The judges on the Fifth Circuit are — deservedly — getting some blow back.
That’s because during a recent oral argument, Judge Jerry Smith told an attorney, Joshua Koppel, arguing before the court to remove his mask. DURING A PANDEMIC. And while New Orleans, where the courthouse is located, has an indoor mask mandate. There’s audio of the exchange and you can hear Koppel — with a mask on — as clearly as you can Judge Smith, so it has nothing to do with being able to understand the attorney, but rather about imposing a very specific, far right, anti-science world view. It’s quite disturbing, all things considered.
But not everyone on the Fifth Circuit is down with this. Like Judge Don Willett.
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Don Willett is familiar to faithful Above the Law readers. Before he was even nominated to the Fifth Circuit, he was known for his sharp Twitter feed. But now that he is a federal judge, he stopped his tweeting. Yet he still understands exactly what makes a good subtweet.
Check it.
Judge Willett may not be on Twitter anymore, but he's still subtweeting his colleague from the bench. https://t.co/3MV63a9iRS
— Beth Wilensky (@bethwilensky) February 3, 2022
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Glorious.
Of course, it would be better if attorneys arguing at the Fifth Circuit knew they’d be able to mask up regardless of who is on their panel, but at least not every judge is out there pushing a personal agenda.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).