Do Staff Attorneys Decide Appeals At The Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals?

Justice Turned On Its Head

Judge Donald L. Graham, The “Teflon Don“

This entire blog or website, mcneilmason.wordpress.com, is dedicated to illustrating the extreme measures that judges at the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeal have deployed to keep from disciplining U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham, “Teflon Don”, for abusive behavior and misconduct.

Questions For Consideration

If a mere pro se litigant filed an appeal which excoriated a supposed excellent jurist like U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham, “Teflon Don”, and accused him of judicial misconduct that could be proven, what do you think the staff attorneys at the Eleventh Circuit would do? The answer is the allegations will be simply be ignored by deploying an unpublished opinion that omits material facts. The author would prefer the reader to read the rest of this post to see how this is possible, but for those who can’t wait, please see:

• Eleventh Circuit Case No. 01-13664: The Appeal From Hell
• Eleventh Circuit Disses The U.S. Supreme Court Chooses To Protect Judge Graham
• FEDERAL JUDGE VIOLATES FIRST AMENDMENT, TENTH AMENDMENT RECEIVES ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY

Are Staff Attorneys at the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals Deciding Cases and Appeals?

It is widely rumored, especially among mere pro se litigants, that staff attorneys, not United States Senate confirmed United States Circuit Court Of Appeals Judges, decide appeals in many cases. While this post will take a look at a couple of cases that the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeal handled, there is no reason to believe that similar practices are not being deployed elsewhere. The overwhelming majority of opinions coming out of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are unpublished opinions which until recently could not be cited as binding authority. The evidence presented here will prove beyond a resonable doubt that staff attorneys, using unpublished opinions, do in fact decide cases, especially mere pro se cases or appeals.

According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts:

“The number of federal appeals court judgeships has not changed since 1990. In that same period, those courts’ caseloads increased by 41 percent. Of great aid to judges in the 12 regional appellate courts over those years have been the 12 court staff attorney offices…Judge Joel Dubina of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said, “We could not handle our caseload without the assistance of staff attorneys. The staff attorney office is an integral part of our court…”Core responsibilities vary among staff attorney offices, but in each appeals court they include review of all appeals filed by prison inmates without a lawyer’s help. Screening such “pro se” prisoner cases was the initial focus of staff attorney offices when they were formally authorized and established by Congress in 1982… Over time, the scope of the office’s substantive legal work expanded, involving staff attorneys in a larger percentage of the 60,000 federal appeals filed each year…Duties handled by staff attorney offices today range from screening all appeals, to drafting proposed opinions on preliminary matters, to preparing proposed orders, to reviewing pro se appeals for issues warranting oral arguments. Chief Judge William Wilkins said the productivity and reliability of the Fourth Circuit court’s staff attorney office allows judges and their law clerks to “minimize the time spent on the large number of pro se and counseled cases that do not present factual or legal issues that require oral argument for appropriate resolution.” “This enables us to allocate additional time to those more complex cases that are set for oral argument,” he said…In the Eleventh Circuit, staff attorneys, among other things, screen every appeal for possible jurisdictional defects. “We save the judges a lot of time by carefully going through volumes of handwritten and often imprecise legal arguments, and putting these in a form, along with citations to the record, briefs and applicable case law, that saves the judges time,” said Naomi Godfrey, the court’s senior staff attorney.”

See Staff Attorney Offices Help Manage Rising Caseloads.

A United States Circuit Judge on the Potential Dangers of Unpublished Opinions

It was U.S. Circuit Judge Richard S. Arnold, 8^th Cir. U.S. Court of Appeal who said:

“If, for example, a precedent is cited, and the other side then offers a distinction, and the judges on the panel cannot think of a good answer to the distinction, but nevertheless, for some extraneous reason, wish to reject it, they can easily do so through the device of an abbreviated, unpublished opinion, and no one will ever be the wiser. (I don’t say that judges are actually doing this–only that the temptation exists.) Or if, after hearing argument, a judge in conference thinks that a certain decision should be reached, but also believes that the decision is hard to justify under the law, he or she can achieve the result, assuming agreement by the other members of the panel, by deciding the case in an unpublished opinion and sweeping the difficulties under the rug. Again, I’m not saying that this has ever occurred in any particular case, but a system that encourages this sort of behavior, or is at least open to it, has to be subject to question in any world in which judgesare human beings.”

1 J. App. Prac. & Process 219 (1999). UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS: A COMMENT, Richard S. Arnold, Copyright © 1999 University of Arkansas – Little Rock School of Law ; Richard S. Arnold.Judge Arnold, now deceased, cannot be resting comfortably. In Anastasoff. v. United States, 223 F.3d 898 (8th Cir. 2000), Judge Arnold and his panel declared unpublished opinions to be unconstitutional. This opinion was subsequently vacated on other grounds, 235 F.3d 1054 (8th Cir. 2000) by an en banc court.

