| ► U..S. Judge Frank Damrell of Sacramento; Il Duce Wannabee, ethically inept |
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U.S. Judge Frank Damrell of Sacramento; Il Duce Wannabee, ethically inept
  Unfortunately, Federal District Court Judge Frank Damrell, Jr. of Sacramento was appointed to the bench by President Clinton in November 1997.
In May 2008, a female student at University of the Pacific (UOP) in Stockton, California told two friends that she had been raped in campus housing by three male basketball players. In March 2009 she filed a lawsuit against the University, which was then assigned to Judge Frank Damrell.
When oral arguments were scheduled to hear the university’s motion for summary judgment (have the case dismissed), university lawyers asked that the courtroom be closed to the public. According to a Oct 14, 2010 story in the Sacramento Bee, the court file does not show that Judge Damrell ever ruled on the university’s motion to close the hearing to the public. However, when a reporter for the Sacramento Bee tried to order a transcript of the hearing, a member of Judge Damrell’s staff said the courtroom had been closed and the transcript sealed.
 There is nothing in the law that allows for Judge Damrell to seal the court records and/or transcript in a civil lawsuit. In fact, in California, there is a statutory right of access to documents filed in civil lawsuits. Of course Judge Damrell wasn’t about to let California law and/or the vagaries of the 1st amendment deter him from acting as an Il Duce Wannabee (ex-Italian dictator Benito Mussolini).
In an overt attempt to forever seal his status as an arrogant and omnipotent despot, Judge Damrell had the chutzpah to have his order dismissing the case “sealed.” He did so on his own motion (aka, sua sponte in legal speak). Obviously, Judge Damrell has total contempt for the oath of office he took to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
It is patently clear that Judge Damrell received his appointment to the federal bench as a result of his status as a lackey for the local Democratic party hacks in California. It certainly wasn’t because he was the most qualified among the 20,000 or more attorneys/judges in Northern California. To be fair, the vast majority of federal judges obtained their judgeships in the same manner. This is not to say that there are not some highly qualified federal judges because there are; however, Judge Frank Damrell isn’t one of them!
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