Could this be a mini-U.S. Attorneys firing scandal in the making? That's what a just-released report from the Justice Department's inspector general seems to suggest. From the New York Times:

Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used "political or ideological" factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials over those with liberal-sounding resumes, a new report found Tuesday.

The blistering report, prepared by the Justice Department's inspector general, is the first in what will be a series of investigations growing out of last year's scandal over the firings of nine United States attorneys. It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration.

One reader who sent the article our way wrote: "Shocker." A second quipped: "Quelle surprise." To read the 115-page report, click here (PDF, via the WSJ).

Update: From a tipster comes this interesting info:

DOJ hiring practice report out. Doesn't look good, though I would certainly say they've revamped the system in the last year or so. I was hired through Honors last fall to start this coming fall, and my resume is very leftist. I can say the same for two friends who were also hired through Honors last year.

Further Update: Lots of good stuff in the comments, including highlights from the report. E.g.:

2002 applicants: ACS, 0-7; FedSoc, 27-2.
2006 applicants: ACS, 5-2; FedSoc, 15-4.

Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Department [New York Times]
Auditors Say Justice Dept. Improperly Screened for Political Ties [Washington Post]
IG Report: Greenpeace Bad, Federalist Society Good [WSJ Law Blog]

On Tuesday evening, we attended An Evening with Justice Antonin Scalia, sponsored by the Washington, DC Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. Justice Scalia spoke about his new book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges; took questions on a wide range of subjects, during an impressively long Q-and-A session; and signed copies of his book for the adoring masses.

The event took place in a packed ballroom -- standing room only -- at the Marriott Wardman Park. If you're interested, you can read a more detailed write-up, after the jump.

Speaking of the Federalist Society, the Columbia Law School chapter has invited us to speak. We'll be doing an event there tomorrow. It will be a pretty casual Q-and-A, less formal than last year's appearance.

Here are the details:

Tuesday, November 20, 12:25 PM

A Q-and-A with David Lat, Editor of Above the Law

Columbia Law School
Jerome Greene Hall, Room 107
435 West 116th St. (at Amsterdam Avenue)

It's free and open to the public. So if you're a CLS student or otherwise in the area, please feel free to stop by. Thanks.

At the Federalist Society festivities: Ryan Bounds, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy; Deputy Associate Attorney General John O'Quinn; and Susanna Dokupil, Assistant Solicitor General for the Office of the Attorney General of Texas.

Last week, the Federalist Society celebrated its 25th anniversary, with a black-tie gala at Union Station. The official ATL report, by Laurie Lin, is available here; the account of the Washington Post appears here (via the WSJ Law Blog).

Since we were there also, we figured we might as well add our two cents. Some random tidbits about the evening, along with a few more photos, after the jump.

We now yield the floor to Laurie Lin. Who better to report on one of the year's biggest social events than the writer of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch? Over to you, Laurie.

****************
Ambition and Old Spice wafted sweetly through the air last night at the Federalist Society's 25th Anniversary Gala at Union Station -- a kind of right-wing Golden Globes. Nearly two thousand G-ed up conservative lawyers packed the main hall to hear President George W. Bush blast the Senate on judicial confirmations:

"Today, good men and women nominated to the federal bench are finding that inside the Beltway, too many interpret 'advise and consent' to mean 'search and destroy,'" Bush said.

Tickets to the black-tie affair were $250 -- actually $249, because there was a new $1 Madison coin at every place setting -- but that was a small price to pay to breathe the same oxygen as Ted Olson, Antonin Scalia, and Laura Ingraham.

More on the conservative legal fabulosity -- including pictures of the people who didn't hide when they saw us coming -- after the jump.

We know how you all love to argue about affirmative action. It's a hot-button topic here at ATL.

So here's a proposal worth considering, from Harvard economics professor Greg Mankiw (via Paul Caron):

If right-wingers are underrepresented in universities relative to the population and discriminated against by the left-wing majority, as [former Harvard president] Larry [Summers] suggests, should there be affirmative action for right-leaning academics?

It seems that, on principle, those on the left (who favor affirmative action to promote diversity and correct past injustice) should endorse such a university policy, and those on the right (who more often oppose affirmative action) would be against.

One could argue that a conservative law professor -- especially a hard-core social conservative, not a law-and-economics or libertarian type -- contributes as much to law school diversity (and discourse) as an African-American or female law professor from a socioeconomically privileged background, who went to an elite college and an elite law school, and has the standard liberal views of most legal academics.

Thoughts?

Mankiw: Affirmative Action for Conservative Professors? [TaxProf Blog]
Is academia serious about diversity? [Greg Mankiw]
The Liberal (and Moderating) Professoriate [Inside Higher Ed]

Not too long ago, we said we had a "gut feeling" that some Supreme Court clerk hiring was going on (despite the Court being in recess). We were right.

