In Howard Bashman’s absence, I thought it worth noting the D.C. Circuit’s decision today in Glascoe v. United States. Judge Randolph’s opinion for the three-judge panel begins:
Precisely how long is an individual’s life span minus, say, five years and 10 days? One cannot give a firm answer if the person is still alive. No matter, say the three petitioners here, each of whom seeks a deduction of good time credits from his maximum sentence of life imprisonment. If we agree with their position, counters the government, we will have converted indeterminate sentences into determinate sentences. The case turns on the meaning of two provisions of the District of Columbia Code.
As it happens, the D.C. Code is not hospitable to the petitioners, and they lose.
In other D.C. Circuit news, Scaife Foundation impresario Richard Larry lost his bid for attorneys’ fees under the Independent Counsel Act. Some saw the Court’s refusal to grant attorneys’ fees to the Clintons and their compatriots as evidence of a right-ward tilt on the court. Today’s action suggests that the special division that oversees such requests is indeed conservative — that is conservative with taxpayer dollars.
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