Robert Ralsey Davenport
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DAVENPORT, MAJ ROBERT RALSEY, USAR, BA, JD, MBA Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut President, Southern California Chapter, The California Association of the Society of Cincinnati Aztec Club of 1847 Life Member, The Society of the War of 1812 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts President, Saint George's Society of Los Angeles Author, Davenport Genealogy: Descendants of the Rev. John Davenport of New Haven Life Member, Disabled American Veterans Military Order of the Purple Heart American Ex-Prisoner of War The Harvard club of southern California Secretary General, Society of Barbary Wars California Commandery, Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States SOURCE: "Hereditary Society Blue Book", by Robert Ralsey Davenport, Beverly Hills: Eastwood Publishing Company, 1994, Page 197).
Professional genealogists agree that Davenport
should have included the ancestor that he derived descent from that
qualified him for membership in organizations. |
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Metropolitan
News-Enterprise
Friday, April 21, 2006 Page 3
Judicial
Candidate Blasts Times for Not Endorsing Christians, Veterans
By a MetNews Staff
Writer
Robert Davenport, a
candidate for the Los Angeles Superior Court, has opened fire on
the Los Angeles Times which on Monday endorsed his opponent,
Deputy City Attorney Dan Lowenthal.
On the website of the
League of Women Voters, Davenport, an inactive member of the
State Bar, posted, under the category of “endorsements”:
“I was not endorsed
by the Los Angeles Times. An examination of the endorsements,
reveal that not a single Catholic, Christian, or veteran
candidate was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times for judge.”
Davenport, whose
ballot designation is slated to be “Disabled
Veteran/Attorney,” is a Roman Catholic. Lowenthal is Jewish.
Robert Greene, the
member of the Times’ Editorial Board who was in charge of the
endorsements of judicial candidates, told the MetNews:
“The Los Angeles
Times did not consider religion in examining or endorsing
candidates nor did we consider previous or current status in the
U.S. military.”
Greene, a former MetNews
staff writer, said he has “no idea” if Davenport’s
statement that no Christians or veterans were endorsed is
accurate.
In addition to
recommending the election of Lowenthal to Office No. 122, the
Times endorsed Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Alan H.
Friedenthal (Office No. 8), Deputy District Attorney Daviann
Mitchell (Office No. 18), Deputy District Attorney Judith L.
Meyer (Office No. 28), Deputy City Attorney Susan L. Lopez-Giss
(Office No. 95), Deputy District Attorney Hayden Zacky (Office
No. 102), Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs
(Office No. 120), and Deputy District Attorney David W. Stuart
(Office No. 144).
Meyer confirmed
yesterday that the matters of religion and military service were
not “discussed in any way, shape or form during my personal
interview” with the Times, and commented that Greene “asked
only appropriate questions.”
Davenport on
Wednesday sent an e-mail to candidates in other judicial races
saying:
“I’m doing a
survey of the religions of those running for judge.
“Could you please
tell me yours?”
It was apparently
late Wednesday when Davenport posted his slap at the Times.
He also inserted
these comments under the category of “Political Philosophy”:
“Los Angeles County
is 40 percent Roman Catholic, and 95 percent Christain [sic],
and yet these percentages are not reflected in the ethnic
diversity of judges in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Judges
are elected in California for a reason, and that reason is to
reflect the ethnic diversity of the population of the state.
“In addition, Los
Angeles has one of the largest veterans populations in the
country, with 600,000 veterans, yet where is their
representation on the bench?
“If you elect me,
you help to increase the percentage of Roman Catholic,
Christian, and Veteran balance of judges in Los Angeles County,
to more accurately reflect the ethnic diversity of the
county.”
Davenport previously
posted a comment under “Top Priorities if Elected” that he
was the “[o]nly Christian candidate for this office.” The
League of Women Voters removed the comment as being violative of
its guidelines.
Lowenthal said
yesterday that he did seek the removal of that remark, but would
not contest the current postings.
“I
just don’t want to dignify [Davenport’s] absurd behavior,”
he said.
