Southern District snubbed

Ah well... no judge from the Southern District of Florida or from the State of Florida was nominated tonight. Maybe next time... In the meantime, we get Judge Roberts, who easily will be confirmed. And he should be. He's smart and qualified (Harvard College and Harvard Law, clerk to Rehnquist, SG's office, argued 39 cases before the Supremes, Hogan & Hartson, DC Circuit), he's got a great judicial temperment; he was unanimously confirmed for the DC circuit; and the dems (hopefully) aren't crazy enough to cry wolf, when they could have gotten someone much worse. The usual suspects, How Appealing, SCTNomination, Talkleft, and Sentencing Law & Policy, have all the scoop. Here is one recent case of his, which I lifted from SCTNomination: United States v. Mellen, 393 F.3d 175 (D.C. Cir. 2004) - Writing for the majority over a dissent by Judge Henderson, Judge Roberts found that the district court had erred in attributing to the defendant the value of all of the goods stolen by his wife and stored in their shared home. Judge Roberts held that mere knowledge was insufficient to render the defendant responsible for the goods. Instead, the government had to establish that he had agreed to participate in the conspiracy or taken affirmative steps to facilitate the crime.