Supreme Court nominee Gerry Darrow held a surprise press conference this afternoon, bidding reporters to "Ask me anything." Across town, co-nominee Elena Kagan, was hidden away from the press with White House handlers, in preparation for the confirmation hearings set to begin Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
President Barack Obama stunned the nation earlier this year when he nominated Darrow, a Connecticut public defender, to the Supreme Court. To mollify critics of his decision to nominate such an unconventional candidate, the president then nominated Elena Kagan, the Solicitor General and a former dean of the Harvard Law School. "Let the people choose," Obama said, setting the two candidates for office on a collision course in this week's hearings to select a replacement for Justice John Paul Stevens.
"Of course, there can be but one Justice," Carswell Redding of the Cato Institute said. "The president's decision to nominate two contrasting candidates is unprecedented in our history. I'm not sure how the Senate will respond."
Darrow seemed unconcerned about the Senate reaction on Sunday, laughing as reporters peppered him with questions.
"Original intent? Beyond efforts to preserve liberty by creating checks and balances and limiting the reach of the federal government, I don't think Tom Jefferson has a whole lot to say. He's been dead a good long while, hasn't he?," Darrow said when asked about original intent. "Scalia's a bright guy," Darrow said of Justice Antonin Scalia, a proponent of trying to tether the Constitution's meaning to the intent of the framers, "but he should have gone to divinity school, or maybe taught biology in Dayton, Tennesse."
"That's right up there with the Tooth Fairy, in my view," Darrow then said about a recent Court decision giving to corporations unlimited rights to contribute to political campaigns. "Corporations aren't people. Never were. Can't be. They're simply fictions designed to limit risk for necessary investments. The decision is a disaster," he said of the case, called Citizens United.
Darrow's free-wheeling style and easy-going demeanor are expected to mark a contrast to Kagan's reserve and polish. Whereas Kagan has spent the past six weeks courting Senators in private one-on-one meetings, visiting more than 60 at last count, Darrow has kept busy at work in the Connecticut criminal courts. Last week, Darrow tried a drunken driving case, winning for an acquittal for a man the police found passed out behind the wheel of an idling car. "The statute says you have to prove operation. No one saw him driving the car. He had an empty bottle on his lap. I guess the jury concluded he drank it as he sat looking out at the water," Darrow said with a shrug. "It's hard to figure on juries, not that Kagan would know much about that."
Legal experts doubt Darrow has much of a chance of confirmation. His style is often blunt, even confrontational, character traits honed in the one-on-one combat of a courtroom. Darrow was once held in contempt when a microphone picked up a comment he made a little too loudly during closing arguments in a murder case. "Bullshit," he said of the prosecutor's closing. He later apologized.
But placards carried by demonstrators outside the Court during Darrow's press conference suggest some support for the trial lawyer. Several people carried large photographs of Kagan with a large X over her face. "Just say no," the signs said. "It's time for a people's lawyer," said other signs.
"Look, I know I am not the choice of insiders," Darrow told a reporter. "But we've heard so much coded cow dung at confirmations over the past couple of decades I am pleased as punch to sit there and give the Senate some straight talk."
"How would I vote on Roe v. Wade?" he asked. "Aren't you going to ask? Well, let me tell you: I don't want any government poking around between my or my wife's legs. You'll get yourself shot doing that. I suppose that tells you what I think about the Second Amendment, too," he said with a wink.
Darrow clearly seemed to be enjoying the press conference, pausing frequently to shake hands with well wishers and the curious.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow. But I'll bet Kagan isn't. She locked up somewhere studying how to talk and not say anything. Haven't we had enough of that? I'd say we need a little frank talk for a change."
For more coverage of Gerry Darrow, click here.
Showing posts with label Who is Gerry Darrow?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Who is Gerry Darrow?. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Darrow's Nomination Draws Fire
Is Gerry Darrow soft on crime? Critics say he is unfit for the court. Read about Darrow's nomination to the Supreme Court here.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Darrow V. Kagan: Stark Choice For Senate
It is a tale of two nominees, one the golden child of doting Upper West Side, Manhattan parents, seemingly destined for great things and expensively reared and educated, the other largely self-made, the product of two blue-collar workers struggling to get by in Detroit. While the child of Manhattan soared through the world's most prestigious educational instutions, Detroit's child struggled to get through middling sorts of institutions. One worked as a law clerk, professor and dean, the other represented folks injured in accidents and accused of crimes.
Question: Which background reflects the lives of ordinary Americans?
The contrast between Gerry Darrow, President Barack Obama's startling dark horse nominee to the Supreme Court, and what observers now call the "tandem nominee," Elena Kagan, is apparent even in the demeanor of the two nominee as they find themselves now in the public eye. On the day after her nomination was announced, Kagan looked gleeful, a beaming, almost child-like grin animating her features: at last, the long wait was over, she had been picked for a job she had wanted since at least high school. The ambition of a lifetime to which she had bended every fiber of her considerable talent was to be fulfilled. Childless, without a spouse, a self-proclaimed workaholic, Kagan seemed at once, finally to relax.
Darrow was nominated at a press conference on the steps of a federal prison. He walked from the press conference into the prison to visit a client. In the days after his nomination, Darrow appeared daily the courtrooms of the small community in which he struggles, as public defender, to keep chaos from overcoming the lives of his clients. His demeanor far from gleeful, he looked almost stunned. "I am not worthy of the honor," he told a judge.
"Putting the contrast in terms of life experiences, Gerry Darrow is clearly the more recognizable," said Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "But the Senate is not an elective office. This isn't a demographic contest. Elena Kagan could bring superior intellectual fire power to the Court."