Copyright 2006, Metropolitan
News Company
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Metropolitan
News-Enterprise
Friday,
March 24, 2006
Page
1
Candidate
Received Less-Than-Honorable Discharge, Records Show
Army
Panel Said Robert Davenport, Now Running for Superior Court,
Misrepresented His Record
[Discharge
Was Subsequently Upgraded to 'Honorable' Based on Panel Being
Improperly Constituted]
By
KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
A
Los Angeles Superior Court candidate who sought to run with the
ballot designation “Retired Judge Advocate” or “U.S. Judge
Advocate” was actually discharged from military service for
misstating his qualifications for the Judge Advocate General’s
Corps and making other misrepresentations, records show.
Court
documents and military records indicate that Robert Davenport,
who is seeking the seat being vacated by Judge Barbara Burke,
was an active naval officer from 1973 to 1977 and a reserve
officer from 1977 to 1982, which encompassed the years of his
law school attendance.
Records
further show that he was honorably discharged from the Navy for
having twice failed to earn promotion.
In
1990, records show, he applied to the Army Reserve and was
commissioned a judge advocate. But in 2002, he was given a
discharge “under other than honorable conditions” after a
panel of officers found that he
failed to advise the Army of his prior discharge and to obtain
the waiver required when an officer discharged from another
service branch seeks an Army reserve commission.
The
panel also found that Davenport had failed to report for duty
furnishing legal services in his Navy Reserve unit; was
photographed wearing an unauthorized military ribbon;
“misrepresented his military awards on numerous occasions in
resumes and biographies;” falsely claimed academic honors that
he did not achieve; knowingly failed to correct an error in the
computation of his retirement points; and had been reprimanded
for falsely stating, in connection with his “request for
orders for” Army Reserve duty, that he was not receiving
disability benefits.
Action
Protested
Davenport,
who has not returned MetNews phone
calls in recent days, protested the action on the ground that
the board was not legally constituted, since none of its members
were on active duty at the time. A captain in the Army Office of
the Inspector General agreed, but informed Davenport that
because he was no longer in service, any relief would have to
come from the Army Board for Correction of Military Records.
It
could not be immediately determined whether Davenport sought any
such relief. [Subsequent to publication of this article, it was
ascertained that in November, 2004, the discharge was upgraded
to "honorable."]
Two
years ago, he sued the Navy, seeking reinstatement at the
“highest military grade previously held.” He claimed that he
had been approved for a change in status from naval flight
officer to JAG officer after graduating from law school—which
the Navy denied—and that he should not have been discharged.
U.S.
District Judge Gary A. Feess
dismissed the suit, noting that it was filed “more than twenty
years after [Davenport’s] original discharge, and almost ten
years after the final administrative decision” in which the
Board of Correction of Naval Records rejected his bid for
reinstatement. The lawsuit, Feess
ruled, was thus barred by the six-year statute of limitations
governing suits against the federal government.
Ballot
Designation
Davenport’s
bid to include the words “judge advocate” in his ballot
designation was rejected Wednesday by the registrar’s office,
which accepted an alternate designation of “Disabled
Veteran/Attorney.” Documents show that Davenport was awarded
partial disability benefits as a result of a service-connected
foot condition caused by a fungus.
Davenport’s
opponent, Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Daniel Lowenthal,
said the alternative designation was probably unauthorized
because being a disabled veteran is a status rather than an
occupation or profession. But Lowenthal
also indicated that he was unsure whether it would be worthwhile
to initiate a legal challenge.
Davenport,
a member of the State Bar of California since 1987, has not
practiced in California courts. In earlier interviews, he said
he worked in the entertainment
industry for a number of years, and now earns his living as an
author.
His
best-known work, which is available for purchase from a number
of online booksellers, is “Roots of the Rich and Famous,” in
which he traces the genealogy of a number of celebrities.
Copyright
2006, Metropolitan News Company
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The U.S. Attorney's Office brief summarizes his records.
