To the American Public,

I have been trying to wrap my arms around the Sykes case and can only come to one conclusion. Greed. Bare with me. Democracy fled our shores a long time ago. Our elected and appointed officials run for office and elbow their way to the front of the fee-for-a-seat priority list with noble intentions, at first. “When I’m elected….,” goes the story, “I will root out…..blah, blah, blah.” Cronyism has been around since men created a pecking order. Women quickly realized they fell in last in that social order, so they developed charms to influence the decisions of the strongest peckers–excuse the pun. That basic social order morphed from survival to a system of communal laws, designed to protect the tribe. Later, as the tribe grew and segmented, we adopted paganism to better manage the tribes. Paganism bore the need for interpreters called witch doctors, who interpreted signs from nature into a ritual process called worship. Fear of the unknown was the fertilizer that allowed organized religion to grow. Somewhere along the way bright minds came to observe that the earth revolved around the sun; thus rendering religious dogma, up until that time, toothless. After a hundred years or so, introspect, with a slight push from enlightenment era thinkers, caused us to create the social contract. I quote from Wikepedia:

In political philosophy the social contract or political contract is a theory or model, originating during the Age of Enlightenment, that typically addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. ^[1] Social contract arguments typically posit that individuals have consented, either explicitly or tacitly, to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority of the ruler or magistrate (or to the decision of a majority), in exchange for protection of their remaining rights. The question of the relation between natural and legal rights, therefore, is often an aspect of social contract theory. The Social Contract, created by Jean Jacques Rousseau was a book about government reforms and how it should change to suit the people instead of the government.

  Our forefathers were all enlightenment era thinkers. Thus, “we hold these rights to be self-evident,” was a clear and unmistakable acknowledgement that the ideal behind democracy is Utopian, not Dystopian. A government “for and by the people” in its very appropriate use of prepositions, is not a spectator sport! But because most individuals in society go through life as spectators (not voting for the national or regional elected officials who represent their interests or dissenting of those who are appointed by the elected) they allow such atrocities as the Sykes case to go unheeded and unpunished. “Not my problem” is the mantra they attempt to use to cloak themselves in blissful ignorance. Imagine what sort of nation we would have today if our forefathers had simply gorged themselves on the British monarchy’s good graces? Most all of them were men of means, whom could have easily lived their lives out in comfort. Yet, they so firmly believed in an honest social contract for and by the people, that they were willing to give up their estates and lives so that we citizens could one day help to build the utopia they envisioned–a noble cause proffered by noble men. The Constitution embodies those values. To trample upon those values is the equivalent of insurrection, but when the insurrection is initiated by government officials working in consortium, then it can be properly termed organized crime!

Organized crime is nothing new to Chicago, especially Cook County. However, when that very organization is perpetrated by the exact people who are duly sworn to protect citizens, then we have a hypocrisy of the highest order. With the Mary Sykes / Gloria Sykes / Jo Anne Denison / Kenneth Ditkowsky adjudications, a trail of corruption becomes increasingly clear. The Farenga letter, in its very simplicity, certainly supports this theory. When one compares that single letter to all the evidence, motions and judicial decisions that came before and since, he is left with the question of why no formal investigation has taken place and the suspicion that an investigation would only uncover an official coverup; the weight and breadth of which boggles the mind. Judges, lawyers, doctors, and even watchdog organizations. Oh my! Followed up with the fact that, so far, state and federal officials and broadcast media, in unison, have feigned disinterest (and even contempt), it is a sign of how low we have sunk as a moral society.

  None of us are immune from judicial abuse of our Constitutional rights, such as appears evident in the Sykes case. It is our very abstinence from involvement that allows corrupt elected and appointed officials to flourish. This is a sign of either a fat, lazy society of not my problem couch potatoes or a cowed society such as was evident in Germany before and during WW2. Either way, allowed to fester, our Utopian society and way of life is doomed. Citizenry, in a democratic sense of the word, requires we take an active stand in fighting the corruption that usurps our rights under the social contract we either inherited from our parents or fought to attain in immigration courts. Whenever we wrap ourselves in the flag, bragging America the beautiful, or we blog how brave our veterans are, or send money to needy children in the name of mercy, or yes, even pay taxes, we are voicing our support for the United States of America. Will we only stop at words and money, or will we take action to see justice once more restored?

