A judge accuses another judge of improprieties. But there’s more to the story.
Say what?
The Washington Post has a brief story reporting that one of two administrative judges at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in retiring, is accusing his counterpart of saying he would never rule for a plaintiff:
“On Judge Levine’s first week on the job, nearly twenty years ago, he came into my office and stated that he had promised Wendy Gramm, then Chairwoman of the Commission, that we would never rule in a complainant’s favor,” Painter wrote. “A review of his rulings will confirm that he fulfilled his vow,” Painter wrote.Wendy Gramm’s husband is Phil, by the way, one of the major forces behind the disastrous deregulation bill that handcuffed the CFTC on credit-default swaps and helped lead to the current financial crisis.
Painter continued: “Judge Levine, in the cynical guise of enforcing the rules, forces pro se complainants to run a hostile procedural gauntlet until they lose hope, and either withdraw their complaint or settle for a pittance, regardless of the merits of the case.”
The Post’s piece follows a brief story from Futures magazine several days ago on Judge Painter’s allegation.
But the plot thickens this evening with this longer Wall Street Journal story reporting that Painter’s wife is trying to get guardianship over the 83-year-old, who in turn is trying to divorce her.
Administrative law judge George H. Painter, 83 years old, issued rulings as recently as Feb. 26, 2010. A range of medical problems led to a 21-day stay in a geriatric psychiatric ward in June, according to Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court records filed by his wife’s lawyer. Those records were filed in an effort by his wife to seek guardianship over the judge.The judge’s wife says he mostly sleeps on the job, drinks eight martinis a day, and court records say he probably has Alzheimer’s and has had “cognitive impairment, alcoholism and depression” (though the judge’s son and niece say he’s fine)....MORE
Nicholas J. Schor, an Olney, Md., psychiatrist, wrote on Aug. 26, 2010, that Judge Painter’s disability was “profound” and it prevented him from making or communicating any responsible decisions, according to court records.
Judge Painter’s lawyer, Jean Galloway Ball, said in an interview he is capable of “managing his person and property.”
