Thursday, December 3, 2009
News Arrington recuses himself from Plant Vogtle lawsuit
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Thu, Dec 3, 2009 at 5:20 PM
A lawsuit to determine the constitutionality of Senate Bill 31, the controversial bill that allows Georgia Power to charge customers in advance for two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, hit a bit of snag yesterday.
Walter Jones of the Augusta Chronicle reports:
Before the short trial was to begin, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington said a review of his personal finances Tuesday night revealed that some of the mutual funds he invests in own shares of Georgia Power Co. stock and bonds."If anybody wants me to recuse myself, I would be happy to do so with the stroke of a pen," Judge Arrington said.
Lawyers for the company and the Public Service Commission had no objections, but a lawyer for the environmentalists who filed the suit did.
"We think recusal would be the appropriate way to proceed at this time," said Michael Carvalho, who represents the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
"I will recuse," Judge Arrington said.
Kind of hilarious that Georgia Power's lawyers were all, "nah, there's nothing wrong with you listening to the case, judging that SB 31 was vital to building those nuclear reactors and it could impact your personal finances." The search for a new judge in underway, Jones reports.
(Photo by Joeff Davis)
Comments (3)
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Oh come on, TW, are you an economic illiterate or what? This is ethics in form, not substance. A mutual fund holding - unless he has millions invested - means Arrington might stand to gain or lose the price of a Starbucks by his decision. (And if he has millions invested, so that the prospective gain is in the hundreds of dollars, then it's hardly enough to influence him.) It's bloody silliness like this that makes the legal system so slow and exorbitant. That's the real scandal here.
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Beaglebullfeathers, my many handled friend! Personally, I think he made the right call. Sure, it might make the case drag on, but without a full understanding of how much he has invested, it's best to step aside. Even if it's pennies, where do you draw the line?
Great now they will have to find the one Judge who never invested in their life, probable doesn't have a penny to their name and is bitter about all those other Judges that seem to get all the breaks in life. You know like the ones who sacrificed short term gains for long term stability.
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