AL: Talladega County judge stripped of duties

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/l...l/12033376.htm

But the Black Robed ******* still gets paid??? WTF! If it was one of us,
we'd have been royally screwed because of pulling crap like this on other
people.

Would some wing-nut feminazi please tell me how this isn't biased? Good
people are getting raked over the coals by these low lifes and, even when
they do get caught, little, if anything, happens to them.

There's "just us" for ya.
----------------------------------------------------------

Talladega County judge stripped of duties

Associated Press


TALLADEGA, Ala. - Talladega County District Judge Tommy Dobson has been
stripped of his judicial duties by Supreme Court Chief Justice Drayton
Nabers, a move that could affect more than 25-hundred juvenile cases.

The order stems from an investigation of a number of cases that were handled
by a court referee, Jack E. Swinford, on Dobson's authority. Swinford signed
court documents including arrest warrants, child support agreements and wage
garnishment orders with the same power as a judge.

In a statement, Nabers said a referee can make recommendations to a judge,
but has no authority to enter orders.

Nabers said Swinford officially resigned as a referee Monday.

Dobson has declined to comment. He will continue to receive his 134,000
dollar annual salary.

Nabers appointed William E. Hereford, a retired circuit judge in St. Clair
County, as a district court judge for Talladega County, to review
potentially flawed cases and to devise remedies when possible.

Retired Jefferson County District Judge Gerald Topazi was also appointed by
Nabers as a district judge for Talladega County.


----------------------------------------------------
The only thing necessary for the triumph
of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmond Burke

In article , Dusty says...

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/l...l/12033376.htm

But the Black Robed ******* still gets paid??? WTF! If it was one of us,
we'd have been royally screwed because of pulling crap like this on other
people.
====
I certainly do not know the details of this case, but many states have statutes
giving CSE administrators the authority to establish orders, etc.. In PA and FL
the administrators can do this and either party has the right to have the
decision thrown out and be heard by a judge. States are moving toward this as a
way to keep court time for contested matters. I don't see the problem. There
might be greater flexibility with administrators than with certain judges and
the NCP has a *choice.*
====

Would some wing-nut feminazi please tell me how this isn't biased? Good
people are getting raked over the coals by these low lifes and, even when
they do get caught, little, if anything, happens to them.
====
Well, I'm not sure I fit into "wing-nut feminazi" genre, but.... we do not know
how many of the decisions in question were biased against fathers, do we? Maybe
they were biased against CPs. When the administrator (they call them Hearing
Officers, here) established my son's order for my grandson, he did very well. At
the enforcement/modification hearing, the administrator wrote up the
modification order right then and there and immediately sent it for the judge's
signature. Within a week of the hearing, we had the signed order in our hands.
The order eliminated all child support due to my son's disability status, and
ordered $10.00 a month toward arrears. The ex could have contested it, but she
didn't.
====
====

"Gini" wrote in message
...
In article , Dusty says...

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/l...l/12033376.htm

But the Black Robed ******* still gets paid??? WTF! If it was one of
us,
we'd have been royally screwed because of pulling crap like this on other
people.
====
I certainly do not know the details of this case, but many states have
statutes
giving CSE administrators the authority to establish orders, etc.. In PA
and FL
the administrators can do this and either party has the right to have the
decision thrown out and be heard by a judge. States are moving toward this
as a
way to keep court time for contested matters. I don't see the problem.
There
might be greater flexibility with administrators than with certain judges
and
the NCP has a *choice.*
====

In OR CSE administrators have broad authority to establish orders, create
enforcement orders, establish paternity, and create modifications. What
troubles me is the actual "CSE administrator" delegates their authority to
low level CS case workers giving the case workers the same signature
authority as a circuit court judge.


Would some wing-nut feminazi please tell me how this isn't biased? Good
people are getting raked over the coals by these low lifes and, even when
they do get caught, little, if anything, happens to them.
====
Well, I'm not sure I fit into "wing-nut feminazi" genre, but.... we do not
know
how many of the decisions in question were biased against fathers, do we?
Maybe
they were biased against CPs. When the administrator (they call them
Hearing
Officers, here) established my son's order for my grandson, he did very
well. At
the enforcement/modification hearing, the administrator wrote up the
modification order right then and there and immediately sent it for the
judge's
signature. Within a week of the hearing, we had the signed order in our
hands.
The order eliminated all child support due to my son's disability status,
and
ordered $10.00 a month toward arrears. The ex could have contested it, but
she
didn't.
====
====

These hearing officers are called Administrative Law Judges in my state and
they are grouped in the Employment Department. My personal experience is
some are fair and some take the cookie cutter approach. And my biggest grip
is they don't always follow the CS law.

Here's an example of how they are loose cannons. I challenged a telephone
hearing proceeding to set an adult child attending school order. The state
law says the child is a party to the action by operation of law and my
daughter was not properly served and was not present for the hearing. The
ALJ said it didn't matter if the child was included or not because her
participation would not affect the outcome.

"Gini" wrote in message
...
In article , Dusty says...

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/l...l/12033376.htm

But the Black Robed ******* still gets paid??? WTF! If it was one of
us,
we'd have been royally screwed because of pulling crap like this on other
people.
====
I certainly do not know the details of this case, but many states have
statutes
giving CSE administrators the authority to establish orders, etc.. In PA
and FL
the administrators can do this and either party has the right to have the
decision thrown out and be heard by a judge. States are moving toward this
as a
way to keep court time for contested matters. I don't see the problem.
There
might be greater flexibility with administrators than with certain judges
and
the NCP has a *choice.*
====

Gini, the whole point was summed up in the third paragraph.. "..a referee
can make recommendations to a judge, but has no authority to enter orders."

He may have been acting on the behalf of the District Judge, but both where
acting outside the law - District Judges cannot delegate their lawful
authority. And "referees" cannot act as a Judge.

IMO, both should be held in the county lockup until a public hearing is held
and the mess sorted out.

Just think of all the people that these two idiots screwed. And think of
all the law suits the court will soon be faced with to vacate the orders
these boneheads issued...