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D.C. Circuit

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 6.1 and 6.8: Beneath the Veil

LEWW champagne2.jpg

It didn't make our final four. But this wedding announcement, featuring an heir to the great Swingline Stapler fortune, gives us an opportunity to note that there is -- who knew? -- more than one way to staple something.

We recently learned that you can rotate a plate on the bottom half of your stapler, thereby causing the hammer to press the staple out instead of in and "pinning" the document together temporarily. Minutes of fun, people!

Back to business. Here are this week's newlywed entrants:

1. Alyson Evans and James Beha II

2. Jennifer Brosnahan and Kevin McIntyre

3. Kristen Eichensehr and Richard Ré

4. Amanda Kosonen and David Schleicher

Read up on these fabulous contestants, after the jump.

Continue reading "Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 6.1 and 6.8: Beneath the Veil"

Breaking: Money Discriminates Against the Blind

Fiver.jpgWhen traveling abroad for the first time, it seems every American is struck by the brilliance of creating paper money with a correlation between the size of a bill and its value. "That must be nice for blind people," we think.

Well, the D.C. Circuit thinks the same way. In a 2-1 ruling (PDF) issued today, it affirmed a district court decision holding that the U.S. discriminates against blind people with its uniformly-sized bills.

The American Council for the Blind sued the Treasury Department six years ago. If the decision stands, vending machines everywhere will have to be redesigned!

That seems like a better defense than the one the Treasury Department used. From the Associated Press:

The U.S. acknowledges the design hinders blind people but it argued that blind people have adapted. Some relied on store clerks to help them, some used credit cards and others folded certain corners to help distinguish between bills.

The court ruled 2-1 that such adaptations were insufficient. The government might as well argue that, since handicapped people can crawl on all fours or ask for help from strangers, there's no need to make buildings wheelchair accessible, the court said.

Apparently, that huge ugly number five on the new five-dollar bill was the Treasury Department's first stab at meeting the needs of the blind. Unfortunately, it discriminates against good aesthetic taste.

What do you think of the decision?

Court says money discriminates against blind people [Associated Press]
Amer Cncl Blind v. Paulson, Henry [PDF]

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 2.24 and 3.2: Cancún Honeymoon

Legal%20Eagle%20Wedding%20Watch%20NYT%20wedding%20announcements%20Above%20the%20Law.jpgSpring! Cherry blossoms, opening day, and pedigreed lawyers uniting in marriage. We're pleased to be back with another installment of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, featuring these three impressive couples:

1.) Susannah Foster and Kenyon Weaver

2.) Kathleen DeLaney and Courtney Thomas

3.) Heath Kern and Joseph Gibson

More on our finalists, after the jump.

Continue reading "Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 2.24 and 3.2: Cancún Honeymoon"

Morning Docket: 01.25.08

Monica Lewinsky's ex boyfriend's wife for president.jpg* Does the Bush Administration have Blackwater's back? The U.S. pushes for specific legal protections from Iraqi law for civilian contractors. [New York Times]

* West Virginia: a little less corrupt than last week? WV Supreme Court agrees to rehear Massey Energy case (previously discussed here). [AP; WSJ Law Blog]

* D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg steps down early, to make way for Chief Judge David Sentelle. [D.C. Circuit (PDF) via How Appealing]

* NYT endorses Hillary Clinton (but not for the reasons identified in the bumper sticker at right). [New York Times; New York Times]

* A more detailed report on the Georgetown Law event with Justice Ginsburg that we wrote about last night. [Georgetown Hoya via How Appealing]

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 9.16.07 and 9.23.07

LEWW logo.jpgSo LEWW was at a wedding the other weekend, and who should plunk down next to us but a reporter for the NYT Vows section! It was a deeply emotional, humbling experience -- like being face-to-face with Gandhi, or Bono -- but after we recovered, we waved our ATL press credentials and had a nice chat with the correspondent.

