August 11, 2006
People have often asked me this question. They say "Look what the Jews did to you, Judge Arnold Gold put you in prison the day before you had to appear in court to start defending in your case, then kicked you out of your house to sell it and pay for the fees of opposing counsel (who sued you in the first place) who were 1. your wife’s killer attorney Emily Shappell Edelman, whose killer tactics no doubt helped kill her client, who is Jewish, and 2. Nicolette Hannah’s killer attorney, James R. Eliaser, whose killer tactics deprived a small boy of his father, who is Jewish – who I discovered the concealed fact that he used to be an employee of the judge’s law firm. By ordering these attorney’s wishes, the judge effectively created the loss of my small son to me and me to him, and the exodus of the entire Clark family, less me, to the East Coast, and the fracture of the Redgrave brand.
Then there was Family Court Supervising Judge Aviva Bobb, who I believe is Jewish, who backed Gold up, kept awarding new fees to Eliaser, and then refused to let me buy my guest house so that I could continue to live in Topanga, keep my dogs, and not store my belongings and not live in a trailer. Just a reminder here of my expectations that celebrity pandering could not happen in Hollywood’s hallowed halls of justice since we read this on their mission statement.
An Appeal to the Second Circuit got me a negative review from Justice Miriam Vogel, also Jewish.
An Appeal to the Supreme Court, after I had written to Chief Justice Ronald George, who I believe is also Jewish, was turned down.
And the media, which wouldn’t stop, appeared to get more fodder from the site of Hebrew University, where one of their professors made me the anecdotal target setting out to prove her totally inapposite use of me in a legal paper. Her name was Hila Keren, and to this day, I have received no response from her.
And then of course, there was Lew Wasserman, the top Jew in Hollywood, from the old House Calls case.
Well, my answer to this all-important question is that far from being anti-Semitic, I am, perhaps surprisingly, PRO-Semitic, and HUGELY ENVIOUS of them.
I have always respected the culture of the Jews, and their education, which certainly exceeds mine. I look up to them, and their low numbers among the world’s population has always astonished me. Always an outsider, I even believe I have the soul of a Jew. I have made a point of making close friends with Jewish people. (In fact, more than one of my girlfriends was Jewish.)
I WANT TO BECOME JEWISH, so that I could be completely like them, recognizably the same, but without their religious beliefs, a secular Jew.
I believe that there is the APPEARANCE of networking and mutual backscratching taking place. Of course, business is all about mutual backscratching, nothing wrong with that, but if I am right, I want to be a part of THAT network.
It is absolutely no coincidence that I believe I could then enter the places where Jewish mingling and socializing take place. Clubs, temples, agents’ offices and so forth, where right now I would be unwelcome and refused entry. Perhaps because I am no longer attached to a celebrity.
It was Adolph Zukor, that originator of things Hollywood, founder of Paramount Pictures, who ages ago gave this deathless advice to newcomers to the Hollywood scene: "Talk British but think Yiddish!" That was right up my tree.
To this end, I have entertained the thought of taking a hint from Careen Johnson, a struggling black bricklayer and funeral parlor assistant who, dying to become successful as an actress, changed her name to Whoopee Goldberg. She was smart, it got her an Emmy, an Oscar, a Tony and a Grammy. And of course she had the great talent to back it up.
Now me, I could change my name to Clarkstein or Clarkberg, but would it help? Not bloody likely! If I became a Jew aspiring to become successful as an actor or a celebrity, I would surely be advised to change it back to Clark.
Don’t think so? Look at Emmanuel Goldenberg, Muni Weisenfreund, Julius Garfinkle, David Kaminsky, Bernard Schwartz, Jacob Cohen, Joyce Frankenberg, Aaron Chwatt and Ephraim Goldberg. They changed their monikers to Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, John Garfield, Danny Kaye, Tony Curtis, Rodney Dangerfield, Jane Seymour, Red Buttons and Frank Gehry respectively. And then there was Larry King (interesting choice, but what is wrong with "Larry Zeiger Live"?)
No, I’m afraid that that can only be my fantasy.
But getting back to the law, I did make a point of hiring Jewish lawyers, who always keep their original names perhaps as a badge of office, oh, and a Jewish press agent, thinking that would help.
The first to defend me was Melvin S. Goldsman, and Marci Levine, Esqs. of Freid & Goldsman, their names giving them away.
I fired them when I found that my Mel allowed his Jewish adversary to write a time sensitive stipulation to Nicolette that could have led to the cessation of hostilities, didn’t read it because he was out of the office and there’s no money in ceased hostilities, and told his secretary to tell me to sign it, which I did. Boy, was I green at the beginning. Perhaps they were old friends. Perhaps they performed regularly for the Beverly Hills Bar Association.