Cases Decided by Staff Attorneys

This post will refer the reader to three appeals that were decided by staff attorneys at the Eleventh Circuit, United States Court of Appeals: Case No. 01-13664, 01-15754, and 02-13418. Each of these appeals excoriates U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham, however, you won’t see a word of the accusations leveled at Judge Graham in the opinions. U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham was accused of the following documented acts in the above appeals:

• Lying and Intentionally misrepresenting the law.
• Refusing to rule on a motion for a preliminary injunction during the entire pendency of the lawsuit from November 1999 to June 20, 2001 or about 19 months.
• Judge Graham falsely completed a Civil Justice Reform Act Report, “CJRA” to conceal the fact that he had a motion for a preliminary injunction pending for more than 17 months.
• Usurping authority by allowing a Magistrate, Frank Lynch Jr., to issue preliminary injunctions two times.
• Usurping authority by allowing a Magistrate to dictate to a non-lawyer that he must seek the permission of private attorneys in order to speak with a local government.
• Usurping authority by allowing a Magistrate to set restrictions on how Florida Public Records are to be accessed.
• Allowing scores of motions to go undecided for months.
• Intentionally misstating material facts in order to render a pre-filing injunction.
• Disrespecting several well-established Supreme Court decisions proscribing certain acts of Judges.
• Judge Graham has repeatedly and improperly denied access to the courts by arbitrarily denying in forma pauperis, “IFP”, petitions 18 separate times.
• Judge Graham has been involved in possible criminal behavior by issuing a void sua sponte pre-filing injunction which ultimately formed the basis of a criminal contempt complaint and conviction.
• Judge Graham used the criminal contempt process to force the withdrawal of a lawsuit.
• Judge Graham awarded a massive $200,000 in attorney’s fees to Highlands County against an indigent plaintiff, Marcellus Mason, not on the quality of the underlying lawsuit, but based upon Judge Graham’s speculation about Mason’s motive.
• Judge Graham attempted to circumvent the appellate process by using intimidation.

For support of these allegations and others, see Core Allegations.

The three appeals mentioned above are fully set forth and explored in detail in the following posts:

• Eleventh Circuit Case No. 01-13664: The Appeal From Hell
• Eleventh Circuit Disses The U.S. Supreme Court Chooses To Protect Judge Graham
• FEDERAL JUDGE VIOLATES FIRST AMENDMENT, TENTH AMENDMENT RECEIVES ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY

Chief Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson Uses Perfect Scam of Negative Definition To Defeat Complaints of Misconduct Under the Judicial Misconduct and Disability Act

Justice Turned On Its Head

Judge Donald L. Graham, The “Teflon Don”

Purpose of this Post

This entire blog or website, mcneilmason.wordpress.com, is dedicated to illustrating the extreme measures that judges at the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeal have deployed to keep from disciplining U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham, “Teflon Don”, for abusive behavior and misconduct. The overall scheme of all methods (direct appeal, mandamus, lawsuit, misconduct complaints) of disciplining federal judges have been undermined and defeated by Judge Graham’s cohorts at the Eleventh Circuit, see http://mmason.freeshell.org/methods.htm. States with have removed judges from office for the conduct that is listed in this post and elsewhere. This post will examine the perfect scam that Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson has used to defeat claims of judicial misconduct under the Judicial Misconduct and Disability Act, 28 U.S.C. § 351, et.seq. The perfect scam is a “negative definition” of judicial misconduct. A negative definition is a “definition which states what a thing is NOT rather than what it is.” http://academic.csuohio.edu/polen/LC9_Help/2/25negative.htm. Judge Edmondson does not define misconduct he simply disagrees with every act that alleges misconduct in the complaint is judicial misconduct. Consequently, a negative definition is used to define judicial misconduct out of existence. Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson’s definition, or lack thereof, would suggest that federal judges are held to a lower standard than state court judges. Congress does not help as it chosen not to identify specific acts that it considers to be judicial misconduct for it has abrogated this responsibility and left it up to judges like Judge Edmondson to decide. Section 352 states:

(b) Action by Chief Judge Following Review.— After expeditiously reviewing a complaint under subsection (a), the chief judge, by written order stating his or her reasons, may—
(1) dismiss the complaint—
(A) if the chief judge finds the complaint to be—
(i) not in conformity with section 351 (a);
(ii) directly related to the merits of a decision or procedural ruling; or
(iii) frivolous, lacking sufficient evidence to raise an inference that misconduct has occurred, or containing allegations which are incapable of being established through investigation; or

