Posted by Exxon Mobil has cheated the state out of royalties from natural gas wells in state-owned waters. The judgment went against them almost three years ago, and Exxon Mobil appealed the $3.6 billion judgment against it to the state Supreme Court. Over a year since the last brief was filed, Exxon Mobil has not returned any money as the state Supreme Court has not ruled on the appeal.
If Drayton Nabers wants to claim that the court is efficient under his watch, saying, “The court has operated well and efficiently while I’ve been chief justice,” then isn’t it a reasonable question to ask why it is taking so long for the court to rule on the size of the judgment so that Exxon Mobil will be compelled to return stolen money to the people of Alabama?
Phillip Rawls of the Associated Press has an interesting article on the case.
Five of the nine justices on the all-Republican Supreme Court are up for election this year. Some people are beginning to question whether the Supreme Court is stalling because a ruling in favor of Exxon Mobil might anger the average voter and a ruling in favor of the state might upset business interests that contribute heavily to Republican incumbents.
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The case has been before the Court for 710 days. That’s well over double the time standards the Court has set for appeals (290 days). Which begs the question, why is nothing being done about this. Even if the case is with the most inefficient judge on the Court, why has it not been reassigned? This is inexcusable.
It’s a reasonable question, but they’ve also recently ruled in favor of the much more publicized community service grants that is more likely to anger their Republican base.
They should definitely look at this case soon, though.
The fact that they haven’t released an opinion when they have in the community grants case only leads me to believe that they are ruling in favor of Exxon. If that were to happen before the election, they’d all be gone.
If you could get Cobb and England on the court you might be able to stop such an opinion with a pretty good group. Lyons is the real brains on the Court right now and I just can’t see him giving in to big oil like the others. If democrats are elected to the Court it could lead to keeping the verdict intact.
Three years on appeal is absurd. These people need to put in an honest days work and DO THEIR JOB!
Anonymous, I am with you on that! They are NOT earning their pay checks. They are NOT reviewing their briefs that have been filed by appellants…so it really doesn’t matter when they issue their rulings… everything that comes before them, can be denied without opinion, so we never know if OR when they review ANYTHING. By NO means, are they earning a paycheck. The same goes for Sue Bell Cobb…when Sue Bell can issue a ruling stating individuals are not entitled to attorneys much less EFFECTIVE assistance of counsel, then there is a serious problem in the Alabama Judicial building. The weights of justice are not balanced, and have not been balanced for a very long time in Alabama.