The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

DOJ Tells Judge WikiLeaks Investigation Details Should Remain Secret

The U.S. Justice Department today urged a judge in Washington to allow the government to keep secret internal documents and correspondence that would reveal investigative techniques, confidential sources and potential targets of the ongoing WikiLeaks criminal investigation.

The Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center sued the government last year to try to force the disclosure of the names of any WikiLeaks supporters who may have become surveillance targets. The privacy center also wants to see any government communication with Internet and social media companies about those advocates.

Today, DOJ filed papers in Washington's federal trial court asking a judge to shut down the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

In support of the request, the government submitted a series of secret declarations to the chambers of the presiding judge, Richard Roberts, articulating why none of the responsive records—including evidence summaries and confidential source statements—should be released to the public. The WikiLeaks investigation, DOJ said, is ongoing.

D.C. Attorney General Defends Payments to Outside Counsel

The District of Columbia attorney general's office today defended the city's compensation of private lawyers in a wrongful arrest case against the city, responding to a request for an investigation lodged earlier this week by the local police union.

In a letter (PDF) sent today to the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, Attorney General Irvin Nathan said that fees paid in the past were appropriate and accused Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Kristopher Baumann of making "incorrect or misleading statements" in his January 28 letter to the inspector general's office.

Nathan wrote that contrary to Baumann's claims that the proceedings had involved potentially criminal issues in recent years – a federal magistrate judge is investigating allegations of evidence mishandling – the case has always been a civil matter. As a result, the fees paid to private lawyers for police officials involved were proper, Nathan said.

Obama Nominates Two for Federal Appellate Judgeships

President Barack Obama has nominated an assistant federal public defender in Iowa and the Wyoming attorney general to become federal circuit court judges, the White House announced today.

Gregory Phillips, the Wyoming attorney general since March 2011, was nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Phillips was an assistant U.S. attorney in Wyoming for eight years before the state's governor selected him to be attorney general. Phillips has argued 19 cases before the Tenth Circuit, and previously worked in private practice, the White House said.

Jane Kelly, an assistant federal public defender in the Northern District of Iowa since 1994, was nominated to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. She has argued numerous appellate cases and motions, and tried 14 cases to a verdict in federal court, the White House said.

Bill Would Tighten Rules for Members of Congress Who Leave to Lobby

Representative Bill Posey (R-Fla.) is again taking aim at his colleagues who leave Capitol Hill to lobby.

Posey this week reintroduced two bills that would place more restrictions on former members of Congress and congressional staffers who become lobbyists. The congressman offered the measures in the last Congress, but they died in committee.

One bill would bar former members and congressional staffers from the federal employee retirement system and other benefits if they are lobbyists. The other measure would extend the "cooling-off" period before they can traverse the Hill as lobbyists.

Judge Dismisses Law Professor's Lawsuit Over Tenure Denial

Updated at 3:11 p.m.

A Washington federal judge dismissed a breach of contract and wrongful termination lawsuit yesterday filed by a former law professor at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law who was denied tenure.

Stephanie Brown sued the university last May, accusing law school officials of violating the faculty handbook in how they handled her tenure evaluation and also of denying her tenure and firing her because of her race and gender. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon denied Brown's request for a preliminary injunction in August and yesterday granted (PDF) the law school's motion to dismiss.

Leon found that the handbook wasn't considered a binding contract under the law. Even if it was, he ruled that Brown's own pleadings showed that the school had followed the tenure review process as detailed in the handbook. Finally, Leon found that Brown failed to present concrete evidence that she was discriminated against as a black woman.

Prosecutors Mounting New Case Against Blackwater Security Guards

The government isn't retreating from a new criminal case against a group of former private security guards who were first charged in 2008 with manslaughter for their alleged roles in a shooting in Iraq that left more than a dozen civilians dead.

The case against the former Blackwater security guards collapsed in late 2009 when a federal trial judge in Washington concluded the government improperly relied on evidence, including protected statements the guards made to government officials in the aftermath of the gunfire. In 2011, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit revived the controversial prosecution.

Prosecutors told a judge today at a hearing that the government is moving forward with a superseding indictment and should have new charges finalized in the next six-to-eight weeks. The prosecution today didn't go into detail whether the scope of the charges would be markedly different from the manslaughter and weapons violations case the government first brought.

Whether or not all five men remain a part of any new case remains unknown. One of the guards, Nicholas Slatten, whom the government dismissed from the earlier prosecution, contends he cannot be brought back into any new case.

Senate Committee to Vote on Appeals Court Nominees, Again

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to once again approve three circuit court nominees, all of whom were first nominated more than a year ago and received what were essentially unanimous votes from the committee last year.

Those nominees – Richard Taranto for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Robert Bacharach for the Tenth Circuit and William Kayatta Jr. for the First Circuit – all had their nominations languish in the full Senate, never getting a confirmation vote for months. To continue to be considered, the White House had to renominate them this session.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee's chairman, is pushing hard to make sure these nominees go through the process as quickly as possible. He put them on the agenda for the first judiciary committee business hearing of the new session Thursday and discouraged more committee hearings on these nominees by threatening to hold them on the weekend.

Huffington Post Moves to Dismiss Lawyer's Defamation Lawsuit

The Huffington Post moved yesterday to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by a Panama-based lawyer, arguing that the site is an "interactive computer service provider" and can't be held liable for third-party content.

Juan Carlos Noriega sued The Huffington Post in December in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Noriega claimed he'd had nothing to do with an article posted on the site in August under his name, and that the company had wrongfully refused to take it down.

The Huffington Post argued in its motion to dismiss (PDF) yesterday that it was immune to Noriega's claims under the federal Communications Decency Act. Even if The Huffington Post contributed to editing or promoting the post in any way, the media company argued that it's protected as long as a third-party provided the actual content.

Appeals Court Affirms $775K Judgment for Injured MLB Umpire

Updated at 1 p.m.

The Wilson Sporting Goods Co., struck out in its appeal of a $775,000 judgment awarded to a Major League Baseball umpire who sued after being injured by a foul ball. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in an opinion (PDF) released this morning.

Edwin Hickox sued Wilson in District of Columbia Superior Court after a foul ball knocked off his Wilson-made face mask during a Washington Nationals game in 2005. A jury sided with Hickox in March 2011 and ordered Wilson to pay $775,000 to Hickox and $25,000 to his wife. Wilson appealed, challenging the admission of an expert who testified for Hickox at trial, among other things.

A three-judge appellate panel upheld the judgment today. Wilson had pointed to flaws in the expert's testimony – such as the fact that he didn't do his own testing of the face masks at issue – but the appeals court found that any deficiencies went to the weight the jury gave that testimony, as opposed to whether it should be admissible.

Today is the Deadline for the NLJ Washington Legal Departments Contest

The National Law Journal is seeking nominations for our Washington Legal Departments of the Year Contest for 2013. We will recognize the Washington region's top in-house departments in six categories. To qualify, the departments must be led by lawyers from the D.C. metro area. Law firms may nominate their clients' legal departments for the contest.

Please send completed submissions to [email protected], and include "Washington" and the company's name in the subject line. The deadline for submissions is today, January 31.

More information on the contest is available here.