SCOTUS

Justice Thomas: The Sphinx Breaks His Silence

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Clarence Thomas 2 Justice Clarence Thomas Above the Law blog.jpgJustice Clarence Thomas is one of the quieter Supreme Court justices, at least at oral argument and in terms of media appearances. (He can be quite gregarious and charming in smaller settings.)
But Justice Thomas recently sat down for a chat with Business Week, which you can read here. The interview focuses on Justice Thomas’s undergraduate education at Holy Cross and the effect that the Reverend John E. Brooks had upon CT as a mentor.
You can read excerpts at the WSJ Law Blog. We think the Law Blog hits the most important parts. But we’d add to the mix Justice Thomas’s comments about his college classmate and friend, superstar defense lawyer Theodore Wells, now defending I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby:

Do you feel a sense of fraternity with the people you went to school with?

In a distant way, I absolutely do. We don’t pal around. I absolutely admire Ted Wells and he and I are quite different. He’s one of the finest lawyers in the United States. But you know what? It’s not unpredictable. It’s something that could have been predicted. Think of the people who took chances on him.

There was a wonderful fraternity—The Cross. When you were a crusader, you looked after each other—no matter where you were. That doesn’t mean they would always be in a position to do you a favor. But they were there, just as a friend. I’ve never been turned away by a graduate of The Cross.

While we’re on the subject of Justice Thomas, we’re curious about your opinions of him. Please take our poll:


Online Extra: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Speaks [BusinessWeek]
BusinessWeek Interviews Justice Thomas [WSJ Law Blog]

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Hanging Out at Georgetown with Jan and Jeff

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Jan Crawford Greenburg 1b Above the Law blog.JPG
“Hee-hee, this book of mine is TOO FUNNY! Every time I read the story about Souter drinking all of Luttig’s wine, I completely lose my s**t. I can’t figure out who was the bigger a**hole: Souter for drinking the wine, or Luttig for offering it?”
(Lest there be any confusion, the caption above is fictionalized. Jan Crawford Greenburg is far too genteel to say such things. Who do you think she is — Alexandra Korry?)
Here’s a quick, belated write-up of the interesting discussion we attended last week at Georgetown Law School, featuring Jan Crawford Greenburg and Jeffrey Rosen (and moderated ably by Professor Neal Katyal, who happens to be Rosen’s brother-in-law).
Both Greenburg and Rosen have just published new books about the Court. Rosen is the author of The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America, and Greenburg is the author of Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court.
Some brief highlights from the conversation, as well as a few photos, after the jump.

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Programming Note: Off to Georgetown Law, for ‘Fire and Music’

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Jan Crawford Greenburg Jeffrey Rosen Above the Law blog.JPGWe’re stepping away from our computer for bit, to attend an event at Georgetown Law School featuring two of the best writers about the Supreme Court working today: Jan Crawford Greenburg, of ABC News, and Jeffrey Rosen, of The New Republic. It will be moderated by the brilliant Professor Neal Katyal (who also happens to be Jeff Rosen’s brother-in-law).
Both Greenburg and Rosen have just published new books about the Court. Rosen is the author of The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America, and Greenburg is the author of Supreme Conflict.
Before her book was published, we speculated that Jan Crawford Greenburg might unseat Linda Greenhouse as Queen Bee of the SCOTUS press corps. We suggested that the young and attractive Greenburg might play Eve Harrington to Linda Greenhouse’s Margo Channing. In light of the rapturous notices that Supreme Conflict has received, as well as its status as a New York Times-certified bestseller, we feel that our prediction is coming to pass. Watch out, Linda G.!
Some content will be posted while we’re gone. So please do check back soon!
Earlier: All About… Jan?

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Morning Docket: 02.22.07

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BarBri bar bri bar exam review course prep course Above the Law Above the Law ATL.jpg* Bad faith in a Chapter 7 filing forfeits the right to convert to Chapter 13. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* Statute of limitations for a Section 1983 action based on false arrest begins to run when claimant is detained pursuant to legal process. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* South Dakota abortion ban bill fails in state Senate committee. [Jurist]
* 300,000 lawyers can’t agree on anything. [WSJ Law Blog]

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Morning Docket: 02.21.07

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Anna Nicole Smith 2 J Howard Marshall Anna Nicole Smith J Howard Marshall Anna Nicole Smith pic picture photo photograph.JPG* The standard for predatory-bidding claims is the same as that for predatory-pricing claims, and Ross-Simmons didn’t meet it. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* A certiorari petition to the U.S. Supreme Court does not toll the 1-year statute of limitations for seeking federal habeas relief from a state-court judgment. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* Juries can’t punish defendants for harm done to nonparties. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* James Brown to finally be buried. [CNN]
* But the fight for the right to bury Anna Nicole Smith continues. [CNN]

