The Nomination of Matthew Petersen To A Federal Judgeship Was Ridiculous.
I don’t have anything against Matthew Petersen. From what I can see, he’s a good person and most likely quite good at his job running the FEC. His date with infamy arose when he was nearing appointment to the federal bench as a U.S. District Court Judge. This is a high-powered job devoted almost exclusively to trial work – both civil and criminal. While federal courts are, by definition, limited jurisdiction (they only hear certain types of cases), those cases will be varied and extraordinarily complex. For instance, you might have California suing Nevada on toxic waste disposal, or whether a citizen committed treason. Petersen is a lawyer, but that’s not enough to put him into black robes and hear cases that decide a persons’ freedom and rights to money and property, or the rights of the state to take certain actions against other states. Very little is written in our Constitution about what is required to become a federal (e.g. “Article 2”) judge, so it’s up to the Senate and its customs. That makes the situation obviously political.
The Other Nominees At The Table Are Seriously Accomplished Trial Attorneys And Judges
The other appointees, include, from the far left corner, R. Stan Baker, a federal Magistrate Judge, who was seeking to become a U.S. District Judge. Magistrate Judges do not have lifetime appointment, and work in association with US District Court Judges. In other words, Judge Baker already has a ton of experience in the courtroom and is trying to move up, to say nothing of his years of experience trying cases as a trial lawyer before that. Next to Judge Baker is another Magistrate Judge, the Honorable Charles Barnes Goodwin, seeking a promotion to U.S. District Judge. Judge Barnes already issued over 350 federal opinions and presided over 1,000 misdemeanor and 500 felony trials. He was editor of the review at the University of Oklahoma, one of the most coveted and hard to get jobs in law school. Next to him is Mathew Kacsmaryk, who spent five years as a federal prosecutor and was in practice for 10 years. Then there’s Petersen, and on the far right of the table, Eli Jeremy Richardson, a former federal prosecutor and FBI agent. All but Petersen were confirmed.
When you look at that panel, you can see the 1,000 yard stare of seriously accomplished and battle tested trial lawyers and judges. The “1,000 yard stare” is the term coined from military combat. Soliders “in the shit” come out looking and thinking different. Hardly surprising since they just endured knife fights, gun battles and watched people getting hacked to death or shot right before them. While lawyers and judges are not pulling guns on people, they are dealing with a non-stop barrage of serious problems, which means they are “in the shit” all day, everyday. The stress creates mental toughness – and these lawyers have it in abundance. Trial lawyers and judges get PTSD, suffer from high rates of depression, suicide, drug abuse – you name it. Why? Because they are dealing with high stress and calamity: “John is here to see you. Any update keeping him from getting a third strike and a life sentence?” Isaiah called – “Is it true he waited too long to file suit and is now financially ruined?” I can attest to the transformation that arises from being forced to confront difficult (even life-changing) events on behalf of many clients each day.
Petersen looks like a fish out of water. He is most definitely not a shark. His facial expressions show discomfort. He looks wildly uncomfortable sitting at the table. He doesn’t project the inner strength from combat in the trenches. He’s more like a principal following a rule book.
“I Only Have Five Minutes For All Five Of You.”
When Senator Kennedy said he only had “five minutes” for all five of the candidates as part of the screening process, he knew he couldn’t just go straight at Petersen, so Kennedy asked questions that would bring Petersen to the spotlight immediately. A kind of, “I’ll let you hang yourself” type of meeting. Kennedy already knew from reading Petersen’s background report that he never tried a case before a jury, argued a motion or otherwise handled litigation. This was Kennedy’s way of acting surprised, and then being polite and deadly at the same time. Each question Kennedy asked only intensified the public shaming of Petersen. Of course, Petersen’s long pauses, the “Uhhhs,” and the shuffling in his seat only made the matter more uncomfortable. Even the witnesses behind Petersen are starting to smirk at how far into hell he has descended.
The Looks On The Other Nominee’s Faces When Petersen Continues to “Uhhhh….”
