Complaint Filed Over Vioxx Case Judge's Campaign Donations

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A conservative legal group based in Washington, D.C., has filed a judicial ethics complaint against an Alabama judge who accepted large campaign contributions from attorneys pursuing a Vioxx wrongful death lawsuit.

The complaint filed by the Washington Legal Foundation against Clay County Circuit Judge John Rochester contends he failed to conduct himself in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, which is a violation of Alabama's judicial ethics rules.

In response, Rochester said attorneys for Vioxx's manufacturer, Merck & Co., had not complained about the donations and had not asked him to step aside from the case. "I would think it would be meritless," Rochester told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Paul Kamenar, senior executive counsel of the Washington Legal Foundation, said Rochester had an obligation to remove himself from the Vioxx case even if none of the parties complained. The foundation's complaint involves the Beasley Allen law firm's representation of Cheryl Rogers, an Alabama woman who filed a wrongful death suit against Merck on behalf of her husband, claiming the Vioxx pills marketed by the New Jersey-based drug maker led to his death.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB67C9Y8AE.html

[TaleWgnDg]

1. Needless to say, the so-called "Washington Legal Foundation" is a small

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Needless to say, the so-called "Washington Legal Foundation" is a small group whose sole purpose is to undermine liberal and progressive social causes including its litigation. See, for example, http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientprofile.php?recipientID=912
and http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Washington_Legal_Foundation

One of the "Washington Legal Foundation's" money sponsors is the Sarah Scaife Foundation! Need we say more?

[brentspeak]

2. Not coincidentally, Judge Rochester also happens to be a Democrat

And the Washington Legal Foundation has so far refused to pursue any similar actions against Republican judges who have done the exact same thing, including the most infamous of money-acceptors, Texas' Patricia Owen. She, of course, has taken oodles of money from companies such as Enron, when they were both plaintiffs and defendents, refused to recuse herself, and almost always ruled in their favor.

[TaleWgnDg]

3. As an attorney, I find that repugnant! n/t