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."
