Beware the Ides of March, Judge Rakoff.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals announced Thursday that it will delay the SEC-Citigroup civil fraud trial, finding that the litigants are likely to prevail in their settlement appeal, reports The Wall Street Journal. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff had previously scheduled the trial to begin in July.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last week that the court should require the Central Intelligence Agency to disclose records detailing waterboarding interrogation methods used against terrorism suspects in 2002, reports Reuters.
The CIA claims that the Agency can deny a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the waterboarding cables because waterboarding is an “intelligence method,” even though President Obama has since declared it illegal. The ACLU counters that the government cannot withhold details of an intelligence method that it has declared unlawful.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that a Bank of America (BofA) dispute over unresolved liabilities stemming from its 2008 Countrywide acquisition should be decided in a New York state court, not the federal court system. The ruling reverses an October 2011 decision from District Judge William Pauley, which yanked the case from the state courts, reports Reuters.
Second Circuit Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, writing for a three-judge panel, found that the case fell within the securities exception to both original and appellate federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA).
Does Judge Jed Rakoff have a Prop 8 problem?
In November, Judge Rakoff blocked a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settlement with Citigroup over a mortgage-bond deal because the SEC didn't provide the court with facts "upon which to exercise even a modest degree of independent judgment." Rakoff criticized the $285 million settlement as "pocket change" and claimed that there should have been a Citigroup admission of facts in the case because "there is an overriding public interest in knowing the truth."
The war of words that's been stirring between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff could end in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
This week, the Second Circuit granted a temporary stay in the case between Citigroup and the SEC until January 17. Under Judge Rakoff's previous order, defendant Citigroup was supposed to respond to the SEC's complaint next week, reports Bloomberg.
Congress was back to business on Monday following the Thanksgiving break. The Senate unanimously confirmed Judge Christopher Droney for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday in an 88-0 vote.
Droney, who was nominated in May, will fill Judge Guido Calabresi’s seat. The American Bar Association rated him as “well-qualified” for the seat.
Last week, after nearly a year long confirmation process, Susan Carney of Connecticut was confirmed by a vote of 71 to 28, with one abstention, for a position as a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals judge, reports Thomson Reuters News & Insight.
Carney served as deputy general counsel at Yale University for twelve years, reports The Connecticut Mirror, and will now hear appeals from lower courts in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. Carney began her career as a Law Clerk to Judge Levin H. Campbell on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Subsequently, she moved to private practice and eventually, to Yale. At Yale, Carney handled a variety of matters including intellectual property matters, transactional work and international university affiliations, cites her response to the Senate Committee's questionnaire.
