UPDATE -- David Lat's original post has a number of updates and he has written "an epic" follow-up post about Cannon and her clerks here.
The legal community is abuzz with this David Lat report that two of Judge Cannon's law clerks have resigned:
Judge Cannon has had at least two law clerks quit on her, according to multiple sources—including individuals who serve in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, where she sits.
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What does Judge Cannon have to say about clerks quitting on her? Over the past few days, I have sent multiple emails to the Public Information Office for the Southern District of Florida and to Judge Cannon’s chambers, requesting comment on reports that at least two of her clerks have departed before the scheduled end of their clerkships. I have received read receipts, but no responses (even though, in my experience, subjects are eager to warn me off bad information—for which I’m always grateful). If I do hear back, I will immediately update this post, of course.
I should be clear about what I don’t know. My sources have been circumspect so far, and despite my best efforts, I have been unable to determine precisely why these clerks quit, when they departed, and if they have already been replaced or the Cannon chambers is operating short-staffed.3
But based on my experience, I believe that once the fact of the clerks’ quitting becomes public, the floodgates will open. Details about the Cannon clerk departures will become more widely known, whether reported by me or others. Additional information about other personnel issues in her chambers—possibly involving employees other than clerks, such as judicial assistants or courtroom deputies—could emerge. So one reason I’ve decided to publish this post, despite lacking certain key details, is to prime the pump—to encourage sources to come forward with more information, and to encourage other journalists to follow up on my reporting.
10 comments:
Karma. The truth will out like it was shot out of a ( wait for it )
cannon!
Stop piling on, its ridiculous.
They failed to include her court reporter and Her First Judicial Aid also left her.
Interesting this story broke at the same time as the president's most recent nomination. Lawyers at Kozyak's firm also strongly supported Cannon's nomination.
A fun bit of gossip. I'm not sure if I want more of this from the federal bench or less. I like the transparency aspect of knowing what's happening behind the scenes. But, it also cheapens the fed bench and brings it down to state court shenanigans level (yuck).
Merits aside, would people be as quick to attack her intelligence, or call out her management style, if she were a man? I don’t think so.
I do not think people have been quick to do it. But her youth and gender probably play a role. This is in a particular high profile context, a case about the person who appointed her and two bizarre rulings. There has been plenty of gossip about the intelligence and style of male judges through the years.
3:58, this is a blog for mostly lawyers. We don't care about the demographics of a judge, but rather whether they have the brains for the job, do the job, and treat participants (like us) well or badly. Cannon's failures are the result of a cynical appointment to the bench for political agenda reasons, camouflaged as a supposed diversity appointment. Which is known as a "Clarence Thomas." Did you know the Republicans appointed him to replace Thurgood Marshall? Consider whether you are vulnerable to exploitation of sympathies when you are focused on diversity.
There are PLENTY of qualified MINORITY female Federal attorneys that do not yell at their staff nor complain about needing more cream with their tea!
She's a carpet bagger plant.
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