Legal Commentary

Not sure how I missed this earlier, but Larry Tribe's letter to POTUS re: SCOTUS nominations from last year was leaked earlier in the week. His written candor is admirable (crazy?), though now he believes the gist of his counsel was misguided. Still, I don't think too many of LT's RA's will be Sotomayor's clerks anytime soon. When the story of the leak broke, Tribe was available for comment to the WSJ's Bravin:

Bravin caught up with Tribe today, who managed to retain a sense of humor about the revelation. ?Ironically, I?m in the middle of a root canal procedure,? Tribe said in an email. ?The endodontist has let me leave the chair long enough for me to say this much:

?I don?t comment on my confidential advice to the president, and I regarded the letter I wrote in May 2009 as confidential. The fact that it was leaked doesn?t change my policy. I?ve long held Justices Breyer and Kennedy in the highest regard, both as friends and as jurists, and I certainly regret any contrary implication some may try to I draw from this letter, taken out of context. I would also stress that the reservations I expressed about Justice Sotomayor prior to her appointment were amply refuted by the closer study I was later able to give her record and that have been fully negated by her performance as a justice.?

Phew, glad that's all cleared up now. I guess the Zuckerberg effect has still not restrained people from tendering confidential advice or reactions in writing.