Fourth Circuit Stunner: Judge Luttig Resigns!
Astonishing legal news today: Judge Michael Luttig, the #1 feeder judge to the Supreme Court these days, has resigned from the bench to become the General Counsel at Boeing. (Note: Today’s date is May 10, not April 1.) Luttig’s letter of resignation is available here.
The obvious question is, why? The Associated Press quoted Luttig as saying the following: “This opportunity just came out of the blue . . . I was not looking to leave the court, and did not expect to leave the court. After considering it, it seemed an opportunity we could not forego.” Luttig’s resignation letter to the President also develops this theme, although the explanation comes off as sort of weird. It suggests that Luttig is resigning because Boeing makes such terrific products and has a very impressive new CEO; in light of that, how could any judge turn down an opportunity to work there?!? (Huh?)
Did Luttig resign because he wasn’t picked for the Supreme Court, and figured his opportunity had passed? That’s going to be one theory. The Washington Post also has Luttig stating: “I’ve been on the bench 15 years . . . No one can or should plan their life with regard to a potential Supreme Court appointment.” Note, though, that this quote can be interpreted in two very different ways: First, that Luttig never planned for a Supreme Court appointment, or second, that he was planning on it but decided to resign because he figured he couldn’t plan for it anymore. It’s unclear to me which meaning he had in mind.
In any event, this is a remarkable development. Luttig is only 51 years old, and for the last 15 years has been one of the most influential court of appeals judges in the country.A Luttig clerkship was the conservative feeder clerkship, as it basically guaranteed a second clerkship with Justice Scalia, Thomas, or Kennedy. Indeed, almost all of Luttig’s former clerks have gone on to clerk at the Supreme Court, and many of them were shaped by Luttig’s strong views about the role of the courts in constitutional and statutory interpretation. Luttig could have spent another 30 years on the Fourth Circuit, and all signals suggest that he would have continued to be a major force in the appellate judiciary and in conservative legal circles. His decision to give that up to work for Boeing is stunning news.
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