Props to Jesse’s Cafe Americain for the link.

This article outlines a judicial “Notice and Order” submitted by a retiring securities judge at the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC):

    Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Administrative Law Judge George H. Painter made serious allegations regarding fellow CFTC judge Bruce Levine in announcing his retirement.
    In a notice sent to complainants and their attorneys, Judge Painter claims that Levine told him that he had promised former CFTC Chair Wendy Gramm “that he would never rule in a complainants favor”. Painter’s notice goes on to say, “A review of his rulings will confirm that he has fulfilled his vow.”

The article links to the actual order, which contains this bombshell:

    “There are two administrative law judges at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: myself and the Honorable Bruce Levine. 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. A review of his rulings will confirm that he has fulfilled his vow. 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.
    “In light of these unfortunate facts, if I simply announced my intention to retire, the seven reparation cases on my docket would be reassigned to the only other administrative law judge at the Commission, Judge Levine. This I cannot do in good conscience. Accordingly, I recommend that the Commission request, pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 930.208(a), from the Office of Personnel Management the services of an administrative law judge to be detailed to the Commission from an agency such as the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”

I don’t know if I’m madder at the judge who is denying justice to investors by running interference for Wall Street, or the judge who knew about it and chose to remain silent until his retirement.

Is bucking the system that hard, or that risky? Or has the rule of law been suspended and they just neglected to tell us? Does anyone in the unwashed masses still believe this system works for them?