At every turn, the government of the Virgin Islands — or at least its elected and appointed officials — seeks to interrupt the free flow of information to the people it serves though confusion and obscurity.
During this great week of festivities celebrating the end of slavery for the people of the Virgin Islands and the beginning of independence for the American people, it is important to recognize how that freedom and independence is maintained.
It is maintained through the vigilance of the watchdogs of the people — the Fourth Estate — the news media.
Without the news media, the people would once again become subject to the whims and desires of politicians, kings, despots and tyrants. This is not dramatic; this is a tragic fact that still exists in much of the world today.
Where the media are controlled, so are the citizens..
As Americans we are guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution the freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, petition and the press.
In the 213 years since the Bill of Rights was ratified, there have been other guarantees extended both federally and territorially to assure that the press can do its job of maintaining freedom — the Freedom of Information Act, the Public Records Act and the Sunshine Law.
These laws are routinely ignored by the leaders of this territory.
We could offer a list of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests that the Source and other media have made in the last four years. In the case of the Source, although many have promised we would soon be given the information we requested, none of it has been provided, beginning with a request for the budget of the 23rd Legislature and ending with a request for the names and recent salary increases extended to the governments' unclassified, non-union employees.
And let us not forget a recent "closed-door meeting" held by eight members of the Legislature. This is against the Sunshine Law, but it happened, anyway.
We hear officials, including the governor, speaking of "transparency" in government, but we don't see it. What we see is obfuscation.
One media outlet was told the documents requested had been prepared, but when a representative went to retrieve them, he was told the head of the agency would not release them.
In another case, the documents were prepared and the representative was told he would have to pay $110 for them.
In case the reading public isn't aware of it, few journalists or media outlets — at least locally — are rolling in the dough. There is not a reporter we know that makes $85,000 a year. Resources are slim, and the slick politicians are truly aware of that.
So, the politicians continue to try and wear us out with one roadblock or another. But we will never go away, and we will not be daunted by those who seek to obscure information and confuse issues. It is our job to demand information on behalf of the people and in so doing assure their ongoing freedom. That is what our ancestors fought and died for.
In 2001, 51 journalists were killed while on assignment, the most in one year since 1995, when the toll was 69. In Virginia, there is a place called Freedom Park where tribute is paid to 1,446 reporters, editors, photographers and broadcasters killed while on assignment.
What's a little obfuscation in pursuit of truth, compared with the threat of murder or assassination?
"The Truth shall make you free." — from the Holy Bible, the Gospel of St. John
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must … undergo the fatigue of supporting it." — Thomas Paine
"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." — passage from The Declaration of Independence that refers to the King of England
NO REAPPOINTMENT YET FOR FEDERAL JUDGE MOORE
July 3, 2002 – For reasons unclear, the White House has not yet renominated U.S. District Judge Thomas K. Moore to a second 10-year term on St. Thomas although his first term expired June 30.
Moore has drawn attention to himself recently for his comments in two cases. One has to do with not being able to vote in federal elections; the other, with the Immigration and Naturalization Service maintaining checkpoints for passengers traveling directly from one U.S. jurisdiction to another. Moore's written opinions criticized what many Virgin Islanders see as their inferior status in the eyes of the federal government despite their American citizenship.
A Department of Justice spokesperson in Washington confirmed to the Source Monday that nothing had come through from the White House about the federal judgeship allocated to St. Thomas.
The reappointment of Moore, or the appointment by the president of someone else to the post, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Until then, Moore will continue to sit on the local federal bench.
The 64-year-old Moore, a Republican, was off island and unavailable for comment.
But some members of the close-knit Virgin Islands legal community of some 335 lawyers were surprisingly free with their comments –on the condition of anonymity.
In general, the lawyers who spoke to the Source praised Moore as a good, thoughtful judge.
But a few thought Moore's reappointment might be in trouble. Others took the view the White House and the Justice Department will, in their own good time, send his name to the Senate for reconfirmation.
Two attorneys said flatly the nomination had been offered to St. Thomas lawyer Adriane J. Dudley, but that she had declined and affirmed her support for Moore. Dudley could not be reached for comment. A decade ago there were persistent reports she had been offered the St. Thomas federal judgeship, had tentatively accepted, but then had withdrawn her name from consideration.
A few lawyers speculated that Moore had run afoul of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Philadelphia federal court that has jurisdiction over the Virgin Islands District Court. The Third Circuit has overturned Moore several times.
But other local lawyers were unwilling to believe the Philadelphia appeals court judges had that much influence over White House judicial appointments.
A few attorneys criticized Moore's insistence on civility among lawyers appearing before him. Most others said they respected him for it.
As is customary in many areas of the United States when a federal judgeship is at stake, the Virgin Islands Bar Association polled its members on Moore's qualifications. The deadline for submission of the questionnaires was June 27.
The poll was conducted by the Judicial Committee of the Bar Association. Neither the committee chair, St. Thomas lawyer Joel Holt, nor the Bar Association president, Tom Bolt, was available for comment.
The local attorneys who insisted that Moore will eventually be renominated are, almost without exception, veterans who have seen federal judges come and go in the Virgin Islands. They contended the unusual nature of this judgeship — for 10 years instead of the lifetime tenure granted almost all other federal judges — makes it a low priority for the White House.
"The Virgin Islands is at the bottom of the line when it comes to the nomination of federal judges," one lawyer said. "I can remember when a federal judgeship here was vacant for a year and a half before Washington finally acted."
Moore himself criticized the 10-year term as "double discrimination" in one of the two recent cases that brought him public attention.
He noted that Congress in 1966 granted lifetime tenure to federal judges in Puerto Rico.
"This is double discrimination," Moore wrote, "because Congress not only treats the Virgin Islands differently from all the states but also treats it differently from our fellow unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, a differing treatment for which there is no conceivable rational basis." Thus, he said, federal judges in the Virgin Islands are deprived of "the guarantees of judicial independence."
Moore wrote those words in a June 18 decision suppressing the confession of an illegal alien, Camille Pollard, who was detained at the St. Thomas airport at the federal immigration checkpoint for departing passengers.
Pollard's detention was unconstitutional, Moore ruled, and therefore her subsequent confession was illegally obtained.
Some observers have seized upon one sentence in Moore's discussion of the Pollard case as a hint as to how he will rule in the other case, which has attracted even more attention.
In that case, Krim Ballentine of St. Thomas is suing the federal government for the right to vote for president and to have voting representation in Congress.
Moore is known to share Ballentine's views.
"In its motion to dismiss, the United States would reject as 'specious' the plaintiff's [Ballentine's] efforts to question the inferior and unequal nature of United States citizenship in the Virgin Islands," Moore wrote on Oct. 15 of last year. "I am not willing to override so cavalierly the plaintiff's sensibilities, for I share them."
But in his June 18 decision in the Pollard case, Moore wrote that "this federal trial court is bound by the view of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit…"
"That's good," a local attorney quipped. "Otherwise, he'd have to rule in the Ballentine case that the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional."
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.
