Monica Goodling, Vindicated
Oh happy day! It brings us news of a beloved figure who has been long absent from these pages: Monica Goodling, our favorite DOJ diva. And the news for Goodling, a high-ranking and influential official in the Bush Administration’s Justice Department, is good.
Remember the case of Gerlich v. U.S. Department of Justice, the putative class action brought by Honors Program rejects who claimed they weren’t hired for political reasons? Many of the claims, as brought by individual plaintiffs — a somewhat dodgy motion for class certification remains pending — have been resoundingly dismissed.
From the Washington Post:
A federal judge this week dismissed civil claims against former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales, rejecting a lawsuit by job applicants who argue that they were blacklisted from the Justice Department during the Bush era because of their ideology.U.S. District Judge John D. Bates concluded that the unsuccessful job candidates had not followed the appropriate steps in the civil service system before filing their lawsuit in the District last year….
More discussion and links, after the jump.
The Post piece continues:
“The court agrees that misconduct by senior government officials — especially when it implicates the First Amendment — is gravely serious and must not be condoned,” Bates wrote. “But defendants have raised several threshold issues that potentially prevent this court from considering the merits of plaintiffs’ case.”The judge’s decision effectively ends the lawsuit as to Gonzales, who resigned two years ago amid the hiring scandal; Monica Goodling, the department’s liaison to the Bush White House; Michael Elston, former chief of staff to the deputy attorney general; Esther Slater McDonald, a junior member of the screening panel; and Louis DeFalaise, who remains at the Justice Department’s Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management.
Feel free to check out Judge Bates’s opinion (PDF). The basic reason for dismissing the bulk of the claims is that they’re preempted by statute:
[T]he Court will not reach the merits of plaintiffs’ constitutional claims against the individual defendants because it concludes that, under controlling Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit precedent, the CSRA [Civil Service Reform Act] is a comprehensive, remedial statutory scheme that precludes the recognition of an implied damages remedy against the individual defendants.
Alas, not all of the claims were dismissed. Three out of the eight plaintiffs can move forward with their suits against the Department itself, on decidedly unsexy grounds relating to record-keeping and the Privacy Act (yawn). To read more about those actions, check out the full opinion or the NPR story (link below).
It’s a great result. Congratulations to Monica Goodling and her impressive legal team, the white-collar criminal defense practice at Akin Gump.
Gerlich v. U.S. Department of Justice [PDF]
Judge Dismisses Civil Suit Against Former Attorney General Gonzales [Washington Post]
Some Lawsuits Against Bush Justice Dept’s Political Hiring Move Forward [NPR]
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Comments
FIRSTY
first!!!!
We need to bomb yellow journalism back to the stone age
-DOJ Secure
These pretzels are making me thirdsty.
If you are a white male and you vote Democratic you must be a homosexual.
Er...since when did "vindicated" and "the court has to dismiss the case because of statutory considerations despite all of the evil crap this bitch pulled" mean the same thing?
Lat get off your high horse. Getting a suit tossed for lack of jurisdiction, without reaching the merits, is not vindication by any means.
For such an evil biatch, she sure is hot.
I think the department of justice is a pretty cool guy. esh fires attorneys for political reasons and doesnt afraid of anything
It is most regrettable to read that Akin Gump allows its laborers to engage in pro bono work, an area of law that only serves to perpetuate the dilatoriness and ineptitude that got the clients into their predicaments in the first place.
Incidentally, I have not exerted one iota of energy on pro bono work--and I'm all the richer for it.
I think Obama looks like a transvestite. LSAT score on Hussein please?
8 - I agree!!! (About the hotness part, not the evilness part.)
10 is a gluttonous jerk.
I agree with you, David Lat. This vindication of Monica is a victory for the forces of goodness. She was absolutely justified in trying to keep liberals out of the Justice Department.
She looks old and busted in any recent photographs I have seen.
so the court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, admonished senior government officials (presumably goodling, among others) for their misconduct, did not consider the merits of the case, and lat crows that goodling has been "vindicated."
what a joke. elie, fix the headline. i don't care if the new one haz typoes.
Mystal, you gluttonous racist walrus, suck my ass.
Tim Tebow
I eat walruses and Irishmen for breakfast.
-Gino Torretta
John Bates is the same judge who dismissed the Valerie Plame lawsuit. It's a good thing that I appointed him to the bench. Way to go, John Boy! You are two-for-two in protecting my ass.
Lat, you're not dumb enough to mix up "vindication" with "you need to go to an alternative forum." That's the WSJ's job.
It amuses me greatly that Lat, who adores Goodling, with his impressive credentials (Yale, O'Scanlion, WLRK, AUSA) would have been dinged by this TTT law-graduate because he sucks cocks. Please don't forget that this woman is a raging homophobe (a la, Thio).
I agree with "10". Pro bono work is largely worthless for society. Anytime somebody endeavors to some liberal social calling it is deemed as "good". In reality, the only way to "make a difference" would be to make sure your own finances are in order. That would truly "make a difference" in such an irresponsible, insolvent society.
Until she renounces her TP degree from Regent "law school", she will never clear her name.
What? You mean some of the lawsuits against the Bush administration are frivolous? Is that what you're saying?
22: You realize that 10/JaKe is a ironic shtick, made to point out the egregious flaws in reasoning of the very things in which he purports to believe?
Where does she work now?
It's a "great result" because... you think Goodling is hot? Probing legal analysis on this site, really. You should be proud.
26 - no peer or non-peer firm would hire that TTT grad.
Your Republican flag is flying, Lat!
Lat,
What the heck? Sure, it's a "great result" from Goodling's perspective, but you seem to suggest that it's a "great result" in some absolute sense — as if Goodling and Gonzales were substantively in the right in how they hired and fired at DOJ.
