Rigged Courtrooms
Robert Little of The Baltimore Sun reveals in "Justice Capsized?" that the U.S. Coast Guard's administrative courts are stacked against "tugboat captains, charter fishermen and other professional mariners," leading to suspensions that can cost them their careers. Little's computer analysis of the data shows that mariners prevailed just 14 times out of the more than 6,300 charges filed by Coast Guard investigators since 1999. Using judicial records, interviews and internal court memos, Little describes how the system's chief judge instructed other judges how to rule in certain cases and how defense lawyers complain that judges advocate on behalf of Coast Guard prosecutors. Little fills his story with strong examples of how the system has hurt individual mariners. www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.judges24jun24,0,1170729.story?coll=bal-home-headlines