20/20 does story on corrupt judges!

Click here to watch the video.

Bastille Day and Severin Beliveau - Retract Award

----- Original Message -----

From: Paula J Michaud

To: philippe.caillol@diplomatie.gouv.fr
Sent: Thursday, March 05, 2009 4:50 PM
Subject: Bastille Day and Severin Beliveau

Dear Mr. Caillol / Senior Liaison Legal Advisor to Ambassador of France Peirre Vimont,

You should have received information regarding my son's medical malpractice case, which I sent to you a few weeks ago, at

Embassy of France in Washington
4101 Resevoir Road
Washington D.C. NW, 20007

I believe that you should consider retracting the honor which your country bestowed upon Severin Beliveau, partner of the law firm Preti Flaherty... at least until the law firm admits that Attorney Daniel Rapaport acted unethically in asking for summary judgment in my son's medical malpractice case. The clients of the law firm (the physicians who treated my son) admitted in paperwork, filed in Androscoggin Superior Court, that "a valid claim existed to defend." The purpose of summary judgment, I'm sure you're aware, is to weed out frivolous cases which have no merit. Because a judge granted it, inappropriately, we've been unable to get to trial. Attempts to get this matter addressed by the Maine Supreme Court have resulted in more prejudice, and more assaults on our constitutional rights. We've recently asked the justices to reconsider their decision, and grant my son a trial. He continues to have problems with his arm.

Would you please write to the Maine Supreme Court in support of a trial being held in this matter? Their address is:

P.O. Box 368, Portland ME 04112-0368

Sincerely, Paula Michaud

Maine 124th Legislature (2009) - LD 491

Abolish Medical Screening Panels - YES
Abolish Judicial Immunity - YES
Abolish UPL laws - YES

Work session scheduled for April 1, 9:00 a.m. Got a problem with a judge? Testify why we need judicial accountability! If you can't show up in person, you can e-testify like I did on March 12.

The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.

~Edmund Burke

Maine House of Representatives: (207) 287-1430 (D); 287-1440 (R); Maine Senate: (207) 287-1515 (D); 287-1505 (R)

Judicial System?: "A culture of Intimidation"

"Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit":

“There was a culture of intimidation surrounding this judge and no one was willing to speak up about the sentences he was handing down,” said Marsha Levick, a Juvenile Law Center lawyer (Urbina and Hamill, 2.12.09).

Decades-old Discriminatory Maine Law!

The Maine Health Security Act, came about in 1977. Thirty-two years later, provisions of the law which discriminate against plaintiffs still exist. The manner in which the findings are allowed to be entered into evidence totally give the medical profession an unfair advantage.

From the 1997 Maine Supreme Court case: BRAND v. SEIDER: at paragraph 9 of the decision:

[¶9] In our jurisprudence concerning the Health Security Act, we must recognize that the Act limits the liability of health care providers in derogation of the legal rights of potential plaintiffs.

Derogation means "the taking away"! I came upon cases in which plaintiffs were actually awarded money by juries... but on appeal by the physicians, those jury decisions were vacated by the Maine Supreme Court. The cases are Merriam v. Wanger, decided in the year 2000, and the notorious 2007 Maine Supreme Court's Smith v. Hawthorne.

Take a look at the video commentary with Terrance Sheehan, CEO at the website of the physician-owned Medical Mutual Insurance Company of Maine. He's proud that they've been able to keep costs down... yeah, at the expense of victims of medical errors.

Judiciary Committee and LD 491

The judicial system in Maine is "precarious,"... the chief justice of Maine's Supreme Court, Leigh Saufley, even admitted it... on St. Patrick's Day actually.

I proposed reforming the judicial system in Maine a few months ago. There's a link to LD 491 "An Act to Reform the Maine Justice System" over to the right side of the webpage. At first, I didn't include Judicial Accountability Initiative Law (J.A.I.L.) in the proposal. But I've since given the entire judiciary committee the 4-page J.A.I.L., which is an amendment to a state's Constitution. It was written by Ron Branson of California nearly twenty years ago... though it was called "Judicial Reform Act of 1995" then. In Ron's biography at the national J.A.I.L. website, it's mentioned that there's a national following of people working towards amending J.A.I.L. to their Constitutions... "50 states and three foreign nations" to be more specific. However, to date, none have succeeded in passing the judicial accountability law. Why not? People in positions of power don't want to lose their status quo... that's the main reason; a lack of people exercisining their civic duties is another.

I've been listening to people in public hearings testimony at www.maine.gov/legis. You can click on "Shedules," then "Public Hearings and Work Sessions," to find out when public hearings will be held in each committee. Once you bring up a committee's schedule of bills, you can read more about the bills soon to be discussed. To listen, you go to Audio when the legislature is in session... live. You can record... I've done it using Freecorder.

Plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases are clearly being discriminated against, and nothing's being done about it. It's been difficult to abolish the law which has allowed this because legislators and judges are more loyal to lobbyists of the powerful medical malpractice liability insurance companies than they are to the public.

Write or call your representatives, and let them know that you support passage of J.A.I.L. so we can hold judges accountable when they violate a person's constitutional rights. The committee has listened to public testimony of people who've mentioned they've been the victims of abuse of discretion and clear violations of Constitutional rights by judges; however I don't believe the committee has mentioned J.A.I.L.! Why not write to them and ask about it?

To send a message to the judiciary committee, write to Susan Pinette, the clerk of the committee, or to the individual judiciary committee members whose emails I've listed here for you.

Susan.Pinette@legislature.maine.gov;

lawrence.bliss@gmail.com; RepCharles.Priest@legislature.maine.gov; RepMark.Bryant@legislature.maine.gov ; RepDawn.Hill@legislature.maine.gov; RepChuck.Kruger@legislature.maine.gov; RepSara.Stevens@legislature.maine.gov; RepMike.Beaulieu@legislature.maine.gov; RepJarrod.Crockett@legislature.maine.gov; waymitch10@hotmail.com; SenBarry.Hobbins@legislature.maine.gov; dhastings@hastings-law.com; RepJoan.Nass@legislature.maine.gov; dillesquire@aol.com; RepRichard.Cleary@legislature.maine.gov;