FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE

Judge Paige Reese Whitaker Wins Election Against Allyson Pitts 

In March, 2022, a person in Fulton County, Georgia emailed me to express concerns about former Fulton County Magistrate Judge Allyson Pitts running for a Fulton County Superior Court Judge position against incumbent Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.  This person had read my www.stopabusivelawsuits.com website which details how in 2015 Allyson Pitts, when she was a family court magistrate judge hearing protective order cases, behaved in a rude, unprofessional manner toward petitioners, their attorneys, and toward security staff in the courtroom, denying some petitioners protective orders despite overwhelming evidence, and issuing willy-nilly protective orders against others who were in fact the victims.  Our report of Judge Allyson Pitts’ reprehensible behavior to Georgia’s Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) resulted in their acknowledgement that Pitts did indeed violate Georgia state law regarding the time period that restricted the issuances of protective orders.  Unfortunately, the JQC did not acknowledge the fact that Pitts also broke the law governing the requirements of protective orders when she refused to issue an arrest warrant against my brother Ken “Pastor Max” Parks for his violations of the protective order my husband and I obtained against him.  My brother continued to possess firearms and he continued to publish alarming, threatening statements on his social media accounts against us — clear violations of the terms of the protective order we obtained against him.  More details about this 2015 incident are found at https://stopabusivelawsuits.com/?s=allyson+pitts 

After I received the email from the Fulton County, Georgia resident, I searched online and found both Allyson Pitts’ campaign website and Judge Paige Reese Whitaker’s campaign website.  Pitts’ website used religious jargon and endorsements from religious leaders to promote herself as (somehow?!) qualified to be a superior court judge.  My husband and I read her religious jargon with utter disgust and we couldn’t help but find similarities between her and my brother Ken “Pastor Max” Parks’ use of religious jargon so as to play off of people’s religious sensitivities in order to falsely promote themselves, deliberately deceiving the public about who and what they really are.

In stark contrast, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker’s campaign website was professional and cited her actual accomplishments.   Her endorsers were fellow judges and attorneys, and non-attorneys who had their cases heard before Judge Reese Whitaker.    

After reviewing all this information, I emailed Judge Reese Whitaker’s campaign staff and I shared with them the Judicial Qualifications Commission’s letter that cited Pitts’ violation of law, and I expressed my concerns about Pitts abusing her power and damaging more innocent victims if she were to become a superior court judge.  A member of Judge Reese Whitaker’s campaign responded to my contact and assured me that Judge Reese Whitaker’s campaign staff would do all they could to inform the voters of Fulton County of the JQC’s determination against Pitts.  This member of Judge Reese Whitaker’s campaign also told me that for some years a number of people had raised concerns about Pitts’ behavior on the bench and that Pitts does not have a good reputation in the legal community.   

The attorney who presented our complaint to Judge Pitts in 2015 regarding my brother’s violation of the protective order we had against him also unexpectedly reached out to us to inform us that flyers were being sent to Fulton County voters that included the JQC’s letter regarding Allyson Pitts’ violation of state law and how it impacted us.  Our former attorney told us that the incumbent Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker is “good people” and that she has a very good reputation as a fair, knowledgeable, and competent judge.

So we were very pleased when the Fulton County, Georgia May 24th election results showed that Judge Reese Whitaker had won about 65 per cent of the vote against Allyson Pitts.  My husband and I sent our congratulations to Judge Reese Whitaker’s campaign staff and we expressed our relief that Allyson Pitts was prevented from becoming a superior court judge who would, undoubtedly, detrimentally impact innocent victims like we were when we appeared before her in court in 2015. 

Our message to Allyson Pitts?  Is it possible for you to step back and recognize even in some small way the irreparable damage you’ve done to innocent people who have sought your help only to be met with your apathy, your unprofessionalism, and your unethical and blatantly unjust behavior on the bench?  Justice is a human need!  We fully recognize that being a judge in a large city like Atlanta is challenging to say the least, but this fact cannot excuse your troubling behavior.  In our 2015 case before you, you violated our most basic human rights to live in peace without fear of threats.  We saw you violate others’ rights to peace and safety too.  Our advice to you?  Take a sabbatical from the bench and from the legal profession.  Get some personal counseling to pinpoint why it is you could reduce yourself to behave in such a reprehensible, cold-hearted manner and denigrate the judicial profession in front of thousands of people who have needed your help to right the wrongs being done to them.  And spare people your religious jargon in your pathetic attempts to deceive people that you actually care about right and wrong and about the people you are supposed to be serving.  Your law degree has given you the ability to help people.  Your best course of action at this point for personal and professional redemption is to put yourself under accountability to your peers and seek ways to right the wrongs you’ve done thus far by helping the most desperate in our society.  Take some professional courses aimed at practicing ethical behavior and dealing appropriately with the stresses of the legal profession.  Join a low cost or free legal aid society to help victims of abuse and simultaneously answer to that society’s ethical standards of conduct.  Whatever you choose to do, you need to stop subjecting any more people to your abuse of judicial power.  And stop underestimating the power of victims you’ve wronged to speak the truth about what you did to them.  Whether or not any of my words matter to you, the fact is that it is power-abusing, unjust judges like you that are the reason so many people have zero trust in our judicial system, and why criminal abusers like my brother get a free pass and are empowered to continue their illegal behavior.  Let that sink in, and choose to reform yourself.      

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© Copyright 2021 Paulette J. Buchanan