Judge overseeing US DOJ lawsuit recuses himself, new judge takes over

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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US District Judge Michael Farbiarz claims a conflict of interest won't let him oversee the DOJ lawsuit against Apple, so US District Judge Julien Neals is taking over the case.

An image taken in a courtroom with the US District Court seal for New Jersey
US District Court in New Jersey



The U.S. Department Of Justice sued Apple along with 15 states claiming the company monopolizes portions of the smartphone market. The years-long battle has barely begun, yet changes are already happening.

According to a report from Reuters, District Judge Michael Farbiarz had to recuse himself from the case based on mandatory requirements by law. He didn't define exactly what the conflict of interest was, but it usually deals with close association with members of the case via family or personal ties.

There's not much of note regarding this change. A new judge has taken over, District Judge Julien Neals.

Both judges likely hold similar viewpoints since both were appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden. The case is being held in New Jersey due to previous monopoly cases citing a much smaller market share for defining a monopoly, which will help the DOJ's case.

Much of the lawsuit appears to be frivolous, based on a limited understanding of technological implementation or on outdated rules Apple has already relented on. It isn't clear what the result of the lawsuit could be at this early stage, but one thing is certain, it will be years before an actionable verdict is reached.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    danoxdanox Posts: 2,890member
    That's a first, most of the USA Gentry own shares in Apple, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Tesla and most of the bluechip stocks on currently sold on Wall Street in one way or the other.
    holysmokeswatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 2
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,343member
    Everybody should recuse themselves, and nobody should take over.  The US Gov. is yet again throwing tax payer dollars away, in the name of defending those very taxpayers. Utter insanity. 

    Leave American business success stories like Apple alone.  Consumers must decide if they are around 100 years hence, not Uncle Sam.
    holysmokeswatto_cobra
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