    Kenneth Ditkowsky is a gentleman worthy of the support of American citizens. He had his first amendment rights taken from him by our own judicial system; the same people sworn to protect those rights. Mary Sykes is a kindly old lady who deserves to be with the ones she loves. Joanne Denison deserves to have her right to practice law restored. Gloria Sykes deserves to be reunited with her mother and returned her property taken by Chicago’s finest–and certainly should not be beaten up by the same for defending her first amendment rights. It is time for our elected officials to take action and honor their oath of office. Media should stop focusing primarily on events that take place outside of our borders or on our borders, and instead start reporting on what’s happening in their own back yards. They will likely find that the American public is indeed interested in the plight of grandma and grandpa, rather than tuning in to the next “Law and Order,” where the criminals are only actors. Cook County ain’t Hollywood. The Sykes case and many others like it are reality. Kenneth Ditkowsky is in a fight for right, so stand up and be heard, or accept your own estate probate fate some day; in the quiet and blissful solitude where you choose to dwell, staring at four blank walls, wondering: Where did the heroes go?

Anthony Santiny

concerned U.S. citizen

PS–neither mine nor KDD’s right to practice law has been terminated.  It is in the preliminary stages of “building a file” to stop me and my blog.  This blog is accused of “misconduct”, “bringing disrespect to judicial officials and the court system”, etc. and that means they go after ME!  I have done nothing but blog.  I have only told the story, as told by Gloria and her close friends and family and what I see in court as an experienced court watchers.

Obviously Probate attys have a different view of the law that KDD and I do.  Disputes aired in pleadings and argument before court are the highlight of a civilized developed country. The ability to report on these court proceedings and make open commentary is the hallmark of a free and open democratic society.

Currently, Amnesty International is saying that free press (by attorneys), the right of women lawyers in mideastern countries to say they should have equal rights, and the rights of LGTB to have equal rights, as express by lawyers and in the press, means those lawyers are often imprisoned and they have their law licenses taken away.  The women are now having their parental rights taken away.

And we forget, it wasn’t too long ago, women did not have the right to vote, the right to run for office or even be doctors and lawyers.  All women could do is be secretaries or assistants.

At that time, the women spoke out and demanded justice.  Many were beaten, imprisoned and then when the police let them go, they were beaten by their husbands when they got home.

The ARDC says we must shut up about probate even though the blogs are a burning.

Women have never shut up.  We want a free court system, and democracy.

The ARDC says KDD and I are lying.  No, we are not, we only present the truth and we allow for ALL ADVERSE COMMENTS AND ARTICLES, but we get NONE, EXCEPT from the ARDC.  Three people sitting on a tribunal said KDD said too much.  Three people sitting on my tribunal will likely say I am saying too much.

My blog tells it all, from beginning to end.  The alpha and the omega and all in between.

One of the most recent interesting aspects of all of this, and it is a question asked by myself, how is it that a few people say KDD and I are lying when the blog is replete with thousands and thousands of pages of pleadings, documents and evidence that says we are not.

A handful of people (lawyers) read what they want to read and then seem to promote the agenda of a few miscreants.

How did this happen? Apparently, some time ago, the ABA studied the situation of lawyer disciplinary boards and while they concluded that the boards can have lawyers, non lawyers, whatever, it became an absolute disaster when the judiciary (the Supreme Court) of each state did not appoint, manage and control judges who would be in charge of disciplinary proceedings.  Therefore, the ABA Model Rules of lawyer disciplinary proceedings stated that the disciplinary actions of every state must absolutely be controlled by the supreme court of each state. When that does not happen, the disciplinary boards devolve into grossly abnormal proceedings and decisions, as we are seeing in mine and KDD’s case.

I will be posting more on that later as we explore case law that might change the system from one with a 27 ISBA board of members voted in by 400 ISBA members into one which is controlled by the SCOI and will not have such problems.

JoAnne