Moore has drawn attention to himself recently for his comments in two cases. One has to do with not being able to vote in federal elections; the other, with the Immigration and Naturalization Service maintaining checkpoints for passengers traveling directly from one U.S. jurisdiction to another. Moore's written opinions criticized what many Virgin Islanders see as their inferior status in the eyes of the federal government despite their American citizenship.
A Department of Justice spokesperson in Washington confirmed to the Source Monday that nothing had come through from the White House about the federal judgeship allocated to St. Thomas.
The reappointment of Moore, or the appointment by the president of someone else to the post, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Until then, Moore will continue to sit on the local federal bench.
The 64-year-old Moore, a Republican, was off island and unavailable for comment.
But some members of the close-knit Virgin Islands legal community of some 335 lawyers were surprisingly free with their comments –on the condition of anonymity.
In general, the lawyers who spoke to the Source praised Moore as a good, thoughtful judge.
But a few thought Moore's reappointment might be in trouble. Others took the view the White House and the Justice Department will, in their own good time, send his name to the Senate for reconfirmation.
Two attorneys said flatly the nomination had been offered to St. Thomas lawyer Adriane J. Dudley, but that she had declined and affirmed her support for Moore. Dudley could not be reached for comment. A decade ago there were persistent reports she had been offered the St. Thomas federal judgeship, had tentatively accepted, but then had withdrawn her name from consideration.
A few lawyers speculated that Moore had run afoul of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Philadelphia federal court that has jurisdiction over the Virgin Islands District Court. The Third Circuit has overturned Moore several times.
But other local lawyers were unwilling to believe the Philadelphia appeals court judges had that much influence over White House judicial appointments.
A few attorneys criticized Moore's insistence on civility among lawyers appearing before him. Most others said they respected him for it.
As is customary in many areas of the United States when a federal judgeship is at stake, the Virgin Islands Bar Association polled its members on Moore's qualifications. The deadline for submission of the questionnaires was June 27.
The poll was conducted by the Judicial Committee of the Bar Association. Neither the committee chair, St. Thomas lawyer Joel Holt, nor the Bar Association president, Tom Bolt, was available for comment.
The local attorneys who insisted that Moore will eventually be renominated are, almost without exception, veterans who have seen federal judges come and go in the Virgin Islands. They contended the unusual nature of this judgeship — for 10 years instead of the lifetime tenure granted almost all other federal judges — makes it a low priority for the White House.
"The Virgin Islands is at the bottom of the line when it comes to the nomination of federal judges," one lawyer said. "I can remember when a federal judgeship here was vacant for a year and a half before Washington finally acted."
Moore himself criticized the 10-year term as "double discrimination" in one of the two recent cases that brought him public attention.
He noted that Congress in 1966 granted lifetime tenure to federal judges in Puerto Rico.
"This is double discrimination," Moore wrote, "because Congress not only treats the Virgin Islands differently from all the states but also treats it differently from our fellow unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, a differing treatment for which there is no conceivable rational basis." Thus, he said, federal judges in the Virgin Islands are deprived of "the guarantees of judicial independence."
Moore wrote those words in a June 18 decision suppressing the confession of an illegal alien, Camille Pollard, who was detained at the St. Thomas airport at the federal immigration checkpoint for departing passengers.
Pollard's detention was unconstitutional, Moore ruled, and therefore her subsequent confession was illegally obtained.
Some observers have seized upon one sentence in Moore's discussion of the Pollard case as a hint as to how he will rule in the other case, which has attracted even more attention.
In that case, Krim Ballentine of St. Thomas is suing the federal government for the right to vote for president and to have voting representation in Congress.
Moore is known to share Ballentine's views.
"In its motion to dismiss, the United States would reject as 'specious' the plaintiff's [Ballentine's] efforts to question the inferior and unequal nature of United States citizenship in the Virgin Islands," Moore wrote on Oct. 15 of last year. "I am not willing to override so cavalierly the plaintiff's sensibilities, for I share them."
But in his June 18 decision in the Pollard case, Moore wrote that "this federal trial court is bound by the view of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit…"
"That's good," a local attorney quipped. "Otherwise, he'd have to rule in the Ballentine case that the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional."
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.
PROPOSED EXEMPT EMPLOYEE PAY HIKES TOTAL $8.7M
July 3, 2002 – On May 28, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull announced that by executive order he was giving pay raises to his commissioners and about 1,100 to 1,200 other unclassified, non-union government employees.
Increases proposed by the administration covering 893 such employees add about $8.7 million a year to the government payroll and benefit contributions — more than $2.3 million for upper-level personnel and nearly $6.4 million for mid-level employees.
The Source has obtained the list of proposed salary changes for exempt employees generated by the Turnbull administration. Most of the changes have been implemented, according to knowledgeable sources. The lengthy list, broken down into alphabetized department and agency groupings, is posted in a series of files in the Community/Data section.
If there are, in fact, more than 1,100 exempt employees, the salary status of the other 200-plus individuals is unknown. Some might not have been proposed to receive increases. Or the administration may have proposed changes for other personnel who are not included in the list.
Turnbull announced the increases on May 28 after media queries were directed to Government House concerning his having raised a chauffeur's salary to $58,000 from $28,500 and a confidential assistant's to $58,000 from $45,000, as indicated in Notices of Personnel Action dated last Oct. 26. The governor has since given the confidential assistant an additional increase, to $65,000.
The pay raises are being granted under the authority of Executive Order 401-2001 which Turnbull issued last Nov. 5. The order raised the ceilings on salaries to $97,000 for commissioners and other top administrators, $92,00 for assistant commissioners, $87,000 for deputy commissioners and $70,000 for division directors. Senators demanded at the time to know who specifically was getting what but were unsuccessful in obtaining the data.
In May, the governor said the highest salaries for commissioners and agency heads would increase to $85,000 from the previous $65,000, and that this would be $1,900 more than the highest-paid classified employee. One reason he gave for the raises was that several commissioners were being paid less than some of the people they supervised. He said 71 classified employees in the Education Department and 17 in the Police Department were making more than their commissioners. The governor said this went against "virtually every established management principle."
The only department head not proposed for a pay raise was Attorney General Iver Stridiron. He already was making $85,000.
In November, Turnbull said he had been advised that his action might not "be wise politically" in an election year but decided to institute the raises because "I have always prided myself in being up-front and forthright with the people of the Virgin Islands."
Senators tried in a section of the Fiscal Year 2002 Omnibus Act to make their own salaries equal to that of the highest-paid commissioner. They make $65,000, which is what commissioners had been making since Gov. Alexander A. Farrelly handed out raises in 1990. Turnbull vetoed the Omnibus Act provision, and the Legislature did not attempt an override.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Increases proposed by the administration covering 893 such employees add about $8.7 million a year to the government payroll and benefit contributions — more than $2.3 million for upper-level personnel and nearly $6.4 million for mid-level employees.
The Source has obtained the list of proposed salary changes for exempt employees generated by the Turnbull administration. Most of the changes have been implemented, according to knowledgeable sources. The lengthy list, broken down into alphabetized department and agency groupings, is posted in a series of files in the Community/Data section.
If there are, in fact, more than 1,100 exempt employees, the salary status of the other 200-plus individuals is unknown. Some might not have been proposed to receive increases. Or the administration may have proposed changes for other personnel who are not included in the list.