Turns out it was her first Vows column, so we briefed her on the most basic rules of Vows column writing: Make sure you refer to the bride, groom, or both as "honest," "courageous," "spirited," or "down-to-earth," etc., and definitely include at least one forced simile ("as white as a sun-bleached seashell" is good; "as grounded and unshakable as a redwood" is a two-fer!).

We can't wait to read about that wedding in this coming weekend's NYT, but in the meantime, we have two weeks worth of LEWW to catch you up on. Here are our featured couples:

1.) Kate Edmonds and Alex Donner

2.) Denise Delgado and Keith Kerman

3.) Fell Ogden and Charles Gray Jr.

4.) Daisy Wademan and Luc Dowling

5.) Deecy Gray and Douglas Ginsburg

6.) Aielleen Fajardo and Stefan Schick

More about these couples, after the jump.

Continue reading "Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 9.16.07 and 9.23.07"

Who Will Be the Next AG? We're Saying Silberman

Laurence Silberman Judge Laurence H Silberman Laurence Hirsch Silberman Above the Law blog.jpgAs noted in the Washington Post, President Bush is expected to name Alberto Gonzales's replacement as attorney general in the next few days, after returning from Australia tomorrow. The WaPo seems to be predicting Ted Olson:

[F]ormer solicitor general Theodore B. Olson has emerged as one of the leading contenders for the job, according to sources inside and outside the government who are familiar with White House deliberations.

Other candidates still in the running include former deputy attorney general George J. Terwilliger III and D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Laurence H. Silberman, according to the sources, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

Even though we're still rooting for our former boss, based on this short list, we're predicting Judge Laurence Silberman (who previously served as Deputy Attorney General, the #2 job at the Justice Department).

More thoughts, including discussion of George Terwilliger and Larry Thompson, after the jump.

Continue reading "Who Will Be the Next AG? We're Saying Silberman"

Silbermannerisms: A Pair of Stinging Benchslaps

Laurence Silberman Judge Laurence H Silberman Laurence Hirsch Silberman Above the Law blog.jpgThe D.C. Circuit's administrative law-heavy docket can be a total snooze-fest less than thrilling. But at least that uber-prestigious court is stocked with some interesting personalities.

Like the prominent, conservative, and temperamental Judge Laurence H. Silberman. From a tipster:

How about giving a shout-out to the latest Silbermannerisms? Yesterday Judge Silberman served up these two gems in a completely run-of-the-mill case, Menkes v. DHS (PDF):

"In response, the government raises a number of threshold jurisdictional arguments. Frankly, we do not think them worth a tinker’s damn."

"This argument [is] unworthy of the government."

OUCH -- but not out of character for Judge Silberman. More from our source:

[H]e's badass. The all-time greatest Silbermannerism:

"If you were ten years younger, I'd punch you out!" [Silberman to Abner Mikva, in conference with Ken Starr, as recalled by Mikva -- New York Times, 9/1/1998]

Someday I'll start a blog on the DC Circuit, and when I do I plan to make Silbermannerisms a regular feature. But in the meantime, I hope you put those quotes to good use! He's surely the greatest Judicial Divo of all time.

Judge Silberman is certainly in the running for that title. But what about his liberal counterpart, Judge Harry T. Edwards? No shrinking violet, he.

Menkes v. DHS (PDF) [U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit]

Randolph Clerks: Too Much Time on Their Hands?

Prettyman courthouse.jpg[Ed. note: We now turn the floor over to the fabulous Laurie Lin, of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, for a guest post on the D.C. Circuit clerk book proposal controversy. This post was originally scheduled for publication yesterday afternoon, when Laurie was holding down the fort while we were offline and in transit. Sadly, technical problems -- yeah, we know, we're working on it -- prevented timely publication.]