The nomination of Darrow was met with protest among the law's elites. Federal law clerks staged a one-day work stoppage. Law schools at Harvard, Yale and Stanford seemed in mourning, as students wandered the halls in shock, all but muttering alound about barbarians storming the gates. Some wondered whether the decision of the United States Supreme Court to close its mamouth front doors to the public was a symbolic protest against the appointment of a trial lawyer to the high court.
This week, President Obama nominated Elena Kaga, a former dean of the Harvard law school, as a so-called "tandem candidate," a move unprecedented in the nation's history. Was the president signaling a lack of confidence in Darrow?
If he was, Senators didn't appear to notice.
"Kagan is no doubt brilliant," said Republics Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. "But she's got no apparent track record. At least we know who Darrow is. Kagan looks like the geriatric version of a summer staffer, all elbows and ambition. But simply being here isn't enough. What does she believe about the law's role in our life?"
Efforts to humanize Kagan were at once apparent. The New York Times reported that she can be a scatterbrain, and has from time to time left her car running overnight as she walked away from it deep, apparently, in thought. The paper even went so far as to find it noteworthy that she smoked cigarettes as a teenager. A picture was published of her struggling to swing a baseball in a softball game at the University of Chicago.
"I thought I was reading the Onion," a satirical Internet publication, "as I read the Times piece," said Sandra Whaling, dean of the Thomas Cooley Law School, from which Darrow graduated. "She smoked? Oh, my, and she loves Jane Austen, too. I mean, really. Is a clinical profile of someone with social Asperger's syndrome?"
Darrow himself seemed intimidated. "She's pretty impressive," he said. "You almost never see someone like that in court. Folks like her get to spin the webs the rest of us try to untangle when those webs snare a client. But I got to hand it to her, wow, she's got a great looking resume."
Kagan supporters hailed her nomination as a sign of diversity. "She would be the only nominee never to have served as a judge. She brings diversity to a court comprised wholly of former jurists," the Harvard Daily News editorialized. But this diversity claim appeared lost on Darrow supporters: "Diversity? Another Ivy League star who clerked on the Supreme Court, got lost for a year or two in a megafirm and then went on to academia? When I think of diversity on the court, I think of appointing a lawyer who has actually tried a case in a courtroom, someone who has actually represented a person in a conflict. Is anyone up there in that league?" asked Scott's Minefield, a prominent legal blog.
As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for nomination hearings, legal interest groups suddenly found themselves reading trial transcripts to get a sense of Gerry Darrow's demeanor and intellectual acumen. "He can talk the ears off an elephant," said one staffer. "It's refreshing to see the law in action."
Legal interest groups, however, returned to familiar terrain. "I need to know whether Ms. kagan is prepared to honor the intentions of the Founders or whether she's the sort of activist who believes in a living constitution," the director of legal research for the Federalist Society said. "The nomination process is really a test of constitutionali infidelity."
When asked about the Federalist Society's concerns in a break during an arson trial in New Britain, Darrow paused for moment, smiled, and then said: "That's just stupid. I can't imagine a more activist approach to reading the document than restorting to a Quija board to figure out what dead people think. Who do these people think they are kidding?"
Kagan could not be reached for comment. She was rumored, however, to be enjoying a cigar, a rare indulgence, the Times reported, as she read briefing papers on the various Senators with whom she will be meeting in days to come. Even in the white glare of new-found fame, the contrast between Darrow and Kagan was obvious, and glaring.
For more complete coverage of the Darrow nomination click here.
Question: Which background reflects the lives of ordinary Americans?
The contrast between Gerry Darrow, President Barack Obama's startling dark horse nominee to the Supreme Court, and what observers now call the "tandem nominee," Elena Kagan, is apparent even in the demeanor of the two nominee as they find themselves now in the public eye. On the day after her nomination was announced, Kagan looked gleeful, a beaming, almost child-like grin animating her features: at last, the long wait was over, she had been picked for a job she had wanted since at least high school. The ambition of a lifetime to which she had bended every fiber of her considerable talent was to be fulfilled. Childless, without a spouse, a self-proclaimed workaholic, Kagan seemed at once, finally to relax.
Darrow was nominated at a press conference on the steps of a federal prison. He walked from the press conference into the prison to visit a client. In the days after his nomination, Darrow appeared daily the courtrooms of the small community in which he struggles, as public defender, to keep chaos from overcoming the lives of his clients. His demeanor far from gleeful, he looked almost stunned. "I am not worthy of the honor," he told a judge.
"Putting the contrast in terms of life experiences, Gerry Darrow is clearly the more recognizable," said Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "But the Senate is not an elective office. This isn't a demographic contest. Elena Kagan could bring superior intellectual fire power to the Court."
The nomination of Darrow was met with protest among the law's elites. Federal law clerks staged a one-day work stoppage. Law schools at Harvard, Yale and Stanford seemed in mourning, as students wandered the halls in shock, all but muttering alound about barbarians storming the gates. Some wondered whether the decision of the United States Supreme Court to close its mamouth front doors to the public was a symbolic protest against the appointment of a trial lawyer to the high court.
This week, President Obama nominated Elena Kaga, a former dean of the Harvard law school, as a so-called "tandem candidate," a move unprecedented in the nation's history. Was the president signaling a lack of confidence in Darrow?
If he was, Senators didn't appear to notice.
"Kagan is no doubt brilliant," said Republics Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. "But she's got no apparent track record. At least we know who Darrow is. Kagan looks like the geriatric version of a summer staffer, all elbows and ambition. But simply being here isn't enough. What does she believe about the law's role in our life?"
Efforts to humanize Kagan were at once apparent. The New York Times reported that she can be a scatterbrain, and has from time to time left her car running overnight as she walked away from it deep, apparently, in thought. The paper even went so far as to find it noteworthy that she smoked cigarettes as a teenager. A picture was published of her struggling to swing a baseball in a softball game at the University of Chicago.
