U.S. Federal Judge Questions Existence of Ecuadorian Indigenous Plaintiffs Who Won $18 Billion Judgment Against Chevron/Legal Papers Ask for Removal of Lewis A. Kaplan Due to Inappropriate Comments, Apparent Bias Against Historic Lawsuit http://amazonwatch.org/news/2011/0607-us-federal-judge-questions-existence-of-ecuadorian-indigenous-plaintiffs

The Writ accuses Kaplan of denying due process to the Ecuadorians and Steven R. Donziger, their longtime U.S. counsel; of trying to rule on important factual issues already decided by the court in Ecuador; of denying the Ecuadorians and their counsel the opportunity to present evidence about Chevron's misconduct and fraud; of overstepping his judicial authority by claiming worldwide jurisdiction over the Ecuador judgment; and of mocking the Ecuadorians and their country's judicial system.

Karen Hinton, the spokesperson for the Ecuadorians, took issue with the judge's characterizations. "The idea that a U.S. federal judge appears to be going out of his way to taunt indigenous groups who against all odds have sued a giant oil company should be terrifying to anybody who believes in the concept of impartial tribunals or who cares about the credibility of the U.S. federal judiciary," said Hinton.