Human target: Petition to free Atty R Fine kidnapped-tortured in LA

Los Angeles Attorney Richard I. Fine

A petition has been created to free Richard Fine, gentleman attorney with distinguished career of many examples of success over forty years, a kidnapped, targeted individual (TI), Falsely Imprisoned Person (FIP) in hospital solitary "coercive confinement" under horrendous circumstances and conditions in what ACLU stated is absolutely the "worst" jail in America.

Richard Isaac Fine (1940) established the Law Offices of Richard I. Fine & Associates in 1974. He received his Bachelor of Science from University of Wisconsin (’61); Doctor of Law from University of Chicago (’64) and Ph.D. in International Law at London School of Economics, University of London (’67). He received a Certificate from Hague Academy of International Law, a Certificate of Comparative Law from International University of Comparative Science in Luxembourg, and a Diplome d'Edudes Superieures du Droit Compare from Faculte Internationale pour L’Enseignment du Droit Compare in Strasbourg.

Before opening his firm, Mr. Fine was founding chief of the first U.S. municipal antitrust division for the City of Los Angeles; Special Counsel to the Governmental Efficiency Committee of Los Angeles City Council; and member of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division in Washington D.C. Mr. Fine has practiced law with an international law firm in London and a law firm in Los Angeles. He served Southern California as Consul General for the Kingdom of Norway.

Crusader

Known as a "crusader," the "taxpayer advocate attorney," the "peoples' lawyer," and now, as of March 4, 2009, "America's forgotten political prisoner," Mr. Fine has challenged and corrected government corruption.

His experience encompasses antitrust cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, federal and state courts, requiring United Way to allow donors to designate the beneficiary of their contributions, the lawsuit against OPEC, class action cases, complex litigation, constitutional cases, criminal cases, environmental cases, international cases including those involving diplomatic immunity, public corruption and abuse of power cases, securities cases, and cases helping homeowners, among others.

The Free Richard Fine website highlights that among notable achievements for the common good, Mr. Fine:

• Forced LA County to stop stealing from children after discovering the County holding child support monies before paying them to parents. The County was illegally keeping all interest, callously depriving millions of helpless children, never paying some of the support monies.
• Stopped LA County overcharging residents on sewer bills, causing $85 million in refunds to residents. Since 1993, Mr. Fine caused the return of approximately $350 million dollars to Californians that state, country and municipal governments unlawfully took from "special funds" and "trust funds."
• Discovered County leaders striking sweetheart deals with developers, practically giving taxpayer-owned land to them in exchange for campaign donations and unknown other trades costing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tax collections, "money we’ll all have no choice but to make up elsewhere, because judges dismissed all the lawsuits filed trying to recover the lost tax value of at least $700 million dollars," according to the Free Richard Fine website, The Best Courts (Your) Money Can Buy.
  
• Upon realizing oddities in several cases he had filed against LA County that were mysteriously dismissed for nonsensical and bogus reasons, Mr. Fine uncovered LA County illegally paying judges to always win lawsuits determined by those judges.

To protect and provide justice to taxpayers, and fulfill obligations by oath as officer of the court, Mr. Fine insisted that judges should have revealed on their mandatory financial disclosure forms their County payments and voluntarily stepped aside to not determine outcome of such cases. 

Facing possible repayments of huge sums of money and/or prison, the judges refused to disqualify themselves and denied all allegations. When Mr. Fine continued advocating for taxpayers and against the judges, the judges removed his license to practice law and charged him with “moral turpitude” for questioning courts’ neutrality, an issue that has been before the U.S. Supreme Court. (See State Bar files waiver of right to respond, meaning Mr. Fine's appeal is unopposed.)

LA judges admitted to holding a hearing about Mr. Fine without notifying him, issuing orders in his absence. This provided him no opportunity to object or respond.

Kidnapped

Judge Yaffe acted as a witness in Mr. Fine's contempt "trial", improperly putting himself as judge of truthfulness of his own testimony. To prosecute the "contempt charge", Yaffe and developer Jerry Epstein attorneys agreed that Epstein's attorneys would prosecute the case.

"Mr. Fine was kidnapped in court," said one of his strongest advocates, human rights defender Dr. Joseph Zernik, Ph.D. 

In a warrantless arrest, ten men in the back of the courtroom came forward to forcibly remove Mr. Fine and take him to Men's Central Jail hospital in downtown LA, home to 20,000 inmates. There Mr Fine is held on false charges. 

"The judges are so scared that they’re keeping Mr. Fine in jail despite knowing that the California Court of Appeal issued a decision late last year in a case brought by Judicial Watch called Sturgeon v. LA County which left no doubt that it is absolutely illegal for the County to make these payments to judges," according to the website advocating for Mr. Fine.

