Solomon Amendment opinion

The New York Times reported today that "Colleges Can Bar Army Recruiters" after a Third Circuit opinion issued yesterday. Personally, I like Judge Aldisert's dissent.

Religious law schools

The New York Times reports today that some new law schools are "Giving the Law a Religious Perspective." No mention of BYU Law School, however.

No-go for Griffith?

The Salt Lake Tribune reported today that "Hatch comes up short on judgeship" with respect to BYU general counsel Tom Griffith's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Washington Post sees new controversy on Griffith

The Washington Post reports today "Court Nominee Gave False Data, Text Shows." The Post honed in on D.C. Circuit nominee Tom Griffith's response to a Utah bar application form question in which Griffith stated his license had never been suspended in another jurisdiction. Actually, his D.C. bar license was suspended from 1998 to 2001.

All Griffith, all the time

The Deseret Morning News reports "Demos no-show at Griffith hearing." Meanwhile, The Salt Lake Tribune story is headlined "Fed court nominee Griffith defends lapsed law license."

Hatch's statement

You can access Senator Hatch's prepared statement on Tom Griffith here.

Hatch's ploy

Hatch is apparently relying on Democrats not to shoot down Griffith's nomination. Hatch said, "We'll do our very best to get all three of you through . . . before the end of this session. I hope my colleagues will honor me with the respect of being able to do that."

Hatch has been very accommodating to the Democrats, especially New York senators Clinton and Schumer. Hatch allowed Clinton to interrupt Griffith's testimony in order to speak about another nominee, Paul Crotty. Hatch's strategy is brilliant here: He has brought up not just one nominee but rather three: Griffith, Crotty and Michael Seabright. He's in effect telling Democrats: You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours. If no Democrats oppose Griffith, then Hatch will lend his full support to Crotty, the favorite of Schumer and Clinton who has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Griffith

"I've tried to be as careful as I can," Griffith continued.

Hatch is tossing Griffith some softballs and helping him along.

Griffith says, "I care too much about my clients to do anything that would put them at risk. If I thought my client -- and now my client is Brigham Young University -- would be jeopardized, I wouldn't do it."

Hatch then says that Randy Dryer, one of the past presidents of the Utah bar, is present at today's hearing and supports Griffith's nomination.

Hatch: "I've been here during all those years you were Senate legal counsel, and some of those years were difficult years." Hatch then referred to the Clinton impeachment trial. "I happen to know that both sides thought you acted honorably and professionally during that very difficult time for all of us. My experience with you has been that you are a person of the highest moral, ethical and legal status. So naturally, not just because of our friendship, I would support you for any court in this land. I think you would add a great dimension to the circuit court of appeals for the District of Columbia."

Hatch: "As far as I'm concerned you are a member of this Senate family and you deserve to be confirmed. So I will do everything in my power to see that you are."

Griffith said he was "very pleased at long last" to be able to explain the lapse in his bar dues.

Hatch pointed out a large number of letters of support for Griffith.

Hatch on Griffith

The questions to Tom Griffith about his lapse of bar dues were interrupted briefly while Senator Clinton of New York gushed over a district court nominee from New York.

Then Hatch got back to Griffith. Hatch said Griffith was unfairly treated over the bar dues lapse scandal.

Then Hatch proceeded to grill Griffith on why he told the Utah State Bar that he had never been disciplined or suspended from any bar. "The thought never occurred to me that that might cover this administrative action," Griffith said.

Then Griffith started talking about the Senate Judiciary Committee questionaire he filled out, and he says he told the senators his bar dues had lapsed and that's how the issue came to light. He thought the question on the Utah bar form dealt only with disciplinary actions.

"Have you ever been disciplined in any way by any bar association?" Hatch asked.

"No sir," Griffith said.

Then Griffith said the D.C. bar disciplines hundreds of lawyers, including sitting judges, for not paying dues.

Hatch said, "You've been criticized by some for not being a member of the Utah bar."

Griffith responded, "I have never engaged in the unlawful practice of law. When I accepted the position ... with Brigham Young University, it was my understanding that, in Utah, in-house counsel need not be licensed, provided that when legal advice is given, it's done so in conjunction with active members of the Utah bar."

