Corruption in Kentucky Courts

The people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky are granted due process of law, “without delay,” by Section 14 of the state’s Constitution.

Section 14. Right of judicial remedy for injury – Speedy trial.

All courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him in his lands,

goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law, and right

and justice administered without sale, denial or delay.

 --  Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

How may judges in the Commonwealth of Kentucky have denied people their right to due process in Kentucky courts of law?  There are judges in the Louisville Courts who have intentionally delayed any action on legal complaints of injury under Kentucky law. Why are Kentucky judges able to deny citizens their Constitutional right to due process of the law?  Are elected judges as susceptible to public corruption as other elected officials?

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia believed “power tends to corrupt.” Does the political structure of the Kentucky Courts and judicial system enable too much power and corruption by those elected to uphold the laws of the Kentucky Constitution and protect citizens’ rights? Do we need the state legislature to enact laws that limit the number of terms for Kentucky ‘s judges, similar to the term limits of other State elected officials?

According to Andrew Beshear, the “Attorney General’s primary obligation is to the people … [and] … to protect public rights and interests by ensuring that our government acts legally and constitutionally.” What has Attorney General Andrew Beshear done to ensure Kentucky judges are protecting the constitutional rights of the people he serves? Justice Scalia used to say, “if you're going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the fact that you're not always going to like the conclusions you reach. If you like them all the time, you're probably doing something wrong.“ Has Andrew Beshear truly fulfilled his obligatory duties of Attorney General to the people of the Commonwealth?

How many courts in the Commonwealth have judges breaking the law by denying the Constitutional right of due process of law to its people? U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “if the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” Are the judges and political leaders of our great Commonwealth breeding contempt of our laws? Justice Brandeis also believed that our elected officials and judges are “subject … to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen.” No person is above he law.

The Kentucky Constitutional right of due process of law must be enforced by the judges and officials elected by the people to protect those rights. “Whatever disagreement there may be as to the scope of the phrase "due process of law," said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., “there can be no doubt that it embraces the fundamental conception of a fair trial, with opportunity to be heard.” Attorney General Beshear must verify that Kentucky judges and courts are protecting the people he serves before considering greater public responsibilities like governing our great Commonwealth. What say you, Attorney General Andrew Beshear?