We know the DC Circuit's caseload is notoriously light, but we had no idea the clerks were jonesing so hard for something to do! Two current clerks in Judge A. Raymond Randolph's chambers recently circulated a book proposal on habeas corpus and the war on terror, a topic about which they claimed to have some expertise -- as a result of the high-profile cases to which they currently have access in Randolph's chambers! Read on for more about this ethical morass:

The problems arose when their proposal, which was emailed to constitutional scholars across the country, surfaced on a blog. University of Miami professor Steve Vladeck raised questions about how this affected their work as clerks for a Judge A. Raymond Randolph. Randolph, of course, not only authored the most recent decision about the Guantanamo detainees, Boumediene v. Bush, but was also the scribe for two cases already overturned by the Supreme Court, Rasul v. Bush and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

It was a connection the two clerks flaunted, noting that they brought a "unique perspective" to edit submissions because "they have spent a year in the legal trenches" as clerks on the D.C. Circuit "during a year that saw several landmark detention decisions likely to end up before the Supreme Court."

But the two men forgot one key thing: to tell (or, rather, to ask permission from) their judge.

Whoops.

More on this controversy, including Judge Randolph's official reaction to his clerks' jaw-droppingly poor judgment, after the jump:

Continue reading "Randolph Clerks: Too Much Time on Their Hands?"

Liberal Law Professors and Guns: An Improbable Romance

gun pistol firearm Second Amendment Above the Law blog.jpgLiberal law professors can be pretty predictable in their tastes. Volvo stationwagons. Fair trade coffee. Guns.

Guns? Yes, guns. No, not gunners -- guns. Firearms. Bang bang. The good ol' Second Amendment.

According to a very interesting NYT article, by Adam Liptak:

In March, for the first time in the nation’s history, a federal appeals court struck down a gun control law on Second Amendment grounds. Only a few decades ago, the decision would have been unimaginable.

There used to be an almost complete scholarly and judicial consensus that the Second Amendment protects only a collective right of the states to maintain militias. That consensus no longer exists — thanks largely to the work over the last 20 years of several leading liberal law professors, who have come to embrace the view that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns.

In those two decades, breakneck speed by the standards of constitutional law, they have helped to reshape the debate over gun rights in the United States. Their work culminated in the March decision, Parker v. District of Columbia, and it will doubtless play a major role should the case reach the United States Supreme Court.

Legal academic debate with real-world ramifications? Wow. This truly is newsworthy.

Thoughtful blogospheric reactions from Jonathan Adler, Jack Balkin, Randy Barnett, and Michael Dorf, among others. We were most amused by Professor Dorf, who blog-slaps Liptak, before concluding his post in delightfully catty fashion:

Full disclosure: I spoke with Mr. Liptak last week and expressed skepticism (along the lines described above) about his causal claim. I guess I didn't say anything quote-worthy.

HA. Hell hath no fury like a law professor not name-checked.

(Sorry, Professor Dorf -- not everyone is as susceptible to your charms as Justice Kennedy. You may spend your entire life searching for a jurisprudential romance to match what you had with AMK at One First Street, back in the heady days of October Term 1991.)

A Liberal Case for the Individual Right to Own Guns Helps Sway the Federal Judiciary [New York Times]
Scholarship and the Second Amendment in the Courts [Dorf on Law]
How Liberals Saved the Second Amendment [Volokh Conspiracy]
Scholars and the Second Amendment [Volokh Conspiracy]
The Second Amendment is Embarrassing No More [Balkinization]

Skaddenfreude: Friday Afternoon Open Thread

Here's an open thread for some Friday afternoon discussion -- of associate pay raise news (of course), the D.C. Circuit gun control ruling, the latest Patriot Act controversy, or whatever else is on your mind right now.

Friday afternoons and evenings, of course, are favored times for breaking news -- especially of the bad variety (e.g., resignations, layoffs, partner de-equitizations, etc.). So if any big news breaks this afternoon or evening, this is a fine place to take note of and discuss it. Thanks.

Dining With a Diva: Lunch with Judge Janice Rogers Brown (Part 2)

Above the Law 8 Janice Rogers Brown.JPG
"I wouldn't call Harry Edwards a 'judicial divo,' per se. He's just really irritable, that's all."

