| --PEERgroup --Parental Equality Enforcement Resource |
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| "All the cards were marked in advance. The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance." - Bob Dylan, Hurricane |
| On March 22, the Post-Tribune published an article written by reporter Michael Puente on the PEERgroup website. The Post-Tribune claims copyright privileges on its stories and therefore we will follow the advice of our legal counsel and not reprint the story here. We have requested permission from the Post-Tribune to reprint the story here and are awaiting their decision. In this article Judge Bonaventura loses control of her carefully manicured image that degenerates into a immature and unprofessional bout of name-calling. “Bonaventura knows who the creator [of the website] is”, Puente writes. Bonaventura states, “This guy wants nothing more that to make me upset...This is one disgruntled, disturbed person...who is trying to make me get off the case...He won't triumph over me”. Can you believe that a judge would use the public press to attack a litigant in a case that is still open in HER COURT, as this one is? More importantly, ask yourself the following question. If Bonaventura KNOWS who this creator of this web page is and is this upset with him and refuses to remove herself from the case, do you think this person has a chance in hell of getting an objective and fair application of the law the next time he goes to court? Of course not. Given Bonaventura’s emotional involvement in this case, she is in no position to be able to render a fair decision (as if she could have anyway). One final note. Bonaventura’s unprofessional and insulting name-calling violates the Indiana Code Of Judicial Conduct. For example: Canon 3 B (4) states, “A judge shall be patient, dignified and courteous to litigants...”. Need we say more? Canon 3 B (10) states, “A judge shall not, while a proceeding is pending in any court, make any public comment that might reasonably be expected to affect its outcome or impair its fairness...” Westlaw’s commentary explains that Canon 3 B (10) is meant to be a “requirement that judges abstain from the public comment regarding a pending or impending proceeding continues during any appellate process and until final disposition.” Bonaventura is aware that her decision is being appealed. Finally, Canon 4 A (1) forbids judges from making any public remark that "cast reasonable doubt on the judge's capacity to act impartially as a judge." Westlaw's commentary points out that "[e]xpressions which may do so include...remarks demeaning individuals." We has a thick skin, but still believe that Bonaventura referring to the creator of PEERgroup "disgruntled" and "disturbed" qualify here if this case is still open....and it is. The reporter here was Mike Puente and the story seems more of an attempt at damage control than an attempt of relating the news. Here's why we believe this: 1) Read the Post-Tribune sometime and you will see that Puente gets essentially all of his stories handed to him from the Lake County courthouse. All of his stories appear to come directly from the police blotter in Crown Point or from the dockets of the courts there. Puente is not likely to kill the golden goose that provides him with his golden eggs. 2) Puente's article features a large photo of a very stately Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura schmoozing with County Commissioner Gerry Scheub. The photo takes up nearly as much space on the page as the article! In any case, the photo is clearly intended to show Bonaventura as dignified and professional. We know better. 3) Puente contacted PEERgroup via e-mail and requested we telephone him. We smelled a rat and took a pass. 4) While the printing of the article itself proves the newsworthiness of the PEERgroup website, the Post-Tribune deliberately withheld from their readers the website address making it impossible for the readers of the story to form their own decision about the website! No one could visit the site to make up their own mind. Apparently, Puente and the Post-Tribune feel they are best suited to decide for their readers what their readers should think about our website. They see it as their authority to spoon-feed the public the slant on the news as they see fit. Himmler would be proud. When we asked Puente via a third party e-mail why he did not include the PEERgroup website address, he said that as a matter of policy the Post-Tribune does not reveal potential slanderous website addresses. Is the Post-Tribune now determining for the public what is slander and what is not? Judge for yourself whether or not this site is slanderous. Apparently, for the Post-Tribune and its crony friends in Lake County Government, free speech is anything that puts them in a favorable light. Anything to the contrary is slander. |