A, B, C, D, F, U

That was district judge Thomas Ludington when asked to say the alphabet after being pulled over for DUI.  From Bloomberg:

Michigan federal Judge Thomas L. Ludington recited a portion of the alphabet as “A, B, C, D, F, U” during a field sobriety test following his 2025 drunken-driving crash, a state police report revealed.

He also twice identified himself as a federal judge after the arresting trooper and other law enforcement arrived at his damaged car, struggled to follow directions, and didn’t remember crashing or his airbags deploying, according to a report released Thursday that provided new details about the incident.

The Eastern District of Michigan judge was arrested in Emmet County, where he has a cottage, and a post-crash test showed a blood-alcohol content of 0.27—far above the legal limit of 0.08.

In local news, The Trump v. JP Morgan suit got removed to federal court.  Chief Judge Altonaga has it.

And finally, the Tom Goldstein jury has the case.  Holly Barker, who has covered the case gavel to gavel, reported on the closings here:

Prolific US Supreme Court litigator Tom Goldstein engaged in a “textbook tax evasion scheme” that he executed “almost flawlessly,” prosecutors told jurors at the close of his criminal case Wednesday.

You don’t have to “check your common sense” at the door, Justice Department lawyer Sean Beaty told jurors at closing argument. “How is it possible that someone who can argue the most complex cases at the Supreme Court can’t understand his legal obligation to pay his taxes on time and not lie to the IRS?”

The trial, in its sixth week in the US District Court for the District of Maryland, will head to jurors for deliberations on Thursday.

Beaty cataloged instances that Goldstein had been dishonest with people in his life—something he’d also done while cross-examining the SCOTUSblog co-founder.

“If this case comes down to credibility, there is no reason to believe Tom Goldstein,” he said. “He lied to people when he wanted something from them,” and now he “wants something from this jury.”


Goldstein’s counsel, Jonathan Kravis, countered in his closing argument that the government was attempting to mislead jurors.

Among other things, the government attempted to mislead jurors about where the loan applications at issue were signed, Kravis said.

Travel records put Goldstein in the US Virgin Islands when one of the applications was signed, and records show another application was signed in Washington, DC.

The government’s only evidence that Goldstein was in Maryland when the other applications was signed is the IP address associated with the e-filing. But the IP address isn’t reliable because it was the same even when Goldstein was out of the country.

The government could have obtained cellphone data to place Goldstein, but they didn’t. It’s just another investigative step the government failed to take, Kravis said.

When Goldstein took the stand, and the prosecution finally had the chance to ask him any question it wanted to, it “flinched,” Kravis told the jury.

Instead of confronting Goldstein about his gambling calculations, misclassified transactions, or the “actual charges” in the case, they asked about his spending.

“Why? Because at the end of the day, they got nothing,” Kravis said.

The government’s only evidence that Goldstein was in Maryland when the other applications was signed is the IP address associated with the e-filing. But the IP address isn’t reliable because it was the same even when Goldstein was out of the country.

The government could have obtained cellphone data to place Goldstein, but they didn’t. It’s just another investigative step the government failed to take, Kravis said.

When Goldstein took the stand, and the prosecution finally had the chance to ask him any question it wanted to, it “flinched,” Kravis told the jury.

Instead of confronting Goldstein about his gambling calculations, misclassified transactions, or the “actual charges” in the case, they asked about his spending.

“Why? Because at the end of the day, they got nothing,” Kravis said.

Judge Norman C. Roettger

By John R. Byrne

I never appeared before Judge Roettger but people told me that he was often armed while sitting on the bench. That got my attention. There was also his magnificent handlebar mustache, rendered perfectly in the portrait below. 

Judge Roettger was serving as Chief Judge of the district when the planning for the "new" Miami federal courthouse began. He chose Judge Moore to oversee the project, which ultimately produced the Wilkie D., where his portrait now hangs with the portraits of the other chief judges. 

FBA write up below.

Judge Norman C. Roettger was nominated to the district court by President Nixon and served from 1972 to 2003, including a term as chief judge from 1991 to 1997. Prior to his legal career, Judge Roettger served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. In Beck v. Prupis, 529 U.S. 494 (2000), the Supreme Court affirmed Judge Roettger’s decision, holding that firing someone as part of a RICO conspiracy isn’t enough to sue under civil RICO unless the firing itself was racketeering or otherwise independently wrongful under RICO.

Horsefeathers!

There's always a lot of debate about whether judges should be writing colorful opinions.  There's this opinion from yesterday referencing Orwell's 1984:

As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto “Ignorance is Strength,” this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims—to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not. The President’s House is a component of Independence National Historical Park that commemorates the site of the first official presidential residence and the people who lived there, including people enslaved by President George Washington. On January 22, 2026, the National Park Service (“NPS”) removed panels, displays, and video exhibits that referenced slavery and information about the individuals enslaved at the President’s House. 

