|
|
Judge's comments at Penn coming back to haunt him
01/18/01 - by Greg Richards - Daily Pennsylvanian (University of Pennsylvania)
Penn students who took "The Effect of Violence, Crime and Delinquency
on
Community Health" last summer may have gotten more than they
bargained for
when politics were introduced into the foray.
In a report filed by Kevin Vaughn, then-chief of the Philadelphia
Human
Relations Commission, he alleges that Municipal Court Judge Seamus
McCaffery made inappropriate statements about the upcoming Republican
National Convention while addressing the Penn class.
On July 19, both McCaffery and Vaughn were part of a panel speaking
to the
class, which was assembled at the Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia.
In his report, Vaughn detailed that when McCaffery was asked about
the
convention, he said that the judges had met and made a plan to hold
any
arrested protesters for three days.
Lawyers from the R2K Legal Collective, an activist group, have filed
a
motion to recuse McCaffery from convention-related cases, partly
based on
these statements.
The R2K lawyers allege that making such a statement violates the
impartiality that is required of judges through the Code of Judicial
Conduct.
"It's been a struggle to get other witnesses besides Kevin Vaughn,"
R2K
activist Kris Hermes said. "[Penn] successfully quashed the subpoena
to
give information prior to the hearing."
University Counsel Brenda Fraser did not return a phone call for
comment.
And in an e-mail statement, Penn Professors Tony Rostain and Jon
Pletcher
refused to discuss the allegations.
"We are deeply concerned that we would jeopardize the integrity of
this
academic activity were we to discuss anything about what a guest said
to
our class," they wrote in the statement.
R2K activist William Beckler said that, although Penn has had every
opportunity to contact students from the class, they have not yet
done so
-- instead claiming that such information is confidential.
Two RNC demonstrators who are scheduled to appear before McCaffery
have
also filed a motion to remove him from the case.
"McCaffery's current involvement with the Fraternal Order of Police
and his
history as a Philadelphia police officer makes him highly partial,"
according to defendant Danielle Redden's statement. "Much of our
defense
rests on the messages we were attempting to convey during the
Convention,
including an end to police brutality and the death penalty."
Court testimony revealed that McCaffery has signed search warrants
during
FOP meetings.
"We feel that McCaffery cannot objectively rule on these types of
proceedings," Redden added.
|
|
|
|
|
Notice: All information is subject to change, it's your responsibility to confirm with R2K Legal.
|
previous r2klegal.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
About Us
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Donate
|
|
|
|
Please help support our Legal Fund for Camille and the Timoney 3 cases. To make a donation, contact: info@r2klegal.org
|
|
|
|
Supporters
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|