A federal judge says he wasn’t trying to deprive states of their rights when he appointed Alabama’s newly elected attorney general to coordinate all states’ interests in the litigation spawned by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “No such thing has occurred, and the court does not intend to do that,” U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said during a monthly status conference for the cases.
On Thursday, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said he planned to ask Barbier to vacate his appointment of Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to serve as “coordinating counsel.” In a statement, Caldwell says Barbier’s decision was “a discriminatory action that transcends the bounds of proper federal/state relations and state sovereignty rights.”
Barbier says his decision has been “misconstrued by certain people,” explaining that he tapped Strange for the post to “put some structure in place” for the coordination of pretrial matters. Barbier, who noted that Alabama is the only state that has filed a lawsuit over the spill, says Strange’s post doesn’t preclude other states’ attorneys general from representing their interests.
Caldwell, who attended today’s hearing, told reporters afterward that he was still weighing his options and didn’t rule out a challenge.” We had no chance to explain our position,” he said, noting that Barbier ruled without holding a hearing first. Strange says he hasn’t heard any other attorneys general object to his appointment.