My next was Steve Mindell, Esq. I fired him because he was about as aggressive as my little son’s kindergarten teacher. When I asked him to get Lynn to open a joint bank account with me so that she could pay her share of the upkeep of our joint property during the three years of my lone occupation, he simply told me she wouldn’t agree. When I asked him to get our joint stock portfolo released from the freeze put on it at the height of the dotcom bubble so we could cash out, again, he wouldn’t do it. It would have meant getting a court order, and he wouldn’t go to court for it. Nothing appeared to be happening, other than his endless bills.
So then I hired hit man Mike Kelly, Esq., a referral from a Topanga millionaire divorcee lady friend. Of course, he’s Irish, (the worst kind, I hear someone shout – but that’s a joke).
My last lawyer (apart from my Appeal lawyers, also Jewish) was a Cy Schaffer (also a Jew), to whom I paid $50,000. In court, Judge Gold said he had made an order that I was not to use funds from a tax refund to pay this lawyer, and he should immediately refund it to me. Schaffer protested. Gold hunted for his order, then said he couldn’t find it, and told him he could keep the money.
I fired Mike Kelly after stretched out months when he alleged I was trying to get Nicolette evicted from her little house by not paying the property taxes, and it was going to be sold by the taxing authorities. He didn’t read the 1-page notice, which had been sent over to him by her tricky attorney Eliaser, who I’m sure had read it. It wasn’t for me, it belonged to another John Clark, on a foreclosing property in South Central Los Angeles!
So now I was out of lawyers because I stopped believing in them, lost six hundred thousand dollars to them, and had no more money. That’s how I came to represent myself in court, and had to learn what it is to be a PRO SE.
Having wised up, my first appearance before Judge Gold was over the unread by my attorney property tax inquiry. There was Eliaser, sputtering to the judge that I was trying to get his client evicted. I showed the court the 1-page notice showing it didn’t belong to me. Judge Gold just smiled, and thanked me for being smart enough to catch it. I asked for a sanction against Eliaser for wasting the court’s time. Not granted.
As for my Jewish press agent, a gentleman named Michael Levine, a self-styled media expert, I hired him to give me advice on handling the media now that I was suing Larry Zeiger -sorry, King. I got no advice at all; he refused to visit me at my house, but I did find that my money, about thirteen thousand dollars, went towards starting his new wannabe Drudge Report, aimed at bringing down the likes of Mel Gibson and Michael Jackson and maybe me and others who APPEAR to be breaking his moral code (chuckle chuckle). Networking again, is my opinion. But unlike Red Buttons, I did get a dinner, several actually. It wasn’t until after I had dropped him that I discovered that he used to be married to King’s current wife by whom he had a child. I think he should have told me about that before I paid him a penny.
If I ever get as drunk as Mel Gibson, I’m told that I tend to act out my Jewish fantasy while singing the freedom chorus of the Hebrew slaves in their banishment.
But when I sober up, I get to thinking more about what "they" did to me. Here I am, my possessions lost or stolen, alienated by my kids and my family (I face back East to see them), removed from my house and my wealth by quasi-military enforcers, and exiled from Topanga, my Homeland. Then these words come to me.
As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
. . . . . . . . . .
Our hope is not yet lost.
And Barbra comes to my rescue in song.
FINE FINALLY FREED!
UPDATE Friday, January 14, 2011
Fine and his daughter Victoria need to get their act together. If his 18 month coercive confinement in solitary is to have any meaning and a good result, we, his supporters, need to be kept informed. The latest information that I had was that he would be in court number 86 down at the Stanley Mosk courthouse at 9:30am, in front of Judge Ann Jones, you can come and Visit us and so we will feel more supported with your presence since at this time is when we need your support the most . I went. Nada. Nothing. Coming home, I find after much computer searching that she had recused herself as one of the accused judges, and the case was reassigned to department 85 in front of Judge Robert O’Brien with no date for a hearing, back on December 16th. How are his admirers to know if they are not on someone’s personal email list?
It’s not good enough for a fan site. It needs a blog kept up-to-date by Richard Fine himself. Enough said!
********************
September 18, 2010
This is BIG news. He won! It can be done! As a PRO PER too!
From the L.A.Times, Scott Glover, September 18, 2010:
LAWYER ABRUPTLY FREED FROM JAIL
Richard Fine, 70, had spent a year and a half behind bars on contempt charges. Richard Fine has contended he was being targeted because of his challenges to county-funded benefits that judges receive on top of their state pay.
A 70-year-old lawyer who was sentenced to jail “indefinitely” on contempt-of-court charges was abruptly released Friday evening after spending a year and a half behind bars. He was released from Los Angeles County Jail in downtown Los Angeles shortly after 9 p.m. but did not wish to speak to a Times reporter, said his daughter, Victoria.
Fine, an antitrust and taxpayer advocate attorney, was thrown in jail last year by Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe for failing to answer questions about his finances and for practicing law without a license. [His brave fellow lawyers at the ABA had taken his license away from him – an embarrassment to their lying profession, no doubt!]
