THERE’s an old saying that when the process of jurisprudence gets bogged down, and cases get hung up in the court system for whatever reason, justice is being denied. Justice delayed is justice denied, is how it goes.

A case in point is the contentious case filed by the losing candidates in the 2010 gubernatorial election. After an initial flurry of activity, with some tantalizing indications there might be some substance to their assertions, the case just sat in the Superior Court. Eventually one of the plaintiffs, former Sen. Frank Aguon, withdrew from the case, and the original attorney for the plaintiffs withdrew as well.

Sure, there was a technical difficulty in the filing of the case that might have derailed it in any case, but we’ll never know. The other plaintiff, former Gov. Carl Gutierrez, finally pulled out, saying he couldn’t afford to proceed and, by implication, indicating he couldn’t find any other lawyer to carry the ball forward.

Throughout 2011, we made regular calls to the courtroom of Judge Arthur Barcinas to find out if anything was happening on this case, if anything was scheduled. We got nowhere. Neither did the case.

More recently, the curious case of legislative candidate Brant McCreadie and the company he and his wife bought, but allegedly didn’t pay for, has surfaced. The curious part is that apparently none of our sitting black robes at the Superior Court are willing to take the case. At least six of them have reportedly recused themselves and another one is considering doing so. An outside judge could be brought in but that’s not being done so far, so that case also languishes, probably until after the election.

Also in judicial limbo is the action taken by the Guam Board of Allied Health Examiners against Dr. Joel Joseph, aka Joel Schiff, and his Wise Owl Animal Hospital. The board handed down a 26-page final decision, findings of fact, conclusions of law and order on June 13. Joseph’s attorney immediately went to the Superior Court and got Judge Michael Bordallo to issue a stay, a temporary stay.

The government, through the Attorney General’s Office, responded on July 2, but since then, nothing. It is a contentious issue, but to simply let it lapse through inaction or failure of the judge to schedule the required hearing on the matter is to give Joseph what he wants. The order suspended his license and instructed him to close his business. Instead, he continues to practice veterinary medicine and operate his clinic, and probably figures he can do so indefinitely.

The AGO needs to go to the Supreme Court and ask for a writ of mandate, ordering the judge to set a hearing date. To simply ignore the GBAHE order and findings is to deny that public board, comprised of volunteer professionals who spent many months on this case, their day in court, in effect denying them, and the public, justice.