This is a continuation of our earlier post about a luncheon talk by the fantabulous Judge Janice Rogers Brown. Judge Brown sits on the D.C. Circuit, the most prestigious appellate court in the country after the U.S. Supreme Court (which she may someday join). She spoke recently before the Federalist Society in Washington, a group that she said she "always enjoys spending time with -- despite all the trouble it gets [her] into."

Discussion and pictures, after the jump.

Continue reading "Dining With a Diva: Lunch with Judge Janice Rogers Brown (Part 2)"

Dining With the Diva: Lunch with Judge Janice Rogers Brown (Part 1)

Ed. note: Fans of diversity will be pleased to note that this post has nothing to do with (1) Aaron Charney, (2) Biglaw pay raises, or (3) Shanetta Cutlar.

Above the Law 13 Janice Rogers Brown.JPG
"I've said it once, I'll say it again: I am NOT a judicial diva!!!"

(Okay, she didn't say it quite this emphatically. But Judge Brown did repudiate the "judicial diva" label, when we asked her about it during the Q-and-A session.)

Some time ago -- we're too embarrassed to mention when -- we attended a lunch talk here in Washington with Judge Janice Rogers Brown, of the D.C. Circuit. As we've previously noted, Judge Brown is a leading judicial diva and possible Supreme Court nominee.

It was a great event, and we took lots of pictures, of the impressively poor quality that you're used to here at ATL. Our write-up, with pics, after the jump.

Continue reading "Dining With the Diva: Lunch with Judge Janice Rogers Brown (Part 1)"

Janice Rogers Brown: Methinks the Diva Doth Protest Too Much

Janice Rogers Brown Above the Law Wanda Sykes.JPGLast Friday, we attended a fantastic lunch talk by Judge Janice Rogers Brown (near right; her celebrity doppelganger, Wanda Sykes, is on the far right).

In case you're not familiar with her, Judge Brown is a leading judicial diva. She's a former justice of the California Supreme Court and a current member of the D.C. Circuit. In light of her inspirational life story -- she's an African-American female, the daughter of sharecroppers -- and her seat on our nation's most prestigious circuit court, Judge Brown is frequently mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee.

We'll have more to write about the event later -- plus some of our fabulously horrendous photographs, an ATL trademark. For now, though, we just want to share you the best quip of the day (or the "money quote," as those political bloggers like to say):

"I have NEVER thought of myself as a diva."

What caused her to utter this sentence? During the Q and A, we got up and asked her (among other things): "Judge Brown, you're a fabulous judicial diva. But you're stuck on a court that focuses on administrative law. Do you feel that being on the D.C. Circuit cramps your diva style?"

This was just one of several delightful moments from a great event. We'll provide a more detailed report later.

Calendar of Lawyer Division Events [Federalist Society]
Fili-BUSTED! Magnificent Judicial Divas [UTR]

Earlier: The Courtroom of Style: Judge Janice Rogers Brown

Judge Boyle Didn't Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Terrence Boyle Terry Boyle Terence Boyle Terrence W Boyle Judge.jpgHere is some late-breaking judicial nomination news:

1. An update to our prior coverage of the withdrawal of the "Radioactive Four." As one of you points out, it seems that Judge Terrence Boyle (E.D.N.C.), nominated to the Fourth Circuit, wanted to continue fighting.

From the latest version of the AP story:

William Haynes, William G. Myers III and Michael Wallace all asked to have their appointments withdrawn, these officials said. Judge Terrence Boyle was informed of the White House's decision, according to an ally....

Lars H. Liebeler, a Washington lawyer, said in a telephone interview that Boyle, unlike Wallace, Haynes and Myers, did not submitted a letter asking to be withdrawn but was told of the president's intentions.

This makes some sense. Considering that Judge Boyle (above right) is (1) 61 years old and (2) already a sitting federal judge, he's not really going anywhere -- and he doesn't have much to lose from further fighting. But the White House apparently decided that continuing to push his nomination, in a Senate controlled by the Democrats, wasn't worth the possible loss of face (or expenditure of political capital).

