I'm pretty scared that judges appointed by the Bush administration to fine companies where they have broken the law may have shares in those companies.

Can the authorities not make it FEDERAL LAW that any judge/ member of office has to offer up his/her shareholdings.

Whilst we should not stop any judge having a shareholding in a company, we should disbar any judge that 'forgets' to disclose his shareholding.

Sounds like he could certainly use a spanking for his carelessness or indifference, but the facts add up to a guy who would not be influenced by his holdings....sometimes he recused, sometimes not, sometimes in the middle. These cases normally don't affect enough money to be bothersome unless it's Judge Soros or Judge Gates. That he doesn't want to be grilled on the phone by Salon is understandable....who needs that? Hope a) he gets confirmed and b) the story leads to all fed courts adopting a good computer system.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! another Bush appointee who won't abide by the law. This judge is just another example of the blatant disregard that the current administration and the Republican machine have for the Constitution and the Congress.

It must be a slow news day. Salon is really scratching at the bottom of the barrel to satisfy the Bush haters today. I don't recall Salon reporting on Ted Kennedy's membership in the "horrifically discriminating" all male club (to whom he stroked a $100 check last year). Of course, we enilightened types know this is news because there are no corrupt democrat judges. How 'bout another dog food story. That one had 100+ responses by the end of the day.

Poco

Republican ethics and morality are entirely dictated by cash. Wherever there is a pile of cash, Republicans will act illegally and unethically to steal it from smeone else.

They call this "business" or "capitalism". The rest of us know that it is merely greed, bad manners and a lack of an ethical center that enables these liars and hypocrits to achieve "success" - a "success" they could never achieve if they were honest, decent, hard-working, moral people.

are about the same as I hear all the time from my boyfriend's redneck red state family. Other people probably did something bad, sometime, therefore, we absolutely can't have any discussion about this bad thing this person did.

Wrong. Because wrong is wrong, and evidence of current wrong act means that they can and must be debated.

Since there really is no excuse for this judge's conduct, Poco used the usual repugnant tactics: minimize the seriousness of the conduct, accuse the persons revealing the conduct of a political agenda in revealing it, and point a finger at someone else (hypothetical judges with ethical issues, appointed by Democrats).

These tactics are what make me yawn. Because facts are facts, dude.

I'm disappointed in the reporter, Will Evans.

"Witcher said he vaguely remembered that Payne mentioned the stock conflict -- and then proceeded with the case because the attorneys didn't object. Oklahoma City lawyer Carrie Hoisington, who was involved in a separate case over which Payne presided, recounted a similar scenario in which Payne may have raised the issue and the case proceeded nonetheless."

This quote makes it seem like I thought there was a problem in the case I was in. It is perfectly appropriate for a judge to raise a potential conflict and let the lawyers and clients decide whether to continue - the quote makes it seem like that practice is suspect. It is not. It also doesn't include my statement that I thought Judge Payne has always been fair and impartial in the cases I was involved.

This experience has solidified my views that the media is more interested in making a scintillating story than one that tells the absolute truth.

Carrie Hoisington, Attorney, Oklahoma City, OK

The Judge Payne of ...Virginia may have violated the same Federal Law while trading on Micron Technologies (MU). Since this Judge Payne of Virginia was involved in the Infineon vs Rambus case, and since Infineon has pleaded guilty in the DOJ criminal conspiracy in price fixing rdram, one now wonders what has been this man's stock trading activity just before the Infineon case, during and to the present time and foreward where 2 other conspirators, Samsung and Micron are now involved in his Eastern District of Virginia Federal Court. Billions of dollars are at stake in these court proceedings and I am appalled that this behavior refuses to be prosecuted at the Federal Level. It is my understanding that there is a grass-roots campaign in one of the Dakota's forcing judges to be accountable for the job or otherwise opening them to be sued. Since the Federal Government now chooses to no longer obey the Law of the Land with malfeisance and its associated behaviors, this Dakota law could not come anytime too soon.