Litigation

Harder to Get Federal Judges? Disclosure Reports

By Peter Hardin

Although a federal judge weighing a request to block the Obama administration’s first deepwater drilling moratorium this year held shares of Exxon Mobil, the public didn’t know it.

A routine disclosure statement of Judge Martin Feldman’s investments ought to have been available, but it wasn’t, the Associated Press reported in an article entitled, “Judges’ disclosures hard to get.” Such reports may disclose assets that can signal a potential conflict of interest in litigation before a court.

Gavel Grab has chronicled the controversy over Judge Feldman’s assets. He ultimately lifted the moratorium. He also said he sold his shares in Exxon Mobil less than five hours before making his ruling. Exxon Mobil was not a party to the litigation but was affected by the court ruling.

The AP article said that you may read a senator’s disclosure statement from a computer at the U.S. Capitol complex, and a House member’s statement from any computer hooked up to the Internet. But “be prepared to wait” to see a federal judge’s disclosure statement, it says, because it can take two weeks for such a report to be provided, the reports are not posted on the judiciary’s website, and judges are notified when someone asks for a copy.

Richard Carelli, a spokesman for the judiciary, said the reports are handled in a method to ensure safety of judges and their families.

When researchers want to see similar reports for executive branch officials, they make a request in writing to the Office of Government Ethics, and it can provide the document that day or the next. The executive branch official does not get notified in advance of the release.

Full post as published by The Gavel on September 20, 2010 (boomark / email).