Kacsmaryk’s reaction is one of disbelief. At about 20 seconds, Kacsmaryk looks down and the other way, with a “You’ve got to be kidding me” look. Judge Baker is looking intently too, as is Judge Goodwin. When judges make the controlled look of incredulity followed by permanent stares, you better hope it was against your adversary. These guys are blown away that Petersen seeks to hold the power of a federal judge, and he has never even argued a motion? Here they are, two U.S. Magistrate Judges, who spent years in the trenches, handling thousands of cases, awaiting a promotion, and this guy shows up and doesn’t know a damn thing?
A federal judge affects people’s lives. The questions Kennedy asked were pretty basic. A motion in limine is a pre-trial motion to exclude evidence, on the grounds that it is irrelevant, could mislead the jury, could waste time, etc. In the stock fraud case I handled, I opposed all nine motions in limine brought by the other side. In another case, the other side brought 17 such motions. To have never tried a case or argued a motion is simply stunning when the job you are applying for deals with this everyday, all day, and at a very sophisticated level. It’s a big deal. Imagine Petersen walking in, and having a full docket. Witnesses are waiting to be called, objections to evidence are being made, motions are in front of him, and other lawsuits are stacking up. He wouldn’t know shit. How could he possibly rule upon anything? One side argues the motion is defective due to a lack of required notice. What does Petersen do? Ask a clerk? Google it? Have a list of 50 questions per day for other federal judges to help manage the unmanageable?
Why This Is A Big Deal That Petersen Even Sought To Become A Life Tenured Article 2 Judge
Being a judge requires more than a law degree – it requires wisdom, experience and a rare combination of intellect, writing and research abilities combined with a deep knowledge of the business and rules of litigation itself. The wisdom comes from learning, and it takes time, arises from mistakes and experience. From this, a judge acquires deep wisdom in order to manage lawyers and litigants. Imagine you are in front of a judge who doesn’t know what is going on, and you lose the case because he didn’t know what was going on? What if it were your freedom on the line, and Petersen is sitting there going “Uhhhh” as criminal lawyers and the DOJ are arguing over the evidence and testimony with witnesses on the stand. The DOJ wants evidence of a prior conviction to come in, and the defense argues against it. Petersen makes the wrong call, and the guy is convicted and does 20 years. I still can’t comprehend how Petersen figured he’d even survive such an onslaught in the courtroom. For at least a couple of years, the guy – if he were a judge – would be the subject of numerous appeals and bring chaos into an already highly charged environment. While courtrooms are supposed to be dignified, they are battlegrounds where wars are fought openly. Lawyers don’t use guns or knives to make their point – their “weapons” are civil procedure, argument, dirty tactics, the suppression of truth and hard-nosed motion practice. The judge is the umpire, calling balls and strikes. Petersen sought to be umpire without any knowledge of the rules of the game. We’ve all seen those crucial calls during a playoff or Superbowl, where one bad call cost a team the win or the championship. In those instances the referees are highly experienced and can still get it wrong. What about pulling some random guy off the street who has never played the game, and ask him to start making rulings? Chaos would ensue.
At Least Petersen Was Dignified Enough To Remove Himself From Further Consideration
I feel bad for Petersen that he was mocked and trolled on social media. Petersen probably wasn’t expecting a televised confirmation hearing. Petersen sought the Brass Ring – a federal judgeship with lifetime tenure – a hugely difficult and powerful position that can only be attained after years of serious litigation experience.
He seems like a decent person. I’m glad that Petersen had the decency to withdraw his name. That was a smart move. Perhaps Petersen figured he’d get appointed purely along a party line vote, even without any relevant experience. Maybe Petersen wasn’t expecting a television crew to show up and put all of this in front of the public and bring unneeded attention on his lack of qualifications? We can certainly blame Trump and his handlers for putting Petersen’s name into the ring. I also blame Petersen too, and I question his judgment.
Petersen didn’t think this through, and I call his judgment into question (which is a bad thing when you seek to become a judge). Or, on an epic scale of pure naivete, he figured he could buy a book or practice guide and learn how to be a judge while screwing up the lives of all of those that come before him. I personally think this is what happened. He mentioned taking a “deep dive,” which means to me that he knew he wasn’t qualified. We seek judges who possess good judgment. Until Petersen spends years in actual litigation, he has no business appearing before the Senate seeking confirmation to decide the fates of tens of thousands of people.