Turnbull announced the increases on May 28 after media queries were directed to Government House concerning his having raised a chauffeur's salary to $58,000 from $28,500 and a confidential assistant's to $58,000 from $45,000, as indicated in Notices of Personnel Action dated last Oct. 26. The governor has since given the confidential assistant an additional increase, to $65,000.
The pay raises are being granted under the authority of Executive Order 401-2001 which Turnbull issued last Nov. 5. The order raised the ceilings on salaries to $97,000 for commissioners and other top administrators, $92,00 for assistant commissioners, $87,000 for deputy commissioners and $70,000 for division directors. Senators demanded at the time to know who specifically was getting what but were unsuccessful in obtaining the data.
In May, the governor said the highest salaries for commissioners and agency heads would increase to $85,000 from the previous $65,000, and that this would be $1,900 more than the highest-paid classified employee. One reason he gave for the raises was that several commissioners were being paid less than some of the people they supervised. He said 71 classified employees in the Education Department and 17 in the Police Department were making more than their commissioners. The governor said this went against "virtually every established management principle."
The only department head not proposed for a pay raise was Attorney General Iver Stridiron. He already was making $85,000.
In November, Turnbull said he had been advised that his action might not "be wise politically" in an election year but decided to institute the raises because "I have always prided myself in being up-front and forthright with the people of the Virgin Islands."
Senators tried in a section of the Fiscal Year 2002 Omnibus Act to make their own salaries equal to that of the highest-paid commissioner. They make $65,000, which is what commissioners had been making since Gov. Alexander A. Farrelly handed out raises in 1990. Turnbull vetoed the Omnibus Act provision, and the Legislature did not attempt an override.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
SAMBALA BOYD WINS MR. EMANCIPATOR TITLE
July 4, 2002 – Wearing a white trench coat-style tuxedo that set off the red of his royal cape, Sambala Boyd, 17, captured St. John's Mr. Emancipator crown in Wednesday night's contest at the Winston Wells Ballfield.
He beat out Sergio Adams, 17, and Akiba Pickering, 20.
Boyd is a 2002 graduate of Sts. Peter and Paul High School, where he was senior class president. Adams attends Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, and Pickering graduated in 2001 from Kean.
Boyd also took home the trophy for best historical presentation. His skit depicting the events surrounding the 1733 slave rebellion at Fortsberg told of one of the island's most significant pieces of history.
"This is the story of people seeking freedom," Boyd said.
A group of slaves hiding knives in their bundles of wood took over the fort, located near Coral Bay, murdered white planters and held off invaders for six months.
With a backdrop depicting the fort's stone walls and the stage lights darkened, Boyd rounded out his presentation with a bit of drumming. It ended with a few verses from Bob Marley's "Redemption."
"Help to sing these songs of freedom," he sang.
Pickering also used the 1733 slave rebellion for his historical presentation. With a feminine voice reading his original poem, he told of how he was a shaman in his native Africa, but was now reduced to work as a common house slave.
"Listen carefully to the crack of the whip," he said.
Adams, using the Mary's Point story of how slaves jumped to their death to start his skit, told the story of a people enslaved. Wearing chains and bare chested, he went on to talk of Moses Gottlieb, a principal figure in the July 3, 1848, revolt in Frederiksted that led to emancipation.
"Our fight for freedom has given us the holiday of Emancipation Day," he said.
Since history was the basis for the event, it also featured a presentation on the 1848 emancipation by St. Thomas resident Wayne "Factsman" Adams. Dressed in beige desert camouflage, Adams said that little is known about Gottlieb, also called Buddhoe, after he was deported to Trinidad.
"He was widely respected among fellow slaves," he said.
While the historical and evening wear presentations both drew applause from the hundred or so people gathered for the event, it was the pajama segment that knocked the socks off the mostly female audience.
Adams strolled the stage in a blue silk pajama set with a long top that he wore open. When it took it off and flexed his well-muscled torso, the women went crazy.
Boyd and Pickering drew similar responses. Boyd wore a jet black ensemble flecked with silver and sporting long pants, while Pickering took to the stage in a sheer blue number with short pants that showed off his legs.
The contestants showed imagination in the African attire segment. Adams and Pickering both wore African robes, with Adams in blue and Pickering in royal purple. The barefooted Boyd went a different route in a costume that reflected the African bush. Coming out in a gold and white wrap that covered him from waist to knees, he sported a headdress and shield decorated with guinea grass.
Adams captured the trophies for Mr. Photogenic and Mr. Congeniality. Boyd also went home with honors for selling the most votes in the Mr. Popularity contest. He raised $150 for the Love City Pan Dragons, which sponsored the event.
Other entertainment during the evening came from St. John resident Suzette Kelly, who did her rendition of "Redemption" and also serenaded the contestants as the judges tallied the votes.
Pan Dragons member Gregory Edwards kept the crowd entertained with his solo on tenor pan.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
He beat out Sergio Adams, 17, and Akiba Pickering, 20.
Boyd is a 2002 graduate of Sts. Peter and Paul High School, where he was senior class president. Adams attends Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, and Pickering graduated in 2001 from Kean.
Boyd also took home the trophy for best historical presentation. His skit depicting the events surrounding the 1733 slave rebellion at Fortsberg told of one of the island's most significant pieces of history.
"This is the story of people seeking freedom," Boyd said.
A group of slaves hiding knives in their bundles of wood took over the fort, located near Coral Bay, murdered white planters and held off invaders for six months.
With a backdrop depicting the fort's stone walls and the stage lights darkened, Boyd rounded out his presentation with a bit of drumming. It ended with a few verses from Bob Marley's "Redemption."
"Help to sing these songs of freedom," he sang.
Pickering also used the 1733 slave rebellion for his historical presentation. With a feminine voice reading his original poem, he told of how he was a shaman in his native Africa, but was now reduced to work as a common house slave.
"Listen carefully to the crack of the whip," he said.
Adams, using the Mary's Point story of how slaves jumped to their death to start his skit, told the story of a people enslaved. Wearing chains and bare chested, he went on to talk of Moses Gottlieb, a principal figure in the July 3, 1848, revolt in Frederiksted that led to emancipation.
"Our fight for freedom has given us the holiday of Emancipation Day," he said.
Since history was the basis for the event, it also featured a presentation on the 1848 emancipation by St. Thomas resident Wayne "Factsman" Adams. Dressed in beige desert camouflage, Adams said that little is known about Gottlieb, also called Buddhoe, after he was deported to Trinidad.
"He was widely respected among fellow slaves," he said.
While the historical and evening wear presentations both drew applause from the hundred or so people gathered for the event, it was the pajama segment that knocked the socks off the mostly female audience.
Adams strolled the stage in a blue silk pajama set with a long top that he wore open. When it took it off and flexed his well-muscled torso, the women went crazy.
Boyd and Pickering drew similar responses. Boyd wore a jet black ensemble flecked with silver and sporting long pants, while Pickering took to the stage in a sheer blue number with short pants that showed off his legs.
The contestants showed imagination in the African attire segment. Adams and Pickering both wore African robes, with Adams in blue and Pickering in royal purple. The barefooted Boyd went a different route in a costume that reflected the African bush. Coming out in a gold and white wrap that covered him from waist to knees, he sported a headdress and shield decorated with guinea grass.
