Respect for the law is essential. When attorneys disrespect the law and treat it as their playground, the People lose. The People have been losing in civil, criminal and family legal matters for decades. The law serves the People, and attorneys must view themselves as priests of the law. The People have a right to hold lawyers to that level of account. Intentional misconduct and even turning a blind eye to it should be criminal offenses and prosecuted as such. Holding lawyers to this account will solve problems in the different courts. Additionally, attorney compensation is out of proportion, especially compared to teachers and doctors. As professionals whose entire revenues are dependent on the government and its laws, it is reasonable to tax the highest earners in the legal profession.
Respect for communities and their leaders is also an essential element of civilized society. Efforts toward establishing community courts have yielded positive results in our district. They must be expanded. While criminal justice is an obvious path for community adjudication, empowering communities to handle select civil and family matters is another such path. Community leaders are often uniquely positioned to handle select legal matters, and it is in the national interest to equip them with tools that can help them do so.
- Propose legislation that criminalizes the weaponization of the legal system
- In civil cases, all motions and statements before the court are subject to penalty equivalent to that of perjury or greater if they are determined to be primarily for the purpose of leverage, intimidation or any non-substantive legal purpose that wastes the court’s and the people’s resources
- In criminal cases, prosecutors must be held to the same or a greater standard, especially considering the significantly greater resources currently at a prosecutor’s disposal relative to most defendants. For example, knowingly overcharging to create leverage is criminal in the proposed legislation
- Propose legislation that puts public defenders and district attorneys into a single pool so that the same lawyer will have split representation between the state and defendants
- Propose legislation that will phase out and outlaw private prisons
- Propose legislation to expand community adjudication of specific non-violent violation- and misdemeanor-level charges
- Propose legislation to establish paths for community adjudication of civil matters
- Training community leaders in the law, civil mediation and adjudication
- Propose legislation allowing for a scaling tax on legal fees above $300 per hour
- Commences at 5% for hourly wages of $300
- Increases 1% for every $5 of increased hourly wage
- Maxes out at 30% for hourly wages of $425 or more
- All proceeds split evenly between rehab for veterans and gifted education
