Page 12: of Marine News Magazine (June 2017)

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INSIGHTS for the Fourth Circuit; the Court of Appeals for the Armed

Forces; and, the Supreme Court of United States.

Coast Guard Administrative Law Judges hear and decide

Merchant Mariner Credential suspension and revocation cases as well as cases initiated by the Department of Home- land Security and other agencies the Coast Guard supports.

Without a doubt, the nation’s 210,000+ credentialed mari- ners want to know that when their credentials come into

Walter J. question from the regulatory branch that these matters will be handled fairly. To that end, the U.S. Coast Guard recent- ly implemented Policies and Procedures to, among other

Brudzinski things, improve communications during the suspension and revocation process. These include recently issued Comman-

Chief Administrative dant Instructions (5830.3) which implements policies and

Law Judge, procedures concerning permissible and prohibited commu- nications for personnel involved in investigating, prosecut-

United States Coast Guard ing, adjudicating, and appealing suspension and revocation cases. We caught up with Judge Brudzinski in May, and he provided a primer on the sometimes misunderstood, but alter J. Brudzinski is the Chief Administra- he says, fair and transparent methods with which the Coast tive Law Judge for U.S. Coast Guard. He has Guard goes about this critically important function. been a Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge

W since 2003 and was appointed Chief Judge in 2013. He

Tell us about the ‘S&R’ Process in plain language.

is a graduate of the University of Maryland and George

The suspension and revocation (S&R) process requires

Mason University School of Law and additionally holds a investigating, advocating, decision-making, adjudicating,

Master’s and Ph.D. in Judicial Studies from the University and appealing. Initially, the Of