"Judges have to be neutral, but they don't have to be eunuchs"

[n2doc]

US judge defends scathing remarks on financial crisis

A federal judge in New York who wrote a scathing opinion article questioning the lack of high-level financial crisis prosecutions says he was offering his views "not as a judge but as a citizen."

Still, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff is making no apologies.

"Judges have to be neutral, but they don't have to be eunuchs," Rakoff said.

Rakoff spoke exclusively with CNBC in some of his first public comments following the controversial essay in the January 9 edition of the New York Review of Books headlined "The Financial Crisis: Why Have No High-Level Executives Been Prosecuted?" In the article, Rakoff writes that if the financial crisis is a result of intentional fraud, "the failure to prosecute those responsible must be judged one of the more egregious failures of the criminal justice system in many years."

In the interview, conducted by phone while the judge was in his chambers in New York, Rakoff said he wrote the article because he was puzzled by what he called "seeming inconsistencies;" some parts of the government-like the independent Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission-concluding there was fraud, while the Justice Department has so far declined to prosecute top Wall Street executives.

Rakoff said the explanation by some prosecutors for the lack of high-level cases is "implausible," and called the suggestion by some top officials including Attorney General Eric Holder that some prosecutions would damage the economy-the so-called "too big to jail" argument-"a doubtful proposition."

more

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2013/12/24/us-judge-defends-remarks-on-financial-crisis/

[msongs]

1. a voice in the wilderness that is the DOJ and administration on this issue nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

2. It was a fraud on a scale that dwarfs even the tobacco industry's. n/t

We literally saw one of the largest segments of the American economy engage in a decade-long crime spree. From the real estate salesweasel to the CEOs of every major bank on earth, and virtually everyone in between, went along with what every one but the very dimmest knew full-well was a scam from the start.

[jtuck004]

3. Won't investigage potential criminal fraud, but the Justice Department will take cheap shots at

citizens who call for justice.

I suspect, although he made it into print, there are millions of people who share this opinion, and this will affect what they do for a long time into the future.

[Dustlawyer]

4. Way to go Judge! Some people do care about Justice! I guess they haven't been able to buy him off

or smear him! Our system is a joke! The only thing we have going for us is our jury system. Corporations hate it and have pushed for Tort Reform to limit what jury's can do. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce had 5 newspapers that they operate in jurisdictions known for plaintiff oriented decisions. They try to influence the jurors by publishing articles and "opinion" pieces that just happen to be the subject of trials that are about to start. The paper is free outside the jury assembly room at our courthouse. Check out www.southeasttexasrecord.com. For the 1st year here they didn't even sell ads until they realized people knew something was up and it was a bogus paper.
The BP oil spill case, what a joke! All you hear is BP's propaganda from the M$M since they are spending so much money in advertising along the Gulf Coast. No media outlet will air the truth for fear of losing the biggest advertiser on the coast since the spill.
If we don't do anything about this corruption of our system soon we are all lost! We have people and corporations that are above the law in this country, which is a recipe for more disasters!