Felony Friday Ep. 035 - Exposing Protections Afforded Judges via Judicial Immunity

Liberty & LawPodcast
Written By Jason Grimley
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Pappas-AnthonyWhat's this episode about? 

Anthony Pappas joins Felony Friday once again to discuss the extremely under reported injustice known as judicial immunity. Judicial immunity is a form of legal immunity that protects judges from liability resulting from their judicial actions.Felony Friday host John Odermatt and Anthony focus their attention on four cases where judges faced zero consequences for their harmful and sometimes deadly actions. Those who listen to Anthony's first appearance on Episode 032 of Felony Friday know he shared his remarkable story about a judge who operated above the law and in a written decision fabricated events that painted Anthony as a violent criminal.Anthony's background:Anthony has been a college professor in Department of Economics & Finance at St. John's University since 1976, and continues today. Anthony also, has owned and operated securities brokerage firms spanning 1975 to 2013.Four cases that we discussed:

  • Many of you will likely remember the case of the "shirtless judge" from a couple years ago. He faced zero consequences after engaging in sexual intercourse with a woman while he was presiding over a failure to pay child support case of the woman's ex-husband.
  • The next case discussed on the show was a heart breaking story about a father who faults a judge for his son's heroin overdose. The judge in this case made Robert Lepolszki give up methadone. Robert credited  methadone with helping him stay off heroin, but in order to qualify for a treatment program the judge made him stop receiving methadone treatments. Lepolszki died of a heroin overdose months after entering the program. He had been clean and was holding down a job prior to the judge's intervention.
  • The third story discussed involved a daughter who claims she lied and sent her dad to prison for sexual abuse. The woman claims that when she was a child her mother beat her and forced her to make up stories that her father had sexually abused her. The daughter and mother both admit that they lied, but a judge has refused to allow for an appeal
  • The last topic talked about on the show was the "kids for cash" scandal that unfolded in 2008 over judicial kickbacks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The judges involved in the scandal sent children to extended stays in youth centers in exchange for cash from the private youth home operators. Some of the offenses were as minimal as mocking a principal on Myspace, trespassing in a vacant building, or shoplifting DVDs from Wal-Mart.

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