The Plame Civil Suit has has been dismissed. Stop me if this has been diaried elsewhere. I just stumbled onto it while trolling news sites.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ruled that the civil suit by Plame and her husband, former envoy Joseph C. Wilson IV, was preempted by laws that protect federal workers.
He ruled that the actions of Cheney and other officials, though arguably "highly unsavory," were within the scope of their government service. Federal officials are normally granted immunity from being sued in an individual capacity as long as their actions fall within their customary duties in government.
While the judge's stated reason for dismissal might not, on the face of it, appear unreasonable, judicial rulings which favor the Bushite administration tend to excite my curiosity these days, particularly as regards the political backgrounds of the presiding judges. If offer the following biographical snippet
Judge Bates was appointed United States District Judge in December 2001. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1968 and received a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1976. From 1968 to 1971, he served in the United States Army, including a tour in Vietnam. Judge Bates clerked for Judge Roszel C. Thomsen of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland from 1976 to 1977 and was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson from 1977 to 1980. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1980 to 1997, and was Chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office from 1987 to 1997. Judge Bates was on detail as Deputy Independent Counsel for the Whitewater investigation from 1995 to mid-1997. In 1998, he joined the Washington law firm of Miller & Chevalier, where he was Chair of the Government Contracts/Litigation Department and a member of the Executive Committee
Well, I am no lawyer, but consider myself something of a hanging judge when it comes to Ken Starr's former minions. I don't think too many Kossacks would argue against the proposition that the Rethuglican party, in its pursuit of the Clinton Impeachment, showed itself willing to make a bumswipe of the US Constitution, to indulge and gratify its partisan bile. All Rethugs are tarred with brush, in my view -- but the actual participants merit special opprobrium. OK; end of rant.
The Plame camp is disappointed, but not surprised, and plans an appeal. Stay tuned.