On
Saturday, John "Jack" Cunningham, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps who served in Vietnam, told Examiner.com
that he is still seeking justice in a case against the New Jersey state Supreme Court Office of Attorney Ethics. We first
told Cunningham's story back in June 2014 and, he said, the battle continues. Now, he said he is being forced to deal
with the situation in federal court.
The current case stems from a 2000 divorce. At the time, Cunningham said he was concerned the court would use his
PTSD against him, so he hired a law firm to represent him. Even though he paid his retainer, Cunningham said the firm never
returned his calls and letters and the attorney, Robert D. Correale, came to court unprepared to argue his case, he added.
Nevertheless, the firm
sued him two years later for $2,000 they claimed he owed them. Cunningham filed a counter-suit, and the case went to arbitration
where, he added, nothing was resolved.
Other irregularities cropped up, like missing statements from the court transcript.
He reached out to a variety of state lawmakers, including former Govs. Richard Codey and Jon Corzine. He posted a 2009
letter written on his behalf by state Sen. Steven Oroho, noting that his first attempt to get information went unanswered.
He also reached out to Chris Christie, the current governor and GOP presidential
candidate. Again, he heard nothing. Ultimately, his case was tossed thanks in part to the missing portions of the transcript.
But
Cunningham didn't let it go and is now bringing the state Supreme Court Office of Attorney Ethics to court for fraud
and deception. The 65-year-old veteran says the case is taking a major toll on him physically and emotionally. Now he
says he might be "forced to get one of those donation collection sites" to help his cause. The "big thing"
now, he added, is to get "reasonable court accommodations" for PTSD from the federal court in an effort to keep
his case from being swept under the rug.
Cunningham has also set up a petition at causes.com demanding due process and asking Christie to call for an investigation
of Correale. The petition now has over 21,000 signatures.
"I believe that if there was an acknowledgment on the part of Correale, et
al, of wrongdoing, negligence and use of undue influence in an effort to make him go away, he would do just that –
go away," Suzanne Olden wrote at Clash Daily earlier this year. "Maybe a public statement along the lines of
'We mishandled his case badly and in an effort to avoid liability behaved badly and we apologize' would appease
Cunningham. Then again, maybe not since it appears that several administrations
have appeared to collude in this cover up. But sometimes publicly saying 'I screwed up and I apologize'
is all it takes."
