A wise man once said, Absolute Corruption, Corrupts Absolutely. From my experience he must have been referring to he Georgia Judicial Qualification Commission.
This State Government Agency is an Air of Respectibility that is the saddest joke on the citizens of Georgia.
If you happen to be the unfortunate victim of a Georgia judge, who commits Judicial Mis-conduct, you will suffer more stress once you file a report with the JQC.
Here is what will happen when you contact the JQC. The phone will be answered by a rude woman, whom I will call The Gate Keeper. At first, she will discourge you from filing this complaint. Then, when you insist, she will send you the form after informing you that it can take up to 11 months to get a decision.
I guess they figure that by 11 months, you would have forgotten all about it and not be as angry.
Here are 3 scenarios of what will happen to your complaint:
1.) If you wait out the 11 months, and do not contact the JQC during that time, you will get a Form Letter, saying that your complaint was investigated, and deemed to have No Merit.
2.) If you try to call them to follow up on your complaint, the Gate Keeper will tell you that someone will call you back. They never return calls. If you continue to follow up and insist upon a return call, then your complaint will be Denied sooner than the 11 months.
They really do not want to read nor act upon your complaint. In fact, you never get a case number to refer to.
3.) If you are not satisfied with the denial of your valid complaint, they will tell you to appeal. Then, your complaint will be denied for the 2nd time. If you dare to call them to accuse them of not properly investigating your complaint, the Gate Keeper will hang up the phone on you.
She did this to me twice. She would not allow me to speak to the Director or any Investigator.
Unless you have a video tape of a Georgia judge taking bribes or acting inappropriately, Do Not Bother To File A Complaint with the JQC.
MY STORY:
My husband and I have had 2 horrible experienes with the JQC.
Once back in 2007-2008, when we filed a complaint against a judge named Butterworth for allowing a crooked drywall contractor to rip us off and for discriminatory comments he made to us, in the courtroom.
Despite all our efforts, in this matter, the JQC failed to return our phone calls for updates. When I called them for the 3rd time, asking Why Am I Being Treated AS a Second Class Citizen, they sent to us, by certified mail, return receipt request, a letter stating that they cannot overturn a judge's decision.
I became angry and called back saying that I asked you to investigate his racist comments towards us, and not his decision, we got another certified mail letter from the JQC, return receipt request, telling us that they they did not like our Colorful Comments.
The Second Time, was in January 2014 - December, 2014, when we filed a complaint against a judge named Wigington, for a Conflict of Interest and Judicial Mis-Conduct. This Judge Wigington was friends with the defendent, who was a lawyer who stole our retainer money and was belligerent to us.
Despite all the facts of evidence and witnesses, this Judge Wigington found against us - all because he had a close personal relationship with the defendent lawyer we were suing to get our money back.
Talk about Justice Being Blind. This judge should have recused himself from this case, but took it just to find for his friend and defeat the Yankees from the North.
Well, we filled the complaint with the JQC, and after months of trying to get them to help us, we got yet another form letter saying that our complaint had no Merit and that we Failed to Allege Judicial Mis-conduct.
This is Not True, but the JQC is not on the side of the public.
I sent a letter to the Georgia Supreme Court alleging that the JQC failed to investigate our complaint. The court sent a letter to the Director of the JQC, and told them to investigate.
This only made them angry and more vengeful against us.
They sent to our home, an Investigator, without him calling us to make an appointment. This investigator showed up to our home unannounced and uninvited.
He immediately began to insult me in front of my husband, after he entered our home. He accused me of things and said things that are not appropriate toward a lady.
I felt like booting him out of my house, which I now regret not doing. When I stood up to him, he backed down a bit and asked me to send him a letter with facts and witnesses he can contact.
I did that. The long and short of this story, is that this investigator Never contacted any of the witnesses I gave him.
He wrote me a letter saying The Case Is Closed and He Will Not Be Doing Anything More. I do not know what more he meant as he did nothing but insult us.
The JQC sent us a compressed disk, claiming it was a recording this Judge Wigington made during the Court case. A recording we were not aware of.
When I complained to the JQC, and asked to speak to the Director, the Gate Keeper just hung up the phone on me.
I tried sending letters to the Georgia Supreme Court, but they would not respond. I talked to one woman, at the Court who told me my letters were never received.
I finally got a somewhat sympathic woman, who told me that my letters were received but the Court was told, by the JQC director and investigator, not to respond.
This story clearly shows the mis-carriage of justice in Georgia and that fact that citizen complaints are not taken in any serious manner.
This is why we are going to sell our home, and move back to the Northeast. With State Government Entities, like the JQC, it is best to Get Out of Dodge.
Signed,
Justice Avenger