Monday, March 18, 2024

2018 Maine settlement involved "more than a dozen police officers and prosecutors."

From the Portland Press Herald story 

Former Gouldsboro resident Vladek Filler already reached a $375,000 settlement against more than a dozen police officers and prosecutors.

If you can't access that story because you don't have a subscription to the Portland Maine newspaper, here's a link to Filler's story at the National Registry of Exonerations.

And a summary at the website for WABI 5

In 2011, I blogged about this, and tried to help. 

Sunday, March 10, 2024

A Jab at the Bar

Abraham Lincoln was a self-taught lawyer. How ironic, that The Maine Supreme Judicial Court - if Lincoln was alive today - would not allow him to practice law in Maine. States that do allow students to practice law, who've graduate from non-ABA-accredited schools, limit the cases they can litigate. An article at the Cleveland State University, tells what some of the pros and cons are:  

The short-term benefits of attending unaccredited law schools are outweighed by the realities of the legal profession. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBEX) found that 23 states and territories required completion of ABA-accredited law degrees for bar exam eligibility. Graduates of non-ABA accredited law schools limit where they can practice law from the start.

It's not like an individual is going to behave in a more ethical manner if he graduates from an ABA-accredited school than one who hasn't.

I was reading some of the decisions by The Maine Board of Bar Examiners today. One applicant, who wanted to practice law in Maine, had fraudulently married a man in 2010 so that he could stay in the United States: immigration fraud. She divorced him in 2013 so she could marry her boyfriend. I had to laugh when I read the following in the Board's decision on May 23, 2023 decision denying certification: 

When asked at hearing whether it was accurate to describe herself as being fully cooperative with police in light of her removal of the handcuffs, Ms. McGonagle testified that it would have been uncooperative if police had specifically told her not to remove the handcuffs. 

Now that's the kind of response I'd expect from a lawyer, and I might even hire her... and fire the police officer who didn't properly apply the handcuffs. 

The Board is sympathetic to those who have remorse and who have changed their ways. Apparently, the reason the Board denied McGonagle's application for a Certificate of Qualification on May 12, 2023:  

At every turn since 2010, Ms. McGonagle chose deception over candor. 

Despite her past, she'd been hired to work as a law clerk in Superior Court of York County, for two justices. When interviewed for the position in 2020 she wasn't asked about her past evidently. And in the summer of 2021 Allison took the Bar exam and passed it. 

Being of good moral character a supposed necessity to practice law in Maine, Allison appealed the Board's decision; she did that within days of getting their decision. Efficiency is a good skill for an attorney to have.

On August 31 a hearing was held, and on September 25, 2023 Justice Joseph Jabar remanded the case to the Board for issuance of a Certificate of Qualification! Surely having the two justices she clerked for, Mulhern and Douglas, testify on her behalf influenced the decision by the Maine Supreme Court justice.

The Investigating Commission for Lewiston, (ICL) and it's members

The recordings of the meetings of the Commission investigating the Lewiston mass shooting are available, including the one I spoke at on November 20, 2023. The Chair, Daniel Wathen, tried to silence me a few times when I spoke about some of the interactions I've had with the police, and some of the horrible decisions of all of the judges on the Commission! And yes Mr. Wathen it is relevant.

I understand police are faced with difficult decisions, especially in domestic violence situations when two people need to have space from each other at least, yet they both have a right to occupy one residence. It's a problem in every state around the country. And I believe it was a problem in Robert Card's family, although that aspect of his life has not garnered much attention. Just as many people die every year in Maine by acts of domestic violence as died in the mass shooting.    

Is verbal assault domestic violence? I mean it doesn't always lead to physical violence but sometimes does. In Maine about half of homicides are related to domestic violence. At the Maine State Police/Department of Public Safety the number of homicide deaths in 2023 is listed at 53; this includes the 18 mass shooting victims. I feel that the resources which police have to deal with domestic violence are not adequate. Since there's usually nowhere to bring someone except for jail, argumants which can't get resolved often turn violent.  

Nobody's perfect, but it's clear that in Maine it's very difficult to get people in government held accountable. Will there be consequences for those who failed to take appropriate action? Will changes come in time to prevent another mass shooting?

