Roy Oppenheim with daughter Wendi Oppenheim
The game was close for most of the night and down by a touchdown. It was late in the fourth quarter. And then the big play came in; the quarterback threw from about the 35-yard line to the team’s star receiver in the end zone.
But wait. There were a series of flags and the refs called offensive pass interference and two personal penalties. The receiver had pushed himself off the defensemen propelling him into a position to catch the ball.
The Verdict: Touchdown does not count and the ball was placed back 30 yards further down field. The refs did their job and the fans accepted their fate.
Banks cheated, did not play by the rules
That’s when it all clicked for me. The banks cheated when they filed their foreclosures. They did not play by the rules. And the refs did not have the backbone to protect the integrity of the game.
If you check the “game” rulebook that is the most important function of a judge: To protect the integrity of the judicial system. Not to show favoritism, to remain impartial, and to be fair.
What the GMAC, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America Foreclosure Fraud crisis is demonstrating to the world is that when the judiciary does not apply the rules fairly they can jeopardize the integrity of the game.
Had last night’s and previous penalties not been properly called, football as we know it, would not be the most popular spectator sport in the US.
It is the RULES that we all know and respect! The new video replay ref is an added form of protection to ensure that no illegal play is permitted to go forward in the game. What a PR problem it would be to allow 250 million people to see a bad call on TV and YouTube!
So why did the judges who are all licensed attorneys and have taken various oaths of office allow this spectacle to happen? The answer is plain and simple. They were playing to the home team fans as opposed to their professional obligations. In this case the home team was the banks, their attorneys and a governmental apparatus that wanted the foreclosure cases disposed of as quickly as possible at all cost.
Who cares about the rules or about offensive pass interference? That receiver last night would have caught the ball anyhow, is what until days ago the judges were saying. I say NO!
Let’s hold the judicial system accountable
As avid sports fans and members of a democracy viscerally understand RULES count and playing fair is a hallmark of our system. I think we need to hold the judicial system accountable.
I don’t want to hear the excuses. I couldn’t see the play; my line of sight was blocked, I was afraid that if I called the play according to the rules, the game would go into over-time; it was unwritten not to enforce certain rules; or better yet, I am not in good-enough shape to run up and down the field. Or come on… you don’t really expect me to count the number of players on the field?
Let’s be blunt: the judges were co-opted by having “rocket dockets”
The judicial system was expected to become the private collection agencies of the banks. The judges assumed that the banks and their attorneys would not cheat. All across this nation the judges were caught sleeping in the drivers seat. Time and time again homeowners were denied their procedural due process rights to present evidence and confront the banks.
May I respectfully suggest that our esteemed judiciary spend a little more time with their sons and daughters at Friday night high school football games and ask themselves what would happen if they kept making bad calls all night, every game?
Roy Oppenheim
From the trenches
P.S.
I continue to help Florida homeowners learn more about developing stories concerning bank fraud like today’s Sun Sentinel story and also last night’s CBS Investigative Report headline Mortgage Foreclosure Nightmare. I will focus on mortgage foreclosure bank fraud in my foreclosure defense workshop on Wednesday October 6 at 6pm.
