Scolding From The Bench

In addition to delaying his ruling on the Barnes move, Judge Stanley Ott yesterday issued a blistering critique of the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office, accusing the state’s counsel of being little more than a cheerleader for the Barnes proposal, and “[preventing] the court from seeing a balanced, objective presentation of the situation.” According to the judge, the attorney general’s duty is to assess the situation objectively, and be sure that all the numbers add up in a demonstrable way. Instead, said Judge Ott, “it was left to the court to raise questions relating to the finances of the proposed move and the plan’s financial viability.”