Rather than conform to law as the Sturgeon decision commanded, those involved colluded. "Guided by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George, they hired expensive lobbyists (paid with public funds?) to manipulate the State Legislature into literally sneaking a midnight bill (called “SBX2-11”) during the 2009 budget crisis peak," states the adovcacy group website.

Laws were then changed to: make the payments appear “legal,” authorize continued payments, and grant retroactive immunity from criminal prosecution to all colluding. "Immunity", however, is never given when no crime is involved. Paragraph of SBX2-11 about retroactive immunity was not entered  into the official Code like the rest of the bill.

Why hide this pardon of over Ten Million Felonies from the public? SBX2-11 is an ex post facto law. Its immunity provisions will ultimately be repealed.

Mr. Fine has an appeal for release before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 'Torture Judge" Jay Bybee sits on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals where increasing demonstrations call for Bybee's impeachment due to his authoring the torture memos.

In June, a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. confirmed that judges must disqualify themselves from presiding over cases in which they received money from a party before them.

Judicial Watch sought a preliminary injunction on July 13, 2009 to stop LA County Supervisors from paying judges. (One supervior was reportedly caught phoning a judge on behalf of a campaign contributor to influence a case outcome.) Protecting fellow judges, Judge Richman dismissed this case, ruling SBX2-11 now authorizes the payments.

On February 20, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger signed into law retroactive immunity for all involved in the criminality. (See 09 12 17 Richard Isaac Fine - Review)

Torture

According to Mr. Fine's advocates, he has experienced sleep deprivation at the LA jail hospital. Bright overhead lighting is left on him all night. This meets criteria of psychological torture. Furthermore, he is not allowed outside.

"The judge’s malice was clear from the beginning, however, inasmuch as he ordered that Mr. Fine be denied paper and pencil with which to petition a higher court… a basic civil right of ALL incarcerated persons, even mass murderers.

"Reporters were not allowed to interview Mr. Fine and he is denied bail or any kind of hearing. He has no access to a law library or any legal materials. He is ordered to remain in the jail hospital until he relents and acknowledges the void "order" as being legitimate. 

Mr. Fine's all-volunteer support team gained relaxing of a small amount of jail restrictions. His continued confinement has prevented income for over a year with devastating financial consequences.

As a taxpayers’ advocate, Mr. Fine never lived a life of opulent luxury. Now he faces losing everything according to his advocates.

"One judge even took money directly from a client settlement fund of Mr. Fine’s, forcing him to pay for the judge’s attorneys to defend his receipt of the illegal payments" according to the Fine advocate website.

Dr. Zernik asserts that Mr. Fines story is "eerily reminiscent of coercive hospitalization of dissidents by the KGB under the former Soviet Union." (OpEdNews: Attorney Richard Fine - dissident's false hospitalization in Los Angeles County, California, Joseph Zernik; January 21, 2010)

No modern group knows what Dr. Zernik stated better than targeted individuals. They consistently report that their whistleblowing and/or complaining of their persecution results in coercive psychiatric evaluations and attempted forced hospitalization, too often successfully.

Learn more, take responsible action, and keep asking, "Why?" and "Why not?" Sign the peition to release Richard Fine. The Free Richard Fine Webite emphasises: Mr. Fine worked tirelessly for Americans but now has nothing left beyond hope that decent citizens will return a small part of the favor and support efforts to restore and enforce the Constitution. Consider voting against all incumbent Superior Court judges and LA County Supervisors in the next elections. Consider voting against all California State Senators and Assemblymen who voted in favor of SBX2-11 in committee. Consider voting against all who refused to get involved with the Fine case with the excuse that it’s “a judicial matter,” namely Congressmen Brad Sherman and Adam Schiff and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who also signed SBX2-11).

See Dr. Joseph Zernik's human rights work at http://inproperinla.blogspot.com/.

Learn about the lawyers’ version at http://sites.google.com/site/freerichardfine/Home/the-money-trail and the shorter version at http://sites.google.com/site/freerichardfine/money-trail---edited-version. Stay updated by visiting: RightTrumpsMight.blogspot.com. See the “Free Richard Fine" website at http://sites.google.com/site/freerichardfine/Home. 

Sign the petition to free Richard Fine.

Deborah Dupré, M.S., QMHP holds post graduate research degrees from United States and Australian universities. Ms. Dupré has been a human rights defender for over twenty-five years, contributing to research and development  in marginalized communities in her home state, Louisiana, Least Developing Pacific Island Nations and most remote, marginalized Australian Aboriginal communities. She can be contacted and her work supported through wwww.DeborahDupre.com. For more articles like this, subscribe by using the "Subscribe" button above this article.