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Show I M V Ritter action unusual , but not rare By Gwrfea Eliot White Dewrrt News Washington correspondent WASHINGTON A mandamus order against a federal judge is unusual, but not rare in recent years, legal authorities said here Wednesday. What is unsual in the writ filed against Judge Willis W. Ritter is a request for blanket ' disqualification of a federal judge from all his federal cases, civil and criminal. The Justice Department said it knows of no other case of such a writ being asked in the federal courts. Even in specific cases, such WTits are considered extraordinary. The U S. Supreme Court ruled them legal, but to be used sparingly, in a 1967 case. Will vs. U.S., 389 US 90. The court said such writs slwuld be used in exceptional circumstance? amounting to judicial usurpation of power, where a federal judge threatens to gravely damage civil authority in foreign or domestic policy, or consistently disregards the rules of civil procedure or the orderly process of justice. The burden of proof in such cases falls heavily upon the party seeking the writ. Supreme Court noted, solemnly. A mandamus writ may not be used in ordinary' cases, the court said in describing their use in situations. It is the most potent weapon in the judicial arsenal. Examples of its proper usage, the court suggested, would be where decisions would not be appealable, where the right to a trial before an unbiased judge was in doubt, or where maintaining public confidence in the courts may require mandamus action. Mandamus power comes from ancient English common law, under which the courts could invoke it against government officials, including judges. The procedure has been written into statue, case-by-ca- under 28 U.S. code, 1951. Some legal authorities here, who declined to be quoted by name, suggested that the proceeding against Judge Ritter is tantamount to impeachment, since it attacked his power to hear cases involving the federal government. Without having seen the writ itself, they indicated thast on the surface the request for his virtual removal from active court service appears to be an attempt to substitute judicial and executive action for impeachment, a power which the Constitution reserves to Congress. Utah's four members of Congress were not themselves overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the writ who Sen. Jake Gam, has tried to have Judge Ritter removed from his chief judge's post, said laste Tuesday thast he has not road the writ yet and would have no comment until he haa aCCn it. who Sen. Orrin Hatch, DESERET NEWS, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, worked in the Senate Judiciary Committee to remove the grandfather clause that has allowed Judge Ritter to stay on as chief judge eight years past normal mandatory retirement age, said he is sorry to see the mandamus action. He added that while he wants to see the judge retire, he has not seen evidence of impeachable offenses by Judge Ritter. said welcomed" the writ, and believes it would nudge the House Judiciary Committee to change the law and force the judge to give up his chief judges position. He predicted no call to impeach the judge, and said he has seen no hard evidence of an impeachable offense by Judge Ritter. he Rep. Gunn McKay, Rep. Dan Marriott, said he feels the order would not go too far. The judicial system is not willing to stick out its neck on he something itke this, of! P Petition Continued from A- -l forbids trying a person twice for the same charge. In addition. Judge Ritter has refused to allow the prosecution to make opening statements, the petition says. He has barred prosecution witnesses who have not testified at preliminary hearings, even though the law admits such witnesses. And he admits or excludes evidence without regard for the rules of evidence, the petition alleges. Defendants have been "pressured' by Judge Ritter into waiving their rights to grand jury indictments and into accepting juries of fewer than 12 persons, the petition charges. Judge Ritter has refused to allow plea bargains, and he has refused to accept some guilty pleas. In other cases he has casually accepted guilty pleas, without observing proper procedure, the petition says. Judge Ritter's demeanor in court destroys the solemnity of the proceedings and brings the administration of justice into disrepute," the petition says. In court he has attacked higher courts, referring to "G. D. . . fool decisions handed down" by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, . 