Litigation

Questions Linger about Judge?s Stock Holdings

By Peter Hardin

Federal Judge Henry Hudson is in the news for his controversial ruling tossing out part of President Obama’s health care reform law (see Gavel Grab). But he continues to be dogged too by questions raised about his stock holdings, valued between $15,000 and $50,000, in a Republican consulting firm that worked against health care reform.

“Federal judges are required by statute to disqualify themselves from hearing a case whenever their impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” James Sample of Hofstra Law School told TPM Muckraker blog about Judge Hudson’s holdings in Campaign Solutions, which have been discussed in these earlier Gavel Grab posts.

“It’s a hyper-protective rule and for good reason. At the very least, his continued financial interest in Campaign Solutions undermines the perceived legitimacy of his decision,” Sample said. He was a co-author with Justice at Stake and partner groups of “The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2000-2009: Decade of Change.”

“You would certainly want to ask whether he has an interest in an organization that’s devoted to an outcome that he has control over,” said Professor Charles Geyh of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. “That would certainly be the inquiry I would want to undertake.”

Full post as published by The Gavel on December 14, 2010 (boomark / email).