2. The White House released two more slates of judicial nominees today. See here and here.

The most notable and/or controversial nominees:

(a) Judge Thomas Hardiman (W.D. Pa.), renominated to the Third Circuit, who is the subject of a tempest in a teapot (item #3);

(b) Peter Keisler (OT 1988/Kennedy), renominated to the D.C. Circuit, who isn't problematic personally, but has a "seat issue" (for years Republicans were saying that the last seat on the D.C. Circuit is unnecessary);

(c) Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant, renominated to the District of Connecticut, who received an "unqualified" rating from the ABA; and

(d) James Rogan, renominated to the Central District of California, who once served as a floor manager in the Clinton impeachment fight, back when he was in the House of Representatives.

These nominees aren't THAT controversial, at least compared to the Radioactive Four. We think that they ultimately can (and should) make it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, then win confirmation by the full Senate.

But the ascendant Democrats may want to flex their muscles. And one way to do so would be by delaying, or defeating, one of these nominations.

3. Here's an AP article about Leslie Southwick, nominated to the Fifth Circuit seat formerly held by Judge Charles Pickering Sr. (the seat that Michael Wallace was up for, before he withdrew).

Southwick is a former state appellate judge in Mississippi. As Howard Bashman notes, maybe the third time will be the charm for this hard-to-fill seat.

Bush Judicial Nominees Ask to Withdraw [Associated Press]
Senators say Bush nominating Southwick for 5th Circuit [Associated Press]
Nominations Sent to the Senate for the Judiciary [White House via How Appealing]
Nominations Sent to the Senate [White House via How Appealing]

Earlier: And They Will Back Down

ATL Week in Review: January 1-5

2007.jpgLast week was short, thanks to the New Year's holiday; but it sure was busy. Here are some highlights from a very momentous week:

* No more jokes about Harriet Miers: the ill-fated ex-SCOTUS nominee has resigned as White House counsel. Speculation about her successor abounds.

* No more jokes about the Dewy Orifice: the ill-fated merger between Dewey Ballantine and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has been called off.

* Turns out that Chief Justice Rehnquist was a painkiller junkie. Once, while suffering withdrawal symptoms, he tried to bust out of a hospital in his PJs.

* Chief Judge David Levi, of the Eastern District of California, will be the new Dean of Duke Law School.

* All About Jan? Just as the aging Margo Channing's reign over Broadway was threatened by the comely Eve Harrington, the aging Linda Greenhouse's reign over One First Street is being threatened by the comely Jan Crawford Greenburg.

* Who knew? Law professors and legal bloggers sure know how to party! Photos of drunken legal academics available here and here.

* Cravath partner John Beerbower has enjoyed some amazing apartments over the years. Cravath partnership + Wealthy wife = $20 million, Park Avenue pad.

* Who's your favorite First Circuit judge? Cast your vote here.

* If you're a right-winger hoping that Justice Stevens will step down soon, don't hold your breath.

* Today's D.C. Circuit: Despite the occasional catfight, it's not as bitchy as it used to be. Sigh.

* Oppressed law clerks, your Devil Wears Prada is on its way. Coming soon to a bookstore near you: Chambermaid, by former Third Circuit clerk Saira Rao.

Benchslapped: Take This Brief and Shove It

DC Circuit E Barett Prettyman Courthouse.gifFun news CAN break over a holiday weekend. Check out this Times article (by the indefatigable Adam Liptak, a Yale Law School alum):

A divided panel of the [exceedingly powerful] United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which will soon decide an important case concerning detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, rejected a friend-of-the-court brief submitted in the case by [seven] retired [federal] judges. Two former chief judges of the court were among those rebuffed.

The unsigned majority decision, for Judges David B. Sentelle and A. Raymond Randolph, said the brief violated a 1982 advisory opinion from a committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, which is the administrative and policy-making body of the federal court system.

“Judges should insure that the title ‘judge’ is not used in the courtroom or in papers involved in litigation before them to designate a former judge,” the advisory opinion said.

Translation: :"Former judges, you're not such hot s***. You're nothing but lawyers with frustrated gavel fetishes."

