The President was on Wall Street saying what needs to be done and in the Federal Court an example of what needs to be done and why it needs to be done could not have been made more clear.
The effects of eight years of Bush appointments to the SEC and the turnover in staff there due to the Bush appointments could not be more clear than as set out by the US District Judge in the Bank of America and Merrill bonus case where the judge rejected the SEC approved settlement.
This story is much more important to the country than the "Joe Wilson Story" but it will not get much, if any real press, unfortunately.
Merrill and Bank of America are major economic powers and this story deserves coverage.
It is very rare for a Federal Judge to reject a settlement approved by the agency that is charged with regulating the defendants. It is even more rare for a Federal Judge to issue a strongly worded explanation that so clearly and effectively explains to the public what the corporations and the agency supposedly regulating them were really doing in both the misconduct and the proposed settlement. Here is a bit of that story and opinion.
Judge Rejects Settlement Over Merrill Bonuses
By LOUISE STORY
. . . . . . .
The proposed settlement, the judge continued, "suggests a rather cynical relationship between the parties: the S.E.C. gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of America in a high-profile merger; the bank’s management gets to claim that they have been coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. And all this is done at the expense, not only of the shareholders, but also of the truth."
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Who a judge is and who appoints that judge makes a difference no matter what platitudes you hear during the selection process and nomination hearings abut the law being "found" and not interpreted. This judge is a real credit to the President who appointed him and our system of judicial selection that makes it possible for lawyers of his ability and courage to be appointed to the lifetime position of trust on the federal bench.
See this background on Judge Rakoff from NYT
Jed Rakoff is a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. He joined the federal bench in 1996 after his appointment by President Bill Clinton. His earlier career includes practice as a federal prosecutor and later as a defense attorney in cases of white-collar crime.