-Caveat Lector- Assignments of Clinton Judges Probed By Janelle Carter Associated Press Writer Friday, August 6, 1999; 3:47 a.m. EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist to look into a judge's decision to assign cases involving President Clinton's friends to Clinton-appointed judges. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who is a Republican presidential hopeful, told Rehnquist he was concerned that the incident ``may have repercussions on the public's confidence in the impartial administration of justice by the federal courts.'' The Associated Press reported last weekend that U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson bypassed a traditional random assignment system and sent a criminal case against presidential friend Yah Lin ``Charlie'' Trie to U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman and similarly sent a separate tax case against presidential friend Webster Hubbell to U.S. District Judge James Robertson. Trie's case was the first major prosecution from the Justice Department investigation of Democratic fund raising in the 1996 election. Friedman, appointed to the bench by Clinton two years earlier, also was assigned by Johnson to two related cases. Several other judges have expressed concern that the assignments had the appearance of a conflict of interest. Friedman dismissed various charges against Trie. One of Friedman's rulings was reversed on appeal, and Trie is to be sentenced in two weeks, probably to probation, on a plea- bargained guilty plea. Robertson dismissed the tax case against Hubbell, a former associate attorney general, who eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor when an appeals court reinstated the case. Robertson was later chosen, at random, to handle a felony case against Hubbell that charged him with lying to federal regulators. Robertson threw out the central felony count in that case, but again an appeals court reversed him, and Hubbell eventually pleaded guilty to one felony count. In a letter to the editor published in The Washington Times earlier this week, Johnson said, ``Politics was not and is never a factor in our case assignments.'' Still, Hatch, in his letter written Tuesday, asked Rehnquist to look into the matter using the Judicial Conference of the United States, a panel of judges that includes chief justices from each judicial circuit. As chief justice, Rehnquist is presiding officer of the conference, which makes policy concerning the administration of U.S. courts. ``I wish to ask you ... to consider whether an examination by the Judicial Conference might be warranted,'' Hatch wrote. Copyright 1999 The Associated Press Kathleen "This country with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it." -Abraham Lincoln, April 4, 1861 DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