You can use the search bar at the top left of my blog to search the names of the judges: Wathen, Gorman, and Rushlau to find out my connections to them... some of their dirty decisions.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

The Elusive Safety Committee - Lewiston, Maine

The Commission investigating the Lewiston Maine mass shooting met again on March 4. I attended and listened to the stories of victims who survived, and family members and friends of those who didn't. They want answers, so something like this doesn't happen again...and solutions.

Eager to work on making Lewiston safer, I've been trying to find out the status of the safety committee which Mayor Sheline formed last fall, before Robert Card killed 18 people. I want to participate in the meetings. Despite that I've left messages a few times, nobody has returned my phone calls. 

The mayor was at the meeting. Before it got underway, he walked over to where I had just sat. I gave him my business card for my cleaning business, PJM Cleaning, and wrote the name of my blog on the back. I told him that I've had some interactions with Lewiston police lately...and some were not good. I couldn't go into details. 

After the meeting, which lasted from 9 am until 1 pm, I walked around the room asking who I should contact about the going-ons of the Safety Committee. A family member of one of the victims pointed to Brian O'Malley. So, I found out, he's the Deputy City Administrator for Lewiston, and a former police chief. He would not even take my business card, and couldn't get away from me fast enough. 

Lewiston police union president speaks out against mayor's advisory committee

Under new City Council, Lewiston staff to serve on mayor’s community safety committee

Just before the committee was formed there was an incident at the library which is located downtown, near City Hall. 



Lewiston officials say public library is secure after employee assaul

Monday, March 4, 2024

"Speedy Trial" Act

The 131st Maine Legislature

Legislative Document LD 1771 - An Act Regarding Speedy Trials

From the Summary of the bill:

This bill establishes time limits for the commencement of a defendant's criminal trial and provides remedies for when the time limits have been violated.

The Legal Director for the ACLU of Maine, Carol Garvan, supports the bill. Ten other individuals gave testimony to the Joint Standing Committee on Judiciary, on May 10, 2023. You can read those here.

The only person who was neither for or against the bill was Andrea Mancuso, Public Policy Director of the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence (MCEDV). And I agree with her. You can read her testimony here.

Passing the bill isn't going to guarantee that the constitutional rights of indigent criminal defendants don't get violated. There's been a lack of private attorneys willing to take on such cases in Maine for many years. A public defender's office was finally funded, and opened late in 2023; I learned about 
The Capital Region Public Defender's Office at Maine Public's website.

However, constitutional rights are being violated in other ways, such as flawed police arrests and investigations, prosecutors and attorneys holding back exculpatory evidence, plea bargains made under duress (all of them are actually), and uneducated, uninformed and/or dishonest jurors convicting defendants. 

The entire justice system needs overhauling. Rules are different depending on a person's wealth! Yes cash bail discriminates against the poor. Here are a few interesting reads about bail and bail reform:


And violations of due process of the law certainly exist in small claims cases and civil trials as well as in criminal cases and trials.

While I think the current crisis needs a solution, I don't agree the solution is to just set the accused free without the possibility of ever being tried for the alleged crime. If you scroll to the bottom of LD 1771, you'll see that's the proposed remedy.

§1493. Remedy for noncompliance with time limit

If a trial does not commence within the time established by statute, the case shall be dismissed with prejudice.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Robbins v. MCILS - ACLU lawsuit

At the website of the American Civil Liberties Union you'll find the complaint, as well as motions and orders, in pdf form, regarding the lawsuit in Maine which was granted class-action status in 2022.

Under the heading "Take Action" if you scroll to the bottom of the ACLU's webpage, there are topics you can click on and send prewritten letters by email to lawmakers.

In August, 2023 the Portland Press Herald reported that the ACLU and the Commission (MCILS) tasked with providing legal counsel to indigent defendants, had reached a deal. However, it didn't get approved by Justice Micaela Murphy. In September of 2023 under the story "Judge rejects proposed deal on indigent defense lawyers"

The agreement notably goes beyond the commission’s direct control, relying heavily on outside cooperation from court officials, state lawmakers and county jails. Much of the settlement depends on the commission “successfully advocating” for increased resources and support.

“I just don’t know what that means,” she said. “Does that mean you have to bring sleeping bags to the appropriations table?

If Husson College's law students had been allowed to take the Bar exam and practice law in Maine, even though professors at the college located in Bangor were not tenured, maybe there would not be this shortage of attorneys in Maine. From a March 4, 2010 story by Judy Harrison at the Bangor Daily News website, titled Supreme court rejects Husson law school’s application

In its proposal to the supreme court, representatives from Husson said its law school would cater to nontraditional students, offer courses at night and during the day, and allow students to attend part time. As of Thursday, Husson had received 192 inquiries from potential students, mostly from northern and eastern Maine, said Julie Green, Husson’s spokeswoman.