Adams captured the trophies for Mr. Photogenic and Mr. Congeniality. Boyd also went home with honors for selling the most votes in the Mr. Popularity contest. He raised $150 for the Love City Pan Dragons, which sponsored the event.
Other entertainment during the evening came from St. John resident Suzette Kelly, who did her rendition of "Redemption" and also serenaded the contestants as the judges tallied the votes.
Pan Dragons member Gregory Edwards kept the crowd entertained with his solo on tenor pan.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
SECURITY PLANS IN PLACE FOR FESTIVAL FINALE
July 3, 2002 – As security officials across the nation implement plans to keep Independence Day celebrations safe, police on St. John say they have taken the necessary steps to guard the small island's biggest party of the year.
Thursday's Fourth of July festivities — J'Ouvert, the mid-day parade, a reggae concert, band music in the village and fireworks — cap the the annual St. John Festival. For a non-stop last lap from Wednesday night's pre-j'ouvert partying through the fireworks finale, police say they're expecting close to 7,000 people in Cruz Bay.
Although the St. John Festival has traditionally been one large happy and peaceful fete, violence marred the celebration in 1998 and 1999 when scuffles led to fights, stabbings and retaliations that resulted in deaths. Since then, organizers have vowed to keep similar incidents from happening. So far, with the support of police, private security and surveillance cameras, they have been successful.
This year, besides attending to drunks and rowdies, security forces will be on the alert for any other possible types of disruption.
Deputy Police Chief Angelo Hill said all has been well since the Village opening last Friday night. But he said Wednesday that his officers still have a lot of work ahead of them. "Nothing's changed so far," he said, with a Wednesday late-night boat ride dance expected to return to town in the early morning hours and the J'Ouvert morning musical tramp set for a 4 a.m. start.
St. John Festival and Cultural Organization member Natalie Thomas said extra security precautions will be in place for the Fourth of July Parade. Some 44 entries are scheduled to take part, including troupes, bands, pageant kings and queens, moko jumbies, clowns and majorettes.
According to Thomas, the parade committee chair, most of the security measures will be low profile. She said committee members will be stationed along the parade route to keep revelers moving along, and wooden barricades will be placed at stategic points to cut down on pedestrian traffic.
As was the case in April for the V.I. Carnival parade on St. Thomas, a special Haz-mat security team made up of law enforcers from combined agencies is expected to be on hand in case of emergency. Special security and police details have been deployed at large events across the country since the mainland terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
All that Hill would say regarding the role the V.I. Haz-mat team will play on the Fourth of July was that "they're ready." He also said there would be extra security in and around the Cruz Bay harbor.
This Fourth of July, Cruz Bay may be even more crowded by night than by day, with a privately promoted reggae concert featuring international artists in Winston Wells Ballpark about the same time the popular Jam Band takes the stage in the Cleone Creque Festival Village, and the traditional fireworks finale to follow.
The concert promoters have hired private security for crowd control, Hill said, but police will be ready to shift their forces to wherever they are needed. "We just have the guys being a bit more alert," he said.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Thursday's Fourth of July festivities — J'Ouvert, the mid-day parade, a reggae concert, band music in the village and fireworks — cap the the annual St. John Festival. For a non-stop last lap from Wednesday night's pre-j'ouvert partying through the fireworks finale, police say they're expecting close to 7,000 people in Cruz Bay.
Although the St. John Festival has traditionally been one large happy and peaceful fete, violence marred the celebration in 1998 and 1999 when scuffles led to fights, stabbings and retaliations that resulted in deaths. Since then, organizers have vowed to keep similar incidents from happening. So far, with the support of police, private security and surveillance cameras, they have been successful.
This year, besides attending to drunks and rowdies, security forces will be on the alert for any other possible types of disruption.
Deputy Police Chief Angelo Hill said all has been well since the Village opening last Friday night. But he said Wednesday that his officers still have a lot of work ahead of them. "Nothing's changed so far," he said, with a Wednesday late-night boat ride dance expected to return to town in the early morning hours and the J'Ouvert morning musical tramp set for a 4 a.m. start.
St. John Festival and Cultural Organization member Natalie Thomas said extra security precautions will be in place for the Fourth of July Parade. Some 44 entries are scheduled to take part, including troupes, bands, pageant kings and queens, moko jumbies, clowns and majorettes.
According to Thomas, the parade committee chair, most of the security measures will be low profile. She said committee members will be stationed along the parade route to keep revelers moving along, and wooden barricades will be placed at stategic points to cut down on pedestrian traffic.
As was the case in April for the V.I. Carnival parade on St. Thomas, a special Haz-mat security team made up of law enforcers from combined agencies is expected to be on hand in case of emergency. Special security and police details have been deployed at large events across the country since the mainland terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
All that Hill would say regarding the role the V.I. Haz-mat team will play on the Fourth of July was that "they're ready." He also said there would be extra security in and around the Cruz Bay harbor.
This Fourth of July, Cruz Bay may be even more crowded by night than by day, with a privately promoted reggae concert featuring international artists in Winston Wells Ballpark about the same time the popular Jam Band takes the stage in the Cleone Creque Festival Village, and the traditional fireworks finale to follow.
The concert promoters have hired private security for crowd control, Hill said, but police will be ready to shift their forces to wherever they are needed. "We just have the guys being a bit more alert," he said.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
FESTIVAL'S CULTURAL DAY HAS LOCAL APPEAL
July 3, 2002 – St. John culture comes in many forms, one of them a gathering of vendors in Cruz Bay Park on Wednesday for the island's St. John Festival Cultural Day.
The park was packed with people selling everything from upscale hats and jewelry to made-in-the-islands handicrafts.
"But I haven't made a dime for the day," lamented St. Thomas resident Dorothy James. She had set up shop with her hand-made bandana wear in a rainbow of hues — hats, clothes, bags and housewares all made out of bandanas.
Nearby, Kushiba, an artist who uses just that name, had handcrafted shak-shaks — decorated percussion instruments made from flamboyant seed pods — and coconut bird feeders, purses made of locust fruits, and miniature paintings of Virgin Islands scenes. Business was also slow for Kushiba.
By contrast, St. John resident Kiko Posada said people were quick to buy his pricey hats and jewelry. He said most of his customers were locals rather than tourists. "This has been a local people's carnival," he said.
Indeed, most of those strolling through the park were residents, many of them enjoying the Emancipation Day holiday. It was a work day for some, though. "We're on our lunch break," said St. John resident Sharon Browne, who was with her boss, Theodore Joseph, checking out Hezekiah Green's CD selection. They work at the Caneel Bay shipyard in Cruz Bay.
Sales were slow for 3nita Hodge, too, but that didn't keep her from having a good day. Standing in front of her table with her hips swaying to music by the St. Croix scratch band Stanley and the 10 Sleepless Knights, she commented, "Life is a good time 'cause I'm alive."
