Courtroom One Gavel modified by Jason Pearce and originally uploaded by Joe Gratz
It appears that yet another judge who regularly practices within Dakota County may be as crooked as those he sentences. But this isn’t the first time that a Dakota County judge has been caught wheeling and dealing behind the scenes…
Back in August, the “honorable” Michael Sovis was given a strict warning and made to promise he would never do any bad thing again or his mother would have to come down and wash his mouth out with soap after he was caught, for the third time, fucking around with the judicial process. Unfortunately Sovis ran unopposed in Dakota County and received nearly 120,000 votes (I was one of those that chose to write someone else in) obviously because no one knew that he has violated the law himself and been given the severe punishment of a wrist slap, small fine, and made to promise he’ll be a good boy from now on.
Well, it would seem that Judge Michael Sovis isn’t the only judge isn’t the only one who is misbehaving. According to this article in the Pioneer Press, Judge Timothy Blakely has supposedly been referring cases to the legal team of Collins, Buckley, Sauntry and Haugh because he was in debt to one of their lawyers for nearly $110,000.
According to e-mails between Blakely and his lawyer, Christine Stroemer, who represented him during his own divorce proceedings, he promised that he would send and continue to send business to her firm if she knocked down some of the bills he owed. She reluctantly agreed to the business deal (not because of ethics mind you) as well as a lump sum payment from the proceeds of the sale of his home.
While Judge Timothy Blakely later told the Board on Judicial Standards that he didn’t believe the number of his referrals went up following his backroom dealings via e-mail, he didn’t feel that he did anything wrong. Based on the quotations listed in the article, I’d guess that the Board didn’t share his views.
We’ll have to see what comes of this though. Will he get another wrist slap? Does he deserve a bigger fine and sanctions than Sovis received or do you think that this was nothing more than an ex-wife trying to fuck over her ex-husband? What do you think?
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Bill, voting for judges has always been a problem…….. It would be better to have these judgeships selected by appointment . I would venture to say that a majority of these voters didn’t know who these people were, they didn’t know the candidates background, they only knew the candidate’s name by his yard sign….. I just love these 119,743 voters. How many of these voters really knew who they were voting for? That’s why I don’t vote for judges!!
November 20th, 2008 at 9:38 am
In Illinois, the State Bar association would send out annonymous questionaires to the attorneys you practice before the judges and solicit information concerning integrity, impartiality, etc. The scores of the judges and judge candidates were published. It influenced my vote on more than one occassion.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Two other articles about this topic are here: http://www.twincities.com/dakota/ci_11018755 and here: http://www.thisweeklive.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4863&Itemid=2
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:31 am
By law Stroemer was required to issue a 1099-C for Cancelation of Debt.
Blakely was required to declare this $64,000 as income and pay taxes on it whether she gave him a 1099-C or not. Also since the house he sold was not his residence he should have paid tax on the gain which was likely more than $31,000. I’m sure if you ask him he will tell you he didn’t do anything wrong.
Blakely’s CPA was also a referral from him to Stroemer although not ordered like all the common folk.
Generally, if a debt you owe is canceled or forgiven, other than as a gift or bequest, you must include the canceled amount in your income. You have no income from the canceled debt if it is intended as a gift to you. A debt includes any indebtedness for which you are liable or which attaches to property you hold. If the debt is a nonbusiness debt, report the canceled amount on line 21 of Form 1040. If it is a business debt, report the amount on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040)(or on Schedule F, Profit or Loss From Farming (Form 1040), if you are a farmer).
Read the full text of the IRS statute: http://www.fourmilab.ch/ustax/www/t26-A-1-B-I...
If it was a gift he’s in trouble there too as “The Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct bars judges from accepting gifts or benefits that could be perceived as influencing their decisions”.
The IRS pays a 15% finder penalty when you turn a tax cheat in. The form and instructions for doing so is here:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=...
March 12th, 2009 at 10:29 am
Thought you might like to know that the panel announced their recommendation.
http://www.bjs.state.mn.us/
June 2nd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I would recommend a State law requiring judicial reprimands to be posted at polling stations so uninformed voters can vote accordingly to oust corrupt judges.
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:43 pm
In the last election for judge i put in charles manson. The one man is correct you do not know where a judge stands except in a pile of s##t. Judge joann smith told a man here in town he had no rights of free speech.Maybe in all fairness she is probably to stupid to know that we do. It is a very serious thing that our judges take for granted. Our politicians are right there with them, how long did it take mn to pass a hand gun law? Are the people in this country getting more ignorant as time goes by? Continuing to look the other way as our rights are being violated.What will it take to get this country back on track .Whatever it is it’s going to happen soon.
September 4th, 2009 at 11:26 am
I voted for my husband in one of the judge slots. I figure we can use the pay raise.