In 1963 The Supreme Court of the United States decided a case, Gideon v. Wainright. That case expanded legal assistance, to criminally charged defendants who could not afford counsel, not only in federal cases, but in state courts. 

At the American Bar Association's website, from a story in 2008 titled Access to Justice: Is Civil Gideon A Piece of the Puzzle? it's revealed that the ABA has known for thirty years what a problem we have in the United States, regarding the lack of legal aid in civil cases as well as criminal ones. 
 
...a 1994 ABA study that found that about four of every five civil legal needs for low-income families were not being met. Several subsequent state surveys found similar results.

Monday, November 27, 2023

Commission formed to investigate mass shooting

Governor Mills appointed a Commission to investigate the apparent failures in Maine to find Robert Card and take his firearms...despite that there were many warnings that he would commit a mass shooting. 

Who was Robert Card? Confirmed details on Maine gunman

I have concerns about all three of the judges who are on the Commission! And on Monday, November 20, 2023 I went to the capital where they met at 10 am, and voiced my concerns that these judges are not even being held accountable in their own professions for clearly erroneous decisions. 

Concerning Judge Geoffrey Rushlau, in 2014 he was District Attorney for four Maine counties! Mainera are paying for the mistakes of Maine government employees. 

Former Lincoln County Employee Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit 

Rushlau forced her to resign in December 2014 under false and misleading pretenses, according to court documents.

Regarding the newly formed Commission, I forgot to ask at the meeting in November, if they would be paid, how much, and where the money would come from. Only a few other members of the public spoke at the meeting. 

Many crimes are committed by individuals who either have prior histories of violence, drug addiction, or mental illness. In April of 2023 a Maine man, who had just been released from prison, shot and killed his parents and two other individuals, as well as injured total strangers. 

Police: Maine man killed parents before firing on motorists

Monday, March 2, 2020

Alaska Judge Anna Von Reitz

Not all judges are evil. 

"I am a Great-grandma from Big Lake, Alaska, who can read and think like millions of other Americans and for whatever reasons-- mostly a 17 year-long battle with the IRS--I decided to research the mess this country is in and how we got here."

That's what's written in Judge Von Reitz's IntroductionI love the name of one of her books... America: Some Assembly Required.

At her Home Page, you'll find over 2300 articles on a variety of topics relating to politics, the government, and law.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Form 4473 - and the "Felon" label

People in states that allow either recreational or medical marijuana use are going to face big problems from the new form 4473, which apparently makes it a crime to purchase a gun if you use marijuana. If marijuana users aren't allowed to purchase guns, does that mean law enforcement could take a gun or guns away from someone if they know that individual uses marijuana? Here's a link to a Portland Press story about the new form 4473.

Law-abiding citizens who turn in their guns, or don't purchase them because of this new question on the form 4473, will be helpless against the real criminals. Anyone can get a gun, whether it be through a friend, or through a failed background check as shown below. Pete had been labeled a felon, due to a conviction in 1981, but was still approved in 2003 to purchase a gun.




He also purchased guns at K-Mart, Joe Jones, and other dealers. The "felon" label never goes away in Maine, unless you apply for a pardon and it's granted. The state arbitrarily preys upon those who, though they may have made mistakes in the past, might have changed over the years. 

The state allowed my husband to purchase guns through licensed dealers, then took them away claiming he didn't have the right to possess them. In 2013, against my wishes, Pete took a plea bargain and spent a week in jail, lost all our family's guns, and had to pay a fine. 


Thursday, March 2, 2017

Double Jeopardy...or worse.

Maine Game Wardens should never have seized our family's guns just because of Pete's decades old conviction in 1981 when he was 18 or 19 years old. That's like double jeopardy (prosecution twice for the same offense), only you don't get tried the second time...only convicted.

I asked for Intervenor status, as well as for there to be a hearing (called a Frank's hearing) to challenge the search warrant. It was Maine Game Wardens, assisted by other law enforcement, who came to our home and confiscated all of our family's guns in April of 2011. Any of the guns purchased by my husband, I could have circumvented the law and purchased for him I suppose. P
urchased during our marriage, the guns were marital property. They also took those that belonged to our sons, which we kept in one large gunsafe. 