"I thought I was reading the Onion," a satirical Internet publication, "as I read the Times piece," said Sandra Whaling, dean of the Thomas Cooley Law School, from which Darrow graduated. "She smoked? Oh, my, and she loves Jane Austen, too. I mean, really. Is a clinical profile of someone with social Asperger's syndrome?"
Darrow himself seemed intimidated. "She's pretty impressive," he said. "You almost never see someone like that in court. Folks like her get to spin the webs the rest of us try to untangle when those webs snare a client. But I got to hand it to her, wow, she's got a great looking resume."
Kagan supporters hailed her nomination as a sign of diversity. "She would be the only nominee never to have served as a judge. She brings diversity to a court comprised wholly of former jurists," the Harvard Daily News editorialized. But this diversity claim appeared lost on Darrow supporters: "Diversity? Another Ivy League star who clerked on the Supreme Court, got lost for a year or two in a megafirm and then went on to academia? When I think of diversity on the court, I think of appointing a lawyer who has actually tried a case in a courtroom, someone who has actually represented a person in a conflict. Is anyone up there in that league?" asked Scott's Minefield, a prominent legal blog.
As the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares for nomination hearings, legal interest groups suddenly found themselves reading trial transcripts to get a sense of Gerry Darrow's demeanor and intellectual acumen. "He can talk the ears off an elephant," said one staffer. "It's refreshing to see the law in action."
Legal interest groups, however, returned to familiar terrain. "I need to know whether Ms. kagan is prepared to honor the intentions of the Founders or whether she's the sort of activist who believes in a living constitution," the director of legal research for the Federalist Society said. "The nomination process is really a test of constitutionali infidelity."
When asked about the Federalist Society's concerns in a break during an arson trial in New Britain, Darrow paused for moment, smiled, and then said: "That's just stupid. I can't imagine a more activist approach to reading the document than restorting to a Quija board to figure out what dead people think. Who do these people think they are kidding?"
Kagan could not be reached for comment. She was rumored, however, to be enjoying a cigar, a rare indulgence, the Times reported, as she read briefing papers on the various Senators with whom she will be meeting in days to come. Even in the white glare of new-found fame, the contrast between Darrow and Kagan was obvious, and glaring.
For more complete coverage of the Darrow nomination click here.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Kagan Tapped As "Tandem Nominee" For Court
The Senate Judiciary Committee today announced that it would only consider the nomination of Gerry Darrow for a seat on the United States Supreme Court if the president also submitted the name of a more conventional candidate to be considered at the same time.
In a terse, one-line announcement, President Barack Obama relented. "I submit a tandem nominee, Elena Kagan, for the Senate's consideration," the president said.
The move is unprecedented and may well sound the death knell for Darrow's chances for a seat on the high court. "The more customary course in our history is for the president to submit the name of one nominee at a time," said Carswell Bork, a professor of constitutional history at Yale University. "Although the Constitution does not prohibit the submission of two names at once, the president's decision to do so could well be taken by the Senate as a lack of confidence in Darrow."
Darrow's nomination was met by protest at the nation's elite law schools. "Who is Gerry Darrow?" became a theme of class boycotts at the institutions, whose graduates typically go on to assume legal clerkships for the nation's federal judges. Darrow graduated from the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
Last week, federal law clerks staged a one-day work stoppage to protest the nomination of Darrow. "While accomplished as a trial lawyer, Mr. Darrow has no apparent appreciation of the law's deeper structure or its ideals," a manifesto delivered to the Federal Judicial Center read. The clerks demanded that the president nominate one of their own to the high court.
The nomination of Kagan, the current Solicitor General and a former dean of the Harvard Law School, appears to be a response to the backlash against Darrow.
"Kudos on Kagan," a headline announced at the Yale Daily News. The endorsement was surprising, as Kagan is a Harvard Law School graduate, and the rivalry between Yale and Harvard for top spots in the law is often intense.
Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised that both candidates would be fairly vetted. "I suspect that Kagan is the safe choice," Leahy said. "But I am not sure what the American people want is safety. Most folks feel the current court views the government as too big to fail. The people want a fighter on the court. Someone who realizes that government can and should fail if it cannot meet the needs of ordinary folks."
Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the ranking minority member of the committee appeared puzzled. "Two candidates instead of one? This is unprecedented. The most important question on my mind today is whether this what the founders intended. I'll be reading my Constitution extra carefully in the weeks to come."
For a complete history of Darrow's nomination to the Supreme Court, click here.
In a terse, one-line announcement, President Barack Obama relented. "I submit a tandem nominee, Elena Kagan, for the Senate's consideration," the president said.
The move is unprecedented and may well sound the death knell for Darrow's chances for a seat on the high court. "The more customary course in our history is for the president to submit the name of one nominee at a time," said Carswell Bork, a professor of constitutional history at Yale University. "Although the Constitution does not prohibit the submission of two names at once, the president's decision to do so could well be taken by the Senate as a lack of confidence in Darrow."
"Nonsense," said a White House spokesman. "The president promised change. We are building new coalitions. We're happy to provide two names in tandem so that the nomination process does not get bogged down. But the president stands committed to placing a trial lawyer on the Supreme Court."
President Obama stunned observers last month by nominating the 42-year-old Darrow to fill the seat of retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. Darrow, a virtual unknown among the bar's elite, has worked as a personal injury lawyer and a public defender. He now practices in New Britain, Connecticut, where he represents indigent people accused of felonies.
