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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFerguson judge behind aggressive fines policy owes $170,000 in unpaid taxes
Ferguson judge behind aggressive fines policy owes $170,000 in unpaid taxeshttp://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/06/ferguson-judge-owes-unpaid-taxes-ronald-brockmeyer?CMP=share_btn_tw
The judge in Ferguson, Missouri, who is accused of fixing traffic tickets for himself and colleagues while inflicting a punishing regime of fines and fees on the citys residents, also owes more than $170,000 in unpaid taxes.
Ronald J Brockmeyer, whose court allegedly jailed impoverished defendants unable to pay fines of a few hundred dollars, has a string of outstanding debts to the US government dating back to 2007, according to tax filings obtained by the Guardian from authorities in Missouri.
Brockmeyer, 70, was this week singled out by Department of Justice investigators as being a driving force behind Fergusons strategy of using its municipal court to aggressively generate revenues. The policy has been blamed for a breakdown in relations between the citys overwhelmingly white authorities and residents, two-thirds of whom are African American.
Investigators found Brockmeyer had boasted of creating a range of new court fees, many of which are widely considered abusive and may be unlawful. A city councilman opposing the judges reappointment was warned switching judges would/could lead to loss of revenue.
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malaise
(269,049 posts)What a mess
CincyDem
(6,363 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)he is a judge, AND a prosecutor, AND a private attorney.
Brockmeyer, who has been Fergusons municipal court judge for 12 years, serves simultaneously as a prosecutor in two nearby cities and as a private attorney.
malaise
(269,049 posts)Good 'effin grief!
Revanchist
(1,375 posts)now remind me, am I defending you, prosecuting you, or judging your case?
LiberalFighter
(50,943 posts)prosecutor in 3 or 4 different communities.
peacebird
(14,195 posts)mopinko
(70,120 posts)who knows what other sources of revenue this clown has.
Revanchist
(1,375 posts)This is seven years of tax evasion based off joint returns so his wife's income is added to the equation. Also, don't forget that he's also drawing a salary as a prosecutor as well as owning a private practice, which he apparently owes employee taxes on in addition to his personal liabilities. Furthermore, the article states that he has already paid over $64 thousand in overdue taxes not included in the current total. Add those to the business taxes he didn't pay his total burden is over a quarter million, possibly closer to $300 thousand if not more since the only figure given for the business tax is "tens of thousands."
iow, a good old double dipping, chiseling, ugly old white man.
a republican of the first order.
MyOwnPeace
(16,927 posts)for failure to pay taxes - and double the fines DAILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Fucking racist scum.
samsingh
(17,599 posts)tularetom
(23,664 posts)whathehell
(29,067 posts)Hypocritical ass.
alp227
(32,027 posts)http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferguson-officials-erased-tickets-for-friends-and-family-doj-discovers/article_a90ed96d-c064-5a03-b9bd-ba9a0db575e8.html
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Gee, that's too bad.
uponit7771
(90,347 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)Seems they just cannot help themselves.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)OldRedneck
(1,397 posts)Shocked, I tell you.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)albeit famous, getting out the corruption, then everyone else breathe sighs of relief and figures it sucks to be them. Back to business/racism as usual.
Like the cop...got another city's department shut down and just got hired next door. Kind of like rats...when you plug up one hole they come in or gnaw another one. It takes pesticide, just don't know the politically equivalent action that would require.
Submariner
(12,504 posts)May he get hit by a police car racing to a donut shop. White trash pond scum.
turbinetree
(24,703 posts)What makes this hypocrite above the law, he reminds me of Cliven Bundy
onethatcares
(16,172 posts)America would someone be able to have three jobs. Ain't this country great or what????
frylock
(34,825 posts)frylock
(34,825 posts)pay the taxes in whole, or go to jail. I am so fucking pissed off reading this crap.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)NJCher
(35,685 posts)If I were in charge of the federal or state IRS, I would be fining this A$$hole 40 ways from Sunday. I would be auditing every tax return I was legally able to audit.
This guy even looks like lowlife creep. See additional pic at link to the full story at The Guardian.
Cher
"He also owes tens of thousands in employer taxes for his law firm and an annual tax paid by employers to fund benefits for the unemployed. "
Don't they usually PADLOCK a business for doing this??
iandhr
(6,852 posts)Dayam... there goes that damn guardian again doing the job of our non-existent 4th estate. If we did have a proper news organization in this country, no telling what they could have pulled out of Ferguson, MO in the last 6 months.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)"Old Europe"?
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)azmom
(5,208 posts)I sure hope they nail his ass good.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Joe Johns
(91 posts)What a goddamn hypocrite!
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)pansypoo53219
(20,978 posts)meow2u3
(24,764 posts)meow2u3
(24,764 posts)If I were in charge, I'd give this worthless piece of white trash a taste of his own medicine: lock him up, under the very deplorable conditions he subjects black citizens to, until every last penny in back taxes--with interest and penalties--are paid in full. I'd treat him like he treats the blacks in his jurisdiction--with the same amount of respect he gives them: none!
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Rose Siding
(32,623 posts)He practices law as a prosecutor, too. How is that not a conflict?
And his clerk was one of the ones fingered for racist emails. Now does a clerk ever do anything the judge they serve isn't down with?
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)ND-Dem
(4,571 posts)worse than a hypocrite, because I'd bet he gets payoffs for being a hypocrite.