Regarding my request, a hearing was scheduled in 2013; however I was not notified! Since Pete wanted to get things over with, he never told me, and neither he or his court-appointed attorney went to the hearing, so my motion was dismissed. Pete ended up agreeing to a plea bargain for the supposed crime of being a felon in possession of firearms. He spent a week in jail, probably has another felon on his record, lost his guns to the state, has to pay a fine, and can't hunt with a gun, nor have one in our home for our protection. Oh, I can have one if I don't allow him access...come on.

The new form 4473 has a question on it, 11.e., which asks the applicant if they use marijuana. Despite that your state may have legalized it for recreational use, or even if you have been prescribed it for medical use, you will not be able to legally purchase a gun if you admit to using marijuana.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Hazel-Atlas Glass Co. vs. Harford Glass Co.

I previously blogged about an employer who lied to the Maine Department of Labor during an interview regarding unemployment benefits. He said I had quit. I didn't quit...I was wrongfully terminated. 

The Unemployment Commission on January 31, 2017, affirmed the decision of the Office of Administrative Hearings, which had affirmed the decision of the Bureau of Labor...or whatever. They're all birds of a feather, and they flock together. By now I know the chances of getting justice if you are just an average Joe or Joann are pretty slim, I've asked for a reconsideration regardless. 

I have 6 months from the date of the alleged violations of employment law, to file a complaint with the EEOC. That deadline will come around the end of March. 

Anyway, there is no deadline to get a decision reversed if someone lies in court, or to a government agency like the Maine Department of Labor. Here's a Wikipedia article about the Supreme Court case Hazel-Atlas Glass Co. v. Hartford-Empire Co. which affirmed that. However, most people cannot afford to ever get to trial even if they're sure the law is on their side, because of the high costs involved.  

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Look a likes - Gorsuch and Stewart II

Neil Gorsuch was nominated to be the next justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He has a look alike in Maine: Justice Hal Stewart II.

Gorsuch was chosen by President Donald Trump, though former President Barack Obama wanted a judge, named Merrick Garland, to replace Antonin Scalia, according to an Associated Press story. Scalia passed away on 2-13-2016

Neil Gorsuch












Harold Stewart II

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Lawyers Reprimanded

I was working for Wyman's of Maine in their factory in Cherryfield during blueberry harvest when I first read the story while on break in the cafeteria. The August 6, 2015 story in the Ellsworth American is titled "Two area lawyers reprimanded", written by Stephen Rappaport. While I've provided a link to the newspaper's website, I can't find the story online. I did save the newspaper clipping, so I'll quote from it about the second attorney mentioned:
In a second order also issued July 20, Ellsworth attorney Steven A. Juskewitch was similarly sanctioned for his "repetitive improper conduct and inappropriate action" for communicating with a woman who was not his client, and who had no lawyer, in an effort to obtain her signature "on documents that would ultimately benefit his client..."
Huh, an attorney was reprimanded for doing what Judge Hunter had done to Pete: got his signature on a form from the District Attorney when Pete didn't have an attorney's help. When I tried to stop Pete from signing anything, and called out "don't sign", Judge Hunter imprisoned me. That morning I had asked the clerk for a form and filled it out with Pete; he hate's paperwork you know. The form was a request for an attorney, at the state's expense. This was regarding the Maine Game Warden's invasion of our home and taking of our family's guns under the guise of public safety. Pete had never asked to be pardoned for the "felon" conviction, which shouldn't have even been considered a felony. 

Judge Hunter had the bailiff take me in handcuffs to the law library of the Superior Court in Caribou. It was only for an hour or two, until he got Pete to sign what the Assistant District Attorney, April Hare had placed before him...bail conditions, though he hadn't been arrested! They took the guns and gave him a summons. You can find the story using key words like, Hunter, and Hare in the search bar. Those names would be perfect for a fiction story... I wish this was one. I made a complaint regarding Judge Hunter, but the Committee for Judicial Responsibility and Disability dismissed it of course. 

And here's what the the other attorney was reprimanded or sanctioned for, by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar. The Ellsworth American story doesn't say what punishment the lawyers received, what the sanctions were. 

