Judge shouldn’t hear case
To the editor:
It wasn’t the decision that Judge Martin Feldman made this week lifting the oil drilling moratorium that I find the most offensive. What is even more offensive was that he was allowed to hear the case in the first place.
The Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from hearing cases for which the judge has even the appearance of a financial interest in the outcome. Judge Feldman has tens of thousands of dollars in oil stock that is directly affected by the outcome of this decision. Yet he was allowed to hear this case. That is what is really really outrageous.
By allowing this judge to hear this case the Courts sent a clear message that they are so deep in the pockets of big oil that they aren’t even going to pretend to follow their Code of Judicial Conduct. They are flaunting their corruption in front of the public. They are sending a message that they are above the law and that they can just get away with it because the public is powerless to stop them.
Public respect for the judiciary has eroded ever since the Supreme Court decided the 2000 election appointing Bush president. Since then judicial ethics has gone down hill to the point that a judge no longer even pretends that the appearance of impropriety has any meaning at all. Now they flaunt their corruption. To me this is an act of treason to the Constitution and insults the values that America represents.
Marc Perkel
Gilroy, Calif.