It is a well known fact that Chief Judges summarily dismiss complaints of misconduct at a rate greater than 90 per cent. This is part of the reason why Justice Stephen Breyer was selected by the then Chief Justice Rehnquist to do a study of the problem. At the urging of Congressman James Sensenbrenner, former Chairman, U.S. House Judiciary Committee, in 2004, a committee was formed (The Judicial Conduct and Disability Act Study Committee) by Chief Judge Rehnquist to study the problem of federal judicial discipline. Judge Edmondson is of the apparent belief that legal error and judicial misconduct are mutually exclusive. As a consequence of this narrow view, Judge Graham can put on his robe and do anything he damn well pleases because “legal error” is not judicial misconduct.

Other Tactics Used by Judge Edmondson

The use of the negative definition tactic is fatal enough by itself to demolish almost all complaints of judicial misconduct. However, Judge Edmondson has used at least three other tactics that augment the negative definition tactic. Judge Edmondson has used:

• Mischaracterization. Judge Edmondson characterizes your allegations of misconduct and abuse in such a manner that they fit easily within the categories for summary dismissal. For an example, see Complaint No. 05-0011.
• Omission. Judge Edmondson omits specific allegations of misconduct and abuse from his summary dismissals. For example, in complaint No. 01-0054, Judge Edmondson states: “The allegations of the Complaint are “directly related to the merits of a decision or procedural ruling” and/or ‘Action on the complaint is no longer necessary because of intervening events, and therefore moot”. Consequently, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 372(c)(3)(A) and (3)(B) and Addendum Three Rule 4 (a)(2), this Complaint is DISMISSED.”
• Fails to test allegations of misconduct for veracity. Judge Edmondson does not test allegations of misconduct and abuse for veracity.
• Failure to Investigate. Judge Edmondson does not investigate allegations of misconduct and abuse. Judge Edmondson does not ask the complainant for more information to support a charge, he simply states that the charge lacks factual support.

Specific examples of the above are set forth below in the “Not Judicial Misconduct” heading. When told of these allegations, Judge Graham’s Chief Judge, S.D. Fla., Federico Moreno offered the following tepid “endorsement”:

I am in receipt of your letter written to me as a Chief Judge of the Southern District of Florida about actions by Judge Donald Graham. In that letter, you also complained about the Chief Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson. As you can understand one district judge cannot review the actions of another district judge. This rule applies to the Chief Judge of the District as well. It is before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta that any complaint as to a ruling made by a District Judge can be made, I assure you that any decision rendered by Judge Graham was made in good faith upon what he perceived to be the law. Judge Graham has an impeccable reputation. However, if you feel that a judge has erred, the appellate judges in Atlanta are the ones who can decide what to do about it. Thank you for writing.

See Letter dated April 4, 2008.

Judicial Misconduct Complaints

The following complaints have been lodged against Teflon Don.

• No. 01-0054
• No. 01-0054-Judicial Council
• No. 01-0068
• No. 01-68-Judicial Council
• INTERVENING MANDAMUS
• No. 02-0052
• No. 02-0059
• COMPLAINTS FILED IN 2005
• No. 05-0008
• No. 05-0011
• No. 05-0012
• No. 05-0013
• No. 05-0020
• No. 05-0021

Not Judicial Misconduct

Judge Edmondson has expressly stated that each of the following documented acts of misconduct are not misconduct under the Act.

• Lying and Intentionally misrepresenting the law.
• Refusing to rule on a motion for a preliminary injunction during the entire pendency of the lawsuit from November 1999 to June 20, 2001 or about 19 months.
• Judge Graham falsely completed a Civil Justice Reform Act Report, “CJRA” to conceal the fact that he had a motion for a preliminary injunction pending for more than 17 months.
• Usurping authority by allowing a Magistrate, Frank Lynch Jr., to issue preliminary injunctions two times.
• Usurping authority by allowing a Magistrate to dictate to a non-lawyer that he must seek the permission of private attorneys in order to speak with a local government.
• Usurping authority by allowing a Magistrate to set restrictions on how Florida Public Records are to be accessed.
• Allowing scores of motions to go undecided for months.
• Intentionally misstating material facts in order to render a pre-filing injunction.
• Disrespecting several well-established Supreme Court decisions proscribing certain acts of Judges.
• Judge Graham has repeatedly and improperly denied access to the courts by arbitrarily denying in forma pauperis, “IFP”, petitions 18 separate times.
• Judge Graham has been involved in possible criminal behavior by issuing a void sua sponte pre-filing injunction which ultimately formed the basis of a criminal contempt complaint and conviction.
• Judge Graham used the criminal contempt process to force the withdrawal of a lawsuit.
• Judge Graham awarded a massive $200,000 in attorney’s fees to Highlands County against an indigent plaintiff, Marcellus Mason, not on the quality of the underlying lawsuit, but based upon Judge Graham’s speculation about Mason’s motive.
• Judge Graham attempted to circumvent the appellate process by using intimidation.

