Unused and Probably Unusable

The most well-known and eminent judge of the Third Circuit, Edward R. Becker, passed away on Friday afternoon. (NYT obituary; Inquirer obituary; Daily News article shortly before his death) Howard has been especially comprehensive in his coverage, in part because (as a long-time practitioner before and admirer of Becker) he had already posted glowing encomia.

I only saw Judge Becker on the bench once, during oral arguments in the highly visible and temporarily controversial Chester County Courthouse Ten Commandments case. Third Circuit Opinion (pdf); article describing reactions and providing background after Judge Dalzell's decision at the trial level. The late great Stefan Presser argued on the side of the atheist suing to have the commandments covered up or removed. See article noting his reactions after the decision. Alfie Putnam appeared on behalf of the amicus, for whom he filed an attention-getting brief in which he compared the plaintiff to the Taliban. It was a memorable event.

As has already been said far better than I can, condolences go out to Judge Becker's friends, family, and colleagues.

Also worthy of note, on a less somber note, the Tech Law Advisor has posted a particularly glittering Blawg Review. It's "small town newspaper meets ESPN" - and boy is it good. It's got all the best features of a blog review: it's readable, informative, well-organized. Go at once and check out Blawg Review # 58.

Chicago, May 10, 2006. (satire)

The news that 4th Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was resigning his appointment (Volokh Conspiracy) to become Vice President and General Counsel of Boeing precipitated panic among law students today.

"I've withdrawn my application to clerk for Judge Luttig, and submitted one to Boeing!" announced one anonymous law student amid a flurry of photocopied transcripts, letters of recommendations, and personal statements.

It has been noted that Luttig, #1 feeder for the Supreme Court, provided a significant perk to those who obtained prized clerkships from him. Such a lofty accomplishment "basically guaranteed a second clerkship with Justice Scalia, Thomas, or Kennedy" (Orin Kerr).

The announcement caused three heart attacks among University of Chicago Law students, two panic attacks from Yale students, and was the proximate cause of a Harvard student throwing a telephone across a law journal office.

It is expected that Boeing (press release) will soon experience the most qualified straight-out-of-law-school applicant pool in approximately 30 years.

The Fourth Circuit (Official site, Wikipedia page), for its part, plans to remain strikingly conservative. Except sometimes.

(/satire)

Scandals du jour:

Kennedy's son (that's Ted Kennedy's offspring, D-R.I., rather than the anti-vaccination-hysteria-flogging RFK, Jr. who published an inflammatory article in Rolling Stone containing provable falsehoods) (also see Lyndon Johnson, Jr. Sworn in as George Editor, the Onion's moving tribute to JFK, Jr.'s untimely death)...

...where was I...

...right! Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed a car in D.C., released the "explanation" that he'd taken Ambien and Phenergan, another medication, and entered rehab, for addiction and depression. Republican reaction: "Another Chappaquiddick!" Tasteful and kind. Democratic reaction: Varied, but one pundit noted that there was virtually no public policy implication of Kennedy's actions and condition. As opposed to simmering Republican scandals. I'm sure reasonable minds are already hard at work, differing.

And in even-more-breaking news, another Friday afternoon announcement. CIA Director Porter Goss resigned unexpectedly. CNN is all over the story... revealing nothing. Liberal bloggers, already baying after the lurid, highly embarassing allegations surrounding scandal-ridden and now jailed Rep. Duke Cunningham (formerly R-California), are on the case. See Project on Government Oversight (POGO blog), which really should have a headline like

POGO: PoGo to Go-Go; Foggo a No Go?

...If only to amuse me. Anyway, they have a short post announcing Goss Out, with an earlier post containing more extensive discussion of influence peddling, corruption in government contracts, and the sleazy activities possibly involved at Names Like "Nine Fingers" and Dusty Foggo Make Even Gov't Contracting Interesting. Fun reading.

Also recommended: War and Piece, which impresses me with the timeliness and access of its posts. Clearly Laura does some actual reporting, like speaking directly to the Public Affairs office, as opposed to merely passing along speculation and innuendo. Not that that isn't fun too. And see this earlier post when the story broke.

The Kennedy story involves public penitence, drugs, violence (or at least a car crash), and a sexy name, CNN is splashing its page with a downcast face and big headlines.

The other story is still rather more in the wild guessing stage. I've seen an unsourced report that "a senior intelligence official" who was previously on Congressional oversight is involved in the scandal, but even though that fits PoGo that doesn't mean it's true. As the Real Media says, "Developing...."