At the end of Part 2, Judge Whit LaFon had awarded my ex-wife sole custody of my daughter, Maggie, with me being granted standard visitation. So I went from having my daughter every other week to only having her every other week-end, two weeks during the summer, and alternating holidays. LaFon’s decision was affirmed by the Tennessee Court of Appeals (judges Holly Kirby Lillard, W. Frank Crawford, and Alan E. Highers), even with the documented actions that the Disciplinary Counsel to the Court of the Judiciary found to be judicial misconduct.
Remember from Part 2, LaFon “retired” from the bench, thus circumventing a trial before the Court of the Judiciary (see the letter from the Court of the Judiciary posted on the “An Attorney’s Tale” Facebook page), the text of the letter is as follows:
As you know, our firm is employed as Disciplinary Counsel to the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary. This letter is to advise you that the complaint you filed against Judge Whit LaFon was submitted to an Investigative Panel of the Court of the Judiciary for consideration. During the pendency of the matter before the Investigative Panel, the Court voted at its semi-annual meeting on August 26, 1998, to dismiss all pending complaints against judges who retired from the bench. The reasoning underlying the decision was that the only punishment the Court could impose following a pubiic [sic] trial of an individual who is no longer a sitting judge would be a private admonition. See Tenn. Code Ann. 17-5-301(f), 17-5-309(a). Therefore, your complaint has been dismissed.
Thanking you for your interest in preserving the integrity of the judicial system.
That last line, as a friend commented, is really ironic. Thanks for wanting to preserve the integrity of the judicial system; however, your complaint is being dismissed because the judge retired and we do not want to be bothered with it now. The question arises, how many judges at the time had complaints pending against them and then decided to retire? The answer, I don’t know, maybe one. Don’t forget, LaFon was the uncle of former vice president Al Gore.
Also, during the trial in front of LaFon, LaFon stated several times that unless I could prove my ex-wife unfit, she would get custody. That is NOT the law - comparative fitness is the law. Even though the trial transcript showed LaFon making those statements, the Court of Appeals disregarded those words because the actual court order did not mention them; since the order did not mention them, that is not how LaFon thought when giving my ex-wife custody. All I can say about that is STU-PID! Or rather, corruption.
Since LaFon "retired" from the bench, my case was reassigned to Circuit Court Judge Don Allen.
In 2000, I filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment based on, among other things, LaFon’s judicial misconduct in my case and I attached most of the documentation from the Court of the Judiciary to the motion. Judge Don Allen DENIED the motion. So now we have three appellate judges and another circuit judge given documentation of judicial misconduct (not my words but the words of the Disciplinary Counsel of the Court of the Judiciary), and THEY ALL look away. Judges protecting judges, and punishment (via the child custody decision) to the person who reports the judge to the proper authority.
So far in my own case:
1. The guardian ad litem, now juvenile judge Christy Little, does not show up for the first trial, but instead files a report that contains many false statements.
2. The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, when given documentary evidence of Christy Little’s false statements, dismisses the complaint against her.
3. In a civil lawsuit against Christy Little (represented by the law firm of Rainey, Kizer, Butler, Reviere & Bell), the Tennessee Court of Appeals (judges Alan E. Highers, David R. Farmer, and Holly Kirby Lillard) gives Christy Rauchle Little “absolute quasi-judicial immunity” so that she does not have to stand trial for her misconduct while assigned as guardian ad litem in my case.
4. Judge Whit LaFon commits judicial misconduct in my case, and four judges, three appellate and one circuit, look the other way.
5. The Court of the Judiciary dismisses the complaint against Whit LaFon because he “retired” from the bench.
Surely, all of this cannot have happened in our system of justice. Well it did, and still does, on a daily basis. The reason - judicial corruption - favoritism, good ole boys, sexism, racism, money, power trips, vindictiveness.
Woe is he who stands up against a judge that has done wrong.
End of Part 3.
I have experienced the same problem. I had been the caregiver for my severely disabled son for all of his 18 years of life. His father decided he wanted custody and I ended up living my car, so he had gotten physical custody of my son. During the 3 years of hearings, Judge James Russell, covered up the fact that there was evidence, DHS investigations concerning my son's living environment. The fact that he was constantly being physically, verbally, emotionally, and maybe even sexually abused. That according to DHS, my son has been traumatized and depressed since being in his fathers care. Recent investigations into the marriage by the prestigious law firm of Baker, Donaldson, et.al, was withheld, along with all evidence in this case. Yes I have filed complaints with the Board of Professional Responsibility on my 3 attorneys. Last month I was advised that another complaint had been closed, although I had been working this agency since before my trial started. They do cover for each other and wash each others backs. My son is unable to speak for himself, so I continue to fight for him. I hope somebody out there can maybe guide me to someone or an agency that can help. I have tried everything!
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