Judicial News

In judicial news today:

1. A very odd move:

Prominent federal appeals court judge J. Michael Luttig, who was on the short list for a seat on the Supreme Court, has delivered a letter of resignation to President Bush, effective immediately.

Luttig, 51, has taken a position as senior vice president and general counsel of Boeing Co., and will move with his family to Chicago.

I suspect that salary was involved. Reminds me of a story involving Luttig and John Roberts from a few years back:

[Luttig] has a sense of humor: A few years ago, he "applied" for a first-year associate's job at Hogan & Hartson, which, he suspected, would pay more than the salary of a federal appeals judge. Responding in kind, Hogan partner John Roberts Jr. turned Luttig down, informing him that first-year associates normally lack life tenure, are not assigned a battery of law clerks to assist them, and don't wear black robes -- even on casual Fridays.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more moves like Luttig's in the future, if judicial salaries fall even further behind the private sector.


2. A former partner from my law firm is being nominated to the Tenth Circuit. In addition to his many accomplishments, he is a very congenial person, and I'm sure he'll make a fine judge:

President Bush is expected to nominate attorney and legal scholar Neil Gorsuch to take a seat on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Sen. Wayne Allard announced late Tuesday.

Gorsuch, who has a long paper trail of writings opposing euthanasia and judicial activism, currently serves in the U.S. Department of Justice as a principal deputy to the associate attorney general.

* * *

Allard, a Republican, praised Neil Gorsuch's legal credentials. Gorsuch earned a law degree from Harvard University and a doctorate in legal philosophy from the University of Oxford. He has been a clerk to two U.S. Supreme Court justices, fellow Coloradan Byron White and current Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.