In announcing Darrow as a nominee to the high court, Obama noted that he was redeeming his promise of change. "Mr. Darrow has worked in the trenches. He is not a legal theoretician, but an experienced trial lawyer. His appointment signals my administration's commitment to pragmatic reform of the legal system."Darrow's nomination was met by protest at the nation's elite law schools. "Who is Gerry Darrow?" became a theme of class boycotts at the institutions, whose graduates typically go on to assume legal clerkships for the nation's federal judges. Darrow graduated from the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.
Last week, federal law clerks staged a one-day work stoppage to protest the nomination of Darrow. "While accomplished as a trial lawyer, Mr. Darrow has no apparent appreciation of the law's deeper structure or its ideals," a manifesto delivered to the Federal Judicial Center read. The clerks demanded that the president nominate one of their own to the high court.
The nomination of Kagan, the current Solicitor General and a former dean of the Harvard Law School, appears to be a response to the backlash against Darrow.
"Kudos on Kagan," a headline announced at the Yale Daily News. The endorsement was surprising, as Kagan is a Harvard Law School graduate, and the rivalry between Yale and Harvard for top spots in the law is often intense.
"Practice conceived isn't theory relieved," responded one White House staffer. "We're trying to eliminate gap between theory and practice on the Court. Darrow does that. Kagan is just another bridge to nowhere."
"Well, I suppose there's no harm in tossing Kagan's hat into the ring," Darrow said. "But I don't recall her ever appearing in court to argue on behalf of some ordinary person getting screwed to the wall by a corporation or a government. She's a power lawyer, not a people's lawyer. Haven't we had enough vanilla on the court?"
Kagan appears on behalf of the United States Government before the Supreme Court, but is not known to have appeared in other courts on behalf of non-institutionalized clients. "Brilliance isn't enough," read the headline of the lead editorial in The Detroit Free Press today. "Ms. Kagan does not represent diversity," the paper said. "She's just another brand of vanilla on a court distressingly homogenous and detached from the concerns of Americans who face each day without the an ivy laurel perched on their brow." The Free Press called on the Senate to confirm Darrow.Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised that both candidates would be fairly vetted. "I suspect that Kagan is the safe choice," Leahy said. "But I am not sure what the American people want is safety. Most folks feel the current court views the government as too big to fail. The people want a fighter on the court. Someone who realizes that government can and should fail if it cannot meet the needs of ordinary folks."
Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the ranking minority member of the committee appeared puzzled. "Two candidates instead of one? This is unprecedented. The most important question on my mind today is whether this what the founders intended. I'll be reading my Constitution extra carefully in the weeks to come."
For a complete history of Darrow's nomination to the Supreme Court, click here.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Darrow Close To Failing Constitutional Law?
Did Gerry Darrow nearly flunk constitutional law?
It turns out that President Barack Obama's nomination to the Supreme Court received a near failing grade in the year-long course on constitutional law while a student at the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. The nominee received a grade of C- in the course. "That's one step from the academic death penalty," said Robin Roundtree, the professor who taught the course. She claimed to have no memory of the exam.
Darrow, on the other hand, recalls the exam well.
"I went to law school because I was amazed at what government could do to people. I figured there had to be some limits somewhere. So I took the text of the Constitution seriously. I guess that was a mistake," he said with his characteristic smirk.
Darrow is a a public defender and former plaintiff's lawyer now representing indigent defendants in New Britain, Connecticut. President Obama's nomination of the unconventional trial lawyer to fill the seat being vacated by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens sent shock waves through the legal establishment.
"My sense of the Constitution is that it is a defining document, and that is represents a contract among strangers. It is a compact that established a government of limited powers," Darrow said. "Yet throughout the course, there seemed to be a bias in favor of ever-expanding government. Sure, the separation of powers doctrines provides a set of checks and balances of one branch of government against the other two. But it struck me then, as it does now, that all this pocket pool among government workers takes place at the expense of the people."
Darrow noted that throughout the class he hungered for "just one case" that gave meat to the Ninth Amendment. Calling it the "people's amendment," Darrow characterized it is retaining for the people those rights not explicitly delegated to government. "The high court has never given teeth to that amendment," Darrow said.
So in his constitutional law exam, Darrow wrote an extended essay on Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, and the so-called social contract theory. He characterized modern constitutional law as "Hobbesian in character," giving to government powers never intended by the framers of our republic.
Elena Kagan, who was passed over the nomination in favor of Darrow, was scornful of Darrow's comments. "This is not the way law is taught. It flies in the face of accepted constitutional theory," she noted. Kagan is former dean of the Harvard Law School and Solicitor General of the United States.
"Has she ever represented a client screwed to the wall by some government bureaucrat?" Darrow asked. "Oh, wait," he chuckled, "she represents the government."
"Elena Kagan is a sharp tack," Darrow said. "But she's a courtroom greenhorn. I think the president nominated me to move away from the the plantation theory of justice -- you know, the theory that holds the professors, deans and wealthy lawyers know best."
During his career as a lawyer, Darrow appeared in hundreds of cases at both the trial and appellate level, arguing constitutional issues in most cases. "Sure, I can use the dessicated doctrines of the legal elite when I have to. But the challenge of the law is translating academic law into law that matters on a pragmatic level. A courtroom is no place for a professor," Darrow said.
More on Obama's controversial Supreme Court pick here.
It turns out that President Barack Obama's nomination to the Supreme Court received a near failing grade in the year-long course on constitutional law while a student at the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. The nominee received a grade of C- in the course. "That's one step from the academic death penalty," said Robin Roundtree, the professor who taught the course. She claimed to have no memory of the exam.
Darrow, on the other hand, recalls the exam well.
"I went to law school because I was amazed at what government could do to people. I figured there had to be some limits somewhere. So I took the text of the Constitution seriously. I guess that was a mistake," he said with his characteristic smirk.
