Must Listen: Oral Arguments now Available in Millard v. Rankin
Oral argument in the case of Millard v. Rankin, the Colorado case where the registry was found to be cruel and unusual punishment, took place yesterday. The audio for the hearing can be found by clicking on the link below:
Millard-v.-Rankin oral argument
The case documents can be found below and were and hosted compiled courtesy of the Mitchell Hamline School of Law:
- Colorado District Court Opinion | view via Google Scholar
- Defendant-Appellant Merits Brief
- Appellees’ Merits Brief
- Defendant-Appellant’s Reply Brief
- Attorneys General Amicus Brief
- Scholars’ Amicus Brief
- NARSOL Amicus
- Fourth Amended Complaint
- Defendant’s Trial Brief
- Plaintiffs’ Trial Brief
- Plaintiffs’ Rebuttal Closing Argument Brief
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Some very wise and perceptive assessments below from Dustin, Jason, and BioI57, and others.
Makes me feel better and gives me more confidence that the panel may arrive at a reasonable decision.
So despite my cynicism further down, going to withhold my, ahem, judgement until something is issued.
Assuming the judges are impartial (which half the time is kind of like assuming my dog will get a PhD), it’ll come down to the briefs. Neither lawyer seemed very persuasive, in my opinion. Strikes me as the kind of case where the judges’ minds are already made up and their question were asked specifically support their predetermined opinions.
Don’t recall any point where a judge asked a question that wouldn’t be in the brief anyway. I’d question the competence of either lawyer who didn’t brief what the judges asked.
When I first started reading everyone’s comment on the lawyer I was really disappointed and discouraged. Then I just now listen to the argument myself. There were maybe one or two instances where he didn’t give more information and ask them to go to the briefs. When the judges go to the briefs and do their job this is an easy win. I felt like the lawyer did okay in presenting his case. It’s really not that hard to present. Could he have done better, sure. Did he do a good job, I think so. I have been around a lot of intelligent people in my life and a lot of times it’s hard for them to talk without using uh, um and stuttering. If you listen to what he is saying he is right on point. Again the only thing that I see where anybody could make a point against him is that he did not have the information to orally give the judges when asked but the good thing was he referred them to the briefs and that is their job to read. When they read those as I said the proof is in the pudding!
Anybody know what is going on with the McGuire case in the 11th circuit ? It’s been a while and can’t find anything on it. Not even sure if they even had oral arguments yet.
Here is the appeal :
https://www.mandabusinesslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5637/2017/09/2017-8-21-Appellants-Reply-to-Appellee-Response-to-Supp-Brief.pdf
and a refresher of the case :
https://www.annistonstar.com/free/as-some-states-reconsider-sex-offender-registries-an-alabama-resident/article_d8f12a3c-699a-11e7-a777-d71fa6cbf90b.html
Mary, I was wondering myself about the McGuire case as well. I can’t find anything on oral arguments and such. If so, then the case seems to be taking longer for some reason.
From what I read, I know that McGuire has a good attorney with an impressive resume. His name is Phil Telfeyan.
https://equaljusticeunderlaw.org/phil-telfeyan-about/
Can anyone find the Law Firm contact information for these bozos? I’d love to send them a link to the comments section to show them how great of a job they did representing essentially & indirectly, 900,000 people.
I always fear that a paramount case will be taken up by a clueless lawyer, like so many of them are (personal experience). Unfortunately, this has proven to be true here.
Appellate courts overturn a district court’s finding of fact infrequently and usually under the clear error standard, which is difficult to meet. Clear error refers to a trial court’s judgment or action that appears unquestionably erroneous to the reviewing/appellate court. However, the fact that there is a clear error may not warrant reversal of the lower court decision.
The reality is that the judges on the panel have had the case for weeks and each judge’s clerks read the briefs and exchange notes between each member on the panel to summarize their view of the case. So, when they come to oral argument, the judges largely already formed an opinion.
Often, the judges will ask softball questions to the “side” that they most agree with in an attempt to persuade the other judges. My take is that when the female judge was asking about recidivism and the effectiveness of the registry, she was trying to lead Milliard’s attorney to say “Yes, recidivism is low and YES the registry is ineffective”. Instead, he pointed to the Amicus brief of the scholars who fully briefed those issues.
Another positive note is how the male judge @28:37 admonishes the attorney for Colorado that she should not expect the court to comment on if the stature is good public policy (to say – justified by the statute).
To address a comment earlier about what it would mean if the Court rejected the District Court’s decison. That decisons could trigger a review by SCOTUS because it would create a circuit split beween theis Circuit and the Sixth Circuit who found that SORNA was punishment and was uncontitutional when applied retroactively; a decison which SCOTUS declined to review.
I could be wrong. I pray I am not.