President Biden's Impact on the DC & Federal Circuit Courts

 We finish with two somewhat enigmatic Circuits.  The Circuit of the District of Columbia, which is similar to all of the other Circuits in that it has two levels: The District and the Appellate.  It only serves Federal issues that occur in the sovereign territory of the District of Columbia.  It is considered one of the most important Circuits because it is credited for birthing more Supreme Court Justices than any other in contemporary times.  It also hears cases like that current insurrection case against former President Trump.

The Federal Circuit is only an Appeals Court without a geo- graphic based--in that the court only hears cases without a specific geographic component.  It is also the newest of the Federal Circuits having been created in 1982.  The Federal Appeals Court hears cases involving copyright and patents, trademark, civilian contracts with Federal entities, veterans' claims, U.S. Postal Services, and international trade disputes among others.  Some are tied to specific laws and agencies like "The Little Tucker Act," "The Economic Stabilization Act," "The Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act," "The Energy Policy and Conservation Act," and "The Natural Gas Policy Act."  This is what legal nerd heaven looks like...

The Subject is Flags

 I do love flags.  I have no idea who thunk up the first one, or if it was even symbolic, representative or communicative.  Once, just slightly more than a few years back, and NPR radio show that is now defunct, issued a contest to design a new flag for the LGBTQIA+ movement given the ground that had passed since the Stonewall Riot and adoption of the Rainbow flag.  (which, btw, has red on the top!--a local Episcopal church spent two recent Junes flying it upside down out of ignorance, so it's worth mentioning.)

I sent them this design in which I incorporated the original Rainbow along with the Nazi Pink triangle as a recognition of oppression.  I filled it with a variety of flesh-toned gender symbols interlocked to express the full range of human relationships.  I thought it rather clever, beautiful and meaningful--but it didn't win or even get acknowledged.  As I recall the winning design resembled the Alaskan state Flag with stars on a dark background.  The guest judge was Michael Mizrahi and he blathered on about unique aesthetics and such, and thus ended the entire enterprise.  Why did I even bother?

Though I do love the Alaskan state flag.  So simple and so perfectly symbolic of our out-sized, most-northern, nature-defined state.  So many of the Flags that represent states follow the pattern of a color-meaningful background with a complicated "white supremacist" emblem in the middle.  White Supremacist in the sense that it depicts the conquest of the land and in some cases the actual removal of the indigenous populations.  Another antiquated and White Supremacist characteristic incorporated in state flags that once formed part of the traitorous civil war south, is a reference to the Confederate flag.  In both cases, the flag that is intended to be representative of the state, by its very design, announces the second-class oppressed citizenship of key populations of the state.  How such flags are even permitted to exist as a reflection of the beloved tenets of our Constitution are beyond me.

In recent years, two states have sought to reconcile these offenses with new designs.

Mississippi's new flag no longer contains a reference to the treasonous White Supremacy Confederacy.  Minnesota's new flag no longer contains an emblem that glorifies the eradication of Native Peoples.  And Honestly?  I love both designs.  

Dinner: Lightly Breaded Pan-fried Pork Medallions with Stir Fry Veggies

 

Olney Theatre Center: Long Way Down

 One last show before I have some minor surgery and several weeks of recovery.  "Long Way Down" is a new hop hop musical at Olney Theatre Center.  It's titular metaphor is that life is an elevator going down.  It relays the story of Will, his older brother Shawn and their single mother.  They life in an inner city somewhere in an apartment building with an elevator.  As the story opens we see Will doing a poor job of covering for his brother, Shawn, who's been out all night; while their mother works some job all night.  Shawn's a player and in no time he's shot and killed, just like his father so many years before.  And his uncle, and his little brothers first girlfriend, and on and on.  Feeling like he must avenge his brother, Will finds his brother's gun and plans to go out and kill the young man who shot his brother.  As he gets on the elevator with each floor closer to the ground a new ghost of someone who killed by gun violence gets on board to challenge, jibe, mock, and even plead with Will to choose another way.  Of course the ghosts include girlfriend, father, uncle, a long-time friend, the boy his brother Shawn shot (unbeknownst to the family) and eventually Shawn.

While the style is hip hop, the music is more than accessible, and the voices are all around strong and emotive.  The choreography was inventive, dynamic and a joy to watch these gifted actors dish out.  Stand out performances were delivered by Parris Lewis as the ghost Buck--think Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) from "The Wire."  Victor Musoni as the older brother Shawn and the glue that held the whole show together, Tyrese Shawn Avery as the younger brother Will.  Of Avery his vocal range and finesse was reactive with members of the audience unable to contain their appreciation.  And his acting was nuanced and consistent creating a sympathetic character whose struggles felt real.  

The set of boxy and yet light with a lot of built in lighting that helped convey the mood and the passage from one floor to another.  Elevator symbolism was all around.  A three member ensemble provided the back up music from a perch one floor up center stage.  The proximity enhanced the intimacy of the performances.

Now, I've left one question unanswered: Was it any good?  Which is not the same as was it enjoyable, or were the performers amazing.  I think I've been clear on those accounts.  At the heart of the unanswered question is the weightiness of the subject matter itself, and can there be a more relevant or consequential subject than inner city Black or Black fratricide? In the end, we aren't even told what Will chooses.  Which has a great way of fostering post production conversation.  And perhaps that is the answer...no one knows.  I'm still thinking about it, after all.

