Coastal Post Online
MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS
MONTHLY - FREE PRESS
(415)868-1600 -
(415)868-0502(fax) - P.O. Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924
September, 2004
Why Did Judge Taylor Resign?
By Jim Scanlon
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Lynn O'Malley Taylor the first woman elected to the Marin Superior Court
resigned suddenly last month after serving since 1982. As is usual with
CEOs and other high officials who resign unexpectedly the reasons given for
leaving are vague (spend more time with family, travel etc. ...) and, given the
secrecy of all matters internal to Superior Court, there is, quite
naturally, speculation as to why she is left.
Judge Taylor recently presided over a long, unusual, case
involving a negligence law suit against the county over a social worker who
"helped" an elderly "friend" suffering from dementia, that
she had once supervised, in changing her will to bequeath her, the social
worker, her Kentfield home. The county paid for the Social Worker's legal costs
for the two month long trial.
Because of the narrow scope of judge Taylor's instructions to the
jury, it came in with a verdict that favored the county and the social worker.
But the jury, was scandalized, stating it had found the social worker's
actions "outrageous" and that "there should be
consequences".
After the jury was dismissed, the judge unexpectedly ruled that
she had made several mistakes and ordered that a new trial to begin in
September. This action outraged the County Counsel who tried the case and
presumably the County Administrator's Office whose victory was suddenly
snatched from them. This case might have influenced the judge in deciding to
resign.
But there might be something else. The Coastal Post has reason to
believe that there are at least three official complaints-and possibly many
more-for judicial conduct against at least four sitting Superior Court judges
including Taylor concerning negligent supervision of William McGivern who
resigned suddenly last December.
McGivern who was appointed judge in 1997 by Governor Pete Wilson
reportedly suffered for years from memory lapses in court: not recognizing
attorney's or what day of the week it was. He was allegedly frequently confused
and lost his way in the Hall of Justice and required help from his staff
in getting to his office. This information was leaked to the Marin Independent
Journal, reportedly from testimony in a stress disability hearing of the
judge's court reporter. McGivern made a statement to a reporter that he
had undergone a neurological examination "... at the suggestion of other
members of the Marin bench based on another allegation by another party".
McGivern had been supervised during the last two years of his service
to Marin by four judges, Taylor, Terrence Boren, Stephen Graham and Verna Adams
and all of them, to one extent or another, might be subject to discipline by
the California Commission on Judicial Performance which invariably acts without
publicity, in strict secrecy. Only in exceptionally serious cases are
disciplinary proceedings made public and only in the rarest of cases are judges
or commissioners removed from office. The only clue of discipline is a form
letter thanking the complainant(s).
As the Coastal Post wrote in April 2004, (Did Judge Dufficy
Lie...), "It is a disgrace that McGivern's alleged Alzheimer's Disease,
which can only be diagnosed by medical experts, was leaked to the press... It
seems that one can learn of one judges alleged mental status, but not of
another's disciplinary record. One is guarded like state secrets, the other
flaunted publicly in newspaper articles. McGivern's privacy and confidentiality
were grievously violated..."