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Non-Sequiturs: 02.14.07

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* Fans of “The Office” (what BBC version?) will rejoice at this play-by-play of potential litigation related to each episode. Ladies, whenever you cringe at the memory of a loser ex-boyfriend, just think of Jan, Michael’s otherwise competent and attractive boss, who somehow ends up vacationing with him… at a Sandals resort. [That’s What She Said via WSJ Law Blog]
* I guess this means that now every idiot can use this “trademark.” Wouldn’t it make more sense to trademark “Weirdness Factor”? [The Smoking Gun]
* If David’s fashion rundown gave you a headache or put you to sleep faster than Norah Jones’s music, then don’t read this. [De Novo]
* In this quirky show you have surely never heard of, a bunch of misfits conspire to break into Mick Jagger’s home. One character suggests perhaps starting a hedge fund instead. “What’s a hedge fund?” another misfit asks. To which misfit #1 shrugs, “I don’t know.” [Conglomerate]
* I was never one to participate, but even I admit that you always need oral. [First Movers]

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Anna Nicole Smith: ‘Our Princess Di’

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Anna Nicole Smith J Howard Marshall Anna Nicole Smith J Howard Marshall Anna Nicole Smith pic picture photo photograph.jpgAs we mentioned yesterday, victorious Supreme Court litigant Anna Nicole Smith has passed away. She was 39, and the circumstances of her death are still being investigated. Here were some of your comments:

“ANS, we’ll miss you. We celebrate your reunion with your son, and we mourn your separation from your newborn daughter. Thanks for showing us all that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.”

“I feel so bad about the fact that there is a little baby with no mom.”

“This is our Princess Di, people!”

By email, we received this interesting news:

Anna Nicole Smith’s late husband, J. Howard Marshall, was a big donor to Yale Law School [where he once served as assistant dean and taught Trusts and Estates].

When he died, and it immediately became clear that there would be a dispute over the estate, there was an internal debate whether Yale Law Dean Tony Kronman should attend both of the dueling memorial services — the staid family affair, and the one featuring Anna Nicole Smith spilling out of her dress and singing “Wind Beneath My Wings.” I believe he only went to the former.

Also, there is a great picture of the happy couple from around the time of their engagement or marriage. He looks old and frail but has the biggest s***-eating grin you have ever seen.

We think we’ve found that photograph. Is this the right one?
Anna Nicole Smith Dead At 39 [Access Hollywood via Drudge Report]
Earlier: Breaking: Anna Nicole Smith, Successful Supreme Court Litigant, Has Passed Away

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Breaking: Anna Nicole Smith, Successful Supreme Court Litigant, Has Passed Away

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Anna Nicole Smith pic Anna Nicole Smith photo Anna Nicole Smith photograph former topless dancer Supreme Court Above the Law Above the Law.jpgPlease observe a moment of silence for one of the most celebrated litigants in the history of the Supreme Court. Anna Nicole Smith was a fascinating personality, and one of the great beauties of our time.
From the Associated Press:

Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy playmate whose bizarre life careened from marrying an octogenarian billionaire to the untimely death of her son, died Thursday after collapsing at a South Florida hotel, one of her lawyers said.

Smith, 39, collapsed and was unresponsive while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel and Casino, said the attorney, Ron Rale. She was rushed to a hospital.

Smith had been a tabloid staple even before she became Playboy’s playmate of the year in 1993. Readers were fascinated by her bombshell good looks, her marriage to an elderly billionaire and subsequent court fight over his estate, her weight fluctuations, and last year, the sudden death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Smith.

A former topless dancer, she made her name squeezing into Guess jeans. She resembled the late actress Marilyn Monroe, a similarity played up in her Guess magazine ads, billboards and department store displays.

But unlike most other “tabloid staple[s],” Smith’s significance was legal as well as cultural. How many people can claim to have appeared in both Page Six and U.S. Reports? As the petitioner in Marshall v. Marshall, Anna Nicole Smith helped clarify (1) the scope of the “probate exception” to federal jurisdiction, and (2) its applicability to cases that do not directly involve the administration of a will or estate.
We overuse the word “fabulous” around here. But just like Justice Potter Stewart, “we know it when we see it” — and Anna Nicole Smith was it. She will be missed, by celebrity and Supreme Court groupies alike.
Update (5 PM): A most interesting comment:

Her ex-husband was a graduate of our host’s alma mater — Yale Law School. That makes her 2 degrees of academic separation from him.

J. Howard Marshall was an early figure in the legal realist movement and for a little while, an assistant dean at YLS and a colleague of William O. Douglas.

Anna Nicole Smith dies after collapsing at hotel [Associated Press via New York Daily News]
Marshall v. Marshall [Oyez.org]
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Anna Nicole Smith (scroll down)

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

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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.

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SCOTUS Clerk Hiring: Two More for October Term 2007

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Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGIn a comment appended to our last post on Supreme Court clerk hiring for October Term 2007, one of you wrote:

Not 100% certain, but I think that the last RBG hire is Tom Saunders (Yale 2004 / Leval), and that Breyer hired Michael Bosworth (Yale 2003 / Rakoff (SDNY) & Katzmann).

We did some poking around, and we’ve confirmed this information. So two more Yalies and Second Circuit clerks are bound for One First Street. We apologize for being late with this, especially the news about Tom Saunders (who was hired back in August 2005 for OT 2007).
If you have any more news — for example, whether Justice Samuel Alito has made offers yet based on his recent round of interviews — please email us.
After the jump, an updated tally of Supreme Court clerks for next Term.

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