The InJustice Of It All

With one startling exception, it was a routine case of industrial hanky-panky. The defendant, said Judge George Bason Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Washington, was guilty of stealing a computer program developed by a private company and driving the firm out of business. In a blistering denunciation, Bason accused the defendant of "trickery, fraud and deceit." Nothing terribly unusual there -- except that the defendant was the U.S. Department of Justice.

The bizarre story began five years ago, when Justice granted a $10 million contract to Inslaw, a Washington-based software company, to adapt its Promis computer program for use by U.S. Attorneys in keeping track of legal cases. Within a year Justice and Inslaw got into a dispute over the terms of the deal, and the department withheld the first $1.8 million worth of payments due the company. Nonetheless, Justice kept the software that had been delivered, and distributed it to the U.S. Attorneys. Inslaw, meanwhile, slid into bankruptcy proceedings.

In court, Inslaw President William Hamilton pointed out that the Justice Department official who oversaw the Inslaw contract was C. Madison Brewer III, who had previously been fired as the company's general counsel. The whole dispute arose, said Hamilton, from Brewer's desire for revenge. Bason agreed, ruling that Brewer had an "intense and abiding hatred" for Inslaw and had used his position at the Justice Department to "vent his spleen." The judge faulted other Justice officials for not investigating Brewer's actions. As for the appropriation of the Inslaw software, the judge likened Justice to a customer who asks an auto dealer for a test drive and speeds off with the car.

Judge Bason has not yet set damages, and the Justice Department, which denies any wrongdoing, plans to appeal the decision. Hamilton hopes to receive as much as $5.4 million from the Government and to use the money to revive Inslaw.