Below is my column in The Hill newspaper on the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing and the opening statement of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse attacking the conservatives on the Supreme Court as a virtual ideological cabal. I have always found Whitehouse an articulate and insightful member of the Congress. He was not alone in these attacks. However, I found the attack on the current justices to be unwarranted and distorted. There is a tendency when you disagree with a decision like Hobby Lobby to conclude that the motivations of the justices must therefore be raw politics. The possibility that the justices, including Justice Kennedy, are following a coherent jurisprudential view is dismissed in favor of partisanship.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Democratic Attacks On The Supreme Court Confuse Patterns of Principle with Politics”
There is an interesting 
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the controversial statements of the judge presiding over the trial of Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman. Judge T.S. Ellis III has raised growing concerns over his comments in court, particularly before the jury.
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on the calls for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. While the key sponsors have indicated that they may be willing to delay this effort, many continue to advocate for a vote on articles of impeachment. 
Below is my column in the Hill newspaper on release of the first Cohen tape and rumored seizure of many more such tapes by federal prosecutors. I have previously stated that the secret taping of Donald Trump was, in my view, flagrantly dishonest and disloyal in dealings with a client. While the American Bar Association relaxed the rule against secret taping from being per se unethical, few lawyers would contemplate what Cohen did to his client. Indeed, New York is a jurisdiction that looks with disfavor on such taping as a routine matter. Unless done for some clear societal benefit, it is a serious potential unethical act. Michael Cohen continues to be an embarrassment to the profession in his low level of legal judgment and even lower professional standards of conduct.
I have the honor of giving a keynote address to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference in Anaheim, California this morning. The presentation at 10:30 am at the Marriott Anaheim is entitled “The Rise and Fall of Free Speech In the West.” 
MGM Resorts International has gone to an extraordinary point to forum shop for more sympathetic judges: it is actually 
In one of the most troubling orders issued by a court in years, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter issued an 
Attorneys for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort have asked a federal judge for a venue change on the rather dubious grounds that Alexandria Virginia is simply too liberal. Manafort wants a jury in Roanoke where there are more Republicans. It is an exceptionally weak motion and would be unprecedented to shift jurisdiction based on the political views of the local electorate as opposed to using voir dire to spot bias. Attorneys Kevin Downing, Thomas Zehnle and Jay Nanavati told the “It is not a stretch to expect that voters who supported Secretary Clinton would be predisposed against Mr. Manafort or that voters who supported President Donald Trump would be less inclined toward the Special Counsel.” If it is “not a stretch” politically, it is a stretch legally. In fairness to the defense time, however, it was Judge T.S. Ellis III who raised the possibility of a venue change to Roanoke or Richmond. Ellis however has a reputation for making controversial statements from the bench. In most courts, I would expect this motion to be denied fairly quickly.