Judge Who Ruled Against Recess Appointments Is A Wingnut

Does this piece of shit look all that bright to you?

Sentelle, the lead judge of this circuit court, and a reminder that this is someone who, when he gets a chance, puts his right wing, authoritarian political beliefs over and above the principle of justice.

This Right Wing Retard Tea Bagger really fucked up.

The court ruling was written by Judge David Sentelle, a Reagan appointee widely considered to be a strident conservative. It says that all recess appointments not made between the period one sworn-in Congress ends, and another begins, are void. That means most recess appointments.

Legal experts are saying that the ruling covers not just these appointments, but all recess appointments, made by any President, going back as far as the Administration of James Monroe in 1823.

Any appointments made under the conditions addressed by the Court, they say, could potentially be declared void. This would also mean that all regulations issued under such officials, and all court decisions made by judges appointed this way, would likewise be subject to voiding, if tested.

But it gets worse:

This case will very likely be appealed by the Administration. But if it's ultimately upheld -- and it could be, since on a very narrow basis, the judges have something on their side -- you could, depending on the judge, see financial criminals set free, along with drug kingpins, bank robbers, etc. This doesn't count fines that would have to be returned to corporate miscreants -- banks and Wall Street firms, for instance if they were fined by a court that falls under this ruling.

To avoid this, the ruling would have to be declared to apply only to the case that provoked the ruling, and to no other. And if that happened, the specific case would likewise be voided, since if all the other appointments and regulations affect by the ruling would be considered to be valid, so would the appointments to the NLRB.

 Only to the case that provoked the ruling. Like Bush v. Gore. And that turned out so well.