These allegations and others fully documented at: (1)http://mmason.freeshell.org/CoreAllegations.htm; or (2)Documented Acts of Misconduct by U.S. Dist. Judge Donald L. Graham. As of this date, the Judges at the Eleventh Circuit have allowed Teflon Don to escape rebuke and condemnation as Judge Graham has not been punished in any way for these acts. For example, many of these allegations were mentioned in a direct appeal and simply ignored by the appellate panel, see “Eleventh Circuit Case No. 01-13664: The Appeal From Hell“. Petitions for mandamus met with a similar fate, see for example, Case No. 01-15754, “Eleventh Circuit Disses The U.S. Supreme Court Chooses To Protect Judge Graham“. Judge Graham’s behavior easily fits within positively defined definitions of judicial misconduct.

JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT DEFINED

Judicial Misconduct has been defined by Jeffrey M. Shaman, DePaul University Law, Steven Lubet, Professor, Northwestern University Law, James J. Alfini President and Dean, South Texas College of Law, U.S. Judge Alex Kozinski, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in part as:

Judicial action taken without any arguable legal basis —and without giving notice and an opportunity to be heard to the party adversely affected—is far worse than simple error or abuse of discretion; it’s an abuse of judicial power that is “prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts.” See 28 U.S.C. § 351(a); Shaman, Lubet & Alfini, supra, § 2.02, at 37 (“Serious legal error is more likely to amount to misconduct than a minor mistake.

See Opinion online at: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/coa/newopinions.nsf/
F822E1DE5540855A8825708B0081F154/$file/0389037o.pdf?openelement .

“[A] judge is guilty of “oppression in office” when that judge intentionally commits acts which he or she knows, or should know, are obviously and seriously wrong under the circumstances and amount to an excessive use of judicial authority.” State v. Colclazier, 2002 OK JUD 1, 106 P.3d 138.

“Where honesty or integrity are at issue, a single action can result in a finding of judicial misconduct.” In re District Judge Ronald F. Kilburn, Case No. 90-478, (Vermont Supreme Court 1991)(citing In re Hill, 152 Vt. 548, 572-75, 568 A.2d 361, 373-75 (1989)). See http://dol.state.vt.us/SUPCT/157/op90-478.txt.

“Canon 3A(5) is violated where there is a pattern of unreasonable delay or where a particular instance is so lacking in legitimate justification that it is willful. See Matter of Long, 244 Kan. 719, 724, 772 P.2d 814, 818 (1989) (Canon 3A(5) violated where delay is “significant, extensive, and unjustified”); Sommerville, 364 S.E.2d at 23 n.3 (sanctions appropriate under Canon 3A(5) where there is a pattern of delay resulting from either willful neglect of, or manifest inability to effectively perform, judicial duties); Matter of Alvino, 100 N.J. 92, 97 n.2, 494 A.2d 1014, 1016 n.2 (1985) (delay can violate Canon 3A(5) if “willful” or “typical of the judge’s work”);” See URL:http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/SUPCT/157/op90-478.txt.

“Legal error and judicial misconduct are not mutually exclusive.” In Re Feinberg, 5 NY3d 206,New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The University of New Mexico, Institute of Public Law, Judicial Education Center, has put together a Judicial Ethics Handbook which defines judicial misconduct.

If Judge Edmondson had an affirmative definition like the ones described above, then Judge Graham would have to disciplined. If the states are able to cite and list specific examples of judicial misconduct, then there is no reason why the federal judiciary can not do the same. To simply say, no that is not misconduct as Judge Edmondson does reflexively, is not enough.

Pending Judicial Misconduct Complaints

It has been said that the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability, has become quite serious in investigating federal judges for misconduct. According to law.com, in March of this year, the Judicial Conference adopted the first-ever binding nationwide procedures for handling complaints of judicial misconduct. As a result of this, Mason submitted to complaints to both the Judicial Conference and Judge Edmondson again.