In a Stipulated Report of Findings and Order dated July 20, Hancock County Assistant District Attorney William B. Entwisle of Sedgwick was sanctioned for "for improper actions and lack of appropriate professional judgment" arising from his failure to turn over discovery materials to the defendants or their lawyers in two separate criminal cases he was prosecuting.

Hungry for Justice - Panel finds no bias in MHRC?

Here's a link to a post I made in October of 2011 after being fired from my waitressing job at the Long Lake Sporting Club.

So, I filed a complaint with The Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) regarding the Martin's. Soon, the MHRC gagged me. That is, they made me sign a statement agreeing not to discuss (or write about) the case while they performed their so-called preliminary investigation. Sounds to me like a violation of the 1st Amendment right to free speech...by a Commission that's supposed to protect human rights? 

Regardless, I refrained from blogging about what the owners of this small town, family-owned restaurant in Sinclair Maine had done. It took two years for the MHRC to complete it's investigation; and they found there was NRG - that is No Reasonable Grounds to believe that discrimination occurred. 

Last fall the governor ordered an investigation of the Commission, worried that the Commission was biased against employers! And guess what? Well, read about it here. The story's title, LePage’s probe of human rights panel finds no bias against businesses, leaves no doubt in ones mind of what the outcome was. Any reasonable person would have found that the Commission is biased... against employees! How else can you explain this, from the story? 
The report found that in 2014, only 5 percent of the cases filed with the commission resulted in the commission finding reasonable grounds that there was a violation.
You can see for yourself from the pdf's of the meeting minutes at the Commission's website. The MHRC didn't take Michael Aftkin's case, and he ended up winning a lawsuit against his employer. 

Or you can believe the MHRC. They posted about the findings of the investigation at their website, under news or archives, titled "News flash: MHRC is not biased!" And can you guess what they feel is needed in order to advance the MHRC's good work? You'll find the answers at the law firm PretiFlaherty's website in a post titled "Governor's Panel supports Maine Human Rights Commission" at 13. Increase the MHRC’s budget. 



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

The latest on Mary Kellett...

Well, here's news about Mary Kellett. An attorney named Luke Rioux posted the latest at his website Harmless Error, writing that the penalty for the Assistant D.A. Kellett's dirty deeds was "almost nothing."

I had helped circulate a petition calling for her dismissal a while back, after Judge Kevin Cuddy found Kellett guilty of prosecutorial misconduct. She'd kept important facts of the case from Vladek Filler's attorney... evidence which was detrimental to the prosecution. Filler was then found guilty of domestic violence and/or charges of that nature.

Interesting, Kellett's disciplinary hearing was presided over by Ellen Gorman. She's the judge who kept us from getting to trial in Androscoggin Superior Court after doctors at Blue Hill Memorial Hospital treated my son, Aaron, for a dislocated shoulder, when it was in fact broken.

The fracture was so slight that it went undetected by emergency room doctors. Yet after they treated for a dislocation, my son needed surgery and pins because they displaced  the fracture. That happened in 2000, when Aaron was 14 years old.

The case was pursued for six years with Attorney Anthony Ferguson before we finally got before the medical malpractice screening panel. After an unfavorable decision there, Ferguson dropped the case, and I filed suit on behalf of my then minor son.

Ellen Gorman, a Superior Court justice in 2006, soon awarded summary judgment to the doctors involved, though in their responses to my complaint, they had admitted a "valid claim exists to defend."

Their attorney had asked for a jury trial and paid the fee. Now, here's something I discovered recently in the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 38 e.  Withdrawal. A demand for trial by jury made as provided in this rule may not be withdrawn without the consent of all parties.



Judge sentenced to 28 years... Yahoooo!!!!!!!!!

Remember a few years ago in Pennsylvania a few judges were selling out to private prisons... jailing adolescents who shouldn't be? Well, one of those judges was just sentenced... here's the story.
The state's Supreme Court just threw out 4000 convictions under Ciavarella's rule.


Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Marijuana legalization

Found a story titled Portland, Maine May Legalize Pot. Maine's largest city may soon legalize the herb.  
Among the plan's supporters, Maine ACLU representative Bob Talbot notes that Maine spent $8.9 million enforcing marijuana laws in 2010, and that 47.9 % of all the state's drug arrests that year were for pot charges.
Since legislators killed a bill to legalize pot recently, I read somewhere that it will be 2016 before any law legalizing recreational use could be passed and go into effect.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Pete accepts plea bargain.

