Bellas: Who me, racist?

Smarting from a former congressman’s allegations that he is “pro-alien” and “anti-local,” Superior Court Associate Judge Timothy Bellas said yesterday he decides court cases based on the law and not on race.

“At this point in history of the United States and of the world, racism is a past concept that a very few people still subscribe to. Those who make that kind of allegation are making serious allegation,” Bellas said.

Bellas was reacting to former Rep. Stanley Torres’ allegations that the judge had several times issued “unlawful, abusive, and arbitrary” decisions in favor of illegal aliens.

In an open letter to top government officials, Torres mentioned 24 immigration cases in which Bellas allegedly “abused his discretion.”

Torres alleged that Bellas “permitted a few persons to escape deportation for being illegal in the CNMI for three and six years overstays.”

The immigration cases were all handled by a government lawyer, whom Bellas earlier sanctioned in response to a motion filed by private lawyer Joe Hill.

Torres told an interview with MCV news that Bellas had sanctioned Asst. Atty. General Rob Goldberg and ruled against his cases “because he’s a Jew.”

Bellas said Torres “has no factual basis to accuse me of being racist and that I don’t like Jewish people.”

In the first place, Bellas said, “Mr. Torres is not a Jew.” and that the government lawyer concerned has not come out to complain about being prejudiced.

“Secondly, I have had association with several people who are Jewish,” Bellas said.

Bellas also spoke at yesterday’s luncheon meeting of the Saipan Rotary Club to air his sentiments.

“It’s odd to say that I’m going to be prejudiced against a particular group of people based on their nationality and religion. It’s a very inappropriate thing to say about somebody,” Bellas said, as he described the issues raised by the former congressman as “totally bogus.”

“I don’t have grudges against people. I may not like a particular lawyer personally or that I may not like the way he practices the law but that is not the issue,” the judge said.

“I don’t go around saying this lawyer of this client is Jewish, or that this client is Chinese. The whole process is geared away from that,” Bellas added.

He said cases that come to the court belong not to the lawyers but to the clients who are all entitled to protection of the law. Even aliens in the CNMI have certain rights under the CNMI and US Constitutions, he added.

“That does not mean that I’m pro-alien or that I’m an anti-local. It only means that I’m doing what I was sworn to do when I became a judge,” Bellas said.

According to Bellas, Torres may have had an ax to grind against him, stemming from his earlier decision in which he ruled in favor of the Tribune, which had sued the former congressman for not paying the advertising fees for his political campaign during the last general elections.

“I don’t decide a case based on whether a person is a congressman, wealthy or poor. I look at the facts and I look at the law before making a decision,” Bellas said.

He said Torres could have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court if he was not pleased with it.