Santa Clara County History: Judge William Danser 2003 Criminal Prosecution Records and Related Authorities

Stolen Valor Investigation: Controversial Silicon Valley Divorce Attorney Bradford Baugh Made False Military Service Claims

Santa Clara County family law attorney Bradford Baugh is legendary for unethical, warlike litigation tactics,
according to court watchdogs. A key component of his carefully crafted, intimidating persona is his
oft-repeated claim of being a Vietnam combat veteran with multiple "kills." But a stolen valor
veterans group has now revealed that Baugh's claim of military service is false.

For over 25 years, Silicon Valley divorce lawyer Brad Baugh has been known for his endless, repetitive boasting about his heroic exploits as a soldier in the Vietnam War. Part of his sales pitch to potential clients is that they would be hiring, and helping a veteran who had served his country with distinction. And he rarely missed an opportunity to remind colleagues, court employees and family court judges of the selfless sacrifice he made as a front line fighter in Southeast Asia.

But an investigation by a "stolen valor" veterans research organization has determined that Baugh's claims about military service during the Vietnam War era are not true. Government records and other sources, including the 1968 yearbook from Del Valle High School in Walnut Creek show the lawyers assertions to be demonstrably false. In 1968, Baugh went directly from high school, to Stanford University in the fall, and never served in the military.

Attorney Brad Baugh appears in several places in the 1968 Del Valle High
School yearbook - including this listing for the student council. The same
year he claimed to a soldier in Vietnam.

Baugh repeatedly promoted his status as a veteran to generate business and grow his law practice, according to current and former clients, many of whom said they fell for the ruse and did hire Baugh because he was a vet.

Court appointed experts who worked on family court cases involving the lawyer said Baugh would also brag about the high number of enemy fatalities he was personally responsible for during his service in Vietnam.

Several experts interpreted Baugh's unsettling recitation of his "kill count" as a veiled threat or intimidation tactic, intended to ensure that the testimony of experts was favorable to his clients.

Institutionalized California Courts Corruption Whitewashed, Covered Up by California Supreme Court - Whistleblower Attorney

Two-Track Justice: Judge Confirms Second-Class Status of Self-Represented, "Pro Per" Court Users, Regarded as "Trash"

A federal judge has broken a long-established code of silence among judges and court workers, and confessed what self-represented court users in California have asserted for years.

In multiple interviews, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner disclosed that most judges regard self-represented litigants as "kind of trash not worth the time." In court, a self-represented litigant without an attorney is referred to as a "pro per" or "pro se" party. The terms are interchangeable and mean the same thing.

Whistleblower Email Leak Reveals In-Progress Investigative Reporting Project Seeks Complaints Against California Judges

The production team for the 2014 documentary film Divorce Corp is assisting Court Reform LLC in compiling and cataloging California judge misconduct complaints, according to an email leaked to California Supreme Court Report: 

Sacramento Colleagues and Former Coworkers of Chief Justice Swept Up In Dual Court Controversy

Kern County Judge Cory Woodward was punished by the Commission on Judicial Performance for having an improper personal relationship with his courtroom clerk. Sacramento County Judge Matthew Gary reportedly has had a similar relationship with his courtroom clerk, Christina Arcuri, for at least four years. 

"[I]t is time for this charade to end," from the letter to Judge Kevin Culhane.

Sacramento Family Court Corruption, a Facebook watchdog group with over 600 followers, has issued an open letter to Sacramento County Presiding Judge Kevin Culhane regarding an alleged improper relationship between a Sacramento Superior Court judge and his courtroom clerk.

The whistleblower group alleges that Judge Matthew Gary has been in a consensual, personal relationship with his clerk, Christina Arcuri for more than five years. Both Gary and Arcuri also have been involved in a number of controversies involving the alleged mistreatment of indigent, disabled, and financially disadvantaged family court parties who are self-represented.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye worked with both Gary and Arcuri during the latter portion of her tenure on the Sacramento County bench from 1990-2005. 

California Assembly Budget Committee Hearing Reveals Improper Collaboration Between Chief Justice and Commission on Judicial Performance, Other Significant CJP Problems

In this video clip, Commission on Judicial Performance whistleblower and court reform advocate Joe Sweeney testifies at a California Assembly Budget Committee hearing on March 28, 2016. The commission is solely responsible for oversight and accountability of judges in the state. 

Several days before the hearing, Sweeney's court modernization and reform organization, Court Reform LLC, released a 78-page report which raised questions about CJP judicial misconduct statistical data and how the agency spends taxpayer funds. 

The report, Why a Spotlight must be put on the Commission on Judicial Performance, also charged that CJP operations are shielded by an excessive and unprecedented level of secrecy for a government agency. In this four minute video, Sweeney explains to the committee the methodology and results of Court Reform LLC's six month investigation into the policies and practices of the CJP.

Government Whistleblowers Attribute Statewide Court Corruption Problems to Tani Cantil-Sakauye Judicial Council Leadership

California court watchdog groups charge that the leadership of the state Judicial Council bears primary responsibility for a string of court scandals compiled in this video from the California Courts News YouTube Channel. An ABC News 10 investigation into misuse of the California Highway Patrol by the chief justice as a taxi and shopping service is included. 

Indifference and incompetence by Judicial Council Chair Tani Cantil-Sakauye and senior management at the agency has resulted in an epidemic of court corruption in California, including a Los Angeles County court clerk accused of stealing $6,000 from people filing name changes, a case fixing scheme uncovered by the FBI in Orange County, and a massive, statewide traffic courts scandal. 

Supreme Court Controversy: Chief Justice Linked to Sacramento County Judge Misconduct, Delayed Appeal in 3rd District

The pending Ferris v. Ferris appeal alleges misconduct by Sacramento County Judge Matthew Gary and seeks to establish a constitutional right to counsel in civil cases involving basic human needs.