Although the day was mainly focused on arts and crafts, a brief ceremony was held at the bandstand. "Today is a celebration of 154 years of freedom," master of ceremonies Alecia M. Wells said. She noted that while the Fourth of July symbolizes freedom for the United States, Emancipation Day commemorates freedom from slavery for Virgin Islanders.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
The park was packed with people selling everything from upscale hats and jewelry to made-in-the-islands handicrafts.
"But I haven't made a dime for the day," lamented St. Thomas resident Dorothy James. She had set up shop with her hand-made bandana wear in a rainbow of hues — hats, clothes, bags and housewares all made out of bandanas.
Nearby, Kushiba, an artist who uses just that name, had handcrafted shak-shaks — decorated percussion instruments made from flamboyant seed pods — and coconut bird feeders, purses made of locust fruits, and miniature paintings of Virgin Islands scenes. Business was also slow for Kushiba.
By contrast, St. John resident Kiko Posada said people were quick to buy his pricey hats and jewelry. He said most of his customers were locals rather than tourists. "This has been a local people's carnival," he said.
Indeed, most of those strolling through the park were residents, many of them enjoying the Emancipation Day holiday. It was a work day for some, though. "We're on our lunch break," said St. John resident Sharon Browne, who was with her boss, Theodore Joseph, checking out Hezekiah Green's CD selection. They work at the Caneel Bay shipyard in Cruz Bay.
Sales were slow for 3nita Hodge, too, but that didn't keep her from having a good day. Standing in front of her table with her hips swaying to music by the St. Croix scratch band Stanley and the 10 Sleepless Knights, she commented, "Life is a good time 'cause I'm alive."
Although the day was mainly focused on arts and crafts, a brief ceremony was held at the bandstand. "Today is a celebration of 154 years of freedom," master of ceremonies Alecia M. Wells said. She noted that while the Fourth of July symbolizes freedom for the United States, Emancipation Day commemorates freedom from slavery for Virgin Islanders.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
NO REAPPOINTMENT YET FOR FEDERAL JUDGE MOORE
July 3, 2002 – For reasons unclear, the White House has not yet renominated U.S. District Judge Thomas K. Moore to a second 10-year term on St. Thomas although his first term expired June 30.
Moore has drawn attention to himself recently for his comments in two cases. One has to do with not being able to vote in federal elections; the other, with the Immigration and Naturalization Service maintaining checkpoints for passengers traveling directly from one U.S. jurisdiction to another. Moore's written opinions criticized what many Virgin Islanders see as their inferior status in the eyes of the federal government despite their American citizenship.
A Department of Justice spokesperson in Washington confirmed to the Source Monday that nothing had come through from the White House about the federal judgeship allocated to St. Thomas.
The reappointment of Moore, or the appointment by the president of someone else to the post, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Until then, Moore will continue to sit on the local federal bench.
The 64-year-old Moore, a Republican, was off island and unavailable for comment.
But some members of the close-knit Virgin Islands legal community of some 335 lawyers were surprisingly free with their comments –on the condition of anonymity.
In general, the lawyers who spoke to the Source praised Moore as a good, thoughtful judge.
But a few thought Moore's reappointment might be in trouble. Others took the view the White House and the Justice Department will, in their own good time, send his name to the Senate for reconfirmation.
Two attorneys said flatly the nomination had been offered to St. Thomas lawyer Adriane J. Dudley, but that she had declined and affirmed her support for Moore. Dudley could not be reached for comment. A decade ago there were persistent reports she had been offered the St. Thomas federal judgeship, had tentatively accepted, but then had withdrawn her name from consideration.
A few lawyers speculated that Moore had run afoul of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Philadelphia federal court that has jurisdiction over the Virgin Islands District Court. The Third Circuit has overturned Moore several times.
But other local lawyers were unwilling to believe the Philadelphia appeals court judges had that much influence over White House judicial appointments.
A few attorneys criticized Moore's insistence on civility among lawyers appearing before him. Most others said they respected him for it.
As is customary in many areas of the United States when a federal judgeship is at stake, the Virgin Islands Bar Association polled its members on Moore's qualifications. The deadline for submission of the questionnaires was June 27.
The poll was conducted by the Judicial Committee of the Bar Association. Neither the committee chair, St. Thomas lawyer Joel Holt, nor the Bar Association president, Tom Bolt, was available for comment.
The local attorneys who insisted that Moore will eventually be renominated are, almost without exception, veterans who have seen federal judges come and go in the Virgin Islands. They contended the unusual nature of this judgeship — for 10 years instead of the lifetime tenure granted almost all other federal judges — makes it a low priority for the White House.
"The Virgin Islands is at the bottom of the line when it comes to the nomination of federal judges," one lawyer said. "I can remember when a federal judgeship here was vacant for a year and a half before Washington finally acted."
Moore himself criticized the 10-year term as "double discrimination" in one of the two recent cases that brought him public attention.
He noted that Congress in 1966 granted lifetime tenure to federal judges in Puerto Rico.
"This is double discrimination," Moore wrote, "because Congress not only treats the Virgin Islands differently from all the states but also treats it differently from our fellow unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, a differing treatment for which there is no conceivable rational basis." Thus, he said, federal judges in the Virgin Islands are deprived of "the guarantees of judicial independence."
Moore wrote those words in a June 18 decision suppressing the confession of an illegal alien, Camille Pollard, who was detained at the St. Thomas airport at the federal immigration checkpoint for departing passengers.
Pollard's detention was unconstitutional, Moore ruled, and therefore her subsequent confession was illegally obtained.
Some observers have seized upon one sentence in Moore's discussion of the Pollard case as a hint as to how he will rule in the other case, which has attracted even more attention.
In that case, Krim Ballentine of St. Thomas is suing the federal government for the right to vote for president and to have voting representation in Congress.
Moore is known to share Ballentine's views.
"In its motion to dismiss, the United States would reject as 'specious' the plaintiff's [Ballentine's] efforts to question the inferior and unequal nature of United States citizenship in the Virgin Islands," Moore wrote on Oct. 15 of last year. "I am not willing to override so cavalierly the plaintiff's sensibilities, for I share them."
But in his June 18 decision in the Pollard case, Moore wrote that "this federal trial court is bound by the view of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit…"
"That's good," a local attorney quipped. "Otherwise, he'd have to rule in the Ballentine case that the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional."
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice.. click here.
Moore has drawn attention to himself recently for his comments in two cases. One has to do with not being able to vote in federal elections; the other, with the Immigration and Naturalization Service maintaining checkpoints for passengers traveling directly from one U.S. jurisdiction to another. Moore's written opinions criticized what many Virgin Islanders see as their inferior status in the eyes of the federal government despite their American citizenship.
A Department of Justice spokesperson in Washington confirmed to the Source Monday that nothing had come through from the White House about the federal judgeship allocated to St. Thomas.
The reappointment of Moore, or the appointment by the president of someone else to the post, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Until then, Moore will continue to sit on the local federal bench.
The 64-year-old Moore, a Republican, was off island and unavailable for comment.
But some members of the close-knit Virgin Islands legal community of some 335 lawyers were surprisingly free with their comments –on the condition of anonymity.
In general, the lawyers who spoke to the Source praised Moore as a good, thoughtful judge.
But a few thought Moore's reappointment might be in trouble. Others took the view the White House and the Justice Department will, in their own good time, send his name to the Senate for reconfirmation.
