Has Anyone Heard From The APS About The Current Boston Judging Fiaso And Comments On S C F?

Quote:
Ken Lawrence

Bad judging history

I no longer have access to the confidential minutes of my time on the APS Board of Directors, but I recall the furor after an APS StampShow jury chaired by Charles Verge gave exhibits by Verge's friend and colleague Ron Brigham both the Champion of Champions Award and the StampShow Grand.
Janet Klug was so angry that she proposed and the Board adopted strict rules that forbade APS certified judges from scoring or voting on exhibits in which they had been involved, requiring them to declare any such ties to exhibitors, requiring them to recuse themselves, and penalizing any certified judge who was found to be in violation.
If those rules are still in effect, that might give APS additional authority to investigate and take action against Boston 2026 violators.
Besides the controversy over the Grand Prix National, I'm told that the Boston jury reduced the scores and awards of several exhibits (Large Gold down to Gold, etc.)
When I was an FIP judge, that was all but forbidden. Whenever a scoring team reported a score lower than an exhibit had received previously, the team was compelled to justify it to the presidium, and the presidium had to agree.
Reasons might be that the previous score was a mistake, shown by specific evidence, or the exhibitor might have changed the exhibit in a way that diminished it. But the presidium had to be convinced, and seldom was convinced. I wonder whether that rule remains in effect.