On January 10, CT Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukashwer took the unusual step of disbarring attorney Nickola Cunha. In CT, judges can disbar attorneys, unlike in other states.
It was during a hearing about disqualifying another judge, Judge Gerard Adelman, with whom attorney Cunha had a case before, Judge Moukawsher disbarred Cunha.
The words that got her in trouble was that she said Judge Adelman favored court actors of his own religion,.
She said Judge Adelman “has a bias against anyone that is not of the Jewish faith. And I base that on a significant amount of information that has been sent to me over the last several weeks. And it’s really disturbing. And I have a number of individuals that are available and on the call today that are willing to share their experiences with the Court.”
Cunha said she had evidence that the court actors made a lot of money.
Cunha did not condemn Judaism. She wanted to talk about things of substance. But she did mention that it seemed no coincidence that Judge Adelman’s rulings, which led to stealing money from the mother of three children, benefited the court actors of Adelman’s religion.
Judge Moukashwer seized on her statement. The transcripts show he brought up the word “Jew” or “Jewish” 14 times after Cunha said it once.
Cunha tried to make the case about the economic harm his favoritism was doing to his client.
She said, “One of my arguments in this case early on was, [I said to Judge Adelman] you are allowing this matter to go on and on and on, making it a case that will become economically impossible for appellate purposes because of the number of days that we are here litigating and hearing the same thing over and over again. And, of course, he got very angry at me, and he yelled at me.”
Judge Moukaswher kept bringing back Judaism. He asked how Judge Adelman could possibly know who was Jewish and who was not.
Cunha said: “Attorney Aldrich is Jewish, Attorney Hurwitz is Jewish, the custody evaluator in this, Dr. Biren Caverly is Jewish. Dr. Horwitz, the supposed reunification therapist, is Jewish in this case. And all of these particular professionals, by the way, were professionals other than Attorney Aldrich, that my client was strongly objecting to being involved in the case.”
Judge Moukawsher then put words in her mouth. “You’re saying that somehow outside of the record that Judge Adelman secretly knows that certain people are Jews and not Jews and that somehow he favors them because of that? I mean, this is a very serious thing to say.”
Cunha tried to argue, “I don’t think it’s secret, Judge.”
She tried to say it was not a secret conspiracy, but rather inherent bias.
The opposing party’s lawyer, the guardian ad litem, the custody evaluator, the court-appointed family therapist, the court-appointed therapist for the children, the psychologist, and the reunification specialist. All of the same religion. All except her.
Cunha might have said the same if it was a Baptist judge, and all the court actors were Baptists, except for one, and the judge enriched the Baptist players and violated the Canons of Justice.
Of Muslims, and one was a Jew. If every ruling of the Muslim judge defied law and common sense and ruled against the Jew. would she be wrong to point it out?
Cunha wrote to Frank Report recently.
By Nickola Cunha
It’s everyone’s right to have religious and cultural beliefs and practice those beliefs in their culture. The problem is when those beliefs and practices spill over into their professions.
At my so-called disbarment hearing, I tried to demonstrate this. I tried to prove that I was not alone in arguing that religious bias can impact the fairness of court proceedings.
The AFCC – which Judge Adelman is a member – published advice about religious and cultural influence having an improper influence on the court.
I was not allowed to defend myself or create a record at my disbarment hearing.
Judge Moukawsher instead, sua sponte, relied on matters not before the court, without notice to me.
I did not say anything against the Jewish culture at any time. What I said was that the AFCC said there are religious biases inherent among some professionals, including Jewish professionals.
I wanted to say, if you have an issue with this statement, check with the psychologist who educated the AFCC members on religious and cultural biases, because that’s where my information was obtained.
Judge Moukawsher would not allow me to enter it into evidence. If he had permitted me to enter evidence, I would have also had evidence showing that Judge Adelman was connected with the AFCC. I would have shown what the AFCC taught about the cultural biases inherent within, among others, the Jewish culture.
I am sorry I allowed Judge Moukawsher to corner me, intimidate me, and change the meaning of my words to make it look like I was attacking the Jewish culture.
That is false and could not be further from the truth. I respect all cultures and religions. I have many friends and loved ones who are Jewish.
Am I anti-Catholic for calling out Catholic leaders for lying, covering up crimes, and allowing too many lives to be lost and harmed due to the sexual violence priests and others in the Catholic Community have committed?
No. I’m anti-abuse.
I support reform through education, counseling, enforcement of laws, accountability, and retraining, to stop a long, convoluted belief that women are “chattel,” the property of their fathers and then their husbands once married.
This wrong belief system supports a man’s belief in his entitlement to do as he wants with their property, and it’s no one’s business. It’s a learned belief and pattern of behavior.
I was trying to articulate bias on the record, not saying anything against Jews, or any religion. I am anti-bias.
