Amicus Forever
This order by Judge Walton in the Scooter Libby case is making its rounds. He grants leave to 12 hot shots to file an amicus brief with the court arguing for a reduction in sentence. Robert "Punitive Damages" Bork is among those. The highlight is Judge Walton's footnote.
According to his bio, Judge Walton is a W appointee. Unfortunately for Lewis' 12 new best friends, the bio also states:
-- Senior White House Advisor for Crime, Executive Office of the President, The White House, 1991
-- Associate judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 1991-2001
Ooops. This judge actually knows a thing or two about crime and criminals who don't have an army of litigation partners nudging their colleagues along for amicus briefs. The judge also seems to take seriously a lawyer's professional responsibility towards the court and towards indigent clients. Good for Judge Walton.
UPDATE: It's almost amusing to watch the conservative reaction to Judge Walton's footnote. "Gee golly I don't get it. Why would he say such a thing when 12 powerful law professors write a staged amicus brief for a defendant with enough money and power to make Solomon blush."
According to his bio, Judge Walton is a W appointee. Unfortunately for Lewis' 12 new best friends, the bio also states:
-- Senior White House Advisor for Crime, Executive Office of the President, The White House, 1991
-- Associate judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 1991-2001
Ooops. This judge actually knows a thing or two about crime and criminals who don't have an army of litigation partners nudging their colleagues along for amicus briefs. The judge also seems to take seriously a lawyer's professional responsibility towards the court and towards indigent clients. Good for Judge Walton.
UPDATE: It's almost amusing to watch the conservative reaction to Judge Walton's footnote. "Gee golly I don't get it. Why would he say such a thing when 12 powerful law professors write a staged amicus brief for a defendant with enough money and power to make Solomon blush."
Labels: Rabid Conservatives
posted by Armen Adzhemyan at 1:53 PM
2 Comments:
Also...You see this cat Judge Walton is a bad mother--
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Judge Walton
(Then we can dig it)
Apologies to Isaac Hayes.
From the Washington Post:
In the fall of 2005, the judge showed that he still had some street skills. While driving his wife and teenage daughter to the airport for a family vacation early one morning, he came across a man beating up a cabdriver at Chevy Chase Circle. The 5-foot-9-inch Walton tackled the 6-foot attacker and subdued him until police arrived.
"God bless Judge Walton," D.C. police spokesman Kenny Bryson said at the time. "I surely wouldn't want to mess with him."
It is an impressive show of public service when twelve prominent and distinguished current and former law professors of well-respected schools are able to amass their collective wisdom in the course of only several days to provide their legal expertise to the Court on behalf of a criminal defendant. The Court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics' willingness in the future to step to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this Court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions even in instances where failure to do so could result in monetary penalties, incarceration, or worse. The Court will certainly not hesitate to call for such assistance from these luminaries, as necessary in the interests of justice and equity, whenever similar questions arise in the cases that come before it.
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