Court revives part of lawsuit against Justice Dept over Bush-era political screening of hires

[alp227]

A federal appeals court on Friday revived part of a lawsuit by two attorneys who applied for prestigious Justice Department jobs during the George W. Bush administration and alleged they were denied interviews because of their liberal political views.

The department destroyed files on the lawyers’ applications to be hired under the department’s Honors Program. Government lawyers said they did so for lack of storage space.

However, the appeals court ruled that, while the Privacy Act bars agencies from keeping records about an individual’s exercise of free speech, senior Justice Department officials should have preserved the documents because an investigation and lawsuits were foreseeable.

The applicants argued that a lower court judge ignored relevant evidence in dismissing their suit, including the fact that a screening committee comprised of two Bush administration political appointees conducted internet searches about applicants’ political leanings.

Although they revived the lawsuit, the three-member panel of judges from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to make the case a class action on behalf of all applicants who might have been denied interviews because of liberal political affiliations.

In her opinion for the appeals court, Circuit Judge Judith Rogers said the Justice Department had a duty to preserve the records. The fact that it did not, she concluded, supports the inference the department engaged in “spoliation,” which means intentional or negligent withholding of evidence relevant to a legal proceeding.

The appellate court explicitly ordered the District Court, when it tries the case, to adopt that negative inference. The higher court said that would permit a reasonable trial court and jury to find that the two applicants were harmed by creation and use of the destroyed records.

Rogers is an appointee of President Bill Clinton. The other two appeals judges in the case are chief judge Merrick Garland, a Clinton appointee, and Thomas Griffith, an appointee of George W. Bush.

Full AP story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-revives-part-of-lawsuit-against-justice-dept-over-bush-era-political-screening-of-hires/2013/03/29/4e516956-9883-11e2-b5b4-b63027b499de_story.html

[idwiyo]

1. K&R

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. How many people here remember Monica Goodling?

I thought of her instantly.

Set your WABAC Machine on 2007 and use the search term "Monica Goodling" or the misspelling "Monica Gooding." For examples:

Gonzales acknowledges role in attorney firings

Plan for Replacing Certain United States Attorneys" exposes coordination with WH (Miers and Rove)

Links to: http://simplyappalling.blogspot.com/2007/03/documents-how-to-fire-us-attorney.html

Monica Goodling

Education

Goodling is a 1991 graduate of Northeastern High School in Manchester, Pennsylvania, and received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995 from Messiah College. After completing her bachelor's degree, Goodling continued her education at American University. Deeply religious and politically conservative, she then transferred to Pat Robertson's Regent University School of Law, where she received her Juris Doctor degree in 1999.