June 3, 2017 –

The Crescent City-Del Norte County Taxpayers Association unanimously passed a motion to submit a formal complaint to the Commission on Judicial Performance in San Francisco against Judge William Follett.   According to the Taxpayers Association, the recent controversy in the Bruder case is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ and is just one more matter to add to a growing pile of separate and/or related unlawful and/or unethical acts of Follett from the bench.  Apparently, the Association was already in the process of preparing a formal complaint regarding Follett’s manipulation of the Grand Jury and other corrupt or unethical acts.

The Taxpayers Association added that because the allegations of the complaint are fully substantiated by official documents and/or court records, few matters in this particular instance are subject to debate.

The grounds of the complaint against Judge Follett include:

1. Unlawful manipulation of the outcome of Grand Jury investigations;
2. Various methods used to deprive constitutionally protected due process rights;
3. Obstruction of justice by refusing admissible material evidence;
4. Fabrication of unsupported self-serving facts;
5. Fabrication of legal premises that contradict settled law;
6. Disregards jurisdictional bounds, but refuses jurisdictional challenges;
7. Condones corrupt acts of other local judges;
8. Rules inconsistent and inadequate sentencing (Bruder, compare to other cases);
9. Judicial favoritism to Follett’s former partners in the former law firm of Schafer, Cochran, Follett and Owen (Philip Schafer, Bob Cochran);
10. Violation of “Judicial Canons” (ethical guidelines for judges in California; example, unethical endorsement of Chris Doehle for office in 2014); and
11. Follett states he is “not a court of appeal”, but arbitrarily and unlawfully overrules other judges’ rulings, the end result being obstruction of due process rights.

Follett is also known to retaliate against attorneys and other litigants who challenge his unlawful rulings, and to slight attorneys from areas outside Del Norte County.

Accordingly, the Taxpayers Association alleges that Judge Follett’s disregard for law and constitutionally protected rights render him unfit to continue serving as judge, whether retired or seated.  Although Follett has announced his retirement for late next year (November 2018), members of the Taxpayers Association point out that a retired judge can do nearly the same harm and all the same corrupt acts as a seated judge.  The Taxpayers Association will seek two actions by the Commission on Judicial Performance; to block Judge Follett from being hired by the State as a retired judge, and to have Follett removed from office as soon as possible.

The Crescent City/Del Norte County Taxpayers Association strives to inform the local public of contamination in our local government.  Once the formal complaint in this matter is filed, the complaint and official court documents supporting the allegations of the complaint will be made public, with the exception of sealed records such as cases involving juveniles.