged trial and
almost always lose.  Not always, but almost always.
* Where the torture did happen was for lawyers of Star Chamber
defendants.  I won’t go into detail — they’re horror stories — but
they absolutely sent a message you’d better not try to hard with a
Star Chamber defendant, if you decided to take those cases at all.
Lawyers were tortured .. history remembers them as heroes, though I’m
guessing that doesn’t help much.  Defendants who couldn’t find a
lawyer to represent them — keeping in mind that virtually all
land-lords had plenty to pay — lost automatically.
* The hearings themselves were the same: trial by affidavit, it was
nearly impossible to cross-examine the affiant, perjury (a capital
offense back them) was widespread, common .. and ignored.  They were
open or closed depending on the mood of the Chancellor.
* The whole point was to make sure money flowed back to the King.
Bascially, when the King wanted land — whether it was directly or
indirectly (to give to somebody else) — off went the landlord
(yesterday’s mortgage borrower) to the Chamber.  The whole point was
money.
* Even the genesis of the Star Chamber may be land theft.  Black, of
Black’s Law Dictionary, wrote the chamber came from the hebrew word to
record .. as in record and litigate land deeds.  Historians later said
he was wrong, that there were stars on the court of the chamber.  But
the chamber is still around and there are no stars, and nobody ever
wrote about stars, and Black would know — that was back in his time.

Of course, the Star Chamber defendants are how many of the settlers of
this country ended up here.  After their minute or two at rocket
docket off they went to the new world.  The Chamber is viscerally
hated in US history; when the Supreme Court writes about it (in
decisions as late as last decade) they always throw in an adjective
(ex: the dreaded Star Chamber, the wretched Star Chamber, etc..).  Our
founders hated it so much they almost abolished equity courts but
realized some issues weren’t meant for juries so left it, but added
half the Bill of Rights to ensure it never came about again.

Read more about the Star Chamber and consider how the elements described can be applied to today’s judicial and especially non judicial foreclosure proceedings:

Star Chamber Tudor Place

Luminarium

Constitutional

The Star Chambers were real.  They are a critical force in our nation’s jurisprudence and it’s time that everyone takes the time to read and understand just exactly what they were.  Read About Star Chambers Here

The Star Chambers are alive and well, as is the suppression of those who are trying desperately to stand up and fight….trust me, I know this first hand.  As I’ve been sharing my travails and conflict, a friend shared with me some thoughts on the parrallels to today’s Rocket Docket and the evil Star Chambers. I want to thank him, and every one of you for your support, and ask that you consider his analysis:

* The Star Chamber was mainly used for evictions. I’ll skip the treatise in English land law except to say that was functionally the
same as a foreclosure.
* The torture you hear about was uncommon until the end, when the Chamber became widely used for political persecution.  The primary purpose of the chamber was rigged foreclosure hearings.  People described it as eerily normal; out would come the chancellor (judge), his helpers, and the defendant would have a brief rigged trial and almost always lose.  Not always, but almost always.
* Where the torture did happen was for lawyers of Star Chamber defendants.  I won’t go into detail — they’re horror stories — but
they absolutely sent a message you’d better not try to hard with a Star Chamber defendant, if you decided to take those cases at all.
Lawyers were tortured .. history remembers them as heroes, though I’m guessing that doesn’t help much.  Defendants who couldn’t find a lawyer to represent them — keeping in mind that virtually all land-lords had plenty to pay — lost automatically.
* The hearings themselves were the same: trial by affidavit, it was nearly impossible to cross-examine the affiant, perjury (a capital
offense back them) was widespread, common .. and ignored.  They were open or closed depending on the mood of the Chancellor.
* The whole point was to make sure money flowed back to the King. Bascially, when the King wanted land — whether it was directly or
indirectly (to give to somebody else) — off went the landlord (yesterday’s mortgage borrower) to the Chamber.  The whole point was
money.
* Even the genesis of the Star Chamber may be land theft.  Black, of Black’s Law Dictionary, wrote the chamber came from the hebrew word to record .. as in record and litigate land deeds.  Historians later said he was wrong, that there were stars on the court of the chamber.  But the chamber is still around and there are no stars, and nobody ever wrote about stars, and Black would know — that was back in his time.

Of course, the Star Chamber defendants are how many of the settlers of this country ended up here.  After their minute or two at rocket docket off they went to the new world.  The Chamber is viscerally hated in US history; when the Supreme Court writes about it (in decisions as late as last decade) they always throw in an adjective (ex: the dreaded Star Chamber, the wretched Star Chamber, etc..).  Our founders hated it so much they almost abolished equity courts but realized some issues weren’t meant for juries so left it, but added half the Bill of Rights to ensure it never came about again.

Read next a case from the Florida Supreme Court which describes why Star Chambers are repugnant to our courts:

miami

I am so far beyond disturbed anymore.  I was disturbed a year ago after we went to Tallahassee and demanded a moratorium on foreclosures because of all the evidence of major problems.  I am sickened by what is happening in our courtrooms.  Courtrooms no longer symbolize for me the highest aspirational qualities of our country.  In the last several weeks I’ve been beaten up in courtrooms all across this state and I am convinced our court system has been consumed by the same evil and perversions that are wreaking havoc on the rest of our country and economy.

The sad thing is we’ve all become too weak to do anything about it….and for that, we deserve the government we’ve not got…..

Dubbed the ‘rocket docket’, the county’s foreclosure track cruises through several hundred cases daily, many ending in judgments for the lender and the subsequent scheduling of a foreclosure sale.

In the process, critics say, the docket tramples basic rules of civil procedure and due process. They point to the speed with which judges move cases along, and the emphasis on an expedited trial or summary judgment versus discovery.

Naples Daily News