|
|
Judge Not for Sale, Despite eBay Listing.
A Manhattan housing court judge was not the least
bit amused by a recent advertisement on eBay. Evidently, the item up for
bid hit a little too close to home. The item for sale with worldwide
shipping included was none other than the honorable judge himself.
The ad, posted by a obviously disgruntled litigant, criticized Judge
Jerald R. Klein for the way he dispensed justice and showed a photograph
of him smiling, seated in the courtroom.
The ad drew 6,400 and 21 bidders over four days,
with a high bid of $127.50.
"I'd like to know their rules for this," said Klein, who first learned
about the posting from a reporter who called him at home. "I'd like to
know what investigation they did before they put this out there," he said
in The New York Times.
After eBay was made aware of the listing, it took the posting down, citing
a number of rules that it said the ad violated, including misleading
description, unauthorized use of a photo and unauthorized use of a name.
The ad, entitled "Judge for Sale," was posted by Janet Schoenberg, a
disgruntled litigant in a landlord-tenant dispute in New York City Civil
Court who said Klein was mishandling the case and that she had exhausted
other ways of drawing attention to her case.
"In today's world, this is how people who are not celebrities can get
their voice heard," said Schoenberg. She maintained, however, that she
meant the ad as a joke. "I didn't expect anybody to actually bid on this,"
she said. "It was satire, it was parody."
She said that the judge himself was never for sale. In fine print, after
accusing the judge of lying and breaking the law, she explained that her
posting is a "work of art" and what was actually for sale was an
audiocassette of the judge's proceedings, which are public record. She
said the tape provided proof that she was being wrongly evicted from her
rent-controlled studio.
Klein declined to comment on the potential libel issues, saying that he
would discuss his next action with court administrators.
Source: FindLaw.com, AP, "Judge Not for Sale, Despite eBay Listing," Dec.
13, 2004.
Return to Here
Comes The Judge! page.
Or check out our Stupid Lawsuit Collection by
clicking here.
Power of Attorneys Home Page.
|
|