Regarding the charges against my husband stemming from the April 28, 2011 search and confiscation of my family's firearms at our home...Pete accepted a plea bargain. Maine Game Wardens obtained a search warrant based on nothing but Pete's "felon" conviction from 1981 and the fact that they'd seen him carrying a gun, while hunting.

Just before he pled guilty, I mailed to the court a motion to be an intervener in the case; but I got no answer. I have a stake in this, as the guns are marital property. The judge didn't respond to my filing. However, the clerk of the court did send a date-stamped copy of my motion to the D.A., and to Pete's attorney who then sent it to Pete.

If a warrant is obtained on false or missing information which would have made a difference in the judge's decision to issue the warrant or not, the case should be dismissed. Well, I requested a Frank's hearing to challenge jurisdiction. However, since the judge wouldn't acknowledge me as a party to the case, that went nowhere.

Two other attorneys had asked to be dismissed from his case... probably because I was asking questions they felt uncomfortable answering, or just couldn't answer without admitting that the whole system is set up to screw the average Joe! Law enforcement officers, in this case the Maine Game Warden Service, often play the "public exigency" card to obtain a warrant, when they have no real reason to believe any danger is about to come to the public.

Apparently, Judge Hunter recused himself from the case. It could well be due to my filing a complaint against him with the Committee for Judicial Responsibility and Disability. Why did I file a complaint? Well, Judge Hunter imprisoned me in the law library of the Superior Court. It's true, he had me handcuffed by the bailiff and escorted out of the courtroom when I tried to assist Pete, who had yet to be appointed an attorney. Judge Hunter wanted him to sign papers put before him by the prosecution: bail conditions, though he wasn't under arrest! With me out of the picture, Pete signed. And he was not too happy that I'd caused a scene, because he had to wait for me for about an hour after he got out of court. To be released I had to apologize to the judge for disrupting his courtroom.

My complaint to the Committee for Judicial Responsibility and Disability was dismissed. Are you surprised? I'm not. This Committee's budget is controlled by judges; complaints are usually dismissed.

The state has yet to return any of ours or our sons' guns. 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Is there a pharmacist in the house?

Yes. after I wrote to Representative Joseph Bruno a few years ago asking for his help regarding a summary judgment by Judge Ellen Gorman in my son's medical malpractice case, essentially denying him a trial and telling him "You lose," Bruno resigned. 

Soon after that, I discovered his ties to the medical community. Well, a recent investigation reveals other legislators and their spouses who benefited from State of Maine contracts from 2003 to 2010 totaling about $235 million... contracts not required to be disclosed because the receiving party was the legislator's company and not the individual legislator; how sick is that?

In the story there's a link to a chart telling who and how much. 

Sunday, January 15, 2012

LePage proposes cuts - but there is a larger debt train than Medicaid!

A December 7, 2011 Morning Sentinel story gives these numbers:
MaineCare is a $2.5 billion-a-year program, although federal funding and other revenue cover most of the cost. MaineCare will cost the state's general fund about $660 million this year.
From a New York Times story on December 23, 2011, about Governor LePage's proposed Medicaid cuts:
Calling the state’s entitlement system “a runaway train,” he has proposed contentious changes, including some of the most drastic Medicaid cuts in the nation.
But Dan Billings in May of 2010, before he was appointed as LePage's chief legal counsel, wrote about another, even larger debt train than Medicaid - it's Maine's unfunded pension obligations, totaling in the billions of dollars! Quoting Billings from the article:
You may wonder how Maine has more debt than the bonds approved by voters. Though the Maine Constitution strictly limits loaning Maine's credit "directly or indirectly," through the years politicians have been creative in coming up with numerous ways that debt could be incurred without voter approval. Unfortunately, Maine's courts, beneficiaries of this extraconstitutional debt, have upheld such schemes.
Maine also has unfunded pension obligations totaling nearly $4 billion. In addition, unfunded obligations for health care coverage for retired state employees, teachers and legislators is estimated to be more than $2.2 billion. These are bills that are certain to come due that will be paid by Maine taxpayers.

"Legislator loophole" - Governor LePage proposes to close it

Legislators and government officials, may soon have to disclose more details about their ties to companies which receive government monies. From the 12-15-11 article:  
Current law only requires that legislators or high-level state employees report state purchases of goods or services worth more than $1,000 directly from the individual legislator or family member, not from a corporation or entity for which the legislator or family member works.

