With all of the attention on the Democratic primaries, it’s easy to forget that the general election is only seven months away. The legally-minded have already started to speculate on what will happen with U.S. Supreme Court appointments in the next presidential term.

A group of legal scholars from Marquette, Kentucky, and John Marshall law schools have conducted a study examining the confirmation process for SCOTUS justices. With a name like An Empirical Analysis of the Confirmation Hearings of the Justices of the Rehnquist Natural Court, this study is surely a page turner. From the abstract:

Our results indicate that confirmation hearings statements about a nominee’s preferred interpretive methodologies provide very little information about future judicial behavior. Inquiries into specific issue areas - such as the rights of criminal defendants - may be slightly more informative.

This is universal. Sometimes candidates give all the right answers during the interview, but when you put ‘em to work, they spend all their time surfing Facebook and chatting on Gmail. Sigh.

The New York Times reflects on the study in an editorial today. More on this after the jump.

We hope that you’ve recovered from any Halloween festivities you attended last night. For those of you who took your children trick-or-treating, we hope the kids have come down from their sugar highs.

We didn’t receive much in response to our request for funny, law-related Halloween stories. But we can offer you a few random links (some Halloween-related, and some not):

* Check out Denise Howell’s frighteningly witty, delightfully seasonal Blawg Review. [Bag and Baggage, via Blawg Review]

*A little bit of Halloween “issue spotting.” Yes, T-Ping your neighbor’s mailbox could get you in trouble. [WSJ Law Blog]

* More Halloween “issue spotting” — with some not-so-veiled lawyer advertising thrown in. [Animal New York]

* Costumes: they’re not just for kids anymore. In this case, the government has filed a motion for its witnesses to wear “light disguises.” [Southern District of Florida Blog]

* Something sure to strike fear in the hearts of the Elect: You can clerk on the Supreme Court, build a career as a successful litigator, make partner at a top law firm in your state, and STILL be declared “unqualified” for the federal bench. BOO!!! [Mississippi Sun-Herald via How Appealing]

* Something sure to strike fear in the hearts of conservatives: A new law review for the legal left. [Harvard Law & Policy Review]

* Not explicitly Halloween-themed, but scary. [Craigslist]

* Very scary: the childlike font the Fifth Circuit employs for its captions. It makes you want to ask the Clerk of Court if he was happy with last night’s candy haul. Oh, and the opinion is interesting too. [Fifth Circuit (PDF) via How Appealing]

Earlier: A Happy Halloween from ATL

Okay, so he’s no Alice Fisher — the ball-busting, badass blonde, recently confirmed to head the DOJ’s Criminal Division, who has white-collar criminals shaking in their boots. But he’s still a highly regarded attorney — and pretty cute, too.

So ATL sends its congratulations to Kenneth L. Wainstein, just confirmed by the Senate as assistant attorney general for the Department’s brand-new National Security Division (NSD). Previously Wainstein served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

The Wall Street Journal — which criticized the Democrats for holding up Wainstein’s nomination 4-evah — describes Ken Wainstein’s new job as follows:

Mr. Wainstein is waiting to fill a new post recommended in last year’s Robb-Silberman report to further break down the “wall” between intelligence and law enforcement. The new post would bring Justice’s counterespionage, counterintelligence and wiretapping units under one Assistant AG. Mr. Wainstein would also be the law enforcement world’s primary liaison with the intelligence community.

President Bush approved the change, Congress authorized it while renewing the Patriot Act earlier this year, and Mr. Wainstein’s offices are humming with computers. All that’s missing is a leader.

Letting Wainstein go through was a smart move for the Democrats. We’re no political strategists, but we do know this much: With an election just a few weeks away, it’s unwise for the Democrats to hold up the nomination of someone with the words “National Security” in his title.

Wainstein, by the way, is putting together a real A-team of legal talent over at the NSD, including several members of the Elect. As we previously reported, one of them is conservative legal superstar Brett Gerry — the Silbermaniac and former Kennedy clerk, who was associate general counsel to the Robb-Silberman commission. Also onboard: John Demers (O’Scannlain/Scalia), the affable legal genius who previously did a tour of duty with the Office of Legal Counsel (which works on many national security issues).

