The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

This One is Just Like the Other

"This is a case in which history insists on repeating itself. The subject matter is virtually identical to a prior case before this Court, the arguments are the same, even the same procedural defaults have been made. If the past is prologue, then the result here must be predictable."

These are the words of D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth, whose opinion granting class certification to about 40 federal inmates yesterday set the wheels in motion for the latest test of D.C.'s beleaguered Department of Corrections. The class action suit at hand deals with inmates'
allegations that they were over-detained—for days and sometimes weeks—past their release dates and subject to strip searches. (Legal Times has detailed these recent mishaps before.)

Indeed the case is eerily similar to a 2002 suit where 4,000 former prisoners in D.C.'s jails made similiar allegations. The two sides settled in August 2005.

The previous suit showed that the problems generally arose when inmates were taken from court back to one of the city's two correctional facilities for out-processing. So as part of the 2005 settlement, D.O.C. moved the out-processing to the D.C. General Hospital. But sometime around December 2005, Lamberth wrote, the system broke down--and many inmates were sent back to the jail instead. "Once there they encountered the same dance with DOC," Lamberth wrote.

In the current round of litigation, Lamberth offered little sympathy for D.O.C.'s apparent delay tactics. Lamberth denied the agency's motion for summary judgment (noting the "thin" record from D.O.C.—a single affidavit with "several evidentiary deficiencies") as well as its request to postpone the plaintiffs' class certification (noting that D.O.C. already had 10 months to get its act together—two months longer than in the previous over-detention case).

Blues Clues Part Deux

Now don’t get too excited. The D.C. Bar’s 2007 Conference entitled “Ethics Blues: A Musical Ethics Experience” did not, in fact, have bar members lamenting that their baby done left them while strumming away on the washboard. Harmonicas, alas, were nowhere in sight. However, the conference, which was themed around the new ethics rules adopted February 1, did strike a musical note. Jack Marshall, president of ProEthics a business and legal consulting firm, led the post-lunch program detailing the changes to District’s ethics rules, and sprinkled throughout were musical numbers, lounge singer style, by Jacqueline Manger, a professional singer and all around artsy type with a day job as an investment analyst. Hilarious lyrics illustrating how bar members are shaken up (not stirred, mind you) by the rules changes included - “They sweat while working/ Cause Gene Shipp may be lurking.”

Also at the conference, the Beatrice Rosenberg Award for Excellence in Government Service was given to James Thessin, the principal deputy legal advisor at the State Department.

Morning Wrap

A Little Help From His Friend: Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has received support from the K Street community in the form of Juan Carlos Benitez, a senior vice president at the lobbying powerhouse Cassidy & Associates. According to The Hill, Benitez, who served alongside Gonzales as special counsel at the Department of Justice, circulated letters of support from Latino and Hispanic groups to reporters last week.

Hey Mate!: Guantanamo detainee David Hicks, an Australian who was trained by Al Qaeda, pleaded guilty on Monday before a new U.S. military commission for providing material support to the terrorist organization. The new commission was passed by Congress last fall after the Bush Administration's initial setup for trying terrorists at Guantanamo Bay was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Butt Out: Smokers, don't head to Maryland. Lawmakers in the Free State passed a statewide smoking ban for all restaurants and bars yesterday. Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) said he will sign the legislation that would allow counties to pass stricter smoking bans should they chose to do so.

Bang, Bang: An aide to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) was arrested yesterday for carrying a loaded pistol owned by Webb along with extra ammunition into the Russell Senate Office Building. Phillip Thompson, the senator's executive assistant, was jailed and awaits an appearance today in D.C. Superior Court. Webb's office called the incident "an oversight by the Senator's aide" who forgot he was carrying the weapon. Earlier in the day, Webb gave the gun to Thompson after the aide drove his boss to the airport.

Trickle-Down: Federal prosecutors have charged David Stockman, a one-time budget director for President Ronald Reagan (R), for lying to the feds and deceiving investors in a $1.6 million scheme that bankrolled his private equity firm.

Death Becomes Her: It's confirmed. The former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith died from an accidental drug overdose. Broward County Medical Examiner Dr. Joshua Perper said it was a combination of the sleeping drug chloral hydrate and at least eight other prescription drugs. Additionally, Smith was suffering from the flu and a bacterial infection she had developed from injecting drugs into her buttocks.

Starr Attraction

The arguments last week in the BONG HITS 4 JESUS case Morse v. Frederick got a lot of attention, much of it focused on former independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Starr, of counsel with Kirkland & Ellis, argued on behalf of an Alaska high school principal who suspended a student for displaying the bong message on a banner outside the school. But what you may not have known is that Starr, wearing his other hat as dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, has hired two of the justices -- Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito Jr. -- to teach in the law school's summer programs. Scalia will teach in London while Alito will be out at the Malibu campus. Should an advocate before the Court also be hiring its justices for paying gigs? Our story just posted here explores the issue.