The brief was rejected over the dissent of Judge Judith Rogers:

Judge Judith W. Rogers dissented. She said the 1982 advisory opinion was meant to address situations in which former judges acting as lawyers are referred to by the honorific title “Judge.” That practice, if allowed in court, could improperly influence juries, confuse people and make parties to lawsuits lose confidence in the judicial system.

But the situation here, with former judges submitting an appellate brief on their own behalf and with the government’s consent, is different, Judge Rogers wrote. “Indeed, denying the unopposed motion for leave to file may itself create an appearance of partiality,” she wrote.

Liptak points out that (1) Judge Sentelle and Judge Randolph, the judges in the majority, were appointed by Republicans (Reagan and Bush I, respectively); (2) Judge Rogers is a Clinton appointee; and (3) two of the former D.C. Circuit chief judges on the brief, Abner J. Mikva and Patricia M. Wald, were appointed by Carter.

So was the dissing of the brief politically motivated? Judge Mikva doesn't think so -- but ascribes the decision to even cattier reasons:

Mr. Mikva said the rejection of his brief was motivated by personal animus, not politics. “It’s not political at all,” he said in an interview. “This was clearly aimed at me.”

The judges in the majority, Mr. Mikva said, were furious with him because he opposed allowing judges to accept free trips to resorts for seminars sponsored by private groups.

“They’re so close to retirement age,” Mr. Mikva said of the judges in the majority. “They really should grow up.”

OUCH. Boy do we miss the good old days on the D.C. Circuit!

Pull up a chair, kiddies, and listen to our tale. Back when Abner Mikva was Chief Judge, from 1991 to 1994, the D.C. Circuit went through a period that judicial historians refer to as The Golden Age of Bench-Slappery.

Conservatives and liberals were at each other's throats -- almost literally. Abner Mikva didn't get along with several of his more conservative colleagues, including David Sentelle and Laurence H. Silberman. During one heated argument, Laurence Silberman reportedly said to Abner Mikva, "If you were 10 years younger, I'd be tempted to punch you in the nose.” How delicious!

Sadly, the Golden Age couldn't last forever. In 1994, Chief Judge Mikva resigned to become White House Counsel under President Bill Clinton. He was replaced by Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards.

The famously cantankerous Harry Edwards -- who once asked a lawyer at oral argument, "Counsel, are you shitting me?" -- raised hopes that the Reign of Bitchiness would continue at the D.C. Circuit. But as it turned out, Chief Judge Edwards actually emphasized collegiality during his reign. And the D.C. Circuit -- an unfathomably prestigious court, baby steps away from the Supremes -- has never been the same.

(For some excellent perspectives on the controversy over the spurned brief, check out this VC post by Jonathan Adler. In the comments, legal ethics experts such as Stephen Gillers and Steve Lubet weigh in.)

Appeals Court Rejects Brief Submitted by Ex-Judges [New York Times via How Appealing]
NYT on Judicial Amicus Brief Rejection [Volokh Conspiracy]
Court Nixes Brief Because Ex-Judges Called Themselves Judges [WSJ Law Blog]

Morning Docket: 11.01.06

* An S.D.N.Y. Bankruptcy Court has given Air America time to pursue the sale of the liberal talk radio network. Interested suitors include Rush, Hannity, and the Monopoly guy. [MSNBC]

* "A federal judge Tuesday temporarily barred Hazleton, Pennsylvania, from implementing a law designed to prevent illegal immigrants from living in the town." [CNN]

* The D.C. Circuit has stayed the order in the "light" cigarette case, pending appeal on the merits. [MSNBC]

* Shout-out to ATL's hottest deans competition in today's YDN. [Yale Daily News]

* Pay no mind to the agent in the dark jacket scribbling in a notebook and watching you vote, swing staters. Although..."The group's concern in Virginia is centered on Chesterfield County, where in 2004 armed guards were placed at polls to 'ward off terrorists.'" OK, send out the feds. [CNN]

The Eyes of the Law: Judge Williams's Portrait Ceremony

stephen williams stephen f williams steven williams judge.jpgIf you, like us, find Supreme Court justice sightings more thrilling than Brangelina spottings, you would have died from excitement at the portrait ceremony for Judge Stephen F. Williams.