1977 A M the petition says. He called the 10th Circuit' . those fellows judges up there that sit around and chew their fingernails and fiddle around about some damn thing," the document says. s Besides criticizing the 10th Circuit Cour jf Judge Ritter sometimes ignores their decisions and conducts his court in an effort to avoid appellate review, the petition charges. Judge Ritter is biased against the office" of the U.S attorney, the petition alleges. Ire has told prosecutors to "shut up and'' threatened to throw them in jail for contempt. He called Ramon Child "the worst United"States district attorney they ever had in thifr courtroom. And he often has referred to Child and his staff as "lame ducks, the petition adds. Judge Ritter is erratic in scheduling criminal cases, the petition says. For example, from March 1 to Oct. 5, 1976, he scheduled no criminal cases. Then he set 50 for trial in1 four working days. He is frequently iit violation of the speedy-tria- l plan for his eourf,'1' 9 according to the document. Grand juries are seldom called by Judge'1 Ritter, the petition charges. Judge Ritter could not be reached foj; j comment. Rut in a recent affadavit, he charged the judges of the 10th Circuit Court with "personal hostility" toward him. - Ritter move vl I seems likely Pwerei News Washington Bureau WASHINGTON Whether or not a federal court writ removes Judge Willis W. Ritter from administrative control of the Salt Lake City Federal District Court, it seems likely that Congress will force the controversial judge to give up his chief judges' prerogatives soon. The House Judiciary Committee has before it a judgeship bill carrying a section to repeal the grandfather clause" that has allowed Judge Ritter to stay on as chief judge beyond the mandatory retirement age of 70. Aides to the committee and to said they do Rep. Gunn McKay, not expect any challenge to that section of the measure in committee, nor any successful challenge on the House floor. The Senate passed a bill last spring to increase the number of federal judgeships. A provision of that measure would eliminate Judge Ritter from his position by adding a third judge to the Utah federal bench, thus rendering the grandfather clause inoperable, since it applies only to e courts. When the two measures are reconciled in a House-Senat- e conference, nearly everyone here believes Judge Ritter, now 78. will be forced to retire as chief judge, although not from the bench, to which he holds a lifetime appointment. Utah's member of Congress were far less sanguine about the third judgeship itself, which, by the Criteria of the judicial conference, is not needed." Although the Senate approved it easily, the House, somewhat jealous of senators influence over judicial appointments, has cut back the overall bill and eliminated the additional Utah seat. who sits on Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Seanate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday he will fight very hard to keep the additional Utah slot, which he said is necessary for the state. BaorotBucsTO n ej jjc Shop Budget Store Infants and Childrens Departments Salt Lake Downtown and the Cache Val ey Mall a.m. door crasher thursday 10 and List to $25 boys girls parkas in several styles; broken sizes Wj , J jj . (01 (Uj fcv two-judg- V I WT, Carter Continued from A- -l Dayan had been scheduled to meet with Carter for,! little more than an hour. : i U.S.-Israe a House White issaed The later joint statement saying the two allies had agreed ptt proposals for removing remaining obstacles jjo reconvening the Geneva conference. ; j The statement was unclear, however, on the j pivotal dispute over who would represent the j i Palestinians at Geneva. ' Before heading back to Washington today, Carter j to two covenants to United Nations the returned sign on human rights. j one on civil and political rights i The covenants and the other on economic, social and cultural rights grew out of a desire and effort to make the j principles in the 1948 Universal Declaration of 1 j Human Rights legally binding. More than 60 countries have signed the two documents, products of more than two decades of ' work. They were completed in 19G6 and came into t force last year. These covenants recognize that the govern- ments are the instruments and the servants of the people, the President told a capacity audience of ; diplomats and U.N. officials in the Economic and Social Council chamber. ' Afterward, Carter arranged to host a luncheon for the heads of Asian U.N. delegations and a ; reception for Latin American diplomats. -The President began his two days of international u diplomacy with a speech to the U.N. Genera! Assembly Tuesday morning in which he vowed the ' United States will use nuclear weapons only in and offered to slash the U.S. nuclear arsenal by 50 percent. In other developments today; Carter's reference to legitimate rights of the Palestinian people has so angered many Jewish supporters that they are not buying tickets to a $l,0)0-a-piat- e fund raising appearance by the Presi- dent later this month in Los Angeles, a dinner organizer says. "I have never seen them as upset by ; anything as they are now, Hershey Gold said Tuesday. Israel Prime Minister Menahem Begin opened ; consultations today from his hospital bed on the new ; ! U.S. proposals for peace talks. Israeli officials expressed renewed optimism for I the chances of reopening the Geneva peace confer- ence this year following assurances from President ! Carter over crucial issues that have so far blocked ; ' new talks. Egypt has informed Carter that the peace conference cannot be reconvened without the partici-- 1 ! ; pation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a Cairo newspaper said today. j But in an effort to help overcome the difficulties still existing," Egypt has agreed to let the PLO go to.' Geneva as part of a unified Arab delegation, droppir its insistence that it attend separately, the newspaper ' A1 Gomhouria said. 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