Judge Graham Refuses to Deny He is a Liar

Justice Turned On Its Head

Judge Donald L. Graham

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Calling Judge Graham a Liar to His Face

On December 16, 2004, Marcellus Mason filed a one page letter with Judge Graham asking for permission to file a motion stating that Judge Graham should have disqualified for, among other things, lying or intentionally misrepresenting the law. “Mr. Graham, you stated in my lawsuit that I could state a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981 against a state actor while at the very same time you allowed a Plaintiff to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981 against the very same state actor.” See Docket Entry No. 932. It is a serious charge to accuse a federal judge of lying. If the allegation is false, then it is surely would be contempt. The record clearly demonstrates that Judge Graham has no compunction about concocting a contempt charge out of “whole cloth”. See Framing an Innocent Man.

Judge Graham Refuses to Defend the Integrity of the Court

Judge Graham could have denied the allegation that he was untruthful, but he didn’t. Judge Graham could have stated the allegation was without merit and had no record support. Instead Judge Graham simply gave himself permission to ignore the allegation of untruthfulness by stating:

THIS CAUSE came before the Court upon Plaintiff’s correspondence to the Court dated December 16, 2004 requesting permission to file a motion. The Plaintiff’s stated reason for filing the Motion is that the Court should have disqualified itself because, among other things, it intentionally misrepresented the law to the Plaintiff.
THE COURT has considered the correspondence and the pertinent portions of the record, and being otherwise fully advised in the premises, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Plaintiff’s request is DENIED.

See Docket Entry No. 931.

Record Support for the Lie Allegation

A hallmark for this website and related websites is there is always record support for every allegation made. This post will be no different. Judge Graham lied and intentionally misrepresented the law. Judge Graham told Mason that the law precluded him from asserting claims of intentional discrimination under 42 U.S.C. §1981 against a state actor, Highlands County Board of County Commissioners. See Docket Entries Nos. 435, pg. 3 and
466. At the very same time, Judge Graham was allowing a plaintiff in nother case Fa Nina St. Germain v. Highlands County, Case No. 00-14094 to assert claims under 42 U.S.C. §1981 against the very
same state actor, Highlands County Board of County
Commissioners. See Summary Judgment, Case No. 00-14094. It might be noted that Ms. St. Germain was represented by counsel, Peter Helwig, Lakeland, FL and Mason was not represented by counsel.

Lying Not Judicial Misconduct

Judge J.L. Edmondson, Chief Judge, Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeal has expressly held that lying or intentionally misstating the law is not judicial misconduct. See Complaint 05-0008. The comments to Canon 1, Code of Conduct For United States Judges state:

Deference to the judgments and rulings of courts depends upon public confidence in the integrity and independence of judges. The integrity and independence of judges depend in turn upon their acting without fear or favor. Although judges should be independent, they should comply with the law, as well as the provisions of this Code. Public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary is maintained by the adherence of each judge to this responsibility. Conversely, violation of this Code diminishes public confidence in the judiciary and thereby does injury to the system of government under law.

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Judicial Conference: Complaint of Misconduct, Judge Donald L. Graham

April 1, 2008

214 Atterberry Drive

Sebring, FL 33870

Judicial Conference
Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability
Attn: Office of General Counsel
Administrative Office of the United States Courts
One Columbus Circle, NE 39
Washington, D.C. 20544 40

Re: Complaint of Misconduct, U.S. Dist. Judge Donald L. Graham

Dear Sir/Madam:

In order to more easily investigate this matter and keep costs down, this letter has been posted to the Internet at: URL, http://mmason.freeshell.org/JudicialConference.doc or http://mmason.freeshell.org/JudicialConference.htm . I am more than willing to supply documentation to prove any allegation raised here. Please feel free to contact me for any assistance in this matter. These are serious charges that if true, casts a pall over the integrity of the Federal Judiciary. Moreover, it is unfair to other judges to have Judge Graham get away with misconduct, while judges like Judge Manuel L. Real are sanctioned. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., in his 2007 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary has stated that “[t]he Judiciary cannot tolerate misconduct. The public rightly expects the Judiciary to be fair but firm in policing its own.”

I have submitted multiple complaints of misconduct against Judge Donald L. Graham, S.D. Fla. to the Judicial Council of the Eleventh Circuit and to the Chief Judge, primarily Judge J.L. Edmondson. These complaints have been dismissed wholesale without any investigation at all. It would appear that Judge Edmondson has defined judicial misconduct out of existence. Each complaint filed against Judge Graham can found at: http://mmason.freeshell.org/372c/ . The following complaints were submitted to the Judicial Council: 01-0054, 01-0068, 02-0052. As the statute changed from 28 U.S.C. §372(c) to §351, new complaints were filed 2005. [05-0008,05-0011,05-0012,05-0013,05-0020,05-0021]. These complaints may also be reached by clicking on their number at the homepage, http://mmason.freeshell.org.

