1. The 3rd Circuit makes filing deadlines 5pm. I hate this rule. It won't help lawyers and will just move the deadline to a day earlier. Even my kids can upload their papers until 11:59 at night. Here's the rule and the reasons for it.
2. Former Judge Michael Luttig says the Supreme Court really needs an ethics code. Here's the actual statement. From the conclusion:
Whether the Supreme Court is subject to ethical standards of conduct or not is emphatically not a partisan political issue and must not become one. But just as emphatically, the issue of the Court’s ethical standards of conduct does not present a constitutional question, much less one of any constitutional moment. This is not to say that the issue and question of whether the Supreme Court should be bound to ethical standards in its non-judicial conduct and activities is not important. It is unquestionably important. It is even of surpassing importance. But it ought not be thought of as anything more – and certainly nothing less -- than the housekeeping that is necessary to maintain a Republic.
Lest the Congress and the Supreme Court ill serve the nation in the course of attempting to resolve the constitutionally fraught question before them, they should together address the question with the solemnity and wisdom that the question deserves and requires. If they do but this, they will almost assuredly conclude that the answer they seek is the answer they both should want.
3. Gov. DeSantis expands the death penalty... and it looks to be unconstitutional. Via the WaPo:
The measure, which overwhelmingly passed the Florida legislature last month with bipartisan support, gives state prosecutors the option of seeking the death penalty if an adult is found guilty of the sexual battery of a child.
The law will still go into effect even though it is unconstitutional. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5 to 4 decision that struck down a Louisiana law that allowed a child rapist to be sentenced to death, barring states from executing child sex predators unless they also murdered their victims.
5 comments:
Local rules serve one purpose - to make the lives of lawyers more difficult. They should be abolished. Barring that ever happening, how about this: "documents filed between 5pm and midnight are considered timely but filed the next day for purposes of any party filing a response."
Nobody is reading your stupid motion if it is filed at 5 versus 11. Fucking stupid. And, the clock does start ticking the next day anyhow.
I'm personally opposed to the death penalty but (1) SCOTUS's 2008 decision is poorly reasoned and (2) the current court would likely overturn it. Perhaps that's Florida's game plan.
Strongly disagree about the criticism over the 5 pm deadline. Attorneys are notorious for waiting until just before a deadline to meet the deadline and my experience has borne that out. My fellow associates, counsel, and paralegals are always pleased when we have a case with a case management order or a local rule that requires an early deadline. All a midnight deadline allows is for undisciplined partners to provide comments late into the evening, while junior attorneys and paralegals standby to turn such comments and scramble to file. Yes, some partner provide timely comments and we can file during daylight hours, but that seems more the exception than the rule. Electronic filing's pros far outweigh its cons, but there is something positive to say about the old rules that required hard-filings with clerks of court in person.
Moreover, under your reasoning, it would be just as sensible to move the deadline to 5:59 am the next day. But the last thing we need is to encourage attorneys (or children, in your example) to stay up all night because they procrastinated until the last minute.
At first read, I didn't like the 5th Circuit's rule, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. Two reasons stand out, one pointed out by the Circuit court and the other is consistent with what 922am above says.
The court noted that "insofar as over half of the Court’s litigants are pro se, many of whom cannot or will not use the Court’s CM/ECF system (and attorneys must use the system), the rule largely equalizes the filing deadlines for pro se litigants and attorneys". I think this should really appeal to defense minded attorneys. Keeping the midnight deadline effectively gives the government 7 extra hours to work on briefs/responses than pro se criminal defendants. F**k that.
The 5pm deadline imposes some little bit of work/life balance on the practice of law. Get your business done during business hours and go home to your family.
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