So congrats again to Ken Wainstein. And best of luck to his band of brainiacs, as they tackle some of the toughest issues facing our nation.

Kenneth Wainstein bio [WhiteHouse.gov]
Gonzales Statement on Confirmation of Ken Wainstein as Assistant Attorney General for National Security Division [DOJ Press Release]
Security Holdup [Wall Street Journal (subscription)]

Earlier: Congratulations to Alice Fisher!
The White House Counsel’s Office: Here Comes the Cavalry

ATL extends its warmest congratulations to Alice S. Fisher, who was just confirmed by the Senate as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division — one of the most important and high-ranking posts at the Department of Justice. The vote was 61-35, with 7 Democrats crossing the aisle to support her.*

The Senate sure took its sweet time in confirming Alice Fisher. Back in August 2005, the White Collar Crime Prof Blog asked: When Will the Senate Confirm Alice Fisher to Lead the Criminal Division? It noted that Fisher was nominated as Crim Div AAG back in April — of 2005, mind you — and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in May 2005.

We’re delighted by this news, ‘cause we can’t get enough of the brassy, blonde, tough-talking Fisher. In Washingtonian magazine’s July 2006 list of “40 Top Lawyers Under 40,” Fisher came in second (behind Solicitor General Paul Clement). The magazine quoted lawyers who described Fisher — a 1992 graduate of Catholic University Law School, and a protege of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff — as a “tornado” during her time at Latham & Watkins (where she was a partner before joining the Justice Department).**

Fisher is a native of Kentucky — but based on her bad-ass demeanor, you’d guess she emerged from the mean streets of Brooklyn (pre-Yuppification). We can still recall Fisher’s press conference announcing charges against disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Fisher held forth like a sheriff from the Old West, making clear to Capitol Hill criminals that she would hunt them down and bring them to justice.

During her remarks, Fisher mispronounced Abramoff’s name — maybe she said something like “uh-BRAM-off” — over and over again. This led some Beltway insiders to snicker; tout le monde knew Jack Abramoff and the proper pronunciation of his name.

But we were loving it. Why? Rumor has it that this DOJ diva knew full well how to pronounce “Abramoff,” but mangled it on purpose — to send him a message. That message: “Congressmen have been kissing your ass for years. Everywhere you go in this town, people treat you like royalty. But to me, Mr. uh-BRAM-off, you’re just another common criminal — and I’m going to treat you like one. Bite me!”

ALICE FISHER 4 EVER!!

* The seven Democrats who supported Fisher were Evan Bayh, Byron Dorgan, Russell Feingold, Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor, Kenneth Salazar. One Republican, Norm Coleman, did not vote.

** Michael Chertoff has a long and distinguished list of high-powered proteges. See here.

Gonzales Statement on Confirmation of Alice S. Fisher as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division [DOJ press release]
President Pleased by Senate Confirmation of Alice S. Fisher [WhiteHouse.gov]
When Will the Senate Confirm Alice Fisher to Lead the Criminal Division? [White Collar Crime Prof Blog]
Alice S. Fisher [National Law Journal]

How Appealing reports that the Senate has just confirmed Jerome A. Holmes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, by a vote of 67-30. The Tenth Circuit, a moderate and quasi-boring appellate court, hears appeals from six underpopulated states in the heart of flyover country.

So why is the Holmes confirmation newsworthy? For those of you who haven’t been following this story, Holmes is a highly respected, exceptionally well-credentialed attorney. Who happens to be extremely conservative. Who happens to be African-American. And who happens to be quite outspoken on a number of issues, including affirmative action — which he strongly opposes.

One of our Hill sources describes Holmes as “the next Clarence Thomas,” who has liberals running scared. Our source opines: “They [Senate Democrats] would have loved to have stopped the Holmes confirmation. But given his credentials, and the fact that he’s black, there was nothing they could do. [Sen. Arlen] Specter scheduled several hours of floor debate, basically daring the Democrats to speak out against him. This is a fight the Republicans wanted to pick.”

And in the end, it’s a fight that they won. We’ll be keeping an eye on Judge Holmes. At the young age of 45, he has at least a decade left of possible viability as a Supreme Court nominee.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Jerome A. Holmes [How Appealing]