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10 - PEOPLE/(A-G)/George Francis Bason, Jr..md

@@ -1,16 +1,33 @@
 ---
-aliases: []
+category: "PROMIS Scandal"
+created: 2024-04-25
+updated: 2026-05-01
 tags:
   - Person
+  - PROMIS
+  - DoJ
+  - INSLAW
+  - Judge
+summary: "George Francis Bason Jr. was the D.C. Bankruptcy Court judge who ruled in 1987 that the DOJ stole INSLAW's PROMIS software by trickery, fraud, and deceit, and whose non-reappointment generated allegations of DOJ retaliation."
 ---
-George Francis Bason, Jr. was a Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Columbia. He was appointed on February 8, 1984, to fill a vacancy, and his term was set to expire on February 8, 1988. His non-reappointment became a central point of contention in the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]], with allegations that the [[United States Department of Justice|DOJ]] improperly influenced the selection process in retaliation for his rulings in the [[Inslaw Corporation|Inslaw]] case.
+George Francis Bason Jr. was appointed to the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia on February 8, 1984, to fill a vacancy. His four-year term expired February 8, 1988. The two proceedings he presided over in the [[INSLAW]] case produced the most damaging judicial findings against the [[Department of Justice|DOJ]] in the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]] — findings that were ultimately reversed on jurisdictional grounds but that shaped congressional investigations for years afterward.[^1]
 
-Judge Bason ruled orally on September 28, 1987, that the DOJ had stolen and converted Inslaw's [[PROMIS]] software. He subsequently issued a written opinion in favor of Inslaw, finding that the DOJ fraudulently converted [[INSLAW]]'s software and ordering damages of approximately $6.8 million. His judgment was affirmed by the district court but ultimately reversed on jurisdictional grounds by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Judge Bason found that [[C. Madison Brewer]] was "consumed by hatred for and an intense desire for revenge against INSLAW," and that Brewer's actions were part of a strategy to ruin Inslaw. He also concluded that [[Lowell Jensen]]'s biased attitude contributed to the situation where Inslaw's complaints about Brewer went unheeded. Furthermore, Judge Bason found that the DOJ, through its employees, unlawfully and intentionally sought to convert Inslaw's Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation, and that [[Thomas Stanton]] struck a bargain with Brewer to achieve this.[^1]
+### The Independent Handling Proceeding (June 1987)
 
-After his non-reappointment, Judge Bason suggested that the DOJ must have improperly influenced the selection process. He sent a 14-page letter to Chief Judge [[Patricia Wald]] on January 12, 1988, alleging that the DOJ may have obstructed his reappointment. He identified [[Nelson Deckelbaum]], [[Marcie Docter]], and [[Nelson Kline]] as individuals who speculated that his Inslaw ruling was the cause of his non-reappointment. The DOJ subsequently moved to recuse Bason from further proceedings in the Inslaw case, citing his letter to Chief Judge Wald as a basis for perceived bias. Judge Bason denied the motion, and the District Court and Court of Appeals upheld his decision. On February 1, 1988, seven days before his term expired, Bason filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin [[S. Martin Teel, Jr.]] from being sworn in, but this was unsuccessful. Just prior to his departure, he issued a written opinion in favor of Inslaw and awarded damages and attorneys' fees against the DOJ.[^1]
+In June 1987, after INSLAW filed for independent handling of its bankruptcy case on the grounds that the DOJ could not be trusted to administer it fairly, Bason found that DOJ had "unlawfully, intentionally and willfully" attempted to convert INSLAW's Chapter 11 reorganization into a Chapter 7 liquidation "without justification and by improper means." The ruling was based partly on testimony from Anthony Pasciuto, Deputy Director of the Executive Office of U.S. Trustees, who initially stated that DOJ Director Thomas Stanton had pressured U.S. Trustee [[Edward White]] to force the company into liquidation. Bason also found that Stanton had struck a bargain with [[C. Madison Brewer]] to achieve this conversion.[^1]
 
-The Special Counsel's investigation found no evidence that anyone tried to influence the selection process improperly. It concluded that Judge Bason's allegations were not supported by credible evidence and that his claims were based on speculation and uncorroborated information. The report noted that while Judge Bason was understandably disappointed by his non-reappointment, the evidence did not support his claims of DOJ obstruction.[^1]
+### The Adversary Proceeding (September 1987)
+
+After a two-week liability trial, Bason ruled on September 28, 1987, that the DOJ had "taken, converted, stole, INSLAW's enhanced PROMIS by trickery, fraud, and deceit." He found that [[C. Madison Brewer]] had "developed an intense and abiding hatred" for [[Bill Hamilton]] and had "devised a strategy to have the government 'ruin' INSLAW," with his "poisonous attitude" infecting other DOJ personnel who administered the contract. Bason further concluded that [[Lowell Jensen]]'s "biased attitude toward Inslaw contributed to the situation in which Inslaw's complaints about Brewer and the administration of the PROMIS implementation contract went unheeded." Bason awarded approximately $6.8 million in damages and attorneys' fees against DOJ.[^1]
+
+The D.C. Circuit Court affirmed Bason's adversary ruling in November 1989, with Judge William Bryant finding "convincing, perhaps compelling support" for the bankruptcy court's conclusions. In May 1991, however, the Court of Appeals reversed all lower court rulings on jurisdictional grounds, finding the bankruptcy court lacked jurisdiction because DOJ possessed PROMIS under a claim of right at the time of INSLAW's bankruptcy filing. The reversal vacated Bason's findings entirely.[^1]
+
+### Non-Reappointment and Retaliation Allegations
+
+Bason sought early reappointment in 1987, while his Inslaw rulings were pending. The selection committee chose not to reappoint him; his term expired as scheduled in February 1988. Bason subsequently alleged that the DOJ had improperly influenced the selection process in retaliation for his rulings. On January 12, 1988, he sent a 14-page letter to Chief Judge [[Patricia Wald]] alleging DOJ obstruction of his reappointment. The DOJ moved to recuse him from further Inslaw proceedings on the basis of this letter; Bason denied the motion, and the denial was upheld on appeal. Just before leaving office, on February 1, 1988, Bason filed an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to block his successor, S. Martin Teel Jr., from being sworn in.[^1]
+
+The Special Counsel's investigation found no evidence that anyone had improperly influenced the selection process, concluding that Bason's allegations rested on speculation and uncorroborated information. The Bua Report found Bason's blanket adverse credibility assessments of DOJ witnesses to be unwarranted and specifically disputed his conclusion that DOJ's financial concerns about INSLAW were pretextual.[^1]
 
 ### Footnotes
 
-[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993. (Hereafter, "Bua Report")
+[^1]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc.* March 1993; Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, *In re Inslaw, Inc.*, Adversary Proceeding No. 86-0069, September 28, 1987; Independent Handling Proceeding, June 1987.