Judge Overseeing The Lawsuit Against Maui, Hawaii For Banning GMOs Might Be In Monsanto’s Pocket

Earlier this week, the Inquisitr reported on how Maui, Hawaii, recently passed a ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As a result, Monsanto — the company best known for GMOs — filed a lawsuit against them in hopes of invalidating the recently-passed law, stating it is only up to them to decide what to do with a product that is their own, not the people. Now there is an update to this story, as the judge overseeing the lawsuit might actually be in Monsanto’s back pocket.

According to an article by Mass Report that utilizes a heavily-sourced report by Jon Rappoport, the primary reason why Monsanto is pushing for a lawsuit against a county that decides its own laws, forcing them to accept their product, is because the judge has enough reason to take Monsanto’s side. Barry Kurren is the U.S. federal magistrate overseeing Monsanto’s bold move in forcing the country into accepting GMO crops. All one needs to do is research his many connections (mostly through his wife, Faye W. Kurren) to see Barry may not be the right judge to oversee this lawsuit in the first place.

First, Faye W. Kurren used to be president of the University of Hawaii Foundation. This is a big deal because back in September 6, 2011, Monsanto donated $500,000 to the university to establish the Monsanto Research Fellows Fund for plant science. One year before that, Monsanto gave $100,000 for their scholarship fund. Second, Faye also served as a trustee of the Nature Conservancy, a conservation organization with an established relationship with Monsanto. As a matter of fact, the company itself specifically writes this on their official website.

“Monsanto has supported for The Nature Conservancy for years.”

Presently, Faye W. Kurren is currently serving as a board member for the First Hawaiian Bank, which has openly praised GMOs. As a matter of fact, one of the quotes on the bank’s official website reads as follows.

“Kauai is an ideal research laboratory for the seed corn industry because at least three crops per year can be grown, compared to Mainland operations that can produce only one to two. As a result, Kauai’s seed corn industry continues to expand its crop base and infrastructure. There are currently five parent seed corn operations on the island: [biotech GM giants] Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Syngenta, Dow Monsanto, and BASF.”

Now to be fair, just because Barry Kurren’s wife has been and is currently connected with Monsanto does not mean he will automatically side with the company. Barry may go into this lawsuit unbiased. However, the connections aren’t explained to justify that he’ll side with Monsanto, but that he is in a bit of a dilemma. Jon Rappoport summed up this dilemma best when he wrote the following.

“These academic, corporate, non-profit, bank connections are part of Hawaii’s overall social and political networks, which form a ‘community of interest.’ What would happen if Judge Kurren suddenly ruled against Monsanto? How many shocks would ripple out into protected interests? How many social friendships would suddenly collapse? How embarrassing would it be for Faye Kurren? How much easier would it be to ‘honor’ those connections and friendships and moneyed interests by siding with Monsanto?”

With all the connections Judge Barry Kurren has with GMOs and Monsanto through his wife, do you think he’ll be biased? If not, do you agree with Jon Rappoport that Barry is now stuck between a rock and a hard place in making his decision?

[Featured image via Bing, Post images sourced in description]