Judge Williams is the brilliant former law professor who now sits on the venerated D.C. Circuit. Back in the day, before he assumed senior status, Stephen Williams was one of the biggest feeder judges in Christendom. He fed huge numbers of his clerks into Supreme Court clerkships, with an impressively broad spectrum of justices.

The Williams portrait ceremony was held last Friday. Stuart Buck, a former Williams clerk, offers a detailed report. Here is an excerpt:

Portrait ceremonies are evidently a big deal: I'd never been to one before, but it was probably the most legal talent that I've ever seen in one room. The entire D.C. Circuit was there, as were six members of the Supreme Court (all except Souter, Kennedy, and Alito).

There was a person I didn't recognize sitting between Justices Stevens and Thomas. Judge Laurence Silberman later said in conversation that it was Judge Louis Oberdorfer -- a long-time and highly respected district court judge who has to be in his late eighties now. [Ed. note: Judge Oberdorfer was also a feeder judge in his time -- especially impressive given that he's "only" a district court judge.]

Now THAT is an impressive line-up. It's the federal judicial equivalent of Ed Limato's Oscar pre-party, a more star-studded event than the Lori Alvino / Matt McGill wedding -- and maybe even than the Ted Olson / Lady Booth wedding. (That second comparison turns on how much weight you assign to SCOTUS justices as opposed to other legal luminaries.)

Anyone have pictures from the ceremony? If so, we'd love to see them. You know how we love pictures.

And while we're on the subject of judicial celebrity sightings, a quick follow-up to our item yesterday about Justice Alito swearing in his former clerk, Alex Acosta, as U.S. Attorney in Miami. David Oscar Markus has a firsthand account of the event, which you can check out at the S.D. Fla. Blog.

Judge Williams' Portrait [The Buck Stops Here]*
Acosta Sworn In [Southern District of Florida Blog]

Earlier: The Eyes of the Law: Justice Alito Hits South Beach
Lady and Ted's Excellent Adventure: Wedding Photos That Rock
The Eyes of the Law: Ted Olson's Star-Studded Nuptials
The Eyes of the Law: Wedding Crashers

* The "s" after "Williams'" is missing in the original. Our views on this dispute are set forth here.

The Courtroom of Style: Judge Janice Rogers Brown

Last week we asked for your input on the most flattering hairstyle for Judge Janice Rogers Brown, of the exceedingly prestigious D.C. Circuit. Judge Brown, a high-powered and conservative jurist, may someday be the first African-American woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

We offered you a choice of two looks: "Bangs Janice" and "Perm Janice." And "Bangs Janice" won in a landslide, with 92 percent of the vote.*

We can see why. Consider this reader email (with photographic support):

This is an easy one: "Bangs Janice" all the way. With bangs, Judge Brown looks like the hip and attractive comedienne, Wanda Sykes:

janice rogers brown and wanda sykes.JPG

"Perm Janice," on the other hand, calls to mind a different black woman:

janice rogers brown and aunt jemima.JPG

We agree; Judge Brown should steer clear of that second look. Left-wingers already try to reduce Judge Brown to a racial stereotype (as BlackCommentator.com did when it published an offensive cartoon of her). Judge Brown doesn't need to help them do it.**

Do you know of a prominent figure within the legal profession who sports two (or more) divergent looks? If so, please let us know. We're always seeking other candidates to go before the jury in ATL's Courtroom of Style.

* One reader objected to our hairstyle terminology. But even if our terms were erroneous, we provided photographs to make clear which hairstyle was which. So voters should not have been confused.

** Conservatives were outraged by the JRB cartoon. In the words of Byron York, the cartoon depicted Judge Brown "as a fat black woman with huge lips, an unruly Afro, and an enormous backside."

Earlier: A Random Friday Poll: The Hairstyles of Judge Janice Rogers Brown