Darrow is a a public defender and former plaintiff's lawyer now representing indigent defendants in New Britain, Connecticut. President Obama's nomination of the unconventional trial lawyer to fill the seat being vacated by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens sent shock waves through the legal establishment.
"My sense of the Constitution is that it is a defining document, and that is represents a contract among strangers. It is a compact that established a government of limited powers," Darrow said. "Yet throughout the course, there seemed to be a bias in favor of ever-expanding government. Sure, the separation of powers doctrines provides a set of checks and balances of one branch of government against the other two. But it struck me then, as it does now, that all this pocket pool among government workers takes place at the expense of the people."
Darrow noted that throughout the class he hungered for "just one case" that gave meat to the Ninth Amendment. Calling it the "people's amendment," Darrow characterized it is retaining for the people those rights not explicitly delegated to government. "The high court has never given teeth to that amendment," Darrow said.
So in his constitutional law exam, Darrow wrote an extended essay on Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau, and the so-called social contract theory. He characterized modern constitutional law as "Hobbesian in character," giving to government powers never intended by the framers of our republic.
Elena Kagan, who was passed over the nomination in favor of Darrow, was scornful of Darrow's comments. "This is not the way law is taught. It flies in the face of accepted constitutional theory," she noted. Kagan is former dean of the Harvard Law School and Solicitor General of the United States.
"Has she ever represented a client screwed to the wall by some government bureaucrat?" Darrow asked. "Oh, wait," he chuckled, "she represents the government."
"Elena Kagan is a sharp tack," Darrow said. "But she's a courtroom greenhorn. I think the president nominated me to move away from the the plantation theory of justice -- you know, the theory that holds the professors, deans and wealthy lawyers know best."
During his career as a lawyer, Darrow appeared in hundreds of cases at both the trial and appellate level, arguing constitutional issues in most cases. "Sure, I can use the dessicated doctrines of the legal elite when I have to. But the challenge of the law is translating academic law into law that matters on a pragmatic level. A courtroom is no place for a professor," Darrow said.
More on Obama's controversial Supreme Court pick here.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Hey, Senator Leahy! How About Gerry Darrow?
Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, opined this morning that it might be time to look further afield for a Supreme Court justice than has become customary.
Writing for AOL.news, the Senator had the following to say:
"We can all agree that the next nominee to the Supreme Court must be well qualified, and at the top of the legal profession. I believe that the field from which to select this nominee should extend beyond the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. Over the years, our nation has benefited from diverse perspectives on the Supreme Court. Today's Supreme Court is the first in history to be limited to former federal appellate judges.
"The Supreme Court once included among its ranks former governors, former cabinet members, former senators and even a former president. A Supreme Court nominee with a varied background would be a welcome addition. The Supreme Court is charged with upholding the constitutional protections and liberties of every individual American. "We the People" deserve no less.
"I would like to see a nominee who will be faithful to the Constitution and its storied history. The next justice should be someone who understands and appreciates the real-world impact of the Supreme Court's decisions on hard-working Americans. I would also like to see a nominee who reflects Justice Stevens' reverence for the Supreme Court as an institution."
Amen, Senator. It's time for a public defender on the Supreme Court, or a trial lawyer representing folks in civil claims. Who better to teach the Court about the sufferings of ordinary people? Who reveres the Constitution more than a public defender, demanding daily that power honor the rights of the least among us?
How about an ordinary sort of lawyer, one who has never held political power, but who knows the power of persuasion in the well of the Court? How about someone whose law degree did not confer an expectation that all of life's blessings will come to them as a matter of right, but who attended a modest sort of school, a school the bred the modest sorts of expectation that if you work hard you can support a family?
We don't need another lawyer who served power. We need a lawyer who has confronted power and served people. We need, Senator Leahy, Gerry Darrow. Someone send this link to the Senator. Who Is Gerry Darrow?
You can read the complete text of Leahy's remarks here. Leahy's remarks.
Writing for AOL.news, the Senator had the following to say:
"We can all agree that the next nominee to the Supreme Court must be well qualified, and at the top of the legal profession. I believe that the field from which to select this nominee should extend beyond the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals. Over the years, our nation has benefited from diverse perspectives on the Supreme Court. Today's Supreme Court is the first in history to be limited to former federal appellate judges.
"The Supreme Court once included among its ranks former governors, former cabinet members, former senators and even a former president. A Supreme Court nominee with a varied background would be a welcome addition. The Supreme Court is charged with upholding the constitutional protections and liberties of every individual American. "We the People" deserve no less.
"I would like to see a nominee who will be faithful to the Constitution and its storied history. The next justice should be someone who understands and appreciates the real-world impact of the Supreme Court's decisions on hard-working Americans. I would also like to see a nominee who reflects Justice Stevens' reverence for the Supreme Court as an institution."
Amen, Senator. It's time for a public defender on the Supreme Court, or a trial lawyer representing folks in civil claims. Who better to teach the Court about the sufferings of ordinary people? Who reveres the Constitution more than a public defender, demanding daily that power honor the rights of the least among us?
How about an ordinary sort of lawyer, one who has never held political power, but who knows the power of persuasion in the well of the Court? How about someone whose law degree did not confer an expectation that all of life's blessings will come to them as a matter of right, but who attended a modest sort of school, a school the bred the modest sorts of expectation that if you work hard you can support a family?
We don't need another lawyer who served power. We need a lawyer who has confronted power and served people. We need, Senator Leahy, Gerry Darrow. Someone send this link to the Senator. Who Is Gerry Darrow?
You can read the complete text of Leahy's remarks here. Leahy's remarks.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
NPR Inches Closer To Endorsing Darrow For Supremes
Listen to National Public Radio's Scott Simon's recent commentary on diversity on the Supreme Court.
