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February 09, 2007
Federal Judge to PUC: Drop Dead
I've always wanted to use a New York tabloid-style headline, and the Maine Public Utilities Commission has given me that chance as its quest to punish the Bush administration Verizon is shot down by a federal district judge.
U.S. District Judge John Woodcock’s strongly worded 24-page ruling was issued after a 90-minute hearing Thursday morning. In it, he enjoined the PUC from holding the hearing and Verizon from responding to any subpoenas the commission has or might issue.In other words: shut up about national security and focus on your mission. Maybe now this will give PUC Commissioner Kurt Adams the time he needs to figure out how to make energy cheaper in Maine instead of using his office as a bullhorn to criticize national policies with which he disagrees."It is painfully obvious that, in making assessments about the impact of its order on national security, the PUC is acting beyond its depth," Woodcock wrote.
"The PUC’s statutory area of responsibility and expertise is to regulate public utilities, it is not charged with evaluating threats to national security, investigating the NSA, or holding businesses in contempt when their silence was mandated by the federal government.
"When confronted with a divergence of opinion as to the national security implications of the PUC order, as between the NSA, which is charged with ensuring national security, and the PUC, which is charged with state utility regulation, the court would be hard-pressed to rely on the assurances of the PUC over the warnings of the NSA," he said.
Or, put simply, it will give him time to do his job.
If Commissioner Adams had been interested in actually helping the people who brought the complaint, he would have pointed out the fact that the PUC has no jurisdiction over such matters at the beginning of this process and encouraged them to file their lawsuit with the appropriate office. Instead, he jumped on the bandwagon - an action that led directly to this court loss.
Pride goeth, folks.
Posted by slublog at February 9, 2007 08:48 AM
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