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Is a hand written, unsigned order valid?
On April 4th 1995 an order of the court came down in my divorce ordering me to pay about $2500 a month in my ex wife's expenses as separate maintenance. In May of 1998, just after the Slay v. Slay decision, I discovered the original document for the order to be a handwritten and unsigned order. All of a sudden things started to make sense. At the time the order was issued I wondered why the order covered issues that were never discussed at the hearings. What I think happened is that they told my ex-wife's lawyers, Wear and Sharp, to write the order, which they did, and gave it to the clerk of the court claiming it was an order from Commissioner Winston Davis. That's my guess.
Upon discovering the handwritten unsigned order by an unknown author, I filed a lawsuit for the purpose of declaring this decision void. The suit was heard by a special judge Gerald McBeth who clearly doesn't like pro se litigants. He dismissed this case and my independent action in equity and assessed $1500 in attorneys fees against me as a way of discouraging me from representing myself. At the hearing he tried to goat her lawyers into asking for $5000 in attorney's fees but they didn't pick up on the clue.
I filed an appeal in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District. I'm still waiting on the decision. I've yet to make oral arguments. I have filed my Brief and my Reply Brief. Oral arguments are scheduled.
Are Clerks Article V Judges?
In the mean time, I noticed that the clerk of the court has been issuing orders of the court, which is illegal since only judges can issue orders of the court. Obviously I'm sensitive to that issue because that's my point on appeal. If the Court of Appeals is going to allow their clerks to issue orders of the court, then how are they going to rule fairly on my case? If they don't follow the rules themselves, how can I rely on them to rule to uphold the rules? I therefore felt the need to challenge the orders signed by the clerk.
Missouri judgements are void in other states. Click Here to see why. |
I filed a motion to reconsider this joining and I filed a motion to strike the order for voidness because it was signed by the clerk and not by the judge. In April of 1998 the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in Slay v. Slay that Family Court Commissioners are not Article V judges and therefore can not make judgement or orders, and that orders made by commissioners are void. The court ruled:
After I got the order denying my motion to declare orders signed by the clerk void, I called the clerk of the court to ask her what her authority was to issue orders of the court. I recorded the conversation in Real Audio format and it reveals the procedures practiced at the Missouri Court of Appeals for issuing orders of the court. Ms. Sandra Skinner didn't know I was recording this. Sometime I record conversations where I might need to review and understand and feel that I need to hear it more than once. In this case Ms. Skinner gave what I consider a very frank and factual description how internal policy. What continues to amaze me is that this has gone on as long as it has. After hearing this I think it is likely that every decision made by this court for many years are all void, and can't be retroactively fixed.
Moving up to the Missouri Supreme Court
I filed a Writ of Mandamus in the Supreme Court of Missouri asking them for an order compelling the Court of Appeals judges to sign the orders of the court. This writ might declare void all the orders and decisions that were signed by the clerk. in all cases before Missouri courts.
After filing the Writ of Mandamus on the Missouri Supreme Court I send an email to 3500 court administrators listed on the State of Missouri web site. A few days later I got a call from someone in the State Auditors Office who said that they are considering auditing the courts to determine if orders are being signed by the judges. I encourage anyone reading the to encourage the state auditor to proceed with this very important audit. The courts need this oversight.
The email list included members of the Commission on Retirement Removal and Discipline which is charged with policing judges. I contacted them and they said they had received my email and had initiated an investigation. Although I can only hope, my confidence in them is very low. My experience is that they cover up for judges rather than insure the integrity of the judiciary.
I filed a motion titled Various Motions in which I challenged the impartiality of the court. I contended that they could not fairly rule on a case where they were breaking the same rule as the issue on appeal. If the court of appeals thinks that second hand verbal order are ok then how are they going to rule that a hand written unsigned order is not ok? I asked them to disqualify themselves and transfer the case. I also asked for a delay because of Y2K (being that I am a computer programmer) till at least a week or two after the first of the year. I also asked that the decision be signed by the judge. My motion was denied, except for the delay, and the decision was signed by the clerk again.
On December 23rd 1999 I get a judgement on my writ of mandamus. My writ was DENIED, and the judgement was signed by the CLERK. What a circus! I responded with a letter asking for a judgement signed by a judge. They said they'd have to get back to me on that. I then went to the web site for the Missouri Supreme Court and they had a listing for the minutes of the December 21st 1999 hearing where they decided the cases. These hearings occur once a month and my case wasn't listed.
On Monday, December 27th 1999 I called the Supreme Court again asking for a copy of the decision on my writ signed by a judge. They faxed me a copy of the docket sheet that had the decision to deny my writ hand written and initialed by the chief justice William Ray Price. The decision on the docket was dated December 21st 1999.
I then had a friend of mine who lives in Columbia Missouri go to the Supreme Court and ask to see the files of four other writs decided the same day as my writ. None of them had any hand written decisions on them.
What does this mean? The fact that my case isn't listed in the minutes means it was never heard by the court. However, someone other than a judge made a decision to deny my writ. When pressed on the issue of a judge signing it, the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court entered a fraudulent judgement on the docket sheet and backdated it to December 21st. It's interesting to note that only my case has a decision written on the docket sheet.