Meet Porter Wilkinson. And don't hate her because she's beautiful. Or brilliant. Or rich. Or the daughter of a top feeder judge and frequent Supreme Court short-lister, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson (4th Cir.).

Or, for that matter, a future Supreme Court clerk. We hear that Judge Wilkinson's daughter -- yes, Porter is a girl's name, if you're a WASP -- just landed an October Term 2008 clerkship with Chief Justice John Roberts. Congratulations, Porter!

Not surprisingly, we hear that the young Ms. Wilkinson is fairly conservative -- in case you couldn't have guessed that from the fact that she's currently clerking for Judge Brett Kavanaugh (D.C. Cir.) (alongside the lovely, and recently married, Zina Gelman).

And where did we hear about Porter's politics? From Judge Wilkinson himself!

In late July, we attended the excellent national convention of the American Constitution Society, in Washington, DC. Judge Wilkinson was on one of the panels. In thanking the ACS for inviting him, he noted that his son is a member of the liberal organization -- but that he's balanced out by his sister Porter, a card-carrying member of the Federalist Society. We bet the Wilkinsons must have interesting dinner table conversations.

Porter Wilkinson continues the trend of fathers and daughters who both clerked for the Court (as noted by Tony Mauro). See here.

Update: A tipster tells us, "FYI, Porter was an All-American lacrosse player at UNC. See here. Her husband [Christian Cook] was lacrosse Defenseman of the Year at Princeton and three-time national champion. Formerly of the Secret Service. See here. They got married this past summer in Charlottesville."

With Porter Wilkinson added, the current list of OT 2008 clerks thus far appears after the jump.

Graduation Awards: Four in the Class of 2007: Porter Wilkinson [Virginia Law]
Carter Phillips' Kin Is Alito Clerk [Legal Times]

Who says that conservative judicial icon Robert Bork, of the famously ill-fated Supreme Court nomination, is anti-plaintiff?

Judge Bork is all in favor of punitive damages -- when, for example, he's demanding them in his Complaint (PDF). The distinguished law professor and former judge has filed a slip-and-fall lawsuit against the Yale Club of New York City.

Bork's fellow traveler in conservative circles, Ted Frank -- who's currently a fellow at AEI, where Bork used to be a fellow -- "sympathize[s] with Judge Bork's serious injuries." But even Frank deems Bork's claim for punitives a bit dubious.

P.S. Bork groupies, mark your calendars: On June 26, the Federalist Society is holding Borkapalooza in Washington, DC. More details here.

Note to Fed Soc folks: Do not place Judge Bork's dais at an "unreasonable" height, and be sure to have handrails on the stairs leading up to it. You're welcome.

Bork Sues the Yale Club [Overlawyered]
Robert Bork Files Slip-and-Fall Lawsuit Against Yale Club [WSJ Law Blog]
Bork v. Yale Club of New York City [Wall Street Journal (PDF)]
A Conference Discussing the Contributions of Judge Robert H. Bork [Federalist Society]

We spent a fair amount of time at Columbia Law School last week. We attended their moot court finals, gave a talk sponsored by the Federalist Society, and enjoyed ourselves at their Law Revue (more on that -- including a video clip -- later).

Here are a few photographs we took while up at CLS. If you're a Columbia student or alum (the people most likely to find these pictures interesting), or if you're on the fence about whether to vote for Columbia in ATL March Madness, check out the pics after the jump.

As we previously mentioned, we will be speaking at Columbia Law School next week, at the kind invitation of the Columbia Federalist Society.

Our talk is open to the public, so feel free to stop by if you're in the area. Here are the details:

Wednesay, April 11, 5:30 PM 6:00 PM
Columbia Law School
Jerome Green Hall, Room 102
435 West 116th St. (at Amsterdam Avenue)

As one CLS student pointed out to us, our talk unfortunately overlaps (in part) with the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court finals, scheduled from 4 PM to 6 PM. If you'd like to go to the Moot Court first, please feel free to sneak into our talk late. Needless to say, considering the star-studded bench -- which we also plan to watch in action before heading off for our event -- we won't be offended by tardy arrivals.

Update: We're happy to report that the time of our talk has been changed. We are now speaking at 6 PM, so there's no need to choose between us and Moot Court.

Hope to see you next week!

"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.

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.

"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.

Last 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

We received an interesting tip last week from a Yale Law School source:

I thought you might be interested in this email, which just went out to the Yale Federalist Society email list. It seems you may have struck some fear into Harold Koh with your recent coverage of his ideological tendencies.

Here's the email (which we were asked not to publish until after the meeting in question had taken place):

From: Eugene Nardelli, Jr.
Date: Dec 13, 2006 4:52 PM
Subject: Fed Soc: Lunch With Dean Koh
To: [Yale Federalist Society mailing list]

Federalists,

This Tuesday, the 19th, Dean Koh will be hosting lunch with some of our members. Lunch will take place from 12:30 to 1:30 or so in the Dean's office. Dean Koh has called this meeting for the the specific purpose of giving an opportunity for students to voice their concerns, if any, about the way the school and the Dean treat conservative voices of students, guests, and alumni.