A report by the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting  apparently is what prompted Governor LePage to propose the legislation. The story by Naomi Shalit and John CristieIt looks like in a seven year period, 2003-2010, an average of 34 million dollars per year was received by companies owned by legislators or immediate family members of legislators, or by companies which employed them.

Another loophole exists; and the Executive Director of the Ethics Commission, Jonathan Wayne, doesn't believe that it can be closed until 2013. It's that the deadline for legislators to report such affiliations with companies which receive government money, often comes due after the legislator has left office...so it never gets filed. From  the January 4, 2012 story
There is no disclosure form on file, for example, for the last month and a half that Kurt Adams served as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission in 2008.
This link from one of the stories  shows the names of the Maine officials and legislators whose companies, or companies owned, or partly owned or run by family members, were the major benefactors of our hard-earned tax dollars.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Food for thought

I've been soooooo busy. I'm trying to get my rental units occupied for winter, and my father-in-law, Alcide Michaud, passed away on October 2. 

I started work as a waitress on Friday, September 30, at the Long Lake Sporting Club in Sinclair. I hadn't done anything like that since high school. I was excited about the chance to earn a hundred or more dollars in like five hours of work; however, I was denied an equal share of the pooled tips! Telling me I was still "in training" the owners allowed the waitress in charge to give me less than half the pay other waitresses received... including one who was hired a few days AFTER I was!  

About the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

And now I've been fired. Quoting the owners "It's just not working out." Luckily chef and co-owner of The Swamp Buck, Mark Tardif, had called me just a few days before I was fired, and I've been putting in a few hours at the restaurant, doing some cleaning. I met a woman there named Mindy, who said the owners of the Sporting Club, Deb and Ken Martin, had done the same thing to her.
 
We actually get to take breaks there, and we have a time clock... unlike at the Sporting Club. Though it isn't illegal to not have a time clock, it is illegal not to pay employees for hours worked simply because you didn't get any customers that day, or night. 

Maine Department of Labor

Maine Human Rights Commission - The Whistleblower's Protection Act is supposed to protect a person who reports his/her employer's illegal activity and then is fired. You'll find actual reports at the Commission's website, however names are hidden. 

Deal, or No Deal? The plea bargain

My husband, Pete, had to appear in court today regarding the "felon in possession of firearms" charges. He wouldn't let me go to court with him. He wants to get this over with. I want him to go to trial. It's causing alot of anxiety in our home. 

Hunting was a sport that he enjoyed so much, and something our sons liked to do with him. Maine and federal law enforcement officers, judges, and other players in the so-called "justice system" have turned our lives upside down. 

Back in May I blogged about the unreasonable search and seizure involving about a dozen employees of Maine - most of them Maine Game Wardens, and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). 

Agents of the state and federal governments took over a dozen guns - many belonging to our sons - from our home on April 28, 2011. They did it under the guise of public safety, even though they waited 3 months before acting on the knowledge that Pete was a "felon" and in possession of a firearm. We kept our family's guns in a locked safe until needed during hunting season.

Here's some information about plea bargains from a 1979 law journal, titled Plea Bargaining - A Necessary Evil? 

Monday, September 26, 2011

Intervention is key to a safe community! Maine man with extensive criminal record shot by police, dies.

I just learned about this story, posted earlier this morning. Paul Fritze opened fire in the home of a neighbor who had invited him over for a birthday party; and Maine State Police shot and killed him. I agree that guys like Fritze should not be allowed access to guns. Quoting the Kennebec Journal story by Craig Crosby:
A New Jersey probation officer was quoted in published reports describing Fritze as dangerous, "a time bomb and an accident waiting to happen" when in possession of a firearm.
However, grabbing guns from someone whose been labeled a "felon," as my husband has, but who has since changed his/her ways, is simply put a revenue-maker for the state. Laws which enable this do nothing to prevent true crime, and actually increase organized crime, committed by agents of the state and federal governments.

An apparent neighbor of Fritze, Donna Bruen, "said she wishes that neighbors had done more to reach out to Fritze" Crosby wrote. Intervention is integral.  


They have a Right to censure, that have a Heart to help: The rest is Cruelty, not Justice. ~William Penn 

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Judge dismisses "eavesdropping" charges against Illinois man

Michael Allison was facing 75 years in jail for recording police officers in court; certain statutes in Illinois make it a felony to record without the permission of all parties. Fortunately, Judge David Frankland dismissed the five counts.