The U.S. Attorney's brief states in part:
"Plaintiff entered the United States Naval Reserves in 1973 and
became a Naval Flight Officer on October 19, 1973. He achieved the
rank of Lieutenant, paygrade 0-3, as a NFO. In January 1977,
plaintiff began law school at St. John's Law School. During law
school Plaintiff was a member of the Ready Reserves as a NFO.
In 1980, after his graduation from law school, Plaintiff
requested a permanent change of designator from NFO to Navy Judge
Advocate General's Corps (Navy JAGC). Plaintiff's designator was
never changed to JAGC or reflected in his military record at the
Bureau of Naval Personnel, thus he was considered for promotion to
0-4 in his original NFO position by the NFO selection boards in
1981 and 1982. He was not selected in either year. Therefore, on
September 27, 1982, Plaintiff was notified that he would be
discharged from the Naval Reserves. On November 30, 1982 Plaintiff
was honorably discharged from the Naval Reserves for twice
failing to be selected for the rank of Lieutenant Commander 0-4 as a
NFO. Plaintiff did not complain about or object to this discharge at
that time."
NOT IN THE BRIEF - note: Plaintiff then obtained an MBA at
Harvard from 1982-1984, and subsequently moved to Los Angeles to
work as an author, screenwriter and genealogist. He obtained a
masters of film from UCLA in 1997.
Plaintiff applied for an received a commission in the Army in 1990,
8 years after his discharge from the Naval Reserves. On February 23,
2004, Plaintiff was given an "Other Than Honorable"
discharge from the Army.....On October 30, 2002, while Plaintiff
served in the Army JAGC, an Army investigation into his Navy record
arose from a dispute over retirement eligibility points and the
amount of creditable prior service with the Navy. Upon finding
irregularities in Plaintiff's assertions, the Army investigated his
complete military record, including his time in the Naval Reserves.
Plaintiff appeared before a Board of Inquiry to answer multiple
charges of intentional fraudulent misrepresentation. Plaintiff was
found guilty of multiple instances of fraud, and among them were the
failure to disclose a two-time selection failure to the Army,
doctoring of official photographs, and fraudulent misrepresentation
of awards and academic honors. Accordingly, on February 23, 2004,
Plaintiff was given an "Other Than Honorable" discharge
from the Army Reserves. At that time, he was a Lieutenant Colonel
0-5."
The summary of findings from the Report of Proceedings by Investigating
Officer/Board of Rights is that Robert Ralsey Davenport:
1) Did improperly fail to request a waiver for being passed over
twice in connection with his application for appointment in the
U.S. Army Reserve, and this was intentional;
2) Did falsely state his total active service as 10 years
commissioned U.S. Navy active service covering March 1973 through
October 1982 in a request for appointment as USAR officer;
3) Did falsely report his U.S. Nay Reserve active duty from 23
October 1972 through 30 November 1982 in his 1990 application for
appointment in the USAR Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps;
4) Did knowingly submit a false DA 61 application for appointment
in the USAR JAG Corps; and did knowingly submit an incomplete DA
61 application for appointment in the USAR JAG Corps;
5) Did wear an unauthorized Armed Forces Reserve Medal ribbon in
official photographs submitted to multiple Colonel Command
Assignment Selection Boards and in connection with applications
for multiple Staff Judge Advocate and/or Command Judge Advocate
positions;
6) Did improperly and knowingly create an official photograph
dated 9 February 2000 bu computer or photographic manipulation of
an official photograph dated 30 June 1998, thus creating a false
and misleading depiction of himself;
7) Did submit the falsified official photograph, dated 9 February
2000 for official purposes on multiple occasions;
8) Did misrepresent his military awards on numerous occasions in
resumes submitted for consideration by the U.S. Army, and did
misrepresent his military awards on numerous occasions in resumes
submitted for consideration by the U.S. Army;
9) Did misrepresent his baccalaureate degree from Middlebury
College as with honors in connection with multiple applications
for positions in the USAR;
10) Did misrepresent his Master of Fine Arts from the University
of California Los Angeles as with honors in connection with
multiple applications for positions in the USAR;
11) Did improperly fail to seek correction of his retirement
points erroneously credited in connection with his Navy service;
12) Did improperly fail to disclose receipt of disability
compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs during
several periods of disabilty.
