October 21, 2009
Williams Gone
Justin Katz
So, Chiefygate has driven former Chief Justice Frank Williams from his post-retirement seat on the court:
[Chief Justice Paul] Suttell called Williams' decision to step aside "best for the court." He said he will not ask Williams to perform any further judicial duties, but that Williams will continue to deliberate and write decisions on cases heard by the court through Oct. 6. "There's no question that this matter has become a distraction," he said in a news release. "It is clearly in the best interests of the judiciary that the former Chief Justice be relieved of judicial responsibilities at this time."When the court reconvenes Oct. 27, it will operate with four justices until a new associate justice is appointed to make the high court complete, according to Craig Berke, spokesman for the state judiciary.
The peculiarity of Williams's surprise withdrawal from the Chief Justice office, in December, has certainly taken a bizarre turn. Imagine if this isn't the reason he made that move two years shy of receiving his full retirement?
5:16 AM
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Apparently the Dosreis family had a pretty nice income for public employees.Lots of overtime is what has been said.
Posted by: joe bernstein at October 21, 2009 5:45 AMIn the case of the husband,it's no mystery that Correctional Officers,like Nurses,have more overtime forced on them than they want.
In tyhe case of the "bodyguard",one has to wonder how much overtime the Chief Justice authorized and what the justification may have been.That's taxpayer money and this arrogant Lincoln scholar has to answer finally for how he's been pissing it away.Gourmet kitchens in the courthouse.What a travesty.
The pace of the courts in this state is like terminal constipation.We elevate these egos on legs to positions where they think they don't have to follow any rules but their own.
Look at the last five Chief Justices:
Bevilacqua-stepped down for corruption allegations
Fay:stepped down for corruption allegations
Weisberger:no hint of any problems-stepped down for reasons of age
Willams:where do we start?
Suttell:one can only hope we're not embarrassed again
Encouraging,no?
Combine this with the self-serving scumbags running the General Assembly and it's apparent how a physically beautiful state can be turned into a cesspool.
Now, he's gone from retired, to really retired. Of course, I'm sure no one will go after his sacrosanct pension, so now he can live out the rest of his life on his 6-figure publicly-paid golden parachute.
Posted by: Will at October 21, 2009 11:49 AMIn my opinion, FORMER Chief Justice WILLIAMS is a disgrace to the Judiciary.
How many times has he exerted undue influence on matters before his court in order to gain favor with the General Assembly?
How many times did he exert undue influence within the Judiciary to favor persoanl aquaintences in violation of RI Labor Law and Contracts?
"Non sub homine sed sub deo et lege" Except in RI that is...
Art III Sec 7 of the RI Constitution: Ethical conduct. -- The people of the State of Rhode Island believe that public officials and employees must adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct, respect the public trust and the rights of all persons, be open, accountable and responsive, avoid the appearance of impropriety and not use their position for private gain or advantage. Such persons shall hold their positions during good behavior
Perhaps it's time for the Ethics Commission to act? Will they take a hard look at his behavior while on the bench....
Check out RISUPREMECORT.COM for more info.
Posted by: Aldo at October 21, 2009 2:21 PMYou know what I love about this? Every time Depetro, Yorke and Glover say Chiefy, it sounds like they're saying Chafee.
I'll be there's a sizeable slice of the population who think this controversy is about Lincoln Chafee.
Charlie Hall ought to do a cartoon of Linc sitting on the toilet with a glass of merlot in his hand saying to the girl in the tub, "I'm not chiefy, I'm Chafee".
Posted by: George at October 21, 2009 8:33 PM