Appearance alert: on with Nathon Chacon
Nate and I discussed the horrendous way in which judges are chosen in Missouri.
I was recently on with Nathon Chacon to do a podcast on Missouri court corruption.
We started by talking about the house of horrors in Jasper County, Missouri where Joan and Zach Lee are abusing their adoptive kids while Child Protective Services looks the other way. Interviews with Joan’s cousin, Holly Vargas, and the birth mom are below.
The rest of the podcast we had an in-depth discussion on a wide range of topics, including some recent judicial nominations in Missouri.
Much of the state chooses judges through direct elections, but in certain parts, judges are chosen by a committee which takes nominations and then chooses three.
Those three are sent to the Governor who chooses the judge.
That process is ripe for corruption and abuse. In 2022, I followed how the corrupt and notorious lawyer and guardian ad litem Elaine Pudlowski was nearly chosen in this process.
Nate was following another nomination, using the same process.
Jeff Medler is another notorious guardian ad litem (GAL) and lawyer who was nominated for judge.
Medler was included among a notorious group of GALs by Daily Docket News.
Our sources report that there are dozens of litigants that suffered abuse by James D. Reid, Ph.D., who systematically withheld crucial information from the family courts, thus unthinkably placing countless numbers of minor children into the homes of predatory parents. It appears that James D. Reid, Ph.D. has been working with an exclusive group of guardians ad litem, including Henry Miller, Esq., Sarah Pleban, Esq., Art Nissenbaum, Esq., Jeff Medler, Esq., and more specifically Elaine Pudlowski, Esq., who seems to be at the top of Reid’s go to list. It is unclear, allegedly, why these guardians ad litem, while working covertly with their hand-picked therapists, appear to consistently advocate for child placement with predatory parents, while knowingly hiding behind the fraudulent reports prepared by James D. Reid, Ph.D. We must unite, armed with the sense of responsibility, and take action to protect our minor children from this “Swamp” of sleezy predatory parents, unethical greedy forensic evaluators, unethical corrupt guardians ad litem and their unethical shady therapists. Our children deserve safety, justice, and protection from ALL PREDATORS!
Even the notorious Judge Nicole Zellweger was nominated for a promotion through this process.
When embattled St. Louis associate judge Nicole Zellweger was nominated to replace Judge Renee Hardin-Tammons in December 2022, she became one of three Judicial Commission nominees under the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan.
The other nominees for the role were associate judges John R. Lasater and Jeffrey P. Medler, and despite opposition from disgruntled adjudicated parents, Gov. Mike Parson appointed Zellweger to the circuit bench on Jan. 27.
“I don't feel like she's earned this position at all,” said Michelle Perotta who lost custodial rights for her 7-year-old daughter. “It was premature giving her a position as a circuit judge because she doesn't have enough experience.”
Zellweger was appointed as an associate judge in April 2018.
In Perotta v. Perotta divorce and custody proceedings, Perotta had both Lasater and Zellweger on her case as judges.
Currently, Perotta has supervised visits with her daughter once a week and every other weekend.
“Nicole Zellweger refused to put anything on the record because she didn’t want accountability even though every hearing has to be on the record, but she never once did that,” Perotta said in an interview. “There were times when we filed motions to make sure we had it on the record, and she also refused to let parties be at hearings. My attorney would file motions for me to be present and she would still say no, even though that's against the law.”
Since 2021 this process no longer flies under the radar. Notorious judges and lawyers who are nominated are noticed. There is growing pushback, but until the process changes, bad apples will continue to be nominated.