Gerry Darrow Gets His Own Website
I am a dreamer and often a fool. But I believe in Gerry Darrow and want to see him get a seat on the United States Supreme Court. Because I hope others out there do as well, I've created a separate web page for news and commentary about his campaign. It is called Who Is Gerry Darrow? Read, contribute, spread the word: Within our lifetime, we might actually see a trial lawyer on the Supreme Court.
Is It Jerome Or Gerry? Darrow's Checkered Past
Supreme Court nominee Gerry Darrow may really be Jerome Darrow, The Huffington Post reports. According to the Post, court records in New Britain, Connecticut, relay that Darrow's birth name was Jerome Darrow. He petitioned the probate court for a name change in 2004, changing his first name to Gerry.
Why a middle age man would change his name is just one of the questions that emerged in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to name a virtual unknown to the nation's highest court. New and troubling questions also arise about whether Darrow was trying to distance himself from a past filled with financial and spiritual turmoil.
"The president stands behind Darrow, and had full knowledge of the nominee's name change," a White House spokesman said. "Indeed, before the nomination was announced, Mr. Darrow filled out a complete questionnaire answering all questions about his education, background and financial history. There is nothing unlawful about Darrow's change of name."
The Michigan native and Connecticut resident left the private practice of law to become a public defender in Connecticut in 2003. He was a high-flyer in the Southfield firm of Geoffrey Fieger, winning a series of multi-million verdicts in his first decade as a practicing lawyer. His income reportedly approached seven figures when he left his wife and two children in 2001.
Court records reveal that in the years before his divorce, the couple owned a 15,000-acre ranch in Montana and prime waterfront property in South Carolina. He dabbled in race horses, rare books and expensive wines.
"I didn't feel like much a people's lawyer when I was living so high on the hog," he said. "It seemed like there was never enough money. I wanted what we called [expletive] you money -- enough money to tell the Government to back off," he testified in a hearing before Superior Court Wanda S. Haustile, in the Wayne Family County Court in Michigan during a hearing on his financial means.
Darrow testified he underwent a spiritual crisis after attending a college for plaintiffs lawyers and criminal defense lawyers in DuBois, Wyoming, founded by legendary Wyoming lawyer Gerry Spence. Attending the college in 2000, he returned as a staff member for several years thereafter. In 2002, he liquidated his assets and donated them to the Trial Lawyers College, a non-profit entity devoted to the training of trial lawyers.
"I decided that if I was going to be a people's lawyer, I ought to live like one the people I was representing. It struck me as hypocritical to play populist rock star while living like a prince," Darrow told the court. Darrow declared bankruptcy two years later.
Frustrated creditors and Darrow's ex-wife challenged the disgorgement of his assets as little more than a fraudulent conveyance. Darrow's lawyer, S. Sam Ferris, defended the moves. "He retains no beneficial interest in the proceeds. His wife and children were adequately cared for in the divorce. The bankruptcy court found no fraudulent intent after extensive hearings."
A spokesman for the Trial Lawyer's College could not be reached for comment, and several other lawyers who attended the college with him spoke only on condition of anonymity. "Darrow fell hard for the college's stated mission of justice for ordinary folks. I saw the man weep one day. His tears seemed genuine," one classmate said.
"He said he planned to change his name to mark a fresh start in life. He chose Spence's name to honor the man who taught him so much," another said.
Gerry Spence could not be reached for comment.
News of the name change drew sharp commentary from the Republican Party. "The law's cardinal virtue is transparency. Not only do we not know what Gerry Darrow believes. Now we're not even sure what his real name is," said GOP spokesman Charlotte Harnes.
Others seemed non-plussed by the new revelations. "He seems more real to me for all this trouble in his life," said radio talk show host Colin McEnroe, whose daily talk show airs on National Public Radio in Connecticut.
Darrow now lives in a modest three-family ranch home in Plainville, Connecticut, a blue-collar town not far from the courthouse in New Britain, Connecticut, with his wife, a sergeant in the Connecticut State Police. Neighbors describe them as quiet, even reclusive. "The most frequent visitor to his home is the UPS truck delivering books," a neighbor said.
"More than a million Americans file for personal bankruptcy each year," said Wayne State University law professor Samuel Kitka. "Indeed, one of the first justices of the Supreme Court, James Wilson, had financial problems so severe he from time to time had to hide from his creditors. Mr. Darrow availed himself of a lawful remedy for personal distress. He's like many Americans who've needed a fresh start. I find it refreshing that the president chose a man real enough to admit failure for the high court."
For earlier coverage of Darrow's nomination to the Supreme Court click here, here.
Why a middle age man would change his name is just one of the questions that emerged in the wake of President Barack Obama's decision to name a virtual unknown to the nation's highest court. New and troubling questions also arise about whether Darrow was trying to distance himself from a past filled with financial and spiritual turmoil.
"The president stands behind Darrow, and had full knowledge of the nominee's name change," a White House spokesman said. "Indeed, before the nomination was announced, Mr. Darrow filled out a complete questionnaire answering all questions about his education, background and financial history. There is nothing unlawful about Darrow's change of name."
The Michigan native and Connecticut resident left the private practice of law to become a public defender in Connecticut in 2003. He was a high-flyer in the Southfield firm of Geoffrey Fieger, winning a series of multi-million verdicts in his first decade as a practicing lawyer. His income reportedly approached seven figures when he left his wife and two children in 2001.
Court records reveal that in the years before his divorce, the couple owned a 15,000-acre ranch in Montana and prime waterfront property in South Carolina. He dabbled in race horses, rare books and expensive wines.
"I didn't feel like much a people's lawyer when I was living so high on the hog," he said. "It seemed like there was never enough money. I wanted what we called [expletive] you money -- enough money to tell the Government to back off," he testified in a hearing before Superior Court Wanda S. Haustile, in the Wayne Family County Court in Michigan during a hearing on his financial means.
