ALBANY – Standing up against a “large bureaucracy running amuck,” a Northern District Bankruptcy judge has awarded more than $44,000 in legal fees, costs and damages to a debtor who was hounded, bullied and harassed by the federal government for some 14 years.
Judge Robert E. Littlefield Jr. of Albany noted that the government’s abuse of Edwin H. Atkins Jr. was so egregious that even the U.S. Attorney assigned to represent Uncle Sam considered the matter indefensible, describing as “torture” the manner in which her employer – the U.S. government – treated Mr. Atkins. Judge Littlefield suggested that he struggled to restrain himself from awarding punitive damages, which are not available.