Two attorneys said flatly the nomination had been offered to St. Thomas lawyer Adriane J. Dudley, but that she had declined and affirmed her support for Moore. Dudley could not be reached for comment. A decade ago there were persistent reports she had been offered the St. Thomas federal judgeship, had tentatively accepted, but then had withdrawn her name from consideration.
A few lawyers speculated that Moore had run afoul of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Philadelphia federal court that has jurisdiction over the Virgin Islands District Court. The Third Circuit has overturned Moore several times.
But other local lawyers were unwilling to believe the Philadelphia appeals court judges had that much influence over White House judicial appointments.
A few attorneys criticized Moore's insistence on civility among lawyers appearing before him. Most others said they respected him for it.
As is customary in many areas of the United States when a federal judgeship is at stake, the Virgin Islands Bar Association polled its members on Moore's qualifications. The deadline for submission of the questionnaires was June 27.
The poll was conducted by the Judicial Committee of the Bar Association. Neither the committee chair, St. Thomas lawyer Joel Holt, nor the Bar Association president, Tom Bolt, was available for comment.
The local attorneys who insisted that Moore will eventually be renominated are, almost without exception, veterans who have seen federal judges come and go in the Virgin Islands. They contended the unusual nature of this judgeship — for 10 years instead of the lifetime tenure granted almost all other federal judges — makes it a low priority for the White House.
"The Virgin Islands is at the bottom of the line when it comes to the nomination of federal judges," one lawyer said. "I can remember when a federal judgeship here was vacant for a year and a half before Washington finally acted."
Moore himself criticized the 10-year term as "double discrimination" in one of the two recent cases that brought him public attention.
He noted that Congress in 1966 granted lifetime tenure to federal judges in Puerto Rico.
"This is double discrimination," Moore wrote, "because Congress not only treats the Virgin Islands differently from all the states but also treats it differently from our fellow unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, a differing treatment for which there is no conceivable rational basis." Thus, he said, federal judges in the Virgin Islands are deprived of "the guarantees of judicial independence."
Moore wrote those words in a June 18 decision suppressing the confession of an illegal alien, Camille Pollard, who was detained at the St. Thomas airport at the federal immigration checkpoint for departing passengers.
Pollard's detention was unconstitutional, Moore ruled, and therefore her subsequent confession was illegally obtained.
Some observers have seized upon one sentence in Moore's discussion of the Pollard case as a hint as to how he will rule in the other case, which has attracted even more attention.
In that case, Krim Ballentine of St. Thomas is suing the federal government for the right to vote for president and to have voting representation in Congress.
Moore is known to share Ballentine's views.
"In its motion to dismiss, the United States would reject as 'specious' the plaintiff's [Ballentine's] efforts to question the inferior and unequal nature of United States citizenship in the Virgin Islands," Moore wrote on Oct. 15 of last year. "I am not willing to override so cavalierly the plaintiff's sensibilities, for I share them."
But in his June 18 decision in the Pollard case, Moore wrote that "this federal trial court is bound by the view of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit…"
"That's good," a local attorney quipped. "Otherwise, he'd have to rule in the Ballentine case that the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional."
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice.. click here.
PROPOSED EXEMPT EMPLOYEE PAY HIKES TOTAL $8.7M
July 3, 2002 – On May 28, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull announced that by executive order he was giving pay raises to his commissioners and about 1,100 to 1,200 other unclassified, non-union government employees.
Increases proposed by the administration covering 893 such employees add about $8.7 million a year to the government payroll and benefit contributions — more than $2.3 million for upper-level personnel and nearly $6.4 million for mid-level employees.
The Source has obtained the list of proposed salary changes for exempt employees generated by the Turnbull administration. Most of the changes have been implemented, according to knowledgeable sources. The lengthy list, broken down into alphabetized department and agency groupings, is posted in a series of files in the Community/Data section.
If there are, in fact, more than 1,100 exempt employees, the salary status of the other 200-plus individuals is unknown. Some might not have been proposed to receive increases. Or the administration may have proposed changes for other personnel who are not included in the list.
Turnbull announced the increases on May 28 after media queries were directed to Government House concerning his having raised a chauffeur's salary to $58,000 from $28,500 and a confidential assistant's to $58,000 from $45,000, as indicated in Notices of Personnel Action dated last Oct. 26. The governor has since given the confidential assistant an additional increase, to $65,000.
The pay raises are being granted under the authority of Executive Order 401-2001 which Turnbull issued last Nov. 5. The order raised the ceilings on salaries to $97,000 for commissioners and other top administrators, $92,00 for assistant commissioners, $87,000 for deputy commissioners and $70,000 for division directors. Senators demanded at the time to know who specifically was getting what but were unsuccessful in obtaining the data.
In May, the governor said the highest salaries for commissioners and agency heads would increase to $85,000 from the previous $65,000, and that this would be $1,900 more than the highest-paid classified employee. One reason he gave for the raises was that several commissioners were being paid less than some of the people they supervised. He said 71 classified employees in the Education Department and 17 in the Police Department were making more than their commissioners. The governor said this went against "virtually every established management principle."
The only department head not proposed for a pay raise was Attorney General Iver Stridiron. He already was making $85,000.
In November, Turnbull said he had been advised that his action might not "be wise politically" in an election year but decided to institute the raises because "I have always prided myself in being up-front and forthright with the people of the Virgin Islands."
Senators tried in a section of the Fiscal Year 2002 Omnibus Act to make their own salaries equal to that of the highest-paid commissioner. They make $65,000, which is what commissioners had been making since Gov. Alexander A. Farrelly handed out raises in 1990. Turnbull vetoed the Omnibus Act provision, and the Legislature did not attempt an override.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Increases proposed by the administration covering 893 such employees add about $8.7 million a year to the government payroll and benefit contributions — more than $2.3 million for upper-level personnel and nearly $6.4 million for mid-level employees.
The Source has obtained the list of proposed salary changes for exempt employees generated by the Turnbull administration. Most of the changes have been implemented, according to knowledgeable sources. The lengthy list, broken down into alphabetized department and agency groupings, is posted in a series of files in the Community/Data section.
If there are, in fact, more than 1,100 exempt employees, the salary status of the other 200-plus individuals is unknown. Some might not have been proposed to receive increases. Or the administration may have proposed changes for other personnel who are not included in the list.
Turnbull announced the increases on May 28 after media queries were directed to Government House concerning his having raised a chauffeur's salary to $58,000 from $28,500 and a confidential assistant's to $58,000 from $45,000, as indicated in Notices of Personnel Action dated last Oct. 26. The governor has since given the confidential assistant an additional increase, to $65,000.
The pay raises are being granted under the authority of Executive Order 401-2001 which Turnbull issued last Nov. 5. The order raised the ceilings on salaries to $97,000 for commissioners and other top administrators, $92,00 for assistant commissioners, $87,000 for deputy commissioners and $70,000 for division directors. Senators demanded at the time to know who specifically was getting what but were unsuccessful in obtaining the data.
