Kash Patel to head the FBI

 Kash Patel, the former Miami AFPD, will be nominated to lead the FBI under President Trump.  Here's the CNN article:

President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate firebrand loyalist Kash Patel to serve as FBI director, an extraordinary move that would put a self-described enemy of the so-called “deep state” as the head of the nation’s top law enforcement agency — a role that would give Patel power to carry out Trump’s threats to go after his political opponents.

Trump’s interest in Patel speaks to his urge to fill top law enforcement and intelligence positions with supporters who may be open to carrying out his demands for specific investigations as well as inoculating the president against possible future probes.

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday evening.

Even among Trump loyalists, Patel is widely viewed as a controversial figure and relentless self-promoter whose value to the president-elect largely derives from a shared disdain for established power in Washington. Putting him in charge of the FBI would require forcing out current director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump, before his term expires – prompting bipartisan criticism.

Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton compared Patel to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s leader of secret police, the NKVD, telling CNN: “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan cautioned Sunday that the FBI director should not be subject to the “whims” of politics, but declined to weigh in directly on Patel.

“What makes the FBI director different from most other nominees is they’re not just appointed for one term of a president, they’re appointed for enough time to last past two terms of a president, because they’re supposed to be insulated from politics,” Sullivan told CNN’s Kasie Hunt on “State of the Union.”

Incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley heavily criticized Wray, the current FBI director, saying in a social media post that he “failed” during his tenure. But Grassley added that Kash Patel “must prove to Congress” that he will do better than Wray.The Patel pick almost certainly sets up another potentially explosive confirmation battle in the Senate, where members are already bracing for how they’ll navigate a slew of unorthodox Trump picks. One of those picks, fellow Trump loyalist and Justice Department critic Matt Gaetz, dropped out of the fight to become attorney general as it became clear the former Florida congressman would not have the GOP support necessary for confirmation.

It’s unclear whether Patel could face a similar uphill battle through the confirmation process.

RIP Luis the interpreter and updated information for Troy Walker

Luis, SDFLA's first official Spanish translator, has passed away.  He was a total character.  Would tell witnesses and defendants when they were BS'ing.  Would tell lawyers when they were doing well and when they were messing up.  Was a jury consultant to the lawyers and judge when he was in court.  A character.  RIP Luis.

For those interested in attending services for Troy Walker, here is the information, I received: A memorial service for retired CRD Troy Walker will be held on Saturday, December 7th at 11:00 a.m. 

 Michael Williams Funeral Services 

 4529 Hollywood Blvd Hollywood, FL. 33021 

 954-362-4330 www.mwfuneralservices.com

Jack Smith moves to dismiss Trump document appeal in the 11th Circuit...

 ... but ONLY against Trump, and not co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

It's unclear who will handle the appeal for the United States after Jack Smith and his team are no longer involved.

And it's not altogether clear why Smith isn't moving to dismiss the entire case.

Certainly Trump's DOJ will not pursue this matter once they are in office.

It will be interesting to see how the defendants' lawyers handle it over the next few months and what the 11th Circuit will order.

 

A debate that matters

 Rumpole has a pretty moving post about the Lady Jaguars here, about a group of girls sent from juvenile court to play basketball together.  

Here's another emotional story about a debate between D.C. jail inmates and JMU students about whether life without parole should be abolished:

Harold Cunningham was locked up more than three decades ago and told he would never see the outside of a prison after committing a string of armed robberies and murders.

On Friday, he stood in a courtroom again. But this wasn’t for a trial, or a sentencing, or a motion, or any of the countless reasons he had previously appeared in court.

Cunningham and a dozen other D.C. jail inmates had gathered to do something unusual: debate in a federal courtroom against four students from James Madison University.

Cunningham, who had returned to the correctional facility to await a posttrial motion, stood in a blue polo shirt and khaki pants and argued for the abolishment of life sentences without parole.

“You are looking at the representation of everything that this debate is about,” Cunningham said as people in the overflowing courtroom cried. “All Americans should stand for rehabilitation, not retribution.”

Read the whole article to see who won!

RIP Troy Walker

A sad one... Troy was a great guy.  A long-time CRD and clerk.  Always someone who would help and make you feel good about how an argument just went, even if you got beat up by the judge.  I was a young PD when I first met Troy... and he was always willing to point me (and everyone else) in the right direction.  

Here's the email that Clerk Angela Noble sent to the Court family:

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of retired CRD Troy Walker.  After serving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Troy joined the Clerk’s Office as Records Supervisor in 1983.  Over the years Troy served many departments, including Procurement and Docketing, before transitioning to Courtroom Deputy.  Troy was assigned as CRD to Judge Atkins (1987) and Judge Ferguson (1998).  He later returned to Miami and served as Relief CRD (2001-2004).  After a short time in the private sector, Troy returned to the Clerk’s Office, supporting Magistrate Judge White, as Pro Se Writ Clerk (2006).  Troy later transferred to Ft. Lauderdale to serve as CRD to Magistrate Judge Hunt (2017).  After a long and dedicated career, Troy reluctantly retired in October 2023.  Troy was a loyal friend and an incredible presence around the Courthouse.  He will be deeply missed.