Darrow testified he underwent a spiritual crisis after attending a college for plaintiffs lawyers and criminal defense lawyers in DuBois, Wyoming, founded by legendary Wyoming lawyer Gerry Spence. Attending the college in 2000, he returned as a staff member for several years thereafter. In 2002, he liquidated his assets and donated them to the Trial Lawyers College, a non-profit entity devoted to the training of trial lawyers.
"I decided that if I was going to be a people's lawyer, I ought to live like one the people I was representing. It struck me as hypocritical to play populist rock star while living like a prince," Darrow told the court. Darrow declared bankruptcy two years later.
Frustrated creditors and Darrow's ex-wife challenged the disgorgement of his assets as little more than a fraudulent conveyance. Darrow's lawyer, S. Sam Ferris, defended the moves. "He retains no beneficial interest in the proceeds. His wife and children were adequately cared for in the divorce. The bankruptcy court found no fraudulent intent after extensive hearings."
A spokesman for the Trial Lawyer's College could not be reached for comment, and several other lawyers who attended the college with him spoke only on condition of anonymity. "Darrow fell hard for the college's stated mission of justice for ordinary folks. I saw the man weep one day. His tears seemed genuine," one classmate said.
"He said he planned to change his name to mark a fresh start in life. He chose Spence's name to honor the man who taught him so much," another said.
Gerry Spence could not be reached for comment.
News of the name change drew sharp commentary from the Republican Party. "The law's cardinal virtue is transparency. Not only do we not know what Gerry Darrow believes. Now we're not even sure what his real name is," said GOP spokesman Charlotte Harnes.
Others seemed non-plussed by the new revelations. "He seems more real to me for all this trouble in his life," said radio talk show host Colin McEnroe, whose daily talk show airs on National Public Radio in Connecticut.
Darrow now lives in a modest three-family ranch home in Plainville, Connecticut, a blue-collar town not far from the courthouse in New Britain, Connecticut, with his wife, a sergeant in the Connecticut State Police. Neighbors describe them as quiet, even reclusive. "The most frequent visitor to his home is the UPS truck delivering books," a neighbor said.
"More than a million Americans file for personal bankruptcy each year," said Wayne State University law professor Samuel Kitka. "Indeed, one of the first justices of the Supreme Court, James Wilson, had financial problems so severe he from time to time had to hide from his creditors. Mr. Darrow availed himself of a lawful remedy for personal distress. He's like many Americans who've needed a fresh start. I find it refreshing that the president chose a man real enough to admit failure for the high court."
For earlier coverage of Darrow's nomination to the Supreme Court click here, here.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Obama Announces Supreme Court Pick ...
Butner, North Carolina -- President Barack Obama stood before a federal prison today and announced that he was nominating an unknown 42-year-old lawyer as the next justice of the Supreme Court, replacing retiring Justice John Paul Stevens.
"I promised hope when I asked for your trust during the last election. And you heard me. Together we transformed hope into a new and audacious reality. Today I redeem a part of my promise by naming a man who is no stranger to the suffering of ordinary Americans as the next Justice of the United States Supreme Court," the president said.
When the nominee stood to address the assembled press corps, there was an eerie silence. The man was on no short list of candidates. Indeed, he was a man few present had ever considered.
"I am flattered and humbled by this honor, Mr. President," Gerry Darrow said. "In all my years at the bar, I never dreamed that I would be considered for such a post. I've represented folks at the margins of society for so long, I had begun to think of myself as an outcast."
Thus began the improbable confirmation battle of a former plaintiffs' lawyer turned mid-life public defender.
Court watchers and legal academics were stunned by the nomination.
Darrow graduated in the middle of his law school class at the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, and went on to become a personal injury lawyer in the Detroit firm of Michigan legend Geoffrey Feiger. His father worked on the assmblyline at Chrysler before succumbing to a heart attack two years before Darrow was graduated from college. His mother worked as a clerk at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He enjoyed early and spectacular success as a trial lawyer, winning multi-million dollars against the auto industry and insurance companies. But after ten years of civil work, he had an epiphany.
"There's only so much money necessary to keep a roof over your head. I woke up one morning and didn't like the man looking back at me in the mirror. So I sold the Audi and applied for a job as a public defender," he said. "I was also divorced from my wife. It still hurts to think about that and the pain I caused my kids." He eventually landed in New Britain, Connecticut, in a community court serving an economically distressed community. "My bankruptcy helped knock the false pride out of me. I know human need and fear," he said.
Darrow remarried six years ago. His wife is a state police officer. "Passion makes strange bedfellows," he chuckled.
For the past seven years, Darrow has defended "more people than I can recall" in cases ranging from murder, child sexual abuse, drug sales and bank robbery to minor offenses such as promoting prostitution. "I'm more comfortable with folks like the ones I grew up with," he said. "I'd like to try my hand at white collar defense, but that work doesn't come to a public defender."
Darrow is an only child who graduated Detroit's Edwin Denby High School in 1986. He played football and worked part-time sweeping factory floors in high school before attending Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. "I really wanted to go to University of Michigan, but I didn't have the grades," he said. "I did pretty good in law school, though. And I love the courtroom."
An administration spokesman acknowledged that Darrow was an unconventional choice for the high court.
"The president had his pick from an extremely talented group of academics and appellate court judges," one source said on condition of anonymity. "But he promised change. He wanted a nominee who shared the same rough edges most Americans live with each and every day. As we were vetting candidates we came to the depressing realization that all these folks looked the same. The president wanted to leaven the Court with a person ordinary Americans would appreciate."