I discovered that the judges of the Missouri Supreme Court aren't signing their orders and judgements either. All the decisions they made are void. |
We also have a chief justice who is forging judgements. My case was never heard by the court and the chief justice entered an order as if it had been. That's fraud! The fact that they felt obligated to phony up an order signed by a judge clearly indicates that they know that they are required to have the judges sign the orders.
It's Impeachment Time |
The Appeal Saga Continues
On March 31st 2000 the Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District Issued it's Opinion and it's bizarre. The most bizarre thing is that the criticized the form of my appeal saying that I don't comply with the rules. What a joke! Here, laugh at this with me:
Is this insane or what? This is BULLSHIT! This is treason to the constitution and is an example of why we need to put and end to Self Regulation and Judicial
Immunity. These aren't judges, they're criminals!
In response to the Opinion I filed this Motion to Reconsider or Transfer which I lay it on the line and accuse the court of treason to the Constitution. I'm giving them one last chance to obey the law before I come down on them. If they're smart they'll figure out that I can bite back.
What can I do about it? I don't know. Maybe it's time to Overthrow the Government. This is the reason I decided to Run for United States Senate and to Run for United States Congress in 1998. It is why I Burned my Census Form on the steps of the Missouri Supreme Court. The time has come for the people of Missouri to rise up against the courts and demand that the courts follow their own rules.
Highlights of the recorded conversation on Appellate Court Procedure
These are actual excerpts of a conversation I had with Sandra Skinner, the Clerk of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District on the subject of judges signing orders. For those who question if these statements are taken out of context, you can Listen to the Recording Yourself. What you are about to read and hear is shocking because it throws into question if any of the decisions that have come out of this court can be relied on as being made by a judge. These statements are isolated sentences and not a transcript of the conversation.
Clerk: That's the way it's always been.
Clerk: Correct
Clerk: Pretty much, yes sir.
Clerk: Sometime I do, sometimes I don't.
Me: How do I know that your research attorneys aren't making these orders in behalf of the judges?
Clerk: I guess that's an open question, uh huh.
Clerk: Well that how some courts do it. That's not how this court does it.
Clerk: I get the order when they tell me what the order is, or they tell the research staff what the order is.
The clerk established several interesting things in this phone conversation. She established that the judges in the Southern District Court of Appeals do not sign their orders and judgements. She said that judges not signing orders is the way things are done, and that's they way it's always been. She says she often gets her orders verbally, or often second hand verbally through a research attorney. Although she said that all she is doing is certifying an order was issued, she is often relying on the second hand verbal orders told to he through research attorneys. When asked how she knows if the research attorneys aren't making these orders in behalf of the judge, she replies that is an open question.
The clerk admitted that she takes orders of the court verbally from judges, sometimes second hand, and really doesn't know if the order actually came from a judge. |
Additionally, many of these orders are second hand verbal orders that rely on the memories and hearing of two people for the purpose of accuracy. And it also relies on trust that someone in the verbal chain didn't mix one case up with something else or accidentally embellish the order. And we are counting on the honesty of the staff that they would never make an order of the court without the judges knowledge. If, for example, I wanted to verify an order was actually made, how do I do that? He said, she said?
I asked the court for a an order signed by a judge and they actually refused to have the judge sign one. |
It is clearly established in law and in the Constitution that judges, and only judges are to make orders and exercise judicial power; not commissioners, clerks, or research attorneys. What appears to be happening to me is that the research attorneys are issuing the orders and decisions and the judges are out playing golf. I, of course don't know if this is true, but the point is that the procedures in this court are so sloppy that it may be true, and they have no way of knowing that it's not true.
All of the orders issued by the Court of Appeals, Southern District, are void!
So, these facts cast doubt on the authenticity of the orders of the Court of Appeals. All of the orders of this court are likely void. I would say that if there were a legitimate doubt that an order was made by a judge, or that it was an accurate representation of the will of the court, that order would be ruled void.
How much doubt would it take to get these orders ruled void? The first think is that the order is not signed by a judge. Signing an order is a bright line test as to the will of the court. That's why the rules of the court, listed below, spell it out. The order has to be in writing, not verbal, and has to be signed by a judge. If an order is not in writing, and is not signed by the judge, it is not an order and it is void.
Additionally, the judges can't go back now and sign the orders. I suppose in theory that if there were one order not signed, by accident, and that someone caught it, the judge, through a nunc pro tunc procedure could correct the record. However, in an environment where nothing is signed the judges would have to remember which issues they themselves made and whether the decision written by the clerk was a true and accurate representation of what was verbally ordered, sometimes second hand. With hundreds or maybe thousands of cases affected, can we count on the memories and honesty of all parties to reconstruct these cases accurately? What about the decisions of retired and deceased judges who practiced in that court. How do we get their signatures? Do we know if the judges even read the final orders or were even aware they were issued? I don't think so.
