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Law Enforcement & Legal |
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Roger Whelan was the bankruptcy judge who preceded Judge Bason in the District of Columbia. |
Roger Whelan was the bankruptcy judge who preceded George Francis Bason, Jr. in the District of Columbia. He was the District of Columbia's only bankruptcy judge until he resigned; George F. Bason Jr. was appointed on February 8, 1984 to fill the vacancy.1
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations staff study of 1989 spells the name Whalen and records that Bason "had been appointed in 1984, to fill the unexpired term of retiring Judge Roger Whalen."2 A House report records that Judge Robinson said Bason "inherited a mess (administratively) in the clerk's office" when he took over for Whalen.3
Whelan became involved in the controversy surrounding Judge Bason's non-reappointment. He was a practicing bankruptcy attorney and reportedly received complaints about Bason from several of his colleagues. These attorneys, according to Whelan, shared his view that Bason was pro-debtor and too slow in making decisions. Whelan reported these views to the Merit Selection Panel by telephone. The Special Counsel's investigation noted that Whelan's opposition to Bason's reappointment was significant, as it contributed to the perception that Judge Bason was a poor administrator. This perception, whether accurate or not, was made known to the Panel at least by Whelan and almost certainly by others.4
Charles Docter, an attorney for INSLAW, reported to the House Committee on the Judiciary that in July 1987, Whelan had threatened to oppose Bason's reappointment because Bason had not ruled on a fee petition filed by Whelan. Docter alleged that Whelan told him that Senior District Court Judge Irwin Gasch would organize the opposition to Bason's reappointment. Whelan acknowledged that he represented a party in the UPI case and was frustrated by Judge Bason's delay in ruling on an application he had filed. He also acknowledged being a friend of Senior Judge Gasch. However, he denied ever speaking with Charles Docter about the UPI case or trying indirectly to pressure Judge Bason to rule on his application for compensation in that case. The Special Counsel's investigation did not attempt to resolve this disagreement but noted that the possibility of concerted opposition to Bason by district court judges or others might explain why he was not reappointed.4
Footnotes
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U.S. Department of Justice, Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General Regarding the Allegations of Inslaw, Inc. (March 1993), p. 155. https://archive.org/stream/InslawPROMISBuaReport/Inslaw%3APROMIS%20Bua%20Report_djvu.txt ↩︎
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U.S. Senate, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Staff Study of Allegations Pertaining to the Department of Justice's Handling of a Contract with INSLAW, Inc., S. Prt. 101-58 (1989), p. 36 n.182. https://archive.org/details/StaffStudyOfAllegationsPertainingToTheDepartmentOfJusticesHandlingOfAContractWithInslaw ↩︎
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U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report, H. Rept. 102-857 (Sept. 10, 1992), p. 105 (section VIII.B). https://archive.org/stream/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport/TheInslawAffair_djvu.txt ↩︎
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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. ↩︎