There were 3 categories of discharge on the form: Honorable,
General Under Honorable and Other Than Honorable. The Board
members circled "Other Than Honorable." Additionally,
the of Proceedings by Investigating Officer/Board of
Rights, which is considerably more thorough then the summary
of findings copied above, lists the awards that he misrepresented,
and the number of times he made such misrepresentation:
Award/Medal Times
Misrepresented
Navy Achievement Medal
4
2nd OLC, ARCOM
9
2nd OLC, Army Reserve
Components Achievement
Medal (ARCAM)
9
Army Superior Unit Award
4
AFRM w/ Silver Hour
Glass and M
9
AFRM with M Device
2
AFRM
2
ARCOTR with numeral 7
11
ARCOTR with numeral 6
2
Kosovo Campaign Medal
9
NATO Medal w/ Kosovo Bar
9
4 Unapproved Foreign Awards
7
2 Unapproved Foreign Awards
2
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Friday,
March 17, 2006
Page
6
EDITORIAL:
Daniel
J. Lowenthal, Los Angeles Superior Court, Office No. 122
The
contest for Los Angeles Superior Court Office No. 122 pits a
seasoned attorney against an inactive member of the State Bar who
earns his living as an author of books on geneaology.
This
is an easy one to call.
Deputy
City Attorney Daniel J. Lowenthal was admitted to the State Bar of
California in 1994. He worked for a short time for a private firm,
joining the public law office in which he currently serves the
following year. Lowenthal has handled both civil and criminal work
for that office, including civil appeals.
He
has, at this early stage in the campaign, amassed an impressive
list of endorsers. Gaining support of Democratic politicians (and
some from the GOP) does not really stand as a testament to his
abilities in light of the position of his father, Sen. Alan
Lowenthal, D-Long Beach. Even if it were not for the prospect that
his father was a magnet for these endorsements, we would dismiss
the support of politicos as having little, if any, bearing on the
issue of Lowenthal’s fitness for judicial office. The
endorsements that are meaningful, in our view, are those Lowenthal
has garnered from numerous local judges and lawyers, including
Court of Appeal Presiding Justice Paul Turner and Los Angeles
Superior Court Judge David S. Wesley, who supervises the criminal
courts.
Lowenthal
is articulate, intelligent, and diligent. He’s candid—even
confessing the flaw of being too meticulous. He has judicial
temperament.
We
believe that he we would be an excellent addition to the bench.
Lowenthal’s
opponent is Robert Davenport, who was admitted to practice in
California on June 14, 1988. He assumed inactive status on Jan. 1,
1989, and has maintained that status ever since. Davenport meets
the state constitutional requirement of membership for 10 years in
the State Bar—but having been an inactive member, having never
practiced law in this state, he is “qualified” in the
constitutional sense, and in that sense only.
While
Lowenthal was performing as an attorney, Davenport was authoring
such books as “The Rich and Famous Baby Name Book,” “The
Celebrity Birthday Book,” and “Pets’ Names of the Rich and
Famous.”
Aside
from Davenport’s lack of credentials for the post he seeks,
there’s a question as to the level of his integrity. He has
never been a judge—yet he has sought to convey the impression to
the electorate that he has been by using the word “judge” in
his ballot designation.
The
first designation he chose was “Retired Judge Advocate”; with
that rejected by the Registrar-Recorder’s Office, he has
proposed the description “U.S. Judge Advocate,” which is being
reviewed.
Elections
Code Sec. 13107(a)(3) restricts the designation to “[n]o more
than three words designating either the current principal
professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate, or the
principal professions, vocations, or occupations of the candidate
during the calendar year immediately preceding the filing of
nomination documents.” Checking with the naval Judge Advocate
General’s office in Washington, we have found that Davenport was
not listed in a directory of JAG Corps reservists which goes back
to 2003.
Lowenthal
is highly qualified for a judgeship; Davenport’s candidacy can
be viewed as nothing other than a farce.
We
endorse Lowenthal.
Copyright
2006, Metropolitan News Company
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