These orders can't be fixed by signing them retroactively. |
If the judge hasn't actually read the order, then someone other than the judge made the order. A writing that the judge never read can not be construed to be the judges opinion. |
Other Appellate orders may be void as well
For those who aren't lawyers reading this, our justice system is based on "common law". When a new circumstance is decided, it become "precedent" and other courts rely on these decisions as a basis for their decision, just as I have cited cases here. Suppose that the Southern District were the first to decide an important case and then the Western District ruled the same way citing the Southern Court and no other cases. If the Southern District case is ruled void, doesn't that make the cases that rely on this case void as well? I think it does.
Suppose for example you're on Missouri's death row and you are about to be executed next month and you find out that a controversial appellate decision in your trial was never signed by a judge. Doesn't that wipe out all the other decisions by other courts of appeals since that decision? I think it does.
Side effects of letting this slide
If the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District doesn't have to obey the rules of court and sign orders of the court, then why do the judges in circuit court have to sign their orders? Does the Missouri Supreme Court have to sign their orders? What is it that determines that the Southern District can ignore the rules and the circuits can't? If the Court of Appeals can ignore the plain language of the rule requiring that judgements and orders be in writing and signed, the what other orders are they allowed to ignore? If a clerk of the court can sign orders of the court then why can't I sign orders of the court? If the clerk can certify orders that she has no direct knowledge of having occurred then why can't I? After all, there is no more of a law or rule giving her that power than giving me that power.
When the courts break the law then there is no law. |
Thousands of Cases might have to be done over
I have done a lot of research on this and the way I see it, these cases are void. Void cases are void forever and don't become unvoid with the passage of time. These cases can't be fixed by retroactively signing the orders. There may be some other way to bless these orders, but if there is, I don't see it. I invite lawyers and judges to comment on this. I fail to envision a solution that takes orders of the court, that were given verbally, sometimes second hand verbally, and never signed, that would be sufficient to make these valid orders of the court. And if they can't be validated, they are void. Void means that it never happened, and if it never happened, it's a do over. If I'm wrong on this, please explain it to me.
Do we just sit back and continue to pretend that it's just fine or do we fix it and pay the cost of repairs? |
This is Unbelievable!
This has been going on for years under the noses of thousands of lawyers and judges and why is it that I, a computer programmer, has to be the one to stand up and say, "hey guys, aren't judges supposed to be signing these orders? Heeellllooo?" Where is the supervision? Where is the auditing to ensure that the administrative procedures of the courts is lawful and complies with the rules? Where is the Missouri Supreme Court who is supposed to make sure something like this doesn't happen?
Where was the supervision by the Missouri Supreme Court to make sure the courts comply with the Rules? |
Fair Hearing - Yea Right!
What's ironic about this is that I originally started out in circuit court with a declaratory suit to rule void an order I found in my divorce that was a hand written order not signed by anyone. But at least it was written. The trial judge dismissed the case and assessed attorney's fees against me. This was to discourage me for pursuing this issue. Now I know why.
The orders I'm getting out of the Court of Appeals are verbal orders, and we don't know who's orders they are. It's even worse than the order I'm trying to get declared void. Is the Missouri Court of Appeals going to rule fairly that the hand written order is void and that judges have to sign orders when they issued an order already in my appeal denying me my motion to have an order signed by a judge? It looks to me like they already ruled in their favor that judges do not have to follow the Rules of Court. It appears to me that this case is already decided.
Missouri Courts are an Embarrassment
Judges in Missouri complain about pro se litigants not knowing the law and the Rules of Court. "Get a Lawyer" they tell you this is too complicated for a person to represent themselves. Pro se litigants don't know how to do things right and don't follow the Rules of Court.
I believe that a judge should know more about the law than a non-lawyer. |
Missouri Judgements are Void in Other States
Missouri judgements that are unsigned are void in other states. Even signed judgements may be void if it relies on a decision that was never signed. And there is a way to attack any Missouri judgement based on due process of law. If written a comprehensive web page outlining the Procedure for Attacking Missouri Judgements in other states. The full faith and credit clause of the constitution only applies to judgements that are not void.
Credit where Credit is Due
Some people wonder where I get my legal skills and why I'm doing this. I have to give credit to the Law Firm of Wear and Sharp. Without their misconduct, none of what you read here would have been possible. If the Chief Disciplinary Counsel had done their job they would have disbarred these lawyers years ago. Lawyers and judges may turn their backs on judges who refuse to obey the rules, but we the people demand that the courts follow the law. This is America where the people rule and the government and the courts exists solely to serve us, and not to protect the self-interests of crooked lawyers.
If not for the Law Firm of Wear and Sharp, none of this would have been uncovered. |
Rule 74.01(a) Included Matters. "judgement" as used in these rules includes a decree and any order from which an appeal lies. A judgement is rendered when entered. A judgement is entered when a writing signed by the judge and denominated "judgement" is filed. The judgement may be a separate document or included on the docket sheet of the case.
Rule 74.02 Every direction of a court made or entered in writing and not included in a judgement is an order.
Administrative Rule 4.09(6) ... Orders or judgements entered on the docket sheet(s) by the judge or the clerk shall be signed by the judge or supported by a memorandum in the file signed by the judge.
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