On March 16, 2005, Sibel filed a Federal Tort Claims case in an attempt to keep her case alive and the case was randomly assigned to Judge Robertson. A week later it was reassigned to Judge Walton without explanation. Walton has 'dealt' with a number of her cases before - and is also the judge in Libby's case.
In March this year, Sibel filed to have Walton recused from her case, citing his completely redacted financial records and conflict of interest. Walton refused to recuse himself, but last week the case was quietly reassigned to Judge Rosemary Collyer. No reason cited.
Great news!
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4 comments:
This is certainly good news Luke. How'd you find out about it. I'm not seeing it on the web, though I've not looked exhaustively yet. Here's a case that Collyer ruled against the Air Force in a FOIA against them, so that seems encouraging too...
Court chides Air Force on slow release of documents
Here's another good ruling by her where she ruled government agencies needed to release documents regarding covert surveillance of LFBT Groups...
Gov’t Must Turn Over Documents Of Spying on LGBT Groups
This ruling also helped some Vietnam vets pursue a case in which they felt they were being unwittingly used as test subjects to chemical and biological weapons tests.
Vets Search for Nuclear Secrets
Hmm... Haven't found anything really bad yet, and some encouraging stuff for starters... Sibel, are you happy? Also, is this an appointment we ourselves want to keep quiet from the net community as perhaps it's being done under the radar screen of Bushco, or is it something we should talk about more in other places to get more people psyched and supportive of Sibel's efforts to go back to court again?
calindence - thanks for those links. promising!
sibel emailed me to tell me. she wasn't notified of the change, but just happened to notice it when checking her case. she didnt specifically state that she was happy - but given that she filed to get walton off the case, then i suspect that she is.
i doubt that the change will be under the radar of bushco. they spy on everyone!
I am thinking this re-assignment might have to do with the fact that the Libby case is tying up all of Judge Walton's time.
It certainly isn't "bad news" but I wouldn't get too excited just yet. As I recall, there was not a single dissenting voice on the Supreme Court that insisted that the Court take up Sibel's appeal- nothing but dead silence from the Court's Liberals.
And let's say Justice tries to invoke "state secrets" yet again, and this new judge rules in Sibel's favor. Can Justice then appeal to the same 3 judge panel led by Doug Ginsberg that ruled against Sibel in the wrongful termination suit?
Hey guys, I hate to be a cynic, and I wish Sibel all the best, given how much money she's lost as a result of her being "outed" by the FBI as a whistleblower, but my faith in the Courts to resolve the unconstitutional State Secrets mess is pretty low right now.
miguel - your cynicism is well-founded - and no, its not like the world changed or anything - but we got a small win.
"I am thinking this re-assignment might have to do with the fact that the Libby case is tying up all of Judge Walton's time."
i doubt this is true. i'm not real familiar with the legal system - but judges often have many cases in progress - and we know, for example, that fitz does as well. and i presume that a prosecutors taks is way more intensive than a judge's task.
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