Today’s hearing for the petition filed by Friends of the Barnes Foundation in Montgomery County Orphans’ Court before Judge Stanley Ott lasted about two hours, and it was jammed with spectators.
As expected, the attorney for the Barnes Foundation itself, Ralph Wellington, argued that the group had no standing to sue, and that their attorney, Samuel Stretton, had misconstrued the duty of then Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher.
The Main Line Times has a video of Stretton arguing back, outside of court, here. And here’s the AP story filed after the hearing.
Ott didn’t say when he would rule, but it will take big man to admit he was wrong in the past; he approved the move in 2004 and again a few years later. Several reports says it is expected by the end of the month.
But I expect the Barnes Friends to be tenacious, as long as they have money to keep the case alive in the courts.
Meantime, construction continues on the new Barnes, in Philadelphia, and the establishment tries to ignore the Friends’ petitions. The Philadelphia Inquirer showed its lack of interest by running only the AP story, not sending a reporter of its own.
UPDATE: Ok, now the Inquirer has weighed in with its own report, adding a few details about the advocates’ arguments.