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Wednesday, November 21, 2007
20 minutes of fame
CAAF sent out some oral argument notices this week. Some of the newly scheduled arguments allot each party 20 minutes. Call me a hidebound traditionalist, but I like giving each side 30 minutes a piece and trusting counsel to sit down if they finish early.
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4 comments:
Totally agree that 30 minutes of argument should be the standard. This is an outrage to service members who deserve a full and fair hearing. Is CAAF bored? Certainly, it doesn't have too much to do - 60 cases a year divided by 5 judges means that the judges only have to write one opinion a month. Has CAAF already decided the case, is just going thru the motions, or does it just want more time to PT?
Tell that to the hundreds (thousands?) of criminal defendants who have their convictions affirmed by a federal court of appeals without being allowed any oral argument at all. In my opinion, at least at the trial level, there is way too much focus on oral advocacy as opposed to clear and effective written advocacy. That fixation is, in my view, part of the reason trial defense counsel file far too few pretrial motions and why, to the consternation of appellate defense counsel I'm sure, too many colorable issues are sacrificed at the altar of waiver.
But if oral argument is granted in a case (ie good cause has been shown and the case apparently is argument-worthy), why not give both sides a meaningful opportunity to be heard? After all, the government has already purchased the fancy courtroom, the gilded pictures of the past judges, the recording system, and the internet feed, etc, and pays the judges 170 grand a year, plus an 80% retirement after 15 years. 60 hours a year out of 8760 total hours - about .7% of their time, doesn't seem to be much of a sacrifice. Soldiers in Iraq sacrifice 24/7!
Instead of ranting, why not ask what the norm is for criminal cases in other federal appellate courts? Aside from -- no argument at all. And as for good cause -- granting a petition has about as much relationship to a meritorious claim as cert denied does to lack of merit at the SCt. Little. And WHEN has the CAAF ever not let either side make its arguemnt or complete answering a question, regardless of the time limit. Come on.
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