First Among Equals

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is widely seen as the “first among equals” of the U.S. circuit courts. It is the most prominent, it deals with the biggest cases, and its opinions are most highly regarded. This need not necessarily be the case. During the time that Learned Hand (left) and his cousin Augustus sat on the Second Circuit, for instance, the Second Circuit was the most prominent in the land. When the U.S. Supreme Court failed to assemble a quorum to hear an important antitrust case, the Court chose to certify the case to a panel of the Second Circuit for final resolution. Learned Hand authored a significant antitrust decision for the panel in the case (148 F.2d 416), and their power of mandamus was later upheld by the Supreme Court (334 U.S. 258). I have heard it argued that the Ninth Circuit is on the rise to the point where it may soon displace the D.C. Circuit as the most prominent court below the Supreme Court.

I mention all of this to ask the simple question, prompted by yesterday’s indictment of Governor Blagojevich: Is the Northern District of Illinois the new Southern District of New York? Traditionally, SDNY, as it’s known in the case cites, has been the most prominent of the federal district courts. For instance, Rudy Giuliani left his post as the associate attorney general, number three at Department of Justice, to become U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

But with Patrick Fitzgerald running the Northern District of Illinois, that seems to be the home of many major cases. 

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Seventh Circuit Week in Review: What Do a MySpace Predator, an Unrepresented Corporation, and a Pair of Meth Traffickers Have in Common?

Answer: They all lost their appeals in the Seventh Circuit last week.  In fact, our diligent Seventh Circuit judges issued five new opinions in criminal cases last week, and the defendants lost in all of them.  Here are the highlights:

In the MySpace case, United States v. Morris (No. 08-2329), the defendant attempted to contact a minor through the minor’s MySpace page.  The minor’s mother responded by creating her own MySpace page, in which she posed as a 15 year old, and began a series of communications with the defendant.  After the mom agreed to have sex with him, Morris mailed a bus ticket to her so that they could meet.  The mom reported Morris to the FBI, resulting in his arrest and prosecution.  After his conviction for attempting to transport a minor across state lines to engage in illegal sexual conduct, Morris raised a single issue on appeal: that the person he intended to transport across state lines was neither a minor nor a law enforcement officer posing as a minor, but a private citizen conducting her own sting operation.  However, it is well established in such cases that the defendant has no defense if his intended victim is really an undercover law enforcement officer, and the Seventh Circuit (per Judge Posner) found no basis for distinguishing undercover private citizens: in either situation, the criminal justice system appropriately punishes the defendant for his demonstrated dangerousness. 

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Resigned Guantanamo Prosecutor Discusses Moral Crisis, Catholic Faith, and Conclusion That “We Had Abandoned Our American Values and Defiled Our Constitution”

In a recent interview with the BBC, former Guantanamo prosecutor Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld discusses how the conflict he perceived between his military duties and his religious beliefs (as well as his beliefs about the requirements of the United States Constitution) created what the BBC terms a “profound moral crisis,” one that eventually led to his resignation.  

I found it moving to hear another human being discuss his struggle with these issues of conscience so directly, forthrightly, and genuinely. If you want to hear Lt. Col. Vandeveld’s discuss these events in his own words, you can watch this video at the BBC website. The BBC article reports the events this way:

It was one case in particular, that of a young Afghan called Mohammed Jawad, which caused most concern.

Mr Jawad was accused of throwing a grenade at a US military vehicle.

Col Vandeveld says that in a locker he found indisputable evidence that Mr Jawad had been mistreated.

After Mr Jawad had tried to commit suicide by banging his head against a wall at Guantanamo, Col Vandeveld says that psychologists who assisted interrogators advised taking advantage of Mr Jawad’s vulnerability by subjecting him to specialist interrogation techniques known as “fear up”.

He was also placed, Col Vandeveld says, into what was known as the “frequent flyer” programme in which he was moved from cell to cell every few hours, with the aim of preventing him sleeping properly, and securing a confession.

A devout Catholic, Col Vandeveld found himself deeply troubled by what he discovered.

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