The contempt charges stemmed from a case Fine filed on behalf of Marina del Rey homeowners who sued local developers. He had been ordered to pay sanctions and attorneys’ fees in the case. Fine contends he was being targeted by Yaffe because of his challenges to county-funded benefits that judges receive on top of their state pay.
Rather than comply with Yaffe’s orders and be released from jail, Fine vowed to take his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In May, however, the [“justice for all”] court declined to take up his petition, meaning he could have remained in jail indefinitely as Yaffe had ordered.
The judge could not be reached for comment late Friday.
While in solitary confinement, Fine filed habeas corpus petitions for his release with the California Supreme Court, District Court and the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, alleging that Yaffe was biased against him and should have recused himself from the contempt-of-court case.
His imprisonment was “the latest encounter in the 10-year campaign by Fine to restore due process in the California judicial system,” the attorney, who has been representing himself, wrote in his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. “Fine is the only attorney, of the approximately 208,000 California attorneys, with the courage to challenge the California judiciary,” he wrote.
In a telephone interview with The Times in May, Fine said the U.S. Supreme Court had made the wrong decision by allowing him to remain in jail. He said he would be filing another petition.
“I’m in fighting condition,” he said. “They haven’t broken me down, and they won’t break me down.”
Interesting to note that on September 16, Judge Yaffe made a minute order that Fine should be imprisoned for a further 6 months after which there would be a hearing, and then ON THE VERY NEXT DAY, reversed himself with an order that he should be set free. True, it was the Day of Atonement, (being the first day of Yom Kippur), but I don’t think this moved his change of heart.
I’d rather speculate another reason that this took place. We may never know, but could it have been by Executive Order from the president?
Imagine, he’s sitting across from Ahmadinejad, trying to explain, and complain. Ahmadinejad isn’t listening. Instead, he’s asking how it is that a U.S. citizen is sitting alone in a government prison for a year and a half, on the orders of an American judge, without due process, and brings up images of glass houses.
Obama’s not doing much better with Chavez, who looks at him with a barely concealed smile on his face.
As for Castro, he just slaps his knee, points, and laughs and laughs.
So it becomes a national security issue; there’s a phone call from the White House, and right is finally done. And Yaffe will probably go into hiding after announcing his resignation from the bench.
For a full explanation, and background, to this very shocking very American story, the Full Disclosure Network link provides it here.
And as a lesson to all of us pro pers who would file briefs in court, and could do with a model of clarity and succintness, read Richard’s all-inclusive complaint addressed to some of today’s power brokers.
THREE CHEERS FOR FINE! WELL DONE! YOU DID THIS FOR THE DOWNTRODDEN, AND NOW IT’S ONWARDS AND UPWARDS. YOUR SACRIFICE WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!
READ THE ACTUAL COURT DOCUMENTS HERE, courtesy of the FULL DISCLOSURE NETWORK:
These documents, written by Richard Fine, are models of construction, especially given that they were written while confined to a jail cell. THEY WERE IGNORED! Which leads one to the question, WHY BOTHER? What’s the alternative in this greatest country on God’s Green Earth? What follows is one man’s experience in the justice system of these United States:
1. CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURT (L.A.). In Judge David Yaffe’s Courtroom. Case No. BS 109420. Notice of Hearing to Order Release. Filed on May 21, 2010. After filing Judge Yaffe refused to set a hearing.
2. U. S DISTRICT COURT (Federal Court) in Judge Magistrate Carla Woehrle’s courtroom. Case No cv-09-1914 JFW (CW). Request for Release. Hearing filed June 9, 2010. The Court failed to act.
3. U.S. SUPREME COURT Petition for Re-Hearing Case No. 09-1 250. Filed June 11, 2010 ( Petition for Writ of Certiorari.) filed June 11, 2010. Court failed to act.
4. Back in CALIFORNIA SUPERIOR COURT, Judge David Yaffe testifies as a witness while sitting on the bench…… and rules in his own favor. In this December 22, 2008 court transcript Judge Yaffe says he is troubled by the court rule that says “in the absence of objection” he must testify, even though he is sitting in judgment on the case. He then admits receiving payments from L. A. County and not disclosing them. When the attorney representing the “interested party” raised an objection to the line of questioning posed by Richard I Fine, (who was representing himself), Judge Yaffe then ruled in his own favor while testifying as a witness.
5. In 2008 the California Supreme Court held in Sturgeon vs County of Los Angeles that the county payments to State Judges were illegal. What to do? So In 2009 the CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE gave RETROACTIVE IMMUNITY from criminal prosecution, civil liability and disciplinary action to all California Judges and government officials under Senate Bill SBX2 11 (Section 5) for the illegal payments that had been made to judges since 1987.
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