DC Dicta


Legal news and developments primarily on the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress and federal agencies in Washington, D.C.

Author: Lawyers USA staffer Kimberly Atkins, a lawyer/journalist who works in the newspaper’s Washington, D.C. bureau, writes the blog. Atkins is a former litigation and appellate lawyer. She practiced in Boston.

Blawg Related Categories: Executive Branch • Legislation & Lobbying • U.S. Supreme Court • States • District of Columbia • Legal News Publication

Recent Posts from DC Dicta


  • Friday morning docket: Judicial showdown over same-sex benefits

    There is a battle brewing over the issue of extending same-sex benefits to federal court employees. In this corner: 9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who granted health benefits this week to the same-sex partners…

  • WSJ: Kennedy rep asked other school for pre-pub ok

    Justice Anthony Kennedy - in expressing his disappointment with a New York Times piece claiming the justice required pre-publication approval of student news accounts of his speech - told the Wall Street Journal: “The fact…

  • Hoyer: No estate tax quick fix

    With time running out for Congress to enact some sort of estate tax reform before the scheduled 2010 repeal, lawmakers are pondering a one-year quick fix measure that buys them more time to put together…

  • Kennedy upset by media flap

    Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wants to set the record straight: reports that he demanded pre-approval before a student newspaper could publish a story about his recent visit to the school are not true. So…

  • Obama to Senate: Got any bright (judicial nomination) ideas?

    The Obama administration has been struggling to get judicial nominations confirmed by Congress in a timely manner. So White House officials are reportedly taking a new approach: asking the confirmers for suggestions. White House officials…

  • Monday status conference: Monday morning quarterbacking

    The Justice Department snapped the ball Friday, but lawmakers are still sounding off over the Obama administration’s decision to bring suspected Sept. 11 terrorists to trial in a New York civilian federal court. While some…

  • Friday morning docket: 9/11 trial will be in federal court

    The Obama administration will announce today that accused Sept. 11 attacks mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and three alleged co-conspirators will be tried in federal court in New York instead of a military commission. Attorney General…

  • The Funniest Justice, week 4: The justice stands alone

    During oral arguments Tuesday, Justice Stephen Breyer thought he’d found a perfect way to interpret and apply a federal immigration law. His only reservation: no one else had ever thought of it. “Nobody has,” Breyer…

  • Justice O’Connor’s husband dies

    John J. O’Connor, III, husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, has died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease. O’Connor passed away this morning in Phoenix. He was diagnosed with the disease nearly two…

  • The passions of Scalia

    USA Today’s Joan Biskupic, author of American Original, a new biography of Justice Antonin Scalia that was released this week, sat down with Tom Goldstein of Akin Gump and SCOTUSblog to talk about the man…