The Hill reported about Judge Rufe's opinion here:

A federal judge ordered the National Park Service to restore exhibits about slaves who lived at the nation’s one-time executive mansion in Philadelphia, agreeing with the city that the Trump administration likely unlawfully removed the displays.

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe invoked the dystopian novel “1984” as she blocked the Trump administration from changing or damaging the site, which is now an outdoor exhibition.

And then Lawfare covered Judge Leon's use of exclamation marks:

U.S. District Senior Judge Richard Leon loves exclamation marks. He uses a lot of them. Back in May, he opened his opinion striking down President Trump’s executive order targeting the law firm of WilmerHale with the statement, “The cornerstone of the American system of justice is an independent judiciary and an independent bar willing to tackle unpopular cases, however daunting. The Founding Fathers knew this!” The opinion also contained such memorable phrases as, “The causal chain contains at most two links, and it is certainly not highly attenuated!” and “All warrant summary judgment for WilmerHale!” 

Yesterday, Judge Leon struck again, this time in the civil case brought by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The 29-page order, which enjoins Hegseth from attempting to reduce the senator’s retirement pay for having made a video reminding servicemembers that they don’t have to follow illegal orders, contains no fewer than 14 sentences punctuated with an exclamation mark. Here they all are—some with a little context added, some nakedly unadorned:

• “Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much less a retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military. This Court will not be the first to do so!”
• “To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!”
• “Here, Senator Kelly's First Amendment claim presents a justiciable controversy!”
• “To say the least, those issues are in the wheelhouse of Article III courts, not military officials!”
• “Third, the outcome of the administrative process would, in all likelihood, be a fait accompli!”
• “Second, ‘the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration’ is severe!”
• “As applied to a sitting Member of Congress, the Parker rule has even less force!”
• “Indeed, if legislators do not feel free to express their views and the views of their constituents without fear of reprisal by the Executive, our representative system of Government cannot function!”
• “Defendants respond that Senator Kelly is seeking to exempt himself from the rules of military justice that ‘Congress has expressly made applicable to retired servicemembers.’ Horsefeathers!”
• “The First Amendment ‘is a limitation on the power of Congress,’ . . ., not the other way around!”
• “There is no question that such actions would deter ‘a person of ordinary firmness in plaintiff's position.’ . . . Indeed, they already have. Per an amicus brief submitted by forty-one retired officers, many veterans are today ‘declining’ to ‘participate in public debate on important and contested issues’ out of fear of ‘official reprisal.’ That is a troubling development in a free country!”
• “Defendants also argue that Senator Kelly has pied himself out of irreparable injury by asserting that he ‘intends to continue to speak on matters of public concern’ and ‘will not be silenced.’ Please!”
• “Put simply, Defendants' response is anemic!”
• “If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights!”

All In

Supreme Court advocate and SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein took the witness stand in his own defense yesterday at his federal criminal trial in Greenbelt, Maryland, marking one of the most dramatic moments yet in a case that has captivated both the legal world and public audiences alike.

Facing a 16-count indictment that includes tax evasion, failure to pay taxes, preparation of false tax returns, and making false statements on mortgage applications, Goldstein took the stand after the government rested its case.

Goldstein acknowledged his long involvement in professional poker — moments that propelled him into both major winnings and equally massive losses — but insisted that at no point did he willfully break the law.

Throughout the testimony, Goldstein described:

• his reliance on accountants and office managers to handle tax filings, which he admitted he disliked doing himself;

• his passion for poker as a “weirdly intellectual thing,” where strategy and risk-taking are part of the game;

• his decades of legal practice — including arguing more than 40 cases before the United States Supreme Court — before retiring in 2023.

Perhaps most striking was his admission that he omitted significant gambling debts on mortgage applications to keep them from his wife. This candid acknowledgment was offered in context, he said, not as evidence of criminal intent but as personal discretion about private affairs.

Holly Barker from Bloomberg covered it in depth here.  Cross today.

Judge Peter T. Fay

 By John R. Byrne

An SDFLA trivia question: which judges served on our district court before being elevated to the appellate court (5th or 11th Circuit)? 

One such judge is Judge Peter T. Fay.  Judge Fay's Senate confirmation hearing for his district court post was held on October 13, 1970. There must have been something in the water they served on Capitol Hill that day because, like Judge Fay, the other judges who appeared with him before the committee (Judge Tjoflat and Judge King) also served on the federal bench for over fifty years (with Tjoflat and King still serving). 

In the above photograph, from left to right, is Judge King, Judge Paul Roney, U.S. Senator Spessard Holland, U.S. Senator Edward Gurney (who was my great Uncle, randomly enough), Judge Fay, and Judge Tjoflat.