An appeal from a high-profile Sacramento Superior Court case has languished in the 3rd District Court of Appeal for more than 39 months. Court watchdogs allege that the appellate court has deliberately delayed resolution of the appeal because it involves egregious and embarrassing misconduct by a prominent Sacramento County Superior Court judge with a history of similar conduct.

"This case represents one of the most unsettling examples we've seen of what we believe is cronyism between the Third District and Sacramento Superior Court," said Ulf Carlsson of the Family Court Accountability Coalition, a court watchdog organization."The trial court judge has personal connections in the appellate court, and the 3rd District is delaying this case in the hopes that the publicity will die down and the issues raised will become moot." 

1994 San Diego County Superior Court Racketeering Scandal Called Eerily Similar to Alleged Sacramento County Corruption

An alleged racketeering organization composed of judges and local attorneys who work in the family law division of Sacramento County Superior Court bears striking similarities to criminal activity uncovered in San Diego County in 1994.

A recently unearthed editorial from the Los Angles Daily Journal provides a firsthand account of the court corruption that sent San Diego judges James A. Malkus and G. Dennis Adams to federal prison, and put judge Michael Greer on federal probation for three years. The editorial is embedded at the bottom of this post.

Also sent to prison was attorney Patrick Frega. A prominent local attorney, Frega was named "trial lawyer of the year" in 1984 by the San Diego Trial Lawyers Association.

An ongoing investigative news report recently updated by Sacramento Family Court News, an online, nonprofit journalism organization, documents Sacramento Family Court judge-attorney collusion that in many respects is virtually identical to the collusion identified by federal prosecutors in the San Diego criminal case. The SFCN report is available at this link:

• Sacramento County Family Law Court Operates as RICO Racketeering Enterprise, Charge Whistleblowers.  

Supreme Court Chief Justice Linked to Sacramento Superior Court Corruption Cover Up

Whistleblowers Blame Commission on Judicial Performance Inaction on Interference by Tani Cantil-Sakauye 

Sacramento County Judge Matthew Gary ordered
attorney fee sanctions against an indigent, disabled
pro per based on the litigant's "body language."

The appellate brief excerpt embedded at the bottom of this post recounts one instance of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Matthew Gary's alleged misconduct in the high profile Susan Ferris case, in connection with an illegal attorney fee sanctions order. 

The appeal in the case is pending at the controversial 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento.

The proceedings have been reported by the Sacramento Bee, and are being closely watched by court reform advocates. Interest in the case and family court corruption in Sacramento County on social media, YouTube, and Vimeo has reached viral levels among family court reform watchdogs.

The embedded document package also includes the court reporter transcript from a hearing in the case recording that Gary ordered Ferris to pay $2,500 to the opposing attorney, Timothy Zeff, based on Ferris' "body language." 

Zeff's partner, Scott Buchanan, is a part-time judge in the same court. Court records indicate the conflict of interest was not disclosed as required by state law. 

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Chief Justice Charged with Ignoring, Concealing Systemic Corruption in California Courts

Case Fixing Scandal, Racketeering Scheme, Whistleblower Retaliation Attributed to Leadership of Judicial Council Chair Tani Cantil-Sakauye 

Sacramento Family Court News has published an exhaustive, investigative report alleging that a criminal organization involving judges and local attorneys operates within the Sacramento County family law court system. The report is the latest allegation that corruption has reached epidemic levels in California courts.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye Immunizes Former Coworkers from Commission on Judicial Performance Oversight, Charge Watchdogs

Despite Documented Ethics Violations, Sacramento County Judges Maintain Pristine Records with Commission on Judicial Performance

Sacramento County Family Court watchdogs assert that
JudgeThadd Blizzard punished court reform activist Robert
Saunders for his 1st Amendment-protected protest activities.  

A leaked court reporter transcript obtained by California Supreme Court News reveals that Sacramento County Judge Thadd Blizzard last November retroactively endorsed an unlawful out-of-state "move away" and child abduction at the request of local judge pro tem attorney Richard Sokol. 

The unprecedented ruling went against San Francisco constitutional law attorney Archibald Cunningham, who the transcript reflects was dumbfounded by the decision. The complete transcript is embedded at the end of this post.  

The bizarre chain-of-events began in June 2013 after Cunningham's pro bono client, Robert Saunders, filed paperwork seeking child visitation under an existing temporary custody order. After the visitation paperwork was lodged, Sokol's client, April Berger, abruptly moved to Hawaii with the parents' twin daughters. Berger did not obtain court permission prior to the move.  

Under state law, a parent may not take children and relocate out-of-state without court approval before the move, especially under a temporary custody order. A parent seeking to relocate must by law first seek court approval for the move, and "the noncustodial parent still has standing to oppose the relocation" in court, according to California Practice Guide: Family Law, the gold standard family law legal reference used by judges and attorneys. 

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Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye Uses Highway Patrol as Personal Limo and Security Service

Chief justice caught on camera using costly CHP security service for taxi, shopping and exotic junkets 

  

ABC News10 in Sacramento has caught California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in the act of using the California Highway Patrol as a personal taxi and security service at taxpayer expense.

Emmy Award winning News10 investigative reporter Thom Jensen and his photographer tailed Cantil-Sakauye and her personal, armed CHP officer and driver to her home in a gated community in the Sacramento area. As the video above records, Jensen received an inhospitable reception from the chief justice and her CHP valet. At minute 1:40 of the clip, former 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Arthur Scotland is caught on camera telling a lie to cover for Cantil-Sakauye - his long-time former colleague from Sacramento County Superior Court, the Third District Appellate Court, and the Deukmejian administration.

On camera, Scotland called the now-verified accusations "complete nonsense, totally inaccurate."

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