Neal Katyal named as Principal Deputy Solicitor General

SCOTUSblog reports that Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal will be the Principal Deputy Solicitor General. Professor Katyal is well known to military justice practitioners as the result of both his stellar argument in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006), and his representation of the State of Louisiana when it sought rehearing in Kennedy v. Louisiana, 128 S. Ct. 264 (2008), rehearing denied, 129 S. Ct. 1 (2008). In that capacity, Professor Katyal filed a brief containing the wonderful line, "Military law is American law." In his new role, Professor Katyal will play a key part in deciding when to seek cert in military justice cases that the government loses at CAAF.