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Coast Guard Injusticeby Richard A. Block
At a recent Industry Day in New Orleans, Coast Guard Chief Administrative Law Judge Joseph Ingolia held an informal question-and-answer session on the new Suspension and Revocation (S&R) regulations. Although there were some sharp edges, it was easy to emerge from the meeting with a feeling that Judge Ingolia was a "nice guy" and that the Coast Guard never intended to threaten or harm working mariners. Very few "lower level" working mariners paid the $70 registration fee to listen to the soothing message from Judge Ingolia. But many unfortunate merchant mariners who've run afoul of the Coast Guard's administrative law system tell frightening stories of encounters with investigating officers who make examples of every transgression. The perception most mariners have of Coast Guard "justice" is very different from that pictured by Judge Ingolia. In fact, evidence points to an entire investigative system in a state of collapse. That is the clear message conveyed in a blockbuster report, U.S. Coast Guard Marine Casualty Investigation and Reporting: Analysis and Recommendations for Improvement. The report, commissioned by the Coast Guard, is an extremely revealing study of an entire Coast Guard function that seems to have lost its way. This report is not secret, but few people outside the Coast Guard have read it. It's buried in plain sight at the National Technical Information Service. The report lends credence to the negative perception many working mariners have of the Coast Guard's investigative function. Last year, the Coast Guard published its interim final rule describing changes in Suspension and Revocation procedures. One mariner group, the American Inland Mariners Association (AIM), expressed their perception in these words written by Captain Frank McCormick: "These bureaucrats who call themselves our 'partners' and who claim to 'honor' us have far too much power over us. Their ever more restrictive and expensive regulations on us and the companies for which we work make it harder and harder for us to do our jobs. Now with these new S&R rules, they intend to strip away our constitutional rights. "The Coast Guard claims that an S&R hearing is not prosecution, but an 'administrative procedure.' They may call it whatever they like. When a pilot walks into one of their 'procedures,' he and his lawyer (if he is lucky enough to have one) will sit at a table. At the table to their right will sit one or more Coast Guard officers. Their only purpose is to convict the defendant of whatever offense he has been charged. They are not interested in facts that may help to exonerate the accused. That is prosecution. And part of the new rules is the Coast Guard's ability to call for a new trial (hearing, procedure, whatever) if they don't like the outcome of the first trial. Our Constitution forbids that." The Coast Guard has the power to enforce their will on working mariners. While legal scholars may delight in pecking holes in Captain McCormick's arguments to their hearts' content, Frank has expressed the "perception" of working mariners very clearly. So have a number of admiralty lawyers in well-publicized comments to the docket. The time has come for the Coast Guard to act on mariner complaints as if they really mattered. They do!
Richard A. Block is newsletter editor for the |
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