Local Report on Judge's Anger Over Election Fix Block....(CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY)

Hats off to the new boss at The Journal News. For years, important stories about the horrific corruption in and about the courts were never printed. Simply put, the public was prevented from knowing the truth because phone calls were made to kill any substantive negative story about court corruption- blocking the information from ever appearing in the local newspapers .....MORE.....

While most people knew the corruption was bad, by personal experience or word of mouth, no one ever read much because the information never made it to print.

In one case, powerful local thugs were even able to kill a New York Times court corruption investigation in White Plains conducted by 3 full-time NY Times investigative journalists over an 11 month period. The story was "put to bed"-- done, completed-- ready to be published. But it wasn't. The story was killed- by a phone call.

In another case, and which is currently under criminal investigation, a respected Journal News reporter told his source, "I'm sorry I just can't do anymore stories about [the subject]. I've been told to stop; it won't be published. Period. I'm sorry." (The reporter had written and had published numerous stories somewhat related, but was getting too close to information about certain people and specific illegal activity.)

Yes, the toxic bubble of corruption is about to explode within the court's 9th Judicial District, which includes Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange Counties.

Start buying The Journal News. Real news is coming soon, and we believe they will be printing it.

The federal indictments are coming, and the clean-up is near. Together, we can all help bring integrity back to our treasured court system, and see a long-overdue restoration of law and order.

It's good to have you back, Journal News. We missed you.

Proudly, we post a Journal News article published October 14, 2007:

Judge sues 3 political parties over endorsements

By REBECCA BAKER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: October 14, 2007)

Judge Francis Nicolai is suing three political parties that would not support him for state Supreme Court justice, saying they did not follow the rules when choosing whom to endorse in November.

Nicolai, the administrative judge for the 9th Judicial District, filed legal papers last week against the Conservative, Independence and Working Families parties, and their candidates for the bench.

Nicolai claims that the parties violated state election law by mishandling their conventions. The lawsuits demand that all three parties prove they acted properly.

"They must follow the procedures," said Thomas Abinanti, Nicolai's lawyer for the lawsuits against the Working Families and Conservative parties. "If they didn't, then their nominations are null and void."

Party leaders called Nicolai's lawsuit a case of sour grapes.

"Do you really think he would be suing the parties if he had gotten a nomination?" Independence Party spokesman Richard Rhodes said.

Nicolai and five other judges are vying for three seats on the state Supreme Court in the 9th Judicial District, covering Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange and Dutchess counties.

Stripping minor-party endorsements from the other candidates could make a difference in a close race for the 14-year job, which pays $136,700 annually.

The suits put Nicolai in the unusual position of suing his two Democratic running mates - Rockland County Surrogate Judge Robert Berliner, who was endorsed by the Working Families Party, and Orange County Surrogate Judge Elaine Slobod, endorsed by the Conservative and Independence parties.

"The only reason he's doing this is because he only has the one line," said Pat Welsh, chairman of the Working Families Party.

The Republicans running in the 9th Judicial District are incumbent state Supreme Court Justice William Sherwood, Westchester County Judge Rory Bellantoni and Christine Krahulik, an Orange County Family Court support magistrate. The Independence Party endorsed Bellantoni and Sherwood. The Working Families Party endorsed Bellantoni and Krahulik. The Conservative Party endorsed all three.

"Judge Nicolai has the right to commence a frivolous and wasteful lawsuit that takes up the valuable time of our already overloaded judicial system, if that's his choice," Conservative Party Chairwoman Gail Burns said.

Two other state Supreme Court candidates are running solely on the Right to Life Party line. That party also endorsed Sherwood.

Nicolai filed the lawsuits in state Supreme Court in Westchester, but the case was transferred to Albany. Jeffrey Buss, Nicolai's lawyer for the suit against the Independence Party, said there were questions about fairness and openness during the convention.

"The whole process needs a spotlight on it," Buss said.

While Sherwood is trying to hold onto his Supreme Court seat, two others are open. Republican Justice Howard Miller has reached the mandatory retirement age of 70, while Republican Justice Lawrence Horowitz was forced to resign this year after allegations of unprofessional conduct.

Nicolai, a Westchester County Court judge, wants to return to the state bench. He served one 14-year term as state Supreme Court justice until 2004, when he did not seek re-election because Republicans did not cross-endorse him.

He ran instead for County Court and won. That allowed him to remain the administrative judge of the district, a position he has held since 1998.

This year may be the last for judicial conventions in the state's districts. However, the same was said last year after a federal judge ruled the system unconstitutional because it gave too much control to party leaders rather than voters and denied candidates a fair shot at getting on the ballot. The conventions were allowed because an appellate ruling upholding the decision came too late to put a new system in place.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided to take the case and heard arguments on it last week.