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Office of Leon R. Koziol1518 Genesee Street
Utica, NY 13502Phone: (315) 735-2271
Fax: (315) 735-0991
Cell: (315) 796-4000
NEWS RELEASE
TO: ALL INTERESTED PARTIES
FROM: LEON R. KOZIOL
SUBJECT: NYS LAW LICENSE SUSPENSION
DATE: SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
The following statement is submitted in response to a decision
of the Third DepartmentAppellate Division in Albany, New York
issued on todays date:
Some of the most basic protections of our Constitution are found
in the First Amendment: therights to Free Speech, Free Press, Free
Religion and Redress of Grievances. These are libertieswhich not
only define us as a nation, but they provide critical checks upon
abuses of governmentpower. When state officials retaliate against a
citizen for his exercise of these rights, they
suppress these freedoms, sending the message to others that a
similar fate will occur in the eventthe same rights are
exercised.
Throughout my history as a constitutional rights attorney, I
have brought controversial casesagainst government officials.
However in all the retaliation that I received as a
consequence,nothing proved to be so ruthless as that which I
experienced when criticizing oppressive benchand bar practices in
domestic relations matters. The one year suspension of my law
license on theheels of a process which effectively destroyed my
father-daughter relationships represents acontinuation of this
unconstitutional retaliation process.
This all began when I declared a run for Congress in December,
2005. I was in the midst of an
uncontested divorce supported by a successfully concluded
separation agreement. During a priorperiod of 18 months, my
ex-spouse and I cooperatively raised our children without
incident.However in the weeks which followed, a state judge decided
to intervene and rearrange ourchildrearing agreements, essentially
taking the position that he knew how to raise our childrenbetter
than we did. After three years of unneeded and escalating
controversy, benefiting only therevenue seeking objectives of the
state and its lawyers, this judge found that I had been over-paying
so-called child support by about $200 per month. Nevertheless, in
order to rationalize
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the damage that had been done by that time to the parents and
children, he arbitrarily increasedmy obligations to the amounts
previously agreed upon.
On March 1, 2006, my ex-spouse retained a divorce lawyer, a long
time confidante of myopponent at the time. In fact this attorney
had been employed by Mr. Arcuri in his DistrictAttorneys Office.
Within days of this retainer, a substantial contribution was made
by thisattorney to Mr. Arcuris campaign. At the same time, demands
were being made upon myfinances which I opposed because the
information would be shared with outsiders to our privatecase. I
objected based on a conflict of interest and made a substantial
child support payment toappease my ex-spouse for settlement
purposes, all to no avail. Instead upon switching to the
stateSenate race the following month, another contribution was
promptly made to my new opponent.In short, the money intended for
my children was being diverted for political purposes
whilesimultaneously impairing my ability to advance career
objectives beneficial to my children
On January 3, 2008, I submitted a consolidated appeal of four
rulings that had established adiscriminatory pattern between
support and parenting time. These rulings were producing
asystematic extinguishment of my father-daughter relationships.
Included before the appeals courtwere arguments that domestic
relations processes were dysfunctional, conducted as a starchamber
of sorts and unrestrained in terms of unethical behavior practiced
by the opposingdivorce lawyer. I was not aware at the time that
this lawyer was a member of the ethicscommittee. An appearance was
scheduled in Syracuse for January 11, 2008, the same day that
aletter was being drafted by an ethics committee representative
only several blocks away whichclaimed ethics violations going back
to events of the year 2000.
Three of these complaints were reversed on their face and at
least one was recanted as false in asubsequent affidavit.
Nevertheless the process continued with a piling on of anything
that couldbe used against me, including petty discrepancies in my
response report. This witch hunt causedme to describe this ethics
entity as an unethical ethics committee. My bold and
forthrightpositions then produced additional retaliation based upon
statements wholly concocted againstme by committee representatives.
This upgraded treatment ultimately led to the licensesuspension
issued today. It should be noted that the appeals court hearing my
consolidateddomestic relations appeal was the same court in charge
of attorney licensing matters. On April28
thof this year, after I filed separate actions in another court
against the retaliating judges,
attorneys and ethics committee, this (Fourth Department) appeals
court stepped down from mydisciplinary case, and later, all of my
domestic relations appeals.
My ex-spouse discharged this unethical ethics attorney later the
same year (2008) but by thattime the damage to family relations was
irrevocable. For the past four years, I have beenendeavoring to
pursue the most important civil rights movement of our day, one
that seeks torestore parenting rights to the people. As my many
public positions and court filings havedescribed, parents, children
and families have fallen victim to a multi- billion dollar
childindustry exploited by the judiciary itself. Innocent parents
and children are being unnecessarilyfleeced of their life earnings
by lawyers, forensic experts and the revenue generating State
of
