This is the presiding Juvenile Court Judge in OKC. in the same Juvenile Court
where the 2007 ABA report cited a lack of due process for parents and lack of
legal representation for children, yet that report was buried. So it is very
likely these could have been litigants in a Juvenile case that were jailed.
Now it is even more apparent that people like Dana Lawhon and others have been
illegally held and denied their Constitutional Rights. But this article also
gives hope, it shows bad judges can be exposed and overturned, make this
information as public as possible to show others the truth.
There's something else to note here. This information was provided by former
OKC. Special Judge Michael Chionopoulos who is now in Fl. but still has interest
and concern for his Ok. home. Please consider commenting at the former Judge's
blog and thank him for this info since our local media has ignored it. The
former Judge suffered a great loss to our court system as many of us have, and
when he left this state the people suffered a great loss also.


http://profesc-research.blogspot.com/2008_12_16_archive.html

Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Oklahoma Judge Richard Kirby Overturned - but Two had already Suffered
Unconstitutional Jail Sentences at the hands of his honor
The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned Associate Judge Richard Kirby, who jailed
two litigants for Direct Contempt of Court, holding that the litigants'
constitutional rights were violated by Judge Richard Kirby (see In Re J.H., 2008
OK 104). While the Court of Civil Appeals upheld Judge Richard Kirby in his
Direct Contempt of the two litigants, the Oklahoma Supreme Court opted to
actually apply the Constitution. The Supreme Court was concerned with those
pesky little things called CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS! You know, like oversight by
Judge Richard Kirby of the right to due process - both substantive and
procedural - the right to counsel when one is at risk to lose liberty/freedom
etc. As it turns out, Judge Richard Kirby denied the litigants due process by
charging them with "direct contempt of court" - as opposed to the proper charge
Judge Richard Kirby could have brought, if there was one, of "indirect contempt
of court." While there is a well-reasoned
dissent supporting Judge Richard Kirby's decision, ultimately the Supreme Court
reversed in a 7 to 2 decision mandating that all litigants in future such
contempt proceedings be given the fundamental rights to notice, adequate time
for preparing a defense, a jury trial (if demanded) etc. Unfortunately for the
two litigants involved, the Supreme Court's ruling is of little consequence -
they had long since served the unconstitutional sentences, improvidently doled
out by Judge Richard Kirby, in the Oklahoma County Jail prior to the appeal.
Someone had to pay the tuition cost for Judge Richard Kirby's constitutional
education. It is just sad that two people had to suffer an unconstitutional jail
sentence to pay for Judge Richard Kirby's eduction in the fundamental legal
principles on which this nation was founded! Unlike the student loan program,
there is no way Judge Richard Kirby can repay the debt to the litigants who paid
dearly for his education by
serving jail time. Merry Christmas to those who were wrongly jailed at the
hands of his honor.
Labels: Judge Richard Kirby Oklahoma former Michael Chionopoulos Constitutional
contempt court Posted by Summary at 18:35


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