The Detroit Free Press once referred to Darrow as "brilliant and audacious" for his trial work on behalf of prisoners in the Wayne County jail. He is reported to have tried in excess of 150 cases to a verdict. He has argued scores of appeals in state and federal courts.
"The man knows his way around a courtroom," said Salmon Penderton, of the Connecticut Bar Association. "He is respected and admired by almost everyone in the criminal justice system. Sure, he's rubbed some folks the wrong way. But he's the guy they call when trouble comes."
Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, promised to give Darrow a fair hearing.
"We know nothing about the man, but I hear he is a capable lawyer. Perhaps that's all that is required. It could be refreshing to have a nominee unencumbered by commitments to legal interest groups." Leahy promised a prompt confirmation hearing.
Darrow seemed nonplussed by the furor with which his nomination was met.
"Sure, I want the job," he said. "But if it's not mean to be, it's not meant to be." He then removed his sports coat and entered the Butner Federal Medical Center, a federal prison, to visit a client committed there for the purposes of being restored to competency. "This is where the law lives," he said, as he entered the prison door. "I wonder if I can make what I see here a reality for the other justices."
"I promised hope when I asked for your trust during the last election. And you heard me. Together we transformed hope into a new and audacious reality. Today I redeem a part of my promise by naming a man who is no stranger to the suffering of ordinary Americans as the next Justice of the United States Supreme Court," the president said.
When the nominee stood to address the assembled press corps, there was an eerie silence. The man was on no short list of candidates. Indeed, he was a man few present had ever considered.
"I am flattered and humbled by this honor, Mr. President," Gerry Darrow said. "In all my years at the bar, I never dreamed that I would be considered for such a post. I've represented folks at the margins of society for so long, I had begun to think of myself as an outcast."
Thus began the improbable confirmation battle of a former plaintiffs' lawyer turned mid-life public defender.
Court watchers and legal academics were stunned by the nomination.
"Who?," said Laurence Tribe of the Harvard Law School. Even the Republican Party was stunned into momentary silence. "The man's an unknown, a cipher," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. "We will, of course, have questions for him. Many questions." A spokesman for the Federalist Society questioned Darrow's credentials: "He didn't even graduate from a top-tier law school? Has he ever clerked for a federal judge?"
Darrow spoke with reporters after the press conference. Like his namesake Clarence Darrow, he is plainspoken, even blunt.
"My parents wanted me to be a lawyer," he said. "They figured with the last name Darrow, I'd have a pretty good start." He chuckled with the warmth of a man accustomed to mirth. "Of course, we're no relation. It was just dumb luck they named me Gerald," he said. "But once Gerry Spence's name went up in light, well, I knew the law was for me."Darrow graduated in the middle of his law school class at the Thomas Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, and went on to become a personal injury lawyer in the Detroit firm of Michigan legend Geoffrey Feiger. His father worked on the assmblyline at Chrysler before succumbing to a heart attack two years before Darrow was graduated from college. His mother worked as a clerk at Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He enjoyed early and spectacular success as a trial lawyer, winning multi-million dollars against the auto industry and insurance companies. But after ten years of civil work, he had an epiphany.
"There's only so much money necessary to keep a roof over your head. I woke up one morning and didn't like the man looking back at me in the mirror. So I sold the Audi and applied for a job as a public defender," he said. "I was also divorced from my wife. It still hurts to think about that and the pain I caused my kids." He eventually landed in New Britain, Connecticut, in a community court serving an economically distressed community. "My bankruptcy helped knock the false pride out of me. I know human need and fear," he said.
Darrow remarried six years ago. His wife is a state police officer. "Passion makes strange bedfellows," he chuckled.
For the past seven years, Darrow has defended "more people than I can recall" in cases ranging from murder, child sexual abuse, drug sales and bank robbery to minor offenses such as promoting prostitution. "I'm more comfortable with folks like the ones I grew up with," he said. "I'd like to try my hand at white collar defense, but that work doesn't come to a public defender."
Darrow is an only child who graduated Detroit's Edwin Denby High School in 1986. He played football and worked part-time sweeping factory floors in high school before attending Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan. "I really wanted to go to University of Michigan, but I didn't have the grades," he said. "I did pretty good in law school, though. And I love the courtroom."
An administration spokesman acknowledged that Darrow was an unconventional choice for the high court.
"The president had his pick from an extremely talented group of academics and appellate court judges," one source said on condition of anonymity. "But he promised change. He wanted a nominee who shared the same rough edges most Americans live with each and every day. As we were vetting candidates we came to the depressing realization that all these folks looked the same. The president wanted to leaven the Court with a person ordinary Americans would appreciate."
The Detroit Free Press once referred to Darrow as "brilliant and audacious" for his trial work on behalf of prisoners in the Wayne County jail. He is reported to have tried in excess of 150 cases to a verdict. He has argued scores of appeals in state and federal courts.
"The man knows his way around a courtroom," said Salmon Penderton, of the Connecticut Bar Association. "He is respected and admired by almost everyone in the criminal justice system. Sure, he's rubbed some folks the wrong way. But he's the guy they call when trouble comes."
Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, promised to give Darrow a fair hearing.
"We know nothing about the man, but I hear he is a capable lawyer. Perhaps that's all that is required. It could be refreshing to have a nominee unencumbered by commitments to legal interest groups." Leahy promised a prompt confirmation hearing.
Darrow seemed nonplussed by the furor with which his nomination was met.
"Sure, I want the job," he said. "But if it's not mean to be, it's not meant to be." He then removed his sports coat and entered the Butner Federal Medical Center, a federal prison, to visit a client committed there for the purposes of being restored to competency. "This is where the law lives," he said, as he entered the prison door. "I wonder if I can make what I see here a reality for the other justices."
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