The special federal judicial master whose initial probe into law enforcement excesses led to a Cabinet-level apology and reparations last spring to eight badly harmed fishing industry businesses has taken on a "much wider pool of cases."
The master, retired U.S. Magistrate Charles B. Swartwood III, had 66 complaints under investigation, as of Dec. 6, the date of a letter updating Commerce Secretary John Bryson. And of the 66 complaints, Swartwood wrote that he and his staff had produced "provisional" reports or "findings of facts" in 45 investigations.
But under an approach somewhat less formal than used in the initial investigation during 2010 and 2011, Swartwood, with Bryson's approval, sent his provisional findings to NOAA for written response, and as of the Dec. 6 letter, he had received 21 responses, expecting the rest "sometime this month (December)."
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