Bush announces `intent to nominate' former New Mexico Attorney General Harold Stratton as CPSC chairman

CPSC Monitor, Oct, 2001 by Carol Dawson

The White House Press Office announced late Tuesday, Oct. 30 that President Bush intends to nominate former Attorney General of New Mexico, Harold D. Stratton, to be a member of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and to serve as Chairman. [1]

Bush's action comes on the heels of the planned departure of current CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. Stratton would fill the remainder of Brown's term, which expires in October 2006.

Meanwhile, the controversial and publicity-hungry Brown pursued her aggressive regulatory agenda down to the wire by announcing, Oct. 30 that CPSC would file an administrative complaint against the Daisy Manufacturing Co. of Rogers, Ark., alleging that two models of its Powerline Airguns are defective. [2] Brown had dropped a large hint in her Aug. 8 resignation statement that there would be a major recall (or lawsuit) involving "a product that kills and maims children." [3]

The Commission's vote was 2-1 to proceed with the complaint (see story below).

CPSC nominee Harold Stratton served as Attorney General of New Mexico from 1987 to 1990. He is a former member of the New Mexico House of Representatives (1979-1986) and is currently a partner in the law firm of Stratton and Cavin in Albuquerque.

Stratton is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma Law School. [4]

Stratton is listed as a member of the Board of Advisors of the Washington based non-profit organization, Defenders of Property Rights. The group is a national public interest legal foundation that works with individuals whose property has been taken through regulation, legislation or other government action.

Defenders of Property Rights recently filed a petition for appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia on behalf of the Fairfax County businessman, John Thoburn, who was jailed when he defied county authorities over actions he took in landscaping his own property.

The organization also supports a bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R.-Neb.) to protect property rights by requiring the government to conduct an economic analysis before taking private property and to lodge review of Fifth Amendment takings claims in either a local Federal District Court or the Washington DC--based U.S. Court of Federal Claims. [5]

Gall Blasts Brown and Staff for Irregularities in Daisy Lawsuit

In a stinging rebuke both to CPSC Compliance staff and to Chairman Brown, Commissioner Mary Sheila Gall blasted the Commission's decision to pursue litigation against Daisy Manufacturing Co. for alleged defects in its Model 856 and Model 880 Powerline Airguns.

Outgoing CPSC Chairman Ann Brown announced at a news conference Tuesday. Oct. 30 that the agency filed an administrative complaint against Daisy, seeking a recall of 7.5 million of the airguns. The company would not agree to recall any of the guns, which it has marketed since 1972.

The Commissioners voted 2-1 to issue the complaint, with Gall dissenting.

Gall said in a statement accompanying the agency's news release that among other irregularities, the draft complaint had been leaked to reporters on Oct. 29, before the Commission vote took place. She cited a second departure from regular procedure saying that the legal papers had been filed immediately after the vote, rather than giving the company a customary brief time to settle.

She said it was obvious that the timetable was driven by the 2:00 p.m. Tuesday press conference.

Gall also criticized the staff for failing to provide experts' reports or detailed financial information about the company prior to the Commissioners' vote.

Gall said in a statement that the complaint "is highly politicized," and that "it is not well founded in law or the evidence and it should not have been brought."

Gall noted that shortly after the Commission vote, the complaint was rushed to the Office of the Secretary so it could be filed prior to the scheduled 2:00 p.m. news conference. Gall also charged that although CPSC had hired both a gunsmith expert and a materials science expert, there was no written report from the experts, and their work was not reviewed by CPSC's own laboratory staff.

Normally CPSC staff provides Commissioners with detailed financial information about the ability of a defendant company to handle such a huge recall. Gall also noted "glaring errors of fact," in the staff briefing memo, i.e., "a description of a BB being `chambered' into a rifle's `muzzle' and the assertion that Daisy BB guns are more `powerful' than .38 caliber revolvers." [6]

Gall concluded that the rationale for the procedural irregularities was that Chairman Brown had already announced in her Aug. 8 resignation statement that the product was "very dangerous" and that the recall or lawsuit would occur before she leaves. Gall said such announcements were premature since the Commission did not receive its briefing package until Oct. 4, and the Commissioners did not vote until Oct. 30.

"As the Queen of Hearts said in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland: `Sentence first, verdict afterwards.'" [7]