Many Gulf Federal Judges Have Oil Links - Hmmm...

AP Story Suggests One Reason Why Not Much Happens to Lessen Big Oil's Grip on America

EDITOR'S NOTE: There's two ways to take this story, and one doesn't have to mean that the other is wrong. On the one side, this is proof that the oil/gasoline industry has great political influence over government leaders and that they influence decisions made against their corporate interests. On the other hand, concerns over personal wealth issues are such that it probably could be said that all judges and political leaders everywhere in the world have investments of one type or another that involve the oil/gasoline industry for no other reason than that they are good investments. The issue is how deeply do these investments sway the judges and politicians decisions.
One need merely to look back at how judges and politicians were paid off by organized crime, for example, to see the effects of such graft.

MIAMI, FL – June 6, 2010: In an AP story written by Curt Anderson, a majority of the federal judges in districts where the bulk of Gulf oil spill-related lawsuits are pending have financial connections to the oil and gas industry. Concerns are that these connections complicate the task of finding judges without conflicts to hear the cases. The story is based on the Associated Press' analysis of judicial financial disclosure reports.

According o the story, "Thirty-seven of the 64 active or senior judges in key Gulf Coast districts in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have links to oil, gas and related energy industries, including some who own stocks or bonds in BP PLC, Halliburton or Transocean — and others who regularly list receiving royalties from oil and gas production wells, according to the reports judges must file each year. The AP reviewed 2008 disclosure forms, the most recent available."

"Those three companies are named as defendants in virtually all of the 150-plus lawsuits seeking damages, mainly for economic losses in the fishing, seafood, tourism and related industries, that have been filed over the growing oil spill since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20, killing 11 workers. Attorneys for the companies and those suing them are pushing for consolidation of the cases in one court, with BP recommending Texas and others advocating for Louisiana and other states."

Citing some specific examples, Mr. Anderson writes "One federal judge in Texas is a member of Houston's Petroleum Club, an "exclusive, handsome club of, and for, men of the oil industry."

Another New Orleans jurist, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, said in court Friday he is selling his oil and gas investments — which included Transocean and Halliburton — to avoid any perception of a conflict. Barbier is presiding over about 20 spill-related lawsuits and some attorneys are recommending that he be chosen to oversee all cases filed nationally."

Still another judge in Louisiana, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, recused himself because his attorney son-in-law is representing several people and businesses filing suits against BP and the other companies over the rig explosion.