He says he organized his office to closely associate himself with active members of the Utah bar. He has four other attorneys on staff at BYU that are active members of the Utah bar. He also hires outside counsel. "I do that whenever I am anywhere close to doing legal work, and especially so on those rare instances when I have to get involved in a matter with the Utah bar."

He says that as assistant to the president at BYU, he is not engaged in the practice of law most of the time.

More Griffith

Griffith is placing some of the blame for the non-payment of his bar dues on his former law firm Wiley Rein & Fielding in D.C. He says he first learned the bar dues were not paid in 2001. That was when he sought a certificate of good standing from the D.C. bar. "It was an administrative matter; it was certainly not a disciplinary matter. Having said all that, I bear responsibility. . . . I should not have relied on others to do it. I don't rely on anybody to pay my bar dues now. I know that D.C. bar dues are due July 1 of each year. . . . I take my membership in the bar and obligations to the bar seriously. I deeply regret that . . . this problem happened."

Then Senator Hatch said, "I appreciate that explanation. That should wipe away any concerns." Hatch then said, "I am going to have to pay attention to my own notices."

Griffith speaking right now

I'm watching the live webcast of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on BYU general counsel Tom Griffith's nomination as a judge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. I just heard him say to the senators, "I deeply regret that my bar dues were not paid." He then said, "In 1998, senator, I don't know what happened. I have no recall of receiving a notice ... that my bar dues were due or past due."

Lame-duck Judiciary Committee to meet

Some time after 8:30 a.m. EST tomorrow, Tuesday, November 16, 2004, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Tom Griffith, BYU general counsel, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The nominations of two other federal judges also will be discussed. This is rather unusual after an election and before the new Congress begins.

No blogging this weekend

I will take a break from blogging until Monday, November 15, as I travel to New York City.

Rocky's evolution continues

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson, who used to be an ACLU lawyer ostensibly fighting for society's underprivileged and disenfranchised, has nearly completed one of the most remarkable evolutions ever in Utah politics: He has become the ultimate embodiment of the establishment. Now, Rocky is leading a fight in the Utah Legislature to further restrict the public's access to government documents, as reported in today's Deseret Morning News story "More limits sought on public records." Bad idea, Rocky.

Lawsuit over testing is moot

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that "10th Circuit halts SUWA's lawsuit over seismic testing." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in a non-precedential opinion available here, held last week that expiration of an oil-and-gas testing permit issued by the Bureau of Land Management made the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's challenge of the permit moot.

Hatch and Leavitt to change jobs?

Could Senator Orrin Hatch be the next U.S. Attorney General? How about former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt as Interior Secretary or Secretary of Homeland Security? The Salt Lake Tribune speculates here.

Disappointment

It's like walking outside in the morning to pick up the newspaper off the porch ... and not finding it there. When I went to read The Salt Lake Tribune today online, I got this message: "The Salt Lake Tribune is temporarily unavailable as a result of routine maintenance." Do they have to do that in the middle of the day?

Utah Supreme Court: No guns for restricted persons

The Utah Supreme Court held today that it is not an unconstitutional restriction of the individual right to bear arms for the state to prohibit possession of firearms by "restricted persons" -- those who have been convicted of a felony, for example, and are on probation. The case is State v. Willis.

News reporters as public figures

Here's a twist: The Utah Supreme Court is considering a case in which a television news organization, KTVX Ch. 4 (an ABC affiliate), claims that one of its former news reporters is a public figure, and therefore, must show that KTVX acted with actual malice in making allegedly defamatory statements about the reporter. The Deseret Morning News provides coverage of yesterday's oral arguments in this case here.

New York Times covers Utah drought

According to The New York Times, the drought in Utah has done wonders for the movement to drain Lake Powell. In this rather long story (free registration required), "Drought Unearths a Buried Treasure," the Times chronicles the five-year-long drought that has shrunk Lake Powell to about half its former size. The Times story predicts the lake could continue to shrink to less than half its current size, or one-fourth what it was in 1999.

Patience

The Salt Lake Tribune reports "Utah voters may have to be patient." According to the story, we may not know the outcome of today's election for president, Salt Lake County mayor and other races until at least tomorrow.