Judge Graham’s misconduct has managed to escape appellate review, both by way of mandamus and direct appeal. The Eleventh Circuit, without denying the allegations of misconduct has simply ignored the issues. It is inconceivable that a Court of Appeal would ignore a jurisdictional issue like whether the Judge should have disqualified or not, however the Eleventh Circuit has done just that. Among other places, this fact is documented at : https://mcneilmason.wordpress.com , See post entitled Are Allegations of Misconduct Reviewable on Appeal? .

I have setup a web portal, http://mmason.freeshell.org/methods.htm , which takes the allegations of misconduct and shows the reader how they were disposed of either by lying or simply ignoring the issues. This page has a flowchart with clickable links. It traces the allegations of misconduct through the appellate process and through Section 351 complaints as well. This page was created so the reader could see the overall picture and the level of dishonesty involved.

Given this matter is extraordinary, I would appreciate it if you would you use your authority to conduct an additional investigation or more accurately conduct an initial investigation since the Judicial Council has never conducted an investigation in the first place. In the alternative, I would appreciate if you would return the matter to the judicial council with directions to undertake an investigation. In an opinion publicly available on the Internet, you have stated:

[A] judge’s pattern and practice of arbitrarily and deliberately disregarding prevailing legal standards and thereby causing expense and delay to litigants may be misconduct. However, the characterization of such behavior as misconduct is fraught with dangers to judicial independence. Therefore, a cognizable misconduct complaint based on allegations of a judge not following prevailing law or the directions of a court of appeals in particular cases must identify clear and convincing evidence of willfulness, that is, clear and convincing evidence of a judge’s arbitrary and intentional departure from prevailing law based on his or her disagreement with, or willful indifference to, that law.

http://www.uscourts.gov/library/judicialmisconduct/jcdopinions108.pdf :Pg. 8.

The complaints submitted to the Judicial Council and to the Eleventh Circuit include, but is not limited to, included the following:

• Lying and intentionally misrepresenting the law. See Documented Lie. Judge Graham told Marcellus Mason that he could not state a claim against a state actor, Highlands County Board of County Commissioners, under 42 U.S.C. §1981 while he was simultaneously allowing a represented Plaintiff in another case to state a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981 against the very same state actor, Highlands County Board of County Commissioners.
• Involved in possible criminal behavior by issuing a void sua sponte pre-filing injunction or vexatious litigant injunction which ultimately formed the basis of a criminal contempt complaint and conviction. See Framing An Innocent Person. Sua Sponte means on the Judges own motion and without notice and opportunity to respond prior to the issuance of the injunction. The law and Constitution requires such notice. In Weaver v. Sch. Bd., 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 8128 (unpublished) (11^th Cir. 2006), the Court held that a litigant was entitled to “notice and an opportunity to be heard” before a restriction was imposed on the litigant’s ability to challenge an injunction. “Generally, a judgment is void under Rule 60 (b) (4) “if the court that rendered it lacked jurisdiction of the subject matter, or of the parties, or if acted in a manner inconsistent with due process of law. (emphasis added)” E.g.,Burke v. Smith, 252 F.3d 1260 (11^th Cir. 2001). A void judgment is from its inception a legal nullity. U.S. v. Boch Oldsmobile 909 F.2d 657, 661 (1st Cir. 1990). It is incredible that the Eleventh Circuit has managed to avoid reviewing this sua sponte issued pre-filing injunction by all kinds of dishonest tricks. See http://mmason.freeshell.org/SuaSponte.htm# AppellateHistory.
• Judge Graham refused to rule on a motion for a preliminary injunction that had been pending for about 19 months. A motion for preliminary injunction was submitted on November 24, 1999, and Judge Graham never ruled on the motion despite repeated requests. See Docket and Entry #39. The case was closed on June 20, 2001. Even more incredible, the Eleventh Circuit, after 17 months stated that I didn’t have a right to have my motion decided. See http://mmason.freeshell.org/junklaw/NoRightToHaveMotionDecided.html or https://mcneilmason.wordpress.com/ , click on You Don’t have A Right to Have Your Motions Decided.
• Judge Graham used the contempt process and AUSA Robert Waters to force Marcellus Mason to drop an embarrassing lawsuit against Judge Graham. Marcellus Mason has offered to take a polygraph test under penalty of perjury and challenges Judge Graham to do the same. This offer to take a polygraph test has been sent by both letters and email to the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI. Additionally, Federal Public Defender, Leon Watts was a witness to the conversation. Incidentally, Mason declined to drop the lawsuit. Either Mason has committed a crime or Judge Graham has committed a crime! Both Mason and Judge Graham should be offered polygraph tests!