Judge Fay was also an excellent athlete and is in the Rollins College sports Hall of Fame for basketball, football, and, believe it or not, water skiing. FBA write up below.

Judge Peter T. Fay was nominated by President Nixon to the district court in 1970. Prior to his judicial service, Judge Fay served in the Air Force as a lieutenant. He served as a district judge until 1976, when President Ford nominated him to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (which later split to form the Eleventh). In N.L.R.B. v. Crockett-Bradley, Inc., 598 F. 2d. 971 (5th Cir. 1979), Judge Fay denied the National Labor Relations Board’s request to hold an employer in contempt, finding that the inability to reach an agreement is not alone evidence of a bad-faith refusal to bargain. At the time of Judge Fay’s death, he was one of just 26 federal judges to have served on the bench for fifty years.

KBJ attended the Grammys

And people freaked out -- even though she was nominated for an award.  Sen. Marsha Blackburn is calling for an investigation!  From The Hill:

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) called for an investigation Thursday into Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for attending the Grammy Awards, where various artists criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Jackson was nominated in the Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording category for her memoir “Lovely One.” The Grammy award went to the Dalai Lama for “Mediations: The Reflections of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”

“Americans deserve a Supreme Court that is impartial and above political influence,” Blackburn wrote on social platform X. “When a Justice participates in such a highly politicized event, it raises ethical questions. We need an investigation into Justice Jackson’s ability to remain impartial.”

Blackburn also sent a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts “to conduct a thorough investigation” into the ethics of Jackson’s attendance at the award show and her “ability to remain impartial with respect to immigration matters that come before the Court.”

“For the following reasons, I urge you to conduct a thorough investigation into Justice Jackson’s attendance at this event and whether her presence at such an event complies with the obligation that a Supreme Court justice ‘act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,'” Blackburn’s letter to Roberts reads, according to a statement from her office.

 

"This job sucks."

That was an AUSA in Minnesota to the Court.  Bloomberg covers it here:

A US government attorney expressed unusual frustration in a courtroom proceeding about the difficulty in ensuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement complies with rulings ordering the release of migrants detained in the Trump administration’s Minnesota enforcement operation.

“The system sucks, this job sucks,” Julie Le, an attorney representing the US attorney’s office in Minnesota, said Tuesday in response to a federal judge’s questions on situations where courts have found ICE violated court orders in migrants’ cases, according to a person who was in the courtroom.

Le, who has been helping the US attorney’s office handle habeas petitions from migrants in Minnesota, compared pushing ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to comply as pulling teeth, and said she wished US District Judge Jerry Blackwell would hold her in contempt so she could get 24 hours of sleep, the person in the room said.

Le’s uncommon remarks come amid reports of new mass resignations of federal prosecutors in Minnesota. Justice Department lawyers have also struggled with a flood of habeas petitions related to the Trump administration’s crackdown of undocumented migrants, known as Operation Metro Surge.

The hearing Tuesday dealt with five separate habeas petitions from detained migrants, each of whom were transferred to other states as the US District Court for the District of Minnesota ordered their release. Blackwell called the hearing to determine how to move forward to ensure the administration complies with migrant release orders.

And here is the transcript.

Meantime, the U.S. Attorney's office in Miami is hiring!

🌟We are hiring! 🌟
👉Learn more here: https://t.co/EVfFGX8jEj pic.twitter.com/fhT0VgWsNx

— US Attorney Reding Quiñones (@USAO_SDFL) February 3, 2026

Judge James Lawrence King

By John R. Byrne

The portrait project launched by the South Florida Chapter of the FBA continues this week with a focus on Senior Judge James Lawrence King. President Nixon nominated Judge King to the bench in 1970 and he's been serving ever since, going on 55-plus years now, which is just an incredible run. In 1996, Congress designated the Miami Federal Justice Building as the "James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building" (which most everyone just calls the "King Building"). With that many years on the bench, Judge King's clerkship family is quite large and several of his law clerks have gone on to impressive careers here in Miami.

FBA write up below:

Judge James L. King is the first of our featured judges who is still serving our district as a senior judge. Judge King is a Miami native. He graduated from Redlands High School before attending the University of Florida for both his undergraduate and law degrees. Judge King served in the Air Force as a Judge Advocate General and then entered private practice. He was nominated to the district court by President Nixon in 1970. Judge King has written many notable rulings in his time on the bench, including ruling in Alexandre v. Republic of Cuba, 996 F. Supp. 1239 (Dec. 17, 1997), that relatives of the Brothers to the Rescue pilots shot down by the Cuban Air Force could sue Cuba for wrongful death. On April 30, 1996, the United States Congress renamed the Federal Justice Building at 99 N.E. 4th Street in Miami the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building.