What are we to do when we read that Billions of dollars are being spent to elect Presidents, Senators, Members of Congress? And countless dollars also are being spent to elect and influence Governors, State Legislators, Judges, Attorneys General? And then there are the Revolving Doors. Governmental officials at all levels and in all branches can be tempted and seduced by the prospect of a “better life” on the outside if they behave well on the inside. Such is life on the inside and societal harm including deaths and injuries on the outside.
And then there are the infinite ways of bribery – legal and otherwise that are seldom caught and punished.
Recall the GM Ignition Switch Defect case. The latest status:
“In the fraught summer of 2009, the federal bankruptcy judge Robert E. Gerber proved to be a crucial figure in General Motors’ struggle for survival. With the economy in deep recession and the once-dominant automaker bleeding red ink, he presided over a bankruptcy process that allowed G.M. to remake itself — with the help of $49 billion from federal taxpayers — as a new company free of onerous liabilities.
On Tuesday, lawyers representing the reborn, and profitable, G.M. were back in Judge Gerber’s Manhattan courtroom seeking his assistance once again. They were asking him simply to uphold a key provision of the agreement, but the judge’s response is less certain.
The occasion was a day of oral arguments over whether a provision of the July 2009 agreement that shielded the “new G.M.” from most legal claims involving accidents before that date should be allowed to stand. The company is trying to shut down hundreds of lawsuits, many of them seeking class-action status, over a defective ignition switch that has been linked to hundreds of accidents and at least 56 deaths.” See
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/business/judge-hears-arguments-over-gms-exposure-to-recall-suits.html?hpw&rref=automobiles&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
So what is Judge Robert E. Gerber’s status? Automotive News citing Reuters reports the judge announced his intent to retire.
“NEW YORK (Reuters) — The New York bankruptcy judge overseeing part of the fallout from General Motors Co’s problems with faulty ignition switches will retire from the bench, but remain active in so-called recall status for at least a year, his court announced.
Judge Robert Gerber will assume recall status on Jan. 1, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York announced in a statement published late on Friday. Recall status allows judges who are technically retired to continue to serve.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Gerber was planning to assume recall status.”
Gerber will remain on the bench at least through 2015, according to the court’s announcement.” See
http://www.autonews.com/article/20141117/OEM/141119858/gms-bankruptcy-judge-to-retire-remain-on-recall-status
Two types of ignorance: unconscious (absence of information) and conscious (in presence of information).
Will right be done in GM case?
Lou