• Judge Graham used a void sua sponte issued pre-filing injunction to award attorney’s fees of $200,000 against an indigent Plaintiff whom Judge Graham knew was unemployed. See Docket Entry No. 882 and 891. Judge Graham eschewed and rejected the law and the U.S. Supreme Court which states that attorney’s fees may only be awarded against a Plaintiff if the lawsuit is found to be totally without merit. Judge Graham made no such finding because he could not due to the fact that he failed to evaluate pending summary judgment motions which set forth substantial facts supporting the lawsuit. Christiansburg Garment Co. v. EEOC ,434 U.S. 412, 422 (1978)(“a plaintiff should not be assessed his opponent’s attorney’s fees unless a court finds that his claim was frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless, or that the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so.”).
• Judge Graham falsely completed a Civil Justice Reform Act, CJRA, report in order to conceal the fact that he had failed to rule on the preliminary injunction motion mentioned above. See False CJRA Report. Motions pending for more than six months must be included in the CJRA report. When told of this fact in a Judicial Misconduct and Disability Act complaint, Judge J.L. Edmondson, Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, simply attacked Marcellus Mason. See Section 351 Complaint No. 05-008.
• Usurping legal authority by allowing a Federal Magistrate Judge, Frank Lynch Jr., to render an injunction in clear violation of law and 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b)(1)(A) which clearly states: Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary-(A) a judge may designate a magistrate judge to hear and determine any pretrial matter pending before the court except a motion for injunction relief,…” Judge Graham has repeatedly refusing to cite legal authority for such an order. On direct appeal, Case No. 01-13664-A, the Eleventh simply refused to review this injunction for validity while it was quite willing to discuss the Plaintiff’s violation of the same. See http://mmason.freeshell.org/01-13664/OrderAffirmingTrialCourt/Opinion-OCR.htm#opinion .
• Usurping legal authority by allowing a Federal Magistrate Judge, Frank Lynch Jr., to render an injunction to prohibit lawful and protected out of court communication between a citizen and his government. See Docket Entry No. 201. On direct appeal, Case No. 01-13664-A, the Eleventh simply refused to review this injunction for validity while it was quite willing to discuss the Plaintiff’s violation of the same. See http://mmason.freeshell.org/01-13664/OrderAffirmingTrialCourt/Opinion-OCR.htm#opinion .
• Usurping legal authority by allowing a Federal Magistrate Judge, Frank Lynch Jr., to render an injunction placing restrictions on how public records are accessed under the Florida Public Records Act that the Florida Supreme Court has stated is not lawful. See Docket Entry No. 246. Judge Graham has refused to state where a federal judge gets the legal authority to administer public records under the Florida Public Records Act. On direct appeal, Case No. 01-13664-A, the Eleventh simply refused to review this injunction for validity while it was quite willing to discuss the Plaintiff’s violation of the same. See http://mmason.freeshell.org/01-13664/OrderAffirmingTrialCourt/Opinion-OCR.htm#opinion .
• Allowing scores of significant pre-trial motions to go undecided for months without taking any action. See Languishing Motions. This page list more than 30 filings, including summary judgment motions, that Judge Graham refused to act on.
• Judge Graham denied in forma pauperis petitions or petition to waive filing fees on at least ten separate for no reason. See History of Arbitrary IFP Denials. In spite of the statutes and the U.S. Supreme Court’s edict that an in forma pauperis application can only be denied if the allegation of poverty is untrue or the action is frivolous. See Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25 (1992).

This matter is not untimely because you have stated:

Moreover, there cannot be public confidence in a self-regulatory misconduct procedure that, after the discovery of new evidence or a failure to investigate properly or completely serious allegations of misconduct, allows misconduct to go unremedied in the name of preserving the “finality” of an earlier, perhaps misfired, proceeding. Pgs.8,9.

The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed Judge Donald L. Graham on appeal using unpublished opinions while reversing and excoriating other federal judges at the Southern District of Florida and in the Circuit for the exact same set of facts. The links provided here and below will demonstrate that U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages, S.D. Fla., mmason.freeshell.org/WorldThrust.htm , U.S. District Judge John Antoon II, M.D. Fla., http://mmason.freeshell.org/collins.htm, U.S. District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley, mmason.freeshell.org/martinez.htm ,S.D. Fla., U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob, N. D. of Georgia, mmason.freeshell.org/pleming.htm, all were reversed and excoriated on appeal while Judge Graham was affirmed for the exact same set of facts.

