Academic

No gag order on Holder, but something of a judicial spanking

By Tung Yin

Not surprisingly, the district judge in the Mohamud case denied a defense motion to have a gag order issued against Attorney General Eric Holder.  I did some quick research on this when the motion was first filed, and I didn't find anything remotely close to such an order being issued against an AG.  On the other hand, Holder's public statements seemed pretty over the line, and the judge did find that the AG violated government policy three different times by saying more than what a prosecutor should have said.

This seems like a compromise ruling; I just can't see a judge gagging the Attorney General, a ruling that would be appealed and probably overturned, out of interbranch comity if nothing else -- unless direct harm could be shown.  By denying the motion, the judge took away any incentive for the government to appeal.  Thus, the public criticism of Holder remains intact.

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on February 24, 2011 (boomark / email).