Takin' the Fifth

For those interested in a good story, the U.S. Attorney scandal is the gift that just keeps on giving.

Today, news arrived that Monica Goodling, the 33-year old counsel to AG Alberto Gonzales who is also the department’s White House liaison, will take the Fifth Amendment when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In a March 26 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, Goodling’s attorneys, John Dowd and Jeffrey King of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, said that the “hostile and questionable environment” in both the Senate and House Judiciary Committee had created a “legally perilous” environment for their client.

“Accordingly, Ms. Goodling will not answer questions before the Committee or its staff under these circumstances,” the letter said, continuing: “The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real.”

Goodling is one of a handful of top Justice Department officials responsible for making interim U.S. Attorney selections.

Lamberth's Loss

Judge Royce Lamberth is off the Indian trust fund case for good. Or so says the Supreme Court, which today denied cert on an appeal of the D.C. Circuit's July decision removing Lamberth  from the protracted Indian trust litigation. The decision in Cobel v. Norton was appealed by the plaintiffs, who felt that Lamberth's sharp rebukes and colorful opinions of the Interior Department (with language like “ignominious” and “incompetent” and far worse) were no challenge to his objectivity. But, the BLT assumes the D.C. Circuit's eight opinions overturning Lamberth's decisions were enough to uphold his removal from the case. So, all eyes remain on Judge James Robertson, who has taken over the case. Will he hold his tongue after seeing what happened to Lamberth? 

Free to Choose?

As a Senate committee prepares to hold hearings on the proposed Employee Free Choice Act tomorrow, Jonathan Snare, acting solicitor of labor, shares the administration’s view in Legal Times today. Snare is especially concerned with one provision in the bill—to permit wider use of “card check” to unionize a work force.

Card check is an alternative method—alternative to an election by secret ballot—of showing that workers have chosen to form a union. If a bare majority of the workers sign authorization cards, the bargaining unit is up and running.

Snare quotes some, um, choice words from the 4th Circuit: “It would be difficult to imagine a more unreliable method of ascertaining the real wishes of employees than a ‘card check,’ unless it were an employer’s request for an open show of hands. The one is no more reliable than the other. No thoughtful person has attributed reliability to such card checks. This, the [NLRB] has fully recognized. So has the AFL-CIO.”

The controversial legislation passed the House on March 1. Tomorrow the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions gets started.

Underrated

We’re not sure being the most underrated law school is something to brag about (kind of like winning the NIT instead of the NCAA tourney in college basketball). But BLT is pretty sure you’ll look at the results. Vault asked managing partners, general counsels and headhunters what law schools were most “underrated.” After compiling votes and comments, tops on the list was Emory University School of Law. Congrats, Emory alumni. Sort of.

This Week in Legal Times: You Broke My Heart Edition

It's not getting any easier for the man that President Bush nicknamed "Fredo" is it? We have a package of items, including a look at the stories behind some the emails sent by Justice staffers and a look at why a compromise between the Senate Judiciary Committee and the White House over the testimony of key staffers such as Karl Rove may be the best idea for all involved. There's also a commentary piece by Stuart Taylor Jr. blasting the AG's performance, but you'll have to grab the dead-tree edition of LT to be able to read it. And an aside to Gonzales, if Rove asks you to take a ride in a fishing boat, don't do it!

Aside from the current Scandal of the Moment, Emma Schwartz has the colorful tale of one Montgomery Blair Sibley, a lawyer who has earned a reputation for not being afraid to sue to protect his interests. Among his targets: the Supreme Court. He's currently representing the woman who allegedly ran a high-end call girl ring in D.C.

The end of the month means another installment of After Hours. This week, we revisit a dark chapter in our region's history. And Tony Mauro finds fault with a place that serves a $260 steak. (See below.) Just don't fill up on bread. Coincidentally, the bistro is also named the BLT. But, of course, we're free. On the other hand, we don't validate.

And with April 15 around the corner (Wait, it is around the corner, isn't it? Damn.) , LT has timely special section devoted to tax law. (Subscription required.)

As usual, there's much, much more, including our new legal-themed sudoku puzzle.

The Other BLT

Given the name of this blog, it did not take long for us to decide to pay a critical visit to the nearby D.C. restaurant that shares the same name: BLT Steak, just off Farragut Square. BLT Steak (the name stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel, named after the executive chef, not the sandwich) is a recent New York City export, complete with New York prices. We tried an $81 steak so you don't have to -- and you shouldn't. Not worth it, even if you're on an expense account. We recommend the cheaper cuts, and conclude that with all the freebies that come with your meal -- popovers, pates, etc. -- you can have a pretty nice meal for a lot less money than BLT wants you to spend. Here's the full review. Anyone else have a good or bad BLT Steak experience to report?