The Coast Guard administrative law judge whose harsh financial ruling against a former fisherman put the accused out of business, then was overturned through a Cabinet-level apology with reparations of $400,000, has removed himself from overseeing the follow-up to the case.
Judge Parlen J. McKenna has defended his handling of the case against Larry Yacubian, who was a New Bedford scalloper and political activist in 2005 when the case was tried, and asserted Thursday in his motion recusing himself from presiding over the legal fees' assignment that he had no legal reason to do so.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and its National Marine Fisheries Service have used the Coast Guard administrative law judge system to hear cases the agencies have brought against fishermen and fishery-related businesses.
The administrative judge's actions in and outside the courtroom were chastised in May by a special judicial master retained by federal Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who called in retired federal magistrate Charles B. Swartwood III to examine the most egregious cases of justice miscarried against the fishing community. The additional probe came in the aftermath of a two-year investigation by the Commerce Department Inspector General Todd Zinser.
Read the complete story from The Gloucester Times.