In May, the governor said the highest salaries for commissioners and agency heads would increase to $85,000 from the previous $65,000, and that this would be $1,900 more than the highest-paid classified employee. One reason he gave for the raises was that several commissioners were being paid less than some of the people they supervised. He said 71 classified employees in the Education Department and 17 in the Police Department were making more than their commissioners. The governor said this went against "virtually every established management principle."
The only department head not proposed for a pay raise was Attorney General Iver Stridiron. He already was making $85,000.
In November, Turnbull said he had been advised that his action might not "be wise politically" in an election year but decided to institute the raises because "I have always prided myself in being up-front and forthright with the people of the Virgin Islands."
Senators tried in a section of the Fiscal Year 2002 Omnibus Act to make their own salaries equal to that of the highest-paid commissioner. They make $65,000, which is what commissioners had been making since Gov. Alexander A. Farrelly handed out raises in 1990. Turnbull vetoed the Omnibus Act provision, and the Legislature did not attempt an override.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
NO REAPPOINTMENT YET FOR FEDERAL JUDGE MOORE
July 3, 2002 – For reasons unclear, the White House has not yet renominated U.S. District Judge Thomas K. Moore to a second 10-year term on St. Thomas although his first term expired June 30.
Moore has drawn attention to himself recently for his comments in two cases. One has to do with not being able to vote in federal elections; the other, with the Immigration and Naturalization Service maintaining checkpoints for passengers traveling directly from one U.S. jurisdiction to another. Moore's written opinions criticized what many Virgin Islanders see as their inferior status in the eyes of the federal government despite their American citizenship.
A Department of Justice spokesperson in Washington confirmed to the Source Monday that nothing had come through from the White House about the federal judgeship allocated to St. Thomas.
The reappointment of Moore, or the appointment by the president of someone else to the post, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Until then, Moore will continue to sit on the local federal bench.
The 64-year-old Moore, a Republican, was off island and unavailable for comment.
But some members of the close-knit Virgin Islands legal community of some 335 lawyers were surprisingly free with their comments –on the condition of anonymity.
In general, the lawyers who spoke to the Source praised Moore as a good, thoughtful judge.
But a few thought Moore's reappointment might be in trouble. Others took the view the White House and the Justice Department will, in their own good time, send his name to the Senate for reconfirmation.
Two attorneys said flatly the nomination had been offered to St. Thomas lawyer Adriane J. Dudley, but that she had declined and affirmed her support for Moore. Dudley could not be reached for comment. A decade ago there were persistent reports she had been offered the St. Thomas federal judgeship, had tentatively accepted, but then had withdrawn her name from consideration.
A few lawyers speculated that Moore had run afoul of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Philadelphia federal court that has jurisdiction over the Virgin Islands District Court. The Third Circuit has overturned Moore several times.
But other local lawyers were unwilling to believe the Philadelphia appeals court judges had that much influence over White House judicial appointments.
A few attorneys criticized Moore's insistence on civility among lawyers appearing before him. Most others said they respected him for it.
As is customary in many areas of the United States when a federal judgeship is at stake, the Virgin Islands Bar Association polled its members on Moore's qualifications. The deadline for submission of the questionnaires was June 27.
The poll was conducted by the Judicial Committee of the Bar Association. Neither the committee chair, St. Thomas lawyer Joel Holt, nor the Bar Association president, Tom Bolt, was available for comment.
The local attorneys who insisted that Moore will eventually be renominated are, almost without exception, veterans who have seen federal judges come and go in the Virgin Islands. They contended the unusual nature of this judgeship — for 10 years instead of the lifetime tenure granted almost all other federal judges — makes it a low priority for the White House.
"The Virgin Islands is at the bottom of the line when it comes to the nomination of federal judges," one lawyer said. "I can remember when a federal judgeship here was vacant for a year and a half before Washington finally acted."
Moore himself criticized the 10-year term as "double discrimination" in one of the two recent cases that brought him public attention.
He noted that Congress in 1966 granted lifetime tenure to federal judges in Puerto Rico.
"This is double discrimination," Moore wrote, "because Congress not only treats the Virgin Islands differently from all the states but also treats it differently from our fellow unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, a differing treatment for which there is no conceivable rational basis." Thus, he said, federal judges in the Virgin Islands are deprived of "the guarantees of judicial independence."
Moore wrote those words in a June 18 decision suppressing the confession of an illegal alien, Camille Pollard, who was detained at the St. Thomas airport at the federal immigration checkpoint for departing passengers.
Pollard's detention was unconstitutional, Moore ruled, and therefore her subsequent confession was illegally obtained.
Some observers have seized upon one sentence in Moore's discussion of the Pollard case as a hint as to how he will rule in the other case, which has attracted even more attention.
In that case, Krim Ballentine of St. Thomas is suing the federal government for the right to vote for president and to have voting representation in Congress.
Moore is known to share Ballentine's views.
"In its motion to dismiss, the United States would reject as 'specious' the plaintiff's [Ballentine's] efforts to question the inferior and unequal nature of United States citizenship in the Virgin Islands," Moore wrote on Oct. 15 of last year. "I am not willing to override so cavalierly the plaintiff's sensibilities, for I share them."
But in his June 18 decision in the Pollard case, Moore wrote that "this federal trial court is bound by the view of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit…"
"That's good," a local attorney quipped. "Otherwise, he'd have to rule in the Ballentine case that the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional."
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.
Moore has drawn attention to himself recently for his comments in two cases. One has to do with not being able to vote in federal elections; the other, with the Immigration and Naturalization Service maintaining checkpoints for passengers traveling directly from one U.S. jurisdiction to another. Moore's written opinions criticized what many Virgin Islanders see as their inferior status in the eyes of the federal government despite their American citizenship.
A Department of Justice spokesperson in Washington confirmed to the Source Monday that nothing had come through from the White House about the federal judgeship allocated to St. Thomas.
The reappointment of Moore, or the appointment by the president of someone else to the post, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Until then, Moore will continue to sit on the local federal bench.
The 64-year-old Moore, a Republican, was off island and unavailable for comment.
But some members of the close-knit Virgin Islands legal community of some 335 lawyers were surprisingly free with their comments –on the condition of anonymity.
In general, the lawyers who spoke to the Source praised Moore as a good, thoughtful judge.
But a few thought Moore's reappointment might be in trouble. Others took the view the White House and the Justice Department will, in their own good time, send his name to the Senate for reconfirmation.
Two attorneys said flatly the nomination had been offered to St. Thomas lawyer Adriane J. Dudley, but that she had declined and affirmed her support for Moore. Dudley could not be reached for comment. A decade ago there were persistent reports she had been offered the St. Thomas federal judgeship, had tentatively accepted, but then had withdrawn her name from consideration.
A few lawyers speculated that Moore had run afoul of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Philadelphia federal court that has jurisdiction over the Virgin Islands District Court. The Third Circuit has overturned Moore several times.
But other local lawyers were unwilling to believe the Philadelphia appeals court judges had that much influence over White House judicial appointments.
A few attorneys criticized Moore's insistence on civility among lawyers appearing before him. Most others said they respected him for it.
As is customary in many areas of the United States when a federal judgeship is at stake, the Virgin Islands Bar Association polled its members on Moore's qualifications. The deadline for submission of the questionnaires was June 27.
