Department of Justice Once Again Proves Its Loyalty to the President, Not the Rule of Law

AUSTIN SARAT

Austin Sarat—Associate Provost, Associate Dean of the Faculty, and William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science at Amherst College—comments on the recent news that the Justice Department will seek dismissal of charges against Michael Flynn. Sarat suggests that because the decision does not seem to advance the fair administration of justice in this case, the court should take the unusual step of refusing to grant the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss.

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Davis v. Iowa District Court for Scott County

Docket: 19-1008

Opinion Date: May 8, 2020

Judge: Oxley

Areas of Law: Civil Procedure

The Supreme Court upheld the district court's order directing Plaintiff and/or his attorney to pay reasonable expenses associated with one of the defendant's attendance at a court-ordered pretrial settlement conference due to Plaintiff's failure to appear, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion. Plaintiff failed personally to attend the settlement conference conference, despite pretrial orders and a local rule requiring his attendance. Defendants attended the conference, but Plaintiff did not. The district court refused to hold the conference without Plaintiff present and granted one of the defendant's motions for sanctions. The Supreme Court upheld the district court's order, holding that the district court did not exceed its jurisdiction or otherwise act illegally in finding Plaintiff in violation of the court's trial-setting order when he failed personally to appear for the scheduled settlement conference and in directing the specific sanction in this case.