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The news and some pictures are here, via Howard Bashman.  I understand that Justice Kennedy was the final speaker on a panel about the procedure for issuing Ninth Circuit opinions.  The first speaker talked about how Ninth Circuit opinions are drafted; the second speaker talked about how the opinions are released; and then Justice Kennedy spoke about how the opinions are reversed.

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    19 Comments

    1. Steve says:

      Oh you are funny!

      September 29, 2009, 1:47 pm

    2. troll_dc2 says:

      Will a transcript of the panel discussion be made available? Each of the issues discussed is of interest to me (especially the first two).

      September 29, 2009, 1:48 pm

    4. Le Messurier says:

      Just asking:

      Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was visiting the court on other business.

      Is it really appropriate that a judge from a higher court would be “visiting” a lower court. Seems like an ex parte sort of thing. At least there should be a public record of the meeting(s) don’t you think?.

      September 29, 2009, 2:20 pm

    5. Hadur says:

      This is why I love Orin Kerr.

      September 29, 2009, 2:32 pm

    6. Calderon says:

      Speaking of how Ninth Circuit opinions are drafted, I’ve long heard stories that Judge Kozinski’s opinions go through some stratospheric number of drafts (I’ve literally heard a few hundred drafts for each published opinion) and that his clerks are required to work sweatshop hours (like 8 am to midnight seven days a week). Do any commenters (or VC members) have personal knowledge about the truth of these issues?

      September 29, 2009, 3:26 pm

    7. JRL says:

      That is definitely a modern court building. All those bookshelves with no books.

      September 29, 2009, 3:30 pm

    8. Orin Kerr says:

      Calderon,

      A profile of Judge Kozinski a few years ago had the following description of the hours of a Kozinski clerkship:

      The downside of clerking for Kozinski is that he owns you. The hours are 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., with Friday nights and some Saturday nights off. There have been clerks who have been chewed up and spit out by the pressure. ‘He goes around telling clerks ‘You’re the gold medal clerk, you’re the silver medal, you’re the bronze medal,” one professor said. ‘You subordinate yourself to him and maybe he gets you to the Supreme Court. It’s a Faustian bargain.’

      September 29, 2009, 3:40 pm

    9. Don says:

      Why wasn’t Kennedy spending ALL his time reading petitions for cert. in prep for the 9/29 conference.

      While he may be one of two justices not participating in the clerk pool, he should have been reading petitions.

      September 29, 2009, 3:57 pm

    10. Dave N says:

      Le Messurier: Just asking:Is it really appropriate that a judge from a higher court would be “visiting” a lower court. Seems like an ex parte sort of thing. At least there should be a public record of the meeting(s) don’t you think?.

      I see nothing wrong with it. Justice Kennedy was a Ninth Circuit Judge before he was a Supreme Court Justice. As long as they aren’t chewing the fat about pending cases, I see no more harm with his visit than with the President and the Vice President visiting the Supreme Court recently.

      September 29, 2009, 6:18 pm

    11. Bryan Gividen says:

      Orin,

      Thanks for the link on Judge Kozinski. Incredibly interesting read on probably one of the two most famous appellate judges, the other being Judge Posner of course. Whatever you think of the man, there’s no denying he is an entertainer.

      Bryan

      September 29, 2009, 6:27 pm

    12. OrinKerr says:

      Is it really appropriate that a judge from a higher court would be “visiting” a lower court. Seems like an ex parte sort of thing. At least there should be a public record of the meeting(s) don’t you think?.

      Justice Kennedy is the Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit: There is nothing inappropriate with him visiting.

      September 29, 2009, 6:38 pm

    13. ChrisTS says:

      OK at #8: Isn’t this the character of the ‘Devil’ in “The Devil Wears Pravda”?

      September 29, 2009, 6:52 pm

    14. DNJ says:

      OrinKerr:
      Justice Kennedy is the Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit: There is nothing inappropriate with him visiting.

      Indeed. He is in fact entitled to sit as a Judge of the Court (and when sitting takes precedence over all other judges, including the Chief Judge). I think most Circuit Justices don’t sit very often on their Courts of Appeals.

      September 29, 2009, 10:12 pm

    15. public_defender says:

      . . . and then Justice Kennedy spoke about how the opinions are reversed.

      Maybe you should have written, “and then Justice Kennedy spoke about how [a tiny fraction of] the opinions are reversed.”

      As Judge Reinhardt has pointed, “They can’t catch them all.“

      September 30, 2009, 3:11 am

    16. Dave N says:

      Public Defender,

      Indeed, on many occassions the Ninth Circuit actually gets it right. But the Court is infamous for the cases it gets very wrong–and in my experience, Judges Reinhardt, Pregerson, and their ilk usually have their fingers in the “very wrong” ones.

      September 30, 2009, 7:25 am

    17. Sara says:

      7.JRL says:
      That is definitely a modern court building.

      Actually, it’s a Victorian-Neoclassial pile.

      September 30, 2009, 4:05 pm

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