Judge Tweaks Law Profs for Libby
A federal judge’s footnote added a bit of commentary when he granted a bid by a group of law professors to submit a brief on behalf of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr.
The 12 professors argue Libby should remain free while his appeal is pending, since he has a good argument that the special prosecutor’s appointment was inappropriate, the Washington Post reports. The group includes professors Alan Dershowitz, Vikram Amar and Douglas Kmiec.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton of Washington, D.C., sentenced Libby last week to 30 months in prison for lying to investigators probing a leak of a CIA agent’s identity.
Walton calling the law professors’ effort “an impressive show of public service” and indicated he hoped to see the same enthusiasm for lesser-known defendants.
“The court trusts that this is a reflection of these eminent academics’ willingness in the future to step up to the plate and provide like assistance in cases involving any of the numerous litigants, both in this court and throughout the courts of our nation, who lack the financial means to fully and properly articulate the merits of their legal positions,” he wrote in a footnote.
