DUE PROCESS OF LAW...WAS IT VIOLATED?
Oh my! Oh my! Was it ever violated!
The citizens of Mason County, including the Port of Shelton specifically, have been DONE TO by the “Fair and Square” judicial process of the Superior Court of Mason County.
How, you ask?
1. The presiding Judge ALREADY had her decision typed and ready to read, immediately following the plaintiff and defendants’ arguments. She did NOT need even ONE MINUTE to review what was presented. Oh no! She immediately picked-up her pre-typed decision and began reading it into the legal record. Wow! How can a judge be so speedy?
2, The Judge, in her typed decision/judgement, included arguments that had NEVER been presented during the case, either in writing or verbally. Isn’t this a clear violation of the LAW? How lucky can we be to have a Judge who introduces her own unsolicited arguments/opinions into the evidence of our case?
Neither the Plaintiffs nor the Defendants had any opportunity to respond to the Judge’s newly introduced "fabrications of evidence"!
Oh no! As we slide down the “Predetermined, Greased Path” to a decision/judgement already typed and made...you have to wonder about the words “Due Process of Law”. Was it violated today? Hell yes, it was!
Hey Folks: Remember this very appropriate quote: We have only JUST begun to fight!
We have EIS responses to be completed. We have an entire SEPA process yet to be completed. We have an ORCCA process pending. We have NEW EPA Rules to enforce come January. We have just begun to fight!
This is only the beginning, not the end!
Dick, did you have all of the paperwork that the judge was talking about? I think those items you perceived as new arguments may have been included in the paperwork she had reviewed the night before, rather than only in the testimony provided by the attorneys at the hearing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I also found it disconcerting that she had her whole opinion already typed... but that could have been based on the law as it was provided in the written documents. I would suggest that perhaps she was prepared in the event that nothing new was presented to her by the Citizens' attorney at the hearing.
I don't know, not having seen the paperwork, but I suspect this might have been the case.
Poor Judge Finlay, she should have recused herself. If she has an opponent next time she runs for her seat on the bench, the events of yesterday, as well as any future hearing she presides over in connection with Adage and any governmental agencies, will haunt her: If she is perceived as pro-Adage, like yesterday perhaps, then citizens will be opposed to her; if she is perceived as pro-citizen, and shows a desire to save our air, she will be perceived as anti-business...
In a community this small, with such passionate politics lately between those who breathe air and those who think they can breathe something else, it was not politically smart for a local judge to preside over yesterday's hearing. She was damned no matter which side she came down on. For our purposes, she is now damned for coming down against us.
submitted by Dick Curtis
ReplyDeleteHi Katherine. Of course, I don't have the Judge's Personal "Pre-typed Decision Documents." These are the documents that she read into the Legal Records as her Decision -- page-by-typed-page.
As to having had prior knowledge in participating in several Civil Cases and final dispositions, I found that the Judge most normally prepares Notes regarding the submitted data and Includes these with what she Hears at Oral Hearing on the case. Never does a Judge form a "Pre-determined Decision" based on the Written documentation alone. Judge Finlay DID form such a "Pre-determined Decision" in our CITIZEN case --- PRIOR to hearing from either the Plaintiff or the Defendants' attorneys. All attorneys presented 'Explanatory Evidence' for her consideration during their Oral Presentations. Regardless of 'being prepared or not' -- Judge Finlay was remiss in the Protection of Our Plaintiff Rights to Due Process of Law!! And, it is still a violation of Civil Law to have a Judge include arguments to support her decision that have NOT been introduced by either the Plaintiff or the Defendants beforehand!
You say "Poor Judge Finlay." All we have to say at this point is that we helped get her elected and voted for her at that time. Now, when she comes up for re-election? Our memories as Citizens-Wronged are very, very Long! Today, a Professional acquaintance from Bremerton, gave us the following general opinion: "From what we can see, Mason County is extremely Compromised (a good word for it) at all levels of government -- and now it's found its way into your Judicial system. We surely do Pity You all!" You know, after hearing this general, overall opinion and not being able to disagree with it, we have to add "What More Can We Say?"
Dick --
ReplyDeleteI meant:
Did you have copies of all the documents that were presented to the judge by both sides?
You continue to state with great certainly that the judge included arguments to support her decision "that have NOT been introduced by either the Plaintff or the Defendants beforehand."
I keep asking you, and I ask again:
Dick, did you have access to all of the documents the judge reviewed prior to the hearing?
I did not.
Therefore, I cannot say with certainty if she was including arguments to support her decision that were not introduced by either party.
You are so certain that she included arguments that were not before the court, that I ask you one more time:
Did you have access to all of the documents that the judge had access to before the hearing?
As to poor Judge Finlay, she is a poor judge who does not see the headlight of the train coming down the track of hearing this matter.
And, for the record, I did not vote for Judge Finaly. If she has an opponent when she runs for re-election, as you pointed out, we have very, very long memories.
Also for the record, you and I are on the same side, I just want to be sure that before you make allegations of judicial misconduct, you had access to all the documents she did and know for of your own personal knowledge that she added arguments that are not to be found in the written record.
Okay?
The comment that the Judge added her own comments came from OUR ATTORNEY after the hearing. He said that if he had known beforehand -- or had been able to anticipate her actions beforehand -- he would have included it in his arguments!!
ReplyDelete