Judge Graham’s record has been widely distributed via email campaigns and a mailing list that was composed of over 150,000 recipients on a least two occasions. Selected people have received information about Judge Graham on a daily basis. I have multiple websites which depicts Judge Graham’s record. Hundreds of letters and faxes have been sent out to attorneys and judges at all levels. All of my websites have been indexed by all the major Internet Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, ask.com, and others. Try searching by using “Judge Donald L. Graham.” It is going to be impossible to discipline other judges given Judge Graham’s record. This will build resentment in the judiciary because it shows favoritism and that Judge Graham is above the law.

Judge Graham has never been asked to deny any of the above listed allegations. You need only ask Judge Graham to deny these allegations.

Sincerely,

Marcellus M. Mason, Jr.

Are Allegations of Misconduct Reviewable on Appeal?

Judge Donald L. Graham

A US Circuit Judge On the Potential Dangers of Unpublished Opinions

“If, for example, a precedent is cited, and the other side then offers a distinction, and the judges on the panel cannot think of a good answer to the distinction, but nevertheless, for some extraneous reason, wish to reject it, they can easily do so through the device of an abbreviated, unpublished opinion, and no one will ever be the wiser. (I don’t say that judges are actually doing this–only that the temptation exists.) Or if, after hearing argument, a judge in conference thinks that a certain decision should be reached, but also believes that the decision is hard to justify under the law, he or she can achieve the result, assuming agreement by the other members of the panel, by deciding the case in an unpublished opinion and sweeping the difficulties under the rug. Again, I’m not saying that this has ever occurred in any particular case, but a system that encourages this sort of behavior, or is at least open to it, has to be subject to question in any world in which judges are human beings.” 1 J. App. Prac. & Process 219 (1999). UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS: A COMMENT, Richard S. Arnold, Copyright © 1999 University of Arkansas – Little Rock School of Law ; Richard S. Arnold

The Meaningless Appeal

Marcellus Mason filed appellate briefs with the Eleventh Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, in two separate cases, 01-13364 and 01-15754, accusing U.S. Dist. Judge Donald L. Graham of the following misconduct and mismanagement:

• Lying and intentionally misrepresenting the law.
• Refusing to rule on a motion for a preliminary injunction that had been pending for about 19 months.
• Usurping legal authority by allowing a Federal Magistrate Judge, Frank Lynch Jr., to render an injunction in clear violation of law and 28 U.S.C. § 636 (b)(1)(A) which clearly states:
  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary-(A) a judge may designate a magistrate judge to hear and determine any pretrial matter pending before the court except a motion for injunction relief,…”
• Usurping legal authority by allowing a Federal Magistrate Judge, Frank Lynch Jr., to render an injunction to prohibit lawful and protected out of court communication between a citizen and his government.
• Usurping legal authority by allowing a Federal Magistrate Judge, Frank Lynch Jr., to render an injunction placing restrictions on how public records are accessed under the Florida Public Records Act that the State of Florida does not allow. Judge Graham has refused to state where a federal judge gets the legal authority to administer public records under the Florida Public Records Act.
• Allowing scores of significant pre-trial motions to go undecided for months without taking any action.
• Involved in possible criminal behavior by issuing a void sua sponte pre-filing injunction or vexatious litigant injunction which ultimately formed the basis of a criminal contempt complaint and conviction. See Framing An Innocent Person.

In an unpublished opinion, [Case No. 01-13664] the Eleventh Circuit, Judges Stanley F. Birch, Jr., Susan H. Black, and Stanley Marcus have expressly stated that allegations of judicial misconduct are not reviewable on appeal. Theses allegations were not tested for veracity they were simply ignored. Specifically, in the opinion rendered on October 16, 2002, Judges Stanley F. Birch, Jr., Susan H. Black, and Stanley Marcus asserted:

“Mason also raises issues that relate to non-sanction matters, e.g., .. the denial of his motions to disqualify the district court and magistrate judges…”

See Opinion, page 10. This is the sum total of appellate review as to whether Judge Donald L. Graham should have been disqualified due to misconduct. There is absolutely no discussion as to whether the allegations of misconduct are true or not.

Similarly, a petition for mandamus [Case No. 01-15754] was submitted to the Eleventh Circuit on or about October 2, 2001. This petition accused Judge Graham of misconduct. The Eleventh Circuit, Judges Rosemary Barkett, Jr., Susan H. Black, and Stanley Marcus, simply ignored the allegations of misconduct by stating only the following in a one sentence unpublished “opinion” :

The ” petition for writ of mandamus and petition for writ of prohibition” is DENIED.

mmason.freeshell.org/15754/mandamus_denied.pdf .

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References
Case No. 01-13664 Appellant’s Brief

Case No. 01-15754 Mandamus Petition