"A culture of 'no' has taken hold of the Department of Commerce," Rep. John Tierney said in a statement. "I will be taking this matter directly to the White House and feel certain a number of my colleagues will join the fight."
According to the Locke memo, the special master he appointed last fall to wrap up the loose ends trailing the most egregious cases — and possibly open new ones — into excessive charges and prosecutions was directed to avoid:
*Cases for which no civil penalty was imposed;
*Complaints heard before a federal district court judge;
*Cases currently before an administrative law judge or the NOAA administrator;
*Complaints not submitted to the office of the Inspector General.
Locke also turned down the congressional and gubernatorial request to allow fishermen 45 more days to come forward with new complaints, and to freeze pending sanctions against fishermen until the completion of the work by Special Master Charles Swartwood III, a retired U.S. District Court judge in Boston who also serves as chairman of the state Ethics Commission.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.