Supreme plagiarist?_part 3

see:
http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7985&Itemid=88889005


SC take note: Michigan censured judge for plagiarism
Written by ARIES RUFO, Newsbreak
Wednesday, 21 July 2010


MANILA, Philippines--How do you deal with a cut-and-paste magistrate, like one that the Philippines recently had?

In the United States, this would merit a public censure from its Supreme Court.

Newsbreak reported on Monday that Philippine Supreme Court Justice Mariano del Castillo plagiarized portions of his ponencia on the comfort women case.

Documents show that the magistrate lifted sentences and footnotes from 3 foreign materials without attributing these to the authors.

In a supplemental motion for reconsideration submitted by lawyers of the Filipino World War II sex slaves, it was also alleged that Del Castillo twisted the conclusion of one of the materials from which the justice liberally lifted quotes. (Download supplemental motion for reconsideration.)

The SC, in a unanimous decision, junked the petition of about 70 Filipino comfort women to compel the government to seek reparation and public apology from Tokyo for the abuses of Japanese soldiers during World War II. It was Del Castillo’s second major ponencia, after the Ang Ladlad party-list case.

Del Castillo, through Court spokesman Midas Marquez, said he will prepare a report for the SC on the matter.

In the past, the tribunal has censured lawyers for misquoting sources and misinterpreting source materials to suit their arguments. Under the Lawyers' Code of Professional Responsibility, lawyers have a duty to "not do any falsehood, nor consent to the doing of any in Court, nor shall [they] mislead, or allow the Court to be misled by any artifice.”

As for plagiarism, which is considered a mortal sin in the academe and in journalism, there is no indication the SC has censured any member of the bench or any lawyer. Plagiarism, although not specifically cited in the Code of Judicial Ethics, is considered intellectual theft and a form of intellectual dishonesty.

In the US, plagiarism is viewed as a serious threat on public confidence in the judiciary.

In 1989, the Michigan SC ordered the public censure of District Judge Thomas Brennan Jr. when he was found to have plagiarized an article he submitted for publication in a law review.

The Michigan SC sustained the recommendation of the Judicial Tenure Commission, which probed the matter.

Brennan authored the article ”Dismissal and Prearraignment Delay: Time is Of the Essence,” published in the Cooley Law Review in 1987.

The Commission found that the erring judge failed to attribute several passages from the article of Allyn Lite, “The Pre-Accusation Dilemma," which was published in the Seton Hall Law Review, and from the article “Dismissal and Prearraignment Delay: When Should the Clock Start?” by Judge Steven Vartabedian and published in the Judge’s Journal.

The Commission said Brennan violated the Michigan Constitution and the Rules of Professional Conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Brennan was found to have failed “to observe high standards of conduct that would promote public confidence in the judiciary” and failed to “avoid all impropriety and the appearance of impropriety which constitutes irresponsible and improper conduct that erodes public confidence in the judiciary.”

The judge was also found to have engaged in “misrepresentation reflecting adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a judge and a lawyer.” His act, the Commission said, “exposes the legal profession and courts to censure and reproach and is contrary to ethics, honesty and good morals.”
Brennan did not question the punishment. (Newsbreak)