Allison, who repairs cars, was facing charges for breaking an ordinance dealing with non-registered vehicles in his yard, and had asked for a court reporter in his case; when he was denied, he recorded the proceedings himself.

Judge Frankland takes a common-sense approach. He states:  
“The statute [as it is currently written] includes conduct that is unrelated to the statute’s purpose and is not rationally related to the evil the legislation sought to prohibit,”
Allison was a guest on Rule of Law Radio, where you can listen to the archived show. The charges appear to have been in retaliation for Michael Allison exposing what is described at the Rule of Law website as "a massive car title theft ring implicating public servants of municipalities, sheriffs departments, and the State of Illinois." Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Maine v. Roland G. Pouliot

I was looking for Maine cases regarding instances in which someone had been charged with "possession of firearms" that were actually owned by someone else; and I found a 2003 Maine Supreme Court case Maine v. Roland G. Pouliot.

The State of Maine confiscated eighty-eight firearms from the Pouliot family! The defendant's wife, Sylvia, and her son operate a discount store in Machias, Maine; and son Jamie operates a pawnshop. She confirmed that all but one gun, a black powder rifle, were returned to Jamie, who was a third party intervenor. I spoke with Sylvia Pouliot today and she said her husband did spend 90 days in county jail for the charge, but there was no fine. They hired their own lawyer, and she said costs were about $30,000.        

Friday, September 23, 2011

Supreme Court rulings - Gun "use" in drug deals

I found this entry at Wikipedia very interesting. The Supreme Court, in one case (Smith v. United States), found that trading an automatic weapon for cocaine constituted "use" of a firearm in a drug deal; but in Watson v. United States, receiving a firearm in a drug trade was not considered "use."

In Watson, Justice Ginsburg was in the majority. Quoting from the Wikipedia entry: 
Her reasoning is that she defines the word “use” to mean using as a weapon and not in bartering transactions. She also goes on to state that she would overrule Smith, 508 U.S., at 241, and make the precedent both “coherent and consistent with normal usage.”



   

Thursday, September 22, 2011

I found Laura! Or she found me rather.

When I opened my email earlier I found a message from someone who I thought I'd never hear from! Click on the headline to read Laura's story at Ripoff Report. Judge French screwed us in 2004, and in 2005 Laura wrote about how Judge French ignored her evidence after she had her son taken from her due to her husband's actions. 

I didn't discover the story until the autumn of 2009, at which time I posted about it; and hours ago Laura posted a comment under that post. Below is the email message I received. Thanks Laura... I definitely do plan to keep in touch! 

Laura Kirkland has left a new comment on your post "Government Monster Out of Control - CPS/DHS - Augusta Maine.":

Hello,
My name is Laura Kirkland, the woman mentioned in your posting here. It has been several years since I wrote that account of my DHS/CPS nightmare. Since then, I have tried to stay active in working with and helping other individuals and families affected by unbalanced, unethical, tyrannical and often illegal policies. I am very interested in working to make changes in our VERY primitive system(s). Although I am now 47 years old, I am a senior in college working towards my Bachelors of Science in Psychology and Criminal Justice. I also believe that active communication is key to successful changes and am very pleased to have found this site!
My email address is LauraKirkland123@aol.com if anyone would like to contact me regarding...anything :)
 

"Hunter" season is here!

Tensions are high in the Michaud household. Hunting season is here and our sons want their guns back! Our oldest telephoned the Maine Warden Service and was told the guns would probably not be returned, and that he'd better have good receipts.

Pete's court-appointed attorney, Toby Jandreau, has done virtually nothing to get the ridiculous charges against him dropped... you know "felon in possession of firearms" and "fraudulently obtaining a hunting license." The lawyer should disqualify the judge, whose name is ironically "Hunter"; and the Assistant D.A.'s name is April Hare. The D.A. made Pete an offer: forfeit the guns - although it's not clear which ones as the state hasn't bothered to determine who actually owns them - and pay a total of $2500 in fines. Scroll back to my May 3 blog entry to read more.





Sunday, September 18, 2011

1902 Dick Act invalidates gun control laws

Apparently, legislation passed in 1902, called the Dick Act, invalidates all gun control laws; the problem is, Congress just ignores it.

I want to thank the anonymous commenter to my July 14, 2011 blog post for bringing this to my attention.