The Volokh Conspiracy - Who Was the Fed Soc Heckler?:

During Attorney General Mukasey's speech at the Federalist Society annual banquet last Thursday, an older gentleman seated in the middle of the room stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, "TYRANT! YOU ARE A TYRANT!" Some in the crowd told the man to sit down, and he eventually did. Soon after, he left the room.

With word that the Attorney General has recovered from what apparently was just a fainting spell, blogospheric speculation has turned to identifying the heckler. James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal was just a few tables away, and he made the case yesterday that the heckler was none other than Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Sanders, who I have previously characterized as "one of the most libertarian state Supreme Court Justices." (For VC coverage of some of Sanders' recent solo opinions, see here and here.)

At it happens, I was at the same table as Taranto, but I couldn't identify the heckler. At the same time, this post at the WSJ Law Blog this morning seems to be pretty strong evidence that Sanders was in fact the individual in question:

The Law Blog on Monday caught up with [Justice Sanders]. Sanders didn't confirm that he was the one who shouted at Mukasey, but didn't deny it, either. He said he had "no comment except to say that having reviewed the video of the speech" on the Federalist Society's web site, "it doesn't appear that whatever was said was heard by [Attorney] General Mukasey. I left the dinner before the General unfortunately collapsed." He added that "in my mind a heckler is someone who is making repeated comments audible to the speaker [and] you'll see that that just didn't happen." . . . . When asked why he left the room in the middle of Mukasey's speech, Sanders told us he simply "wanted to go to my [hotel] room."
Sanders, a Federalist Society member for several years, told the Law Blog: "Their war on terrorism is out of my professional department. We don't hear cases on that. In that respect, I'm a private citizen and I have my views."

Looking on the bright side, I suppose this means Justice Sanders won't mind if you show up at one of his many speeches and stand and yell at him from the audience. At least if you do not do it "repeatedly."

Hat tip: How Appealing.

	[Orin Kerr, November 25, 2008 at 1:44pm] Trackbacks Who Was the Fed Soc Heckler?: During Attorney General Mukasey's speech at the Federalist Society annual banquet last Thursday, an older gentleman seated in the middle of the room stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, "TYRANT! YOU ARE A TYRANT!" Some in the crowd told the man to sit down, and he eventually did. Soon after, he left the room. With word that the Attorney General has recovered from what apparently was just a fainting spell, blogospheric speculation has turned to identifying the heckler. James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal was just a few tables away, and he made the case yesterday that the heckler was none other than Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Sanders, who I have previously characterized as "one of the most libertarian state Supreme Court Justices." (For VC coverage of some of Sanders' recent solo opinions, see here and here.) At it happens, I was at the same table as Taranto, but I couldn't identify the heckler. At the same time, this post at the WSJ Law Blog this morning seems to be pretty strong evidence that Sanders was in fact the individual in question: The Law Blog on Monday caught up with [Justice Sanders]. Sanders didn't confirm that he was the one who shouted at Mukasey, but didn't deny it, either. He said he had "no comment except to say that having reviewed the video of the speech" on the Federalist Society's web site, "it doesn't appear that whatever was said was heard by [Attorney] General Mukasey. I left the dinner before the General unfortunately collapsed." He added that "in my mind a heckler is someone who is making repeated comments audible to the speaker [and] you'll see that that just didn't happen." . . . . When asked why he left the room in the middle of Mukasey's speech, Sanders told us he simply "wanted to go to my [hotel] room." Sanders, a Federalist Society member for several years, told the Law Blog: "Their war on terrorism is out of my professional department. We don't hear cases on that. In that respect, I'm a private citizen and I have my views." Looking on the bright side, I suppose this means Justice Sanders won't mind if you show up at one of his many speeches and stand and yell at him from the audience. At least if you do not do it "repeatedly." Hat tip: How Appealing.