This is a procedural victory; it doesn't mean Goodling and Gonzales were wearing white hats. I fear your (acknowledged) conservative politics are twisting your judgment here.
No, 24, what it's saying is that the District Court lacks jurisdiction because the plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedies as required by statute. The court did not reach the merits, as Lat undoubtedly knows. This is a Civ Pro or Admin law case.
Shocked she wasn't disbarred.
If that is the case than he fails to point out the egregious flaws. Regardless of the intent of 10's post I agree that pro bono in largely useless and that people actually have very little impact on other people's lives as much as they try or boast. At the end of the day a person can only help themselves. I do think that people can make other people worse off such as the efforts of Barack "I don't have an LSAT score" Obama.
Latham is a TTT
i think above the law is a pretty cool guy. eh lieks boys and monica goodling and doesnt afraid of anything
wtf is this horseshit? vindicated? great result? for the first time a post by lat made me want to throw up (that's usually Elie's job)
remember the time when this stupid bitch admitted to congress that she hired (inappropriately) on the basis of political affiliation?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/washington/23cnd-monica.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin
34 is right. Latham would hire Goodling. They would fire her four months later.
LaTTT.
33 -
President Obama has authorized me to tell you that his LSAT score is 1600, as in 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Deal with it.
"They still call it the White House, but that is a temporary situation."
33, you sound like 10, in that you're spouting lines worthy of a caricature.
Pro bono work impacts the lives of regular folk who can't otherwise afford lawyers. Try helping someone fight the VA or SSA for benefits, assist someone with their divorce, or work or something like the innocence project.
31: if you are unable to identify the ironic wit of post #10, you're an imbecile. His bio says that he "enjoys weekday getaways to banana republics in his father's Learjet and tying pink cashmere sweaters in a bow around his neck." He's making fun of people who think they are better than others because they are wealthy and educated. In other words, compassionless elitists like you.
-25
She has good hair though.
Can we all agree that this is just terrible legal analysis of the actual opinion?
Credentials be damned, we now know why Lat couldn't hack it in practice.
33: if you are unable to identify the ironic wit of post #10, you're an imbecile. His bio says that he "enjoys weekday getaways to banana republics in his father's Learjet and tying pink cashmere sweaters in a bow around his neck." He's making fun of people who think they are better than others because they are wealthy and educated. In other words, compassionless elitists like you.
-25
33 - i bet you think Stephen Colbert believes what he says too.
42,
I agree, but hard to conclude anything else for the horrible picture in this article where appear is material.
Lat is either being sarcastic or he's out of his goddamned mind.
This isn't a great result. It's a procedural "victory" for a woman who tarnished the reputation of DOJ.
I respect intelligent conservatives who try to be objective. Lat apparently is not one of them.
How does a case against the DOJ in anyway vindicate
Monica Goodling? Was she a named defendant? Why would she breath a sigh of relief? Even if DOJ loss the money wouldn't come out of her pocket.
She's probably somewhere working on a blockbuster memoir.
A "great result"? Ridiculous. That and your headline are hugely douchey.
Goodling and her hench-peoples violated civil service laws and likely lied to Congress. They should be disbarred, clear and simple. You break laws and lie to congress, you no get to be lawyer. Start petitioning the Virginia State Bar.
What's with Lat's use of the royal "we"? It's not like Elie or Kash would agree with the bullshit in this post.
This is totally racist, but for some reason when I think of 39's post, I picture an angry black man
Sure wish she was my secretary so I could ...
Goodling wasn't vindicated.
Where's DouchePatrol when you need him?
I'm pretty sure AG wasn't representing Goodling pro bono. Congressional investigations is about the only profitable practice the firm has left, along with bankruptcy.
Good to see that Lat is still carrying water for Right Wing Republicans.
Lat, why are you such a terrible lawyer? "Being dismissed on procedural grounds" is not the same as "vindication."
Lat- Failure to Exhaust Administrative Remedies is not vindication. It's dodging a bullet
I'm pretty sure Lat was being ironic with a touch of camp (along with carrying water for the right-wing).
She's a crazy bitch. But I'd tap her ass.
Lat:
You are fucking brilliant. You must be sitting with Elie laughing about the pageviews you're generating as a result of inspiring everyone's wrath.
I really hope that those of you who are incredulous at Lat's analysis here realize that he's just trying to goad you into additional comments (and thus pageviews).
As much as he likes Monica, I'm sure he doesn't condone her conduct.
hot? i wouldn't tap it with lat's member. unbelievable how dudes find blondes hot regardless of what they look like.
Blond hair indicates youth and therefore when men see blond hair they think of a fertile womb. That's all.
Thank yew jeeesus!
What 21 said. Lat is an idiot.
-- Lawyer Gay
I have done a lot of pro boner work.
Monica Goodling is the cat's pajamas. If by cat you mean "right wing hard ons" and pajamas means "permanent dick sucker."
truth is always worth sacrificing for the cost of having a hot blond underling. a Goodling, if you will.
Let the record reflect that MG and her boss alberto will never be vindicated, never rise again, never get a decent teaching job, and most assuredly never be remembered for anything other than the catastophuck of an administration they ran.
it's not the color of his skin, it's the content of his policies
regardless, she's still a cunt
Vindicated? Didn't the court expressly state that it was not reaching the merits?
You=stupid.
Moderator, please censor 71. Lat clearly knows the difference, which means he's not stupid. He's just a liar.
Thanks
What about Kyle Sampson? Has anybody heard anything about him? He was heavily involved in more than one of these controversies.
Please tell me that no firm has hired this animal.
She deserves to have a horrible life for the misery she put people through.