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Difference between revisions of "Cobb County - Judicial Misconduct"

Cobb County - Judicial Misconduct (view source)

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→‎Robert D. Leonard II - Chief Superior Court Judge of Cobb County
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[[File:Leonard_Pic.jpg|right|300px]]
[[File:Leonard_Pic.jpg|right|300px]]
Judge Leonard presently serves as the Chief Judge for the Cobb Judicial Circuit. He has served the citizens of Cobb County since his appointment to the bench in December of 2010. He has been re-elected three times without opposition. <ref>[https://www.cobbcounty.org/courts/superior-court/judges/judge-robert-d-leonard ''Cobb County Superior Court - Honorable Robert D. Leonard II, Chief Judge'', cobbcounty.org.]</ref>
Judge Leonard presently serves as the Chief Judge for the Cobb Judicial Circuit. He has served the citizens of Cobb County since his appointment to the bench in December of 2010. He has been re-elected three times without opposition. <ref>[https://www.cobbcounty.org/courts/superior-court/judges/judge-robert-d-leonard ''Cobb County Superior Court - Honorable Robert D. Leonard II, Chief Judge'', cobbcounty.org.]</ref>
===Leading Cobb's Notorious "Pay-to-Play" Way===
Cobb County Superior Court is known as a "Pay-to-Play" judicial system, which by definition is technically a violation of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct. What exactly does Pay-to-Play mean in the judicial system context? It means that when a judge has discretion to appoint someone to a paid role (e.g., mediator, Guardian Ad Litem, etc.) in a case, the judge will select an individual that contributes, usually substantially, to the judge's election campaign.
* List of [http://thewikilaw.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:GAL_List_2021.pdf Cobb County Guardian Ad Litems]
* List of [http://thewikilaw.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:QualifiedNeutralsListTort.pdf Cobb County Mediators]
====''Ellis v. Seaver'' - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 16-1-08365====
In an article by [https://scalawagmagazine.org/author/arvinddilawar/ Arvin Dilawar] published in 2020 by the SCALAWAG online magazine, Judge Leonard is exposed for appointing a Guardian Ad Litem in 2017 to a child custody case that happened to also be the highest financial donor to his re-election campaign. When one of the parties requested that the Guardian be removed from the case, Judge Leonard required that the requesting party pay to the Guardian the full amount billed by the Guardian which totaled $12,350.00, despite the fact the Guardian failed to complete work worth that amount of pay.<ref>[https://scalawagmagazine.org/2020/07/georgia-guardian-ad-litem-accountability/ ''How Georgia's court-appointed advocates are failing children and parents'' (2020), scalawagmagazine.org]</ref>
====''Myton v. Starks'' - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 21-1-03662====
Judge Leonard's execution of the Pay-to-Play method has not waivered as of August 2021. In Cobb County Superior Court, [http://thewikilaw.org/wiki/images/9/9b/SUCV-20210098999.pdf Case No. 21-1-03662], Judge Leonard appointed Tyler J. Browning of [https://www.browningsmith.com/ Browning & Smith LLC], as a Guardian Ad Litem over a custody matter. Based on public records as January 2021, Browning & Smith is the highest donating law firm to Judge Leonard's re-election campaign since 2014, which is presently known as Friends of Judge Leonard, donating a present total of not less than $3,600.00 to date.<ref>[https://media.ethics.ga.gov/search/campaign/Campaign_Name.aspx?NameID=9130&FilerID=C2012002602&Type=candidate ''Georgia Government Transparency And Campaign Finance Commission'' C2012002602, media.ethics.ga.gov]</ref>


===A (Not So) Voluntary Recusal in Waffle House Sex Tape Case===
===A (Not So) Voluntary Recusal in Waffle House Sex Tape Case===
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As for Leonard’s final order, Ingram said, “You could tell he had some pent-up frustration.”</blockquote>
As for Leonard’s final order, Ingram said, “You could tell he had some pent-up frustration.”</blockquote>
===Leading Cobb's Notorious "Pay-to-Play" Way===
Cobb County Superior Court is known as a "Pay-to-Play" judicial system, which by definition is technically a violation of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct. What exactly does Pay-to-Play mean in the judicial system context? It means that when a judge has discretion to appoint someone to a paid role (e.g., mediator, Guardian Ad Litem, etc.) in a case, the judge will select an individual that contributes, usually substantially, to the judge's election campaign.
* List of [http://thewikilaw.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:GAL_List_2021.pdf Cobb County Guardian Ad Litems]
* List of [http://thewikilaw.org/wiki/index.php?title=File:QualifiedNeutralsListTort.pdf Cobb County Mediators]
====''Ellis v. Seaver'' - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 16-1-08365====
In an article by [https://scalawagmagazine.org/author/arvinddilawar/ Arvin Dilawar] published in 2020 by the SCALAWAG online magazine, Judge Leonard is exposed for appointing a Guardian Ad Litem in 2017 to a child custody case that happened to also be the highest financial donor to his re-election campaign. When one of the parties requested that the Guardian be removed from the case, Judge Leonard required that the requesting party pay to the Guardian the full amount billed by the Guardian which totaled $12,350.00, despite the fact the Guardian failed to complete work worth that amount of pay.<ref>[https://scalawagmagazine.org/2020/07/georgia-guardian-ad-litem-accountability/ ''How Georgia's court-appointed advocates are failing children and parents'' (2020), scalawagmagazine.org]</ref>
====''Myton v. Starks'' - Cobb County Superior Court, Case No. 21-1-03662====
Judge Leonard's execution of the Pay-to-Play method has not waivered as of August 2021. In Cobb County Superior Court, [http://thewikilaw.org/wiki/images/9/9b/SUCV-20210098999.pdf Case No. 21-1-03662], Judge Leonard appointed Tyler J. Browning of [https://www.browningsmith.com/ Browning & Smith LLC], as a Guardian Ad Litem over a custody matter. Based on public records as January 2021, Browning & Smith is the highest donating law firm to Judge Leonard's re-election campaign since 2014, which is presently known as Friends of Judge Leonard, donating a present total of not less than $3,600.00 to date.<ref>[https://media.ethics.ga.gov/search/campaign/Campaign_Name.aspx?NameID=9130&FilerID=C2012002602&Type=candidate ''Georgia Government Transparency And Campaign Finance Commission'' C2012002602, media.ethics.ga.gov]</ref>


==Notes==
==Notes==
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