Will (Tyrese Shawn Avery) in the opening scene [rehearsal photo]

Shawn (Victor Musoni) and will [rehearsal photo]

Buck (Parris Lewis) and Will

The entire cast from promotional poster

MEMORIAL DAY - Remembering Lt. Robert Lee Ash (1924-1944)

 My Uncle Bobby was killed on Christmas Eve 1944 when the troop transport the USS Leopoldville struck a mine while crossing the English Channel.  The fact that he gave his life jacket to a fellow soldier earned him the Purple Heart.  

President Biden's Impact on the Eleventh Circuit Federal Judiciary

 So we come to the final "numbered" circuit.  There are two more, by the way; the District of Columbia Circuit and the Federal Circuit.  The latter is a court with jurisdiction over specific non-geographic concerns like copyright law.  Beyond the 13 Circuit Courts there are a handful of others like: The United States Court of International Trade, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the Unites States Tax Court, and the United States Appeals Court for the Armed Services.  But wait!  There's more...  The president is also responsible to nominate, and the Senate to confirm, all the judges on the local courts of the District of Columbia.  Whew.

But, for now, let's just look at the Eleventh.  Split off of the 5th in 1981, it covers the states of Alabama, Georgia  and Florida.  Before Biden came into office it was the only Appeals court with gender parity, 6 men and 6 women.  And when he leaves office it will still have gender parity with two new judges of his choosing.  Until this year, as vacancies began to mount, the two Republican Senators from Florida refused to play ball; however, beginning in November of this year, they began to sign off of nominees.  The two Senators in Alabama will let hell freeze over before either of them who lift a pinky in the matter, and the two Senators in Georgia are both Democrats, so replacing judges in those courts has not been an issue.

The Eleventh Circuit's racial and ethnic Demographics skew well outside of the demographic make up of the Circuit's courts with one exception:  17.7% of the population of the three states is Black, and 17.7% of the judges across the circuit are also Black.  Now, it's not an equitable distribution and there are no judges of color in any of the District Courts of Alabama.

Given the relatively small number of Districts with openings and the lower impact of adding judges to Districts with  large numbers of judges, it would be fair to say that President Biden's impact on the Eleventh Circuit has been modest.

Dinner: Chicken Vesuvius

 

President Biden's Impact Tenth Circuit of the Federal Judiciary

 In a word, overall negligible.  At the Appellate level, President Biden had two picks.  He replace a woman with a man and a man with a woman on a court with only 33% female Judges.  Missed opportunity.  The same court had two minorities when he arrived, and at the end of his first term, there is just one.

The Tenth Circuit is really a rather quiet place.  You don't hear a lot in the way of ground breaking legal cases, nor do you think of it as home to particularly reactionary Justices on any side of Constitutional law.  However, we should also remember that Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch came to the bench from a seat on the Colorado District Court of the Tenth Circuit.  

At the District level, the impact of Biden's appointments is a lot of horse trading.  Where one district's gender parity or racial diversity grows, another's wanes.  Ergo, where the percentage of women increased significantly in Colorado and Utah; they fell back in New Mexico, Wyoming and Kansas.  The presence of non-white Judges made gains in New Mexico and Northern Oklahoma, the ratio declined in Colorado and Kansas.  And in the end, writ large, the status quo remains.  

Now, I would like to point out that within this mundane milieu there are some remarkable and noteworthy firsts.  The first East Asian judges were appointed in Colorado, Justices Wang and Rodriguez.  The first openly Lesbian Justice was also appointed in Colorado, Justice Sweeney.  In Northern Oklahoma, Justice Hill becomes the first Native American (Cherokee) Judge in the history of the Circuit.  

Do you know how many Native American Judges there are in the Federal Judicial Systems Article III courts?  Five.  All are women. The first, Justice Humetewa (Hopi) was appointed by President Obama to a seat on the Arizona District Court.  The second, Justice Brown (Choctaw) was appointed by President Trump to a seat on the Northern Texas District Court.  And then the remaining three all appointees of President Biden: Justice King (Muscogee - Creek) has a seat on the Western Washington District Court; Justice Sykes (Navajo) has a seat on the Central California District Court, and Justice Hill
(Cherokee) who sits on the Northern Oklahoma District Court.  Where are the Native American men?  

DC: Nocturnes

 

Breakfast: Traditional with Fresh Mango!

 

My Little Garden Zoo - The Americas!

ALPACA

AMERICAN ALLIGATOR

AMERICAN BISON

ANHINGA

BLUE IGUANA

BRAZILIAN TAPIR

BLACK SPIDER MONKEY

BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBIT

BLUE & YELLOW MACAW

CALIFORNIA SEA LION

COLLARED PECCARY

COYOTE

EASTERN CHIPMUNK

GIANT ANTEATER

GILA MONSTER

GOLDEN LION TAMARIN

GRAY WOLF

GROUNDHOG 

HYACINTH MACAW

JAGUAR

MANED WOLF

NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO

NORTH AMERICAN BLACK BEAR

NORTH AMERICAN RIVER OTTER

OCELOT

PRONGHORN ANTELOPE

RACCOON

SCARLET MACAW

SQUIRREL MONKEY

THREE-TOED SLOTH

WOLVERINE