He also worked for Judge Moreno, I believe.

RIP Troy.  You were a good dude.

Embry Kidd confirmed to the 11th Circuit

 Pretty big news regarding the 11th Circuit today. Congratulations are in order for Judge Embry Kidd, confirmed today. He takes Judge Wilson's seat. 

Federalist Society meeting goes off the rails (UPDATED)

UPDATE -- Here's Steve Vladeck's detailed take on the whole thing.

Fifth Circuit Judge Edith Jones went off on Professor Steve Vladeck at a Federalist Society meeting this weekend. But her attack, ironically, was extremely personal. She was upset that Professor Vladeck has been critical of the Shadow Docket and judge-shopping in one-judge venues and equates those critiques with judges needing protection.  

This Law & Crime article has some of the details, although it's hard to summarize just how personal and aggressive Judge Jones appeared.  Here's the video if you'd like to watch.  There's lots to see here, but start at 1:15 some of her most aggressive attacks.  

Judge Jones may not like discussion about areas of the law that seem wrong, but the truth is -- we need law professors to be writing about the courts and exposing these issues so that they can be discussed.  I thought the whole point of the Federalist Society was to have open discussions, not to personally go after those on the other side.  Perhaps that why the Federalist Society had to apologize later that day.  Kudos to Vladeck for standing up to and holding his own against a very hostile judge and panel in an unfriendly environment.

Here's some snippets from the Law & Crime article:

In September, Vladeck, responding to another judge on a popular law blog, argued why he believes this behavior is “problematic.” The law professor highlighted 47 incidents in which Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to stop Biden administration policies.

“Of those 47, zero have been filed where the Texas government is actually located (i.e., Austin),” Vladeck wrote. “[Twenty-four of those lawsuits], including yesterday’s, have been filed in single-judge divisions; another six were filed in divisions where Texas had a 95% chance of drawing a specific judge. And when asked why it keeps filing in these geographically obscure (and unrelated) parts of the state, Texas has publicly conceded that it has nothing to do with that particular forum’s connection to the litigation, but rather is entirely because it wants those judges to hear those cases.”

Jones described this behavior as nothing nefarious — insisting litigants have aimed to choose one judge over another since the period described in the Bible’s book of Genesis.

“Something’s going on here, and it’s very unsavory,” the judge said. “Attacks on the judiciary, I fully agree with the others, are ultimately attacks on the rule of law.”

After that, the panel discussed other matters for a while — but Vladeck steered the conversation back to judge-shopping.

Attempting to inject some levity, the law professor suggested he and the judge should “just go get a beer and have a chat” before stressing that he “never used the term ‘close to unethical’ in describing anyone’s behavior.”

***

Jones, for her part, was unmoved by the argument — or the alcohol-themed entreaty.

“I have studied Professor Vladeck,” the judge said in response — and then theatrically raised a manilla folder with documents askew and poking out. “And this is a file of his articles, amicus briefs, and tweets regarding the process of judge-picking that he criticizes so heavily.”

As she opened the file to rifle through its contents in front of the audience, Jones went on to read several tweets of Vladeck’s, along with the title of one legal article, which she said evidence a series of “attacks” on “the character” of various Republican-appointed judges.

***

“The consequence of all this is that Judge [Mattthew] Kacsmaryk is under 24-hour per day protection,” Jones said — referring to a Trump-appointed judge who hears every case filed in the Northern District of Texas’ Amarillo division. “And he has five kids.”

The implication was clear enough. And the panel grew increasingly tense as the barbs flowed from one to another.

At one point, during the back-and-forth, Vladeck sarcastically thanked the judge for proving his point “about how we’re shouting past each other and not engaging on substance.”

At another point, Jones angrily slammed her hand down on the table to keep the law professor from interjecting.

“I think it’s rather unfortunate what’s happened this afternoon,” Vladeck said in response to Jones’ criticisms. “And I wish that it weren’t so. But I also think that it says a lot about where we are that instead of having a conversation about whether this is a good thing or not, we decide to turn this into a ‘Can I put words into your mouth that make you look bad?’ And it seems like that’s not the kind of debates that I thought the Federalist Society was interested in sponsoring, and I’m disappointed it’s the conversation we’ve had today.”

Jones stuck to her guns.

“The point of attacking these judges is to diminish their reputations, to suggest that the state of Texas and other state attorneys general who filed in these jurisdictions are doing something improper,” she said.

 

Judge Altman to remain Judge for now (UPDATED WITH RESULTS)

Update -- as of 5pm on Thursday, the results are heavily skewed in favor of judge.  88 say judge, 10 say U.S. Attorney, and 3 voted about the same.  Sorry about the results not popping up after you vote.  I tried a new poll and it's not really that good.  

 President Trump decided to go with the likes of Huckabee and Gaetz.

I've also heard talk that he's being considered for U.S. Attorney. Unlike Ambassador and A.G., I'm not sure a district judge would take that slot. But maybe I'm wrong. What do you think: