CourtArtist.com

Scalia and Stevens Duke It Out

"It was an extraordinary 23-minute-long scene at the Supreme Court this morning as Justice Antonin Scalia read from his majority opinion in D.C. v. Heller and then Justice John Paul Stevens read from his unusually pointed dissent. Both cast aspersions on each other's interpretation of the Second Amendment and relevant precedents, and spectators were left with a lot of reading to do to determine what the justices actually decided."

-Tony Mauro, The BLT: The Blog of LegalTimes

I've quoted Tony Mauro's BLT posting because he's done such a great job of capturing the atmosphere in the Supreme Court yesterday during the announcement of opinions in the historic Second Amendment case, D.C. v. Heller. His peripheral observations remind me that sometimes I need to stop drawing that one Justice or lawyer, and take the time to look around: don't just draw, sit there.

I urge the reader to follow this link, and read Tony's complete post.

Remembering Tim Russert

Tim was my boss.  After a terrible personal tragedy just about exactly a year ago he was one of the first persons to come by my office, close the door, and offer some words of comfort.

I admired him and was proud to work for him.  The sketch shows him on the witness stand during the Scooter Libby trial.  He did an impressive job holding his own during two days of very aggressive questioning by Libby's lawyer.

I will miss him.

Is the drought over?

I don't know if it's because of the primaries, or the economy, but there has been little interest lately by the news media in covering the courts here in the DC area.

Yesterday's Supreme Court decision may, or may not, change that.

The Court's decision clears the way for Guantanamo detainees to have their habeas petitions heard in U.S. District Court, for the District of Columbia.

After sketching a few notes at the Supreme Court (Pete Williams rarely uses sketches in his SCOTUS decision stories, but I go just in case) I was sent by the local affiliate to cover a hearing in Greenbelt where five defendants in a mortgage fraud scheme were making their initial appearance.

Let's hope this signals the end of the courtroom sketch drought - although with the Conventions and the Olympics coming up it could be a dry summer.