Progress on Petition for Impeachment
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Aug. 19, 2016 |
Bernofsky's letter and petition of August 17, 2016 is received by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. |
Aug. 23, 2016 |
Judge Berrigan notifies President Obama that she is retiring from active service, thus freeing her seat on the Eastern District of Louisiana bench. Her retirement is reported by the New Orleans Advocate on September 9, 2016. |
Sept. 12, 2016 |
Bernofsky's letter of September 7, 2016 requesting the opportunity to testify is received by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. |
Oct. 11, 2016 |
Bernofsky's letter of October 7, 2016 is received by U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, asking that the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts respond to his earlier letters concerning his inquiry into Judge Berrigan's impeachment. The letter is acknowledged and assigned ID No. 3728921 on Nov. 3, 2016. |
Oct. 24, 2016 |
Bernofsky receives an unsigned letter of October 20, 2016 from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts advising "that the Administrative Office cannot provide the assistance you have requested." |
Nov. 7, 2016 |
Bernofsky's letter and petition of November 2, 2016 is received by all 19 members of the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit, requesting them to recommend that the U.S. Judicial Conference investigate the potentially impeachable offenses committed by the Hon. Helen "Ginger" Berrigan. The correspondence is acknowledged and assigned Complaint No. 05-17-90013 on Dec. 6, 2016. |
Jan. 4, 2017 |
Bernofsky's letter and petition of November 2, 2016, now designated Complaint No. 05-17-90013, is dismissed by Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. |
Jan. 18, 2017 |
Bernofsky appeals to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for a review of Complaint No. 15-17-90013, and asks the Court to reconsider his initial request to investigate Judge Berrigan for impeachable offenses. |
Jan. 18, 2017 |
Bernofsky's letter and petition of November 2, 2016 is sent to the 6 new members of the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit, requesting them to recommend that the U.S. Judicial Conference investigate the potentially impeachable offenses committed by the Hon. Helen "Ginger" Berrigan. |
Jan. 23, 2017 |
Bernofsky learns that Judge Berrigan will have an opportunity to respond to his petition for impeachment. |
Mar. 2, 2017 |
Bernofsky's appeal of Chief Judge Stewardt's rejection of his Complaint of Judicial Misconduct and petition for impeachment is dismissed without further comment by the Appellate Review Panel of the Judicial Council for the Fifth Circuit. |
Mar. 11, 2017 |
Judge Carl E. Stewart, who along with Judge Priscilla R. Owen is a permanent member of the Fifth Circuit's Judicial Council, is appointed to the Executive Committee of the United States Judicial Conference. Recommendations for Executive Committee membership are made by the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, to whom Bernofsky's earlier letter and petition of August 17, 2016 was addressed. |
May 24, 2017 |
Bernofsky petitions the U. S. Supreme Court to direct the Judicial Council of the Fifth Circuit, or preferably an alternative federal judicial circuit, to investigate Judge Helen "Ginger" Berrigan for impeachable offenses committed in connection with cases over which she presided during 1995 to 2001, in which Tulane University was defendant. See: Petition for Mandamus and the initial accompanying Appendix. As required, copies were sent to all respondents named in the petition, together with a cover letter such as that shown by this example. |
June 14, 2017 |
Responding to the Clerk of Court's requirement that the initial appendix to the petition be restructured into the same booklet format as the petition, a new Appendix was created and resubmitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and Solicitor General, together with the original petition. Copies of the new Appendix were also sent to all respondents named in the petition, together with a cover letter as shown by this example. |
Aug. 7, 2017 |
The Supreme Court accepts the Petition for Mandamus with the new Appendix, and dockets it as Case No. 17-205. The docketing notice and waiver forms were then forwarded to all respondents named in the petition as exemplified by this mailing. |
Aug. 31, 2017 |
►The U.S. Solicitor General, as Counsel of Record for the Judicial Council of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, informs that the respondents in Bernofsky's Petition for Writ of Mandamus have waived their right to file a response.
►A press release announcing the docketing of the petition.
►Bernofsky learns that Tulane engaged Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to lecture in its law school's
study abroad program in Paris and Berlin during the summer months of 2017. |
Oct. 6, 2017 |
Conference scheduled for writ of mandamus. |
Oct. 10, 2017 |
Supreme Court denies writ of mandamus. No reason, discussion or critique was forthcoming, thus completing the circle of immunity that protects judges from accountability for illegal acts conducted in connection with cases they adjudicate. |
Oct. 26, 2017 |
Bernofsky requests the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice to investigate Judge Helen "Ginger" Berrigan for past impeachable offenses. At issue is the recent dictum by the Fifth Circuit's Judicial Council that exempts judges from being investigated for prior felonies, a precedent that is manifestly unconstitutional. Copies of the above Writ of Mandamus, together with a cover letter are sent to all eight members of the Subcommittee. |
Nov. 1, 2017 |
Supreme Court fails to disclose recusals or comments of justices in denying the petition for writ of mandamus. |
Nov. 16, 2017 |
Did Justices Alito, Breyer and and Ginsburg really fail to recuse themselves from voting on whether to accept the petition for writ of mandamus? |
Dec. 6, 2017 |
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) re-introduces a bill to create an Inspector General for the Judicial Branch. A letter of support sent to Grassley reinforces the need for the new regulatory agency.
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