The poll was conducted by the Judicial Committee of the Bar Association. Neither the committee chair, St. Thomas lawyer Joel Holt, nor the Bar Association president, Tom Bolt, was available for comment.
The local attorneys who insisted that Moore will eventually be renominated are, almost without exception, veterans who have seen federal judges come and go in the Virgin Islands. They contended the unusual nature of this judgeship — for 10 years instead of the lifetime tenure granted almost all other federal judges — makes it a low priority for the White House.
"The Virgin Islands is at the bottom of the line when it comes to the nomination of federal judges," one lawyer said. "I can remember when a federal judgeship here was vacant for a year and a half before Washington finally acted."
Moore himself criticized the 10-year term as "double discrimination" in one of the two recent cases that brought him public attention.
He noted that Congress in 1966 granted lifetime tenure to federal judges in Puerto Rico.
"This is double discrimination," Moore wrote, "because Congress not only treats the Virgin Islands differently from all the states but also treats it differently from our fellow unincorporated territory of Puerto Rico, a differing treatment for which there is no conceivable rational basis." Thus, he said, federal judges in the Virgin Islands are deprived of "the guarantees of judicial independence."
Moore wrote those words in a June 18 decision suppressing the confession of an illegal alien, Camille Pollard, who was detained at the St. Thomas airport at the federal immigration checkpoint for departing passengers.
Pollard's detention was unconstitutional, Moore ruled, and therefore her subsequent confession was illegally obtained.
Some observers have seized upon one sentence in Moore's discussion of the Pollard case as a hint as to how he will rule in the other case, which has attracted even more attention.
In that case, Krim Ballentine of St. Thomas is suing the federal government for the right to vote for president and to have voting representation in Congress.
Moore is known to share Ballentine's views.
"In its motion to dismiss, the United States would reject as 'specious' the plaintiff's [Ballentine's] efforts to question the inferior and unequal nature of United States citizenship in the Virgin Islands," Moore wrote on Oct. 15 of last year. "I am not willing to override so cavalierly the plaintiff's sensibilities, for I share them."
But in his June 18 decision in the Pollard case, Moore wrote that "this federal trial court is bound by the view of the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit…"
"That's good," a local attorney quipped. "Otherwise, he'd have to rule in the Ballentine case that the U.S. Constitution is unconstitutional."
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice… click here.
PROPOSED EXEMPT EMPLOYEE PAY HIKES TOTAL $8.7M
July 3, 2002 – On May 28, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull announced that by executive order he was giving pay raises to his commissioners and about 1,100 to 1,200 other unclassified, non-union government employees.
Increases proposed by the administration covering 893 such employees add about $8.7 million a year to the government payroll and benefit contributions — more than $2.3 million for upper-level personnel and nearly $6.4 million for mid-level employees.
The Source has obtained the list of proposed salary changes for exempt employees generated by the Turnbull administration. Most of the changes have been implemented, according to knowledgeable sources. The lengthy list, broken down into alphabetized department and agency groupings, is posted in a series of files in the Community/Data section.
If there are, in fact, more than 1,100 exempt employees, the salary status of the other 200-plus individuals is unknown. Some might not have been proposed to receive increases. Or the administration may have proposed changes for other personnel who are not included in the list.
Turnbull announced the increases on May 28 after media queries were directed to Government House concerning his having raised a chauffeur's salary to $58,000 from $28,500 and a confidential assistant's to $58,000 from $45,000, as indicated in Notices of Personnel Action dated last Oct. 26. The governor has since given the confidential assistant an additional increase, to $65,000.
The pay raises are being granted under the authority of Executive Order 401-2001 which Turnbull issued last Nov. 5. The order raised the ceilings on salaries to $97,000 for commissioners and other top administrators, $92,00 for assistant commissioners, $87,000 for deputy commissioners and $70,000 for division directors. Senators demanded at the time to know who specifically was getting what but were unsuccessful in obtaining the data.
In May, the governor said the highest salaries for commissioners and agency heads would increase to $85,000 from the previous $65,000, and that this would be $1,900 more than the highest-paid classified employee. One reason he gave for the raises was that several commissioners were being paid less than some of the people they supervised. He said 71 classified employees in the Education Department and 17 in the Police Department were making more than their commissioners. The governor said this went against "virtually every established management principle."
The only department head not proposed for a pay raise was Attorney General Iver Stridiron. He already was making $85,000.
In November, Turnbull said he had been advised that his action might not "be wise politically" in an election year but decided to institute the raises because "I have always prided myself in being up-front and forthright with the people of the Virgin Islands."
Senators tried in a section of the Fiscal Year 2002 Omnibus Act to make their own salaries equal to that of the highest-paid commissioner. They make $65,000, which is what commissioners had been making since Gov. Alexander A. Farrelly handed out raises in 1990. Turnbull vetoed the Omnibus Act provision, and the Legislature did not attempt an override.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
Increases proposed by the administration covering 893 such employees add about $8.7 million a year to the government payroll and benefit contributions — more than $2.3 million for upper-level personnel and nearly $6.4 million for mid-level employees.
The Source has obtained the list of proposed salary changes for exempt employees generated by the Turnbull administration. Most of the changes have been implemented, according to knowledgeable sources. The lengthy list, broken down into alphabetized department and agency groupings, is posted in a series of files in the Community/Data section.
If there are, in fact, more than 1,100 exempt employees, the salary status of the other 200-plus individuals is unknown. Some might not have been proposed to receive increases. Or the administration may have proposed changes for other personnel who are not included in the list.
Turnbull announced the increases on May 28 after media queries were directed to Government House concerning his having raised a chauffeur's salary to $58,000 from $28,500 and a confidential assistant's to $58,000 from $45,000, as indicated in Notices of Personnel Action dated last Oct. 26. The governor has since given the confidential assistant an additional increase, to $65,000.
The pay raises are being granted under the authority of Executive Order 401-2001 which Turnbull issued last Nov. 5. The order raised the ceilings on salaries to $97,000 for commissioners and other top administrators, $92,00 for assistant commissioners, $87,000 for deputy commissioners and $70,000 for division directors. Senators demanded at the time to know who specifically was getting what but were unsuccessful in obtaining the data.
In May, the governor said the highest salaries for commissioners and agency heads would increase to $85,000 from the previous $65,000, and that this would be $1,900 more than the highest-paid classified employee. One reason he gave for the raises was that several commissioners were being paid less than some of the people they supervised. He said 71 classified employees in the Education Department and 17 in the Police Department were making more than their commissioners. The governor said this went against "virtually every established management principle."
The only department head not proposed for a pay raise was Attorney General Iver Stridiron. He already was making $85,000.
In November, Turnbull said he had been advised that his action might not "be wise politically" in an election year but decided to institute the raises because "I have always prided myself in being up-front and forthright with the people of the Virgin Islands."
Senators tried in a section of the Fiscal Year 2002 Omnibus Act to make their own salaries equal to that of the highest-paid commissioner. They make $65,000, which is what commissioners had been making since Gov. Alexander A. Farrelly handed out raises in 1990. Turnbull vetoed the Omnibus Act provision, and the Legislature did not attempt an override.
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