We welcome you to join us and share your thoughts with the Dean, however, the office is small and can only seat a limited number of students. Please email me if you would like to attend.

Eugene
[President of the Yale Federalist Society*]

Our tipster added:

I imagine most people will have left New Haven for break by lunchtime next Tuesday... It makes one wonder about Koh's sincerity (if there wasn't already enough reason to wonder).

Fair enough. But we're willing to give Dean Koh the benefit of the doubt. His hosting of a luncheon with the Yale Fed Soc is welcome news. If you were at the meeting and can give us a report on what transpired, we'd love to hear from you.

And here's a postscript from New Haven:

Hadley Arkes** came to YLS last week to give a lecture sponsored by the newly-formed Yale Law Students for Life group. Koh stopped by the reception beforehand -- something he has never in the past done for a conservative speaker invited by FedSoc or similar -- and chatted with Prof. Arkes. So apparently he's making more of an effort to reach out to conservatives these days.

Again, we're pleased to learn of Harold Koh's recent outreach to right-of-center folks (and we hope that it continues into the new year). Efforts by a law school dean to develop an academic environment that welcomes different points of view are all for the good.

* We're guessing that Eugene Nardelli Sr. would be the New York State appellate judge, Eugene L. Nardelli.

** You may recall Professor Arkes from his participation in this wacky panel discussion.

Earlier: Attention, Concerned Alumni of Yale: Justice Alito Gets (Green)housed
Harold and Linda, Sittin' in a Tree...
An Addendum on Nino in New Haven

Sorry it has taken us so long. As promised months ago, we now begin our series profiling current Supreme Court clerks (aka the "October Term 2006" or "OT 2006" law clerks).

We'll be going chambers by chambers, starting with the most junior justice. Here are the four law clerks to Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.:

1. Michael S. Lee (BYU '97/Benson (D. Utah)/Alito)

2. Christopher J. Paolella (Harvard '99/Alito)

3. Matthew A. Schwartz (Columbia '03/Alito)

4. Gordon D. Todd (UVA '00/Beam)

As a member of the Alito extended family explained to us, here's the key to understanding the Alito chambers: 3:1. This golden ratio perfectly captures the demographics of the OT 2006 Alito clerks. Consider:

1. Familial status: three are married with children, one is not (Chris Paolella -- married, but no kids yet).

2. Undergraduate institution: three are Princetonians, one is not (Michael Lee -- BYU).

3. Prior Alito clerkship: three previously clerked for then-Judge Alito on the Third Circuit, one did not (Gordon Todd).

4. Religious affiliation: three are Christian,* one is not (Matthew Schwartz -- he's Jewish).

5. College debate: three were gods of the parliamentary debate circuit, and former presidents of the American Parliamentary Debate Assocation (APDA); one was not (Michael Lee).

But we wouldn't want such commonalities to overshadow the individuality of these gents. Check out our profiles of Messrs. Lee, Paolella, Schwartz, and Todd -- after the jump.

* Mitt Romney footnote: Michael Lee is Mormon, which we consider to be Christian. Presidential candidate Romney hopes that evangelical Christians voting in the Republican primaries will agree with us.

Here's another excellent article from Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker. It's about the role played by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), outgoing chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, with respect to the recent habeas corpus legislation (aka the Military Commissions Act of 2006).

If you're confused about the controversy over this legislation, which has wound its way through both the federal courts and the Senate chamber, the article is well worth your time. It explains recent developments in this complex area of law with commendable clarity.

And it also contains fun bits of color and gossip. We collect a few highlights, after the jump.

* Another week, another Borat lawsuit.

* Wow -- it doesn't take much to get lawyers all hot and bothered. But ATL readers were evidently untroubled.

* Merry Christmas. There will be no O.J. Simpson book.

* But no Britney sex tape, either.

* Wesley Snipes has some harsh words for the IRS. And Judge Posner does, too.

* We hung out a lot with the Federalist Society. We watched the social conservatives and the libertarians slug it out over cultural issues. And we learned that Judge Edith Jones isn't the woman we thought she was.

This is a continuation of our prior post about the annual dinner of the Federalist Society. You can read the rest of it after the jump.

We previously provided you with our photographic coverage of the Federalist Society's annual dinner, held last Thursday at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC. Now we offer a short (and admittedly belated) write-up of the proceedings.

For more systematic accounts of the dinner, check out the news links collected at the end of this post. For our more idiosyncratic reflections, read on -- after the jump.

Our series of photo posts from the Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention has been popular. The prior installments are available here, here, and here.

Our camera is now emptied out. The last of our Fed Soc photos, after the jump.