VERMONT LAW VICTIMS ASSOCIATION FOUNDED
by Peter Moss

Growing numbers of people realize that the judges are out of the citizenry's control which too often results in intolerable injustice, plain and simple. Justice is not rocket science; if it were, lay juries could not exist, much less function. Thus there is no valid reason to allow judges the unchecked latitude and discretion that they have built up and now widely abuse. Most people I talk to believe that the judges have become so mighty that there is nothing that can be done. I disagree. True, a wronged individual cannot stand up to a wrongful judgment alone, but that is not to say that a group of law victims organized to reduce judicial corruption and injustice will not succeed. Margaret Mead, a famous anthropologist, put it this way: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

Fighting legal injustices is one of the principal goals of my dual candidacy. To succeed, we must first understand why and how judges judge unjustly. The "why" was eloquently summarized by the late attorney general Bobby Kennedy, who said that the only question about American justice is: how much justice can you afford? Well, this can be changed by establishing a litigation fund before each lawsuit, to be financed in proportion to the parties' financial resources. There is no other way to provide equal justice under law. The "how" can be solved by seating a jury even before the litigation fund, so that judges cannot dismiss complaints by summary judgments and other devices that unjustly deny victims their day in court. Lastly, the Vermont Senate's judicial retention committee reviews every judge every six years. This is plain wrong. Judges should be reviewed whenever an underdog plaintiff complains of bias or injustice.

To make these changes, I have founded VeLVA, the Vermont Law Victims Association. If you feel you have been wronged by a judge or lawyer, please call me at 802-849-2108 in confidence. To learn more about my views, visit www.petermoss.org. Together we can overcome.