Your Tuesday Morning Digital Dump!

So I know we're all politically engaged, what did you think of the debate?

Here's my takeaway:

And of course there's this:

Alright, enough politics.

I see my pal Paul Huck Jr. landed at Hunton:

Paul Huck Jr., the husband and son of judges, has joined Hunton & Williams as a partner in the Miami office.

Huck, a litigator, worked at Colson Hicks Eidson in Coral Gables for four years and served as general counsel to then-Governor Charlie Crist from 2007 to 2008.

Huck said he was looking to join a national law firm to expand his commercial litigation and attorney general investigation practice. He represents clients who are being investigated by the Florida attorney general’s office on civil matters.

“I was looking for a firm with a national footprint,” he said.

Note to managing partners -- this is how you gracefully handle a lawyer departure:

“Hunton & Williams is fortunate that he has joined,” Dean Colson, managing partner at Colson Hicks Eidson said in a statement Monday. “We know that Paul will continue to be very successful, and we wish him nothing but the best.”

Well done, Dean (and Paul)!

In other news, 11th Circuit appellate junkies will rejoice over a weird quirk that happens when en banc review is evenly divided -- the district court judgment is affirmed by operation of law, and the panel opinion is wiped out as if it never existed:

The decision of the district court is affirmed by an evenly divided court. The opinion of the panel remains vacated. United States v. Geders, 585 F.2d 1303, 1306 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc) (“[T]he court en banc is evenly divided; therefore the judgment . . . of the district court is affirmed by operation of law.”); see id. (indicating that, if district court judgment is affirmed by operation of law, the panel opinion remains vacated); see also Reshard v. Britt, 839 F.2d 1499 (11th Cir. 1988); United States v. Sigma, Int’l, Inc., 300 F.3d 1278, 1280 (11th Cir. 2002) (en banc) (noting that when panel opinions are vacated they “are officially gone,” and “are void,” and none of the statements made in them “has any remaining force and cannot be considered to express the view of this Court.”).

Sorry panel, your opinion has been officially vaporized!

Republican Plaintiff Lawyers Celebrate Crist's Marriage to Real Live Heterosexual Woman!

Howdy folks, so are you on the guest list to the Gov's big "marriage" thingy?

What's that, you won't say?

Oh I get it -- don't ask, don't tell.

Well the Herald leaked a few names anyway -- funny, they all happen to be hotshot Republican plaintiffs' lawyers: Roberto Martinez, Dean Colson, and Paul Huck, Jr., all of Colson Hicks.

Also good guy, former federal law clerk, and current power broker Manny Kadre. That guy gets invited to everything.

Have fun, boys!

Meanwhile, did anyone catch this story in yesterday's NYT on the fledgling "liberal" equivalent to the Federalist Society, something called the American Constitution Society:

When Eric H. Holder Jr. addressed a convention of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy in June, he urged young lawyers to get involved in the liberal legal network, saying America would soon be “run by progressives.”

“With this new administration that will be taking its place in January of 2009, you know, we are going to be looking for people who share our values,” said Mr. Holder, a member of the society’s board. He added that a “substantial number of those people” would probably be “members of the A.C.S.”

Six months later, Mr. Holder is preparing to take over the Justice Department as President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for attorney general. And the American Constitution Society, founded in 2001 to be a liberal counterweight to the conservative Federalist Society, is rising to power.

Although Mr. Obama has just started to fill the thousands of politically appointed jobs in his administration, the society’s affiliates are already well positioned to shape legal policy, hiring decisions and judicial nominations for years to come. In addition to Mr. Holder, other prominent officials in the new administration who have ties to the society include Lisa Brown, the White House staff secretary; Melody Barnes, who will direct the Domestic Policy Council; and Ronald Klain, chief of staff to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Three other society board members are on the transition’s agency review team, and observers expect that the Obama team will turn to society members to fill subcabinet positions and judgeships.

“People who are committed enough to a progressive vision of the law to work for and with A.C.S. when progressives are out of office are going to be a natural resource when the electoral winds shift,” said Orin S. Kerr, a conservative-leaning law professor at George Washington University who has spoken at society events.

But with power comes temptation. Several society leaders said they were mindful that the Bush administration had gotten into trouble by considering applicants’ affiliations with ideological groups like the Federalist Society when hiring for nonpartisan positions.

“That will not be repeated in the Justice Department in the next administration,” vowed Dawn Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University who is an American Constitution Society board member and co-chairwoman of the transition’s Justice Department review. “I feel like I can say that with confidence.”

While of course I know of the Federalist Society -- how many times do I have to see Richard Thornburgh at the Miami City Club drone on about constitutional protections in the Age of Terror? -- I personally have never heard of the ACS.

Yet apparently there is a South Florida chapter, run by Steve Rosenthal over at the Podhurst firm.

Since it's unlikely Steve will be at the big St. Pete wedding, maybe he can weigh in on what the ACS is doing locally. If it involves Dick Thornburgh and the City Club, count me out.

"Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job"

That's the headline this morning from The Onion, which goes on to report:

As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."

You all know where to go to get political blather up the yazoo on the tubes this morning, so I won't pile on just yet. I'm more interested in your election day war stories -- here's Gerry Richman, saving the world one vote at a time:

Richman’s mission was to ensure every eligible voter who wanted to vote for Obama would get the chance to do so — and no mechanical problems, access issues or poll worker confusion about Election Day procedures in the heavily Democratic county would stand in the way in a pivotal swing state.

Hey, I was helping too! Why is my photo not in the DBR?

Anyways, here's what I was doing -- first I joined Norm Moscowitz and together we let the air out of the tires on Frank Cosmen's Harley down at precinct 518, the Church of God of Prophecy #1 (seriously, that is the real name of that voting precinct).

That was a lot of fun, even if I'm not sure how much that helped the election process.

Later me and Ira Kurzban worked over Paul Huck, Jr. down at precinct 514, Miami Edison Middle School.

I won't bore you with all the sordid details, except that at one point Ira held gentle Paul's arms down while I whipped out my mandolin and serenaded the crowd with a rousing rendition of San Franciscan Nights. It was that kind of day.

I'm kidding, of course. Actually, Ira and I did a fairly faithful a cappella version of Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves. Call me crazy, but I still believe -- in the right setting -- that song can work.

Seriously, I do want to thank all the lawyers from all sides who assisted and gave of themselves all day yesterday to help make this country a better place, regardless of the outcome. America thanks you for giving your skills and talents to improving the democratic process.

Early Vote, You Plebes!

Since most of you will be out "pollwatching" on election day anyways:

In Miami-Dade, which has 764 polls, Democratic observers number about 450. They will focus on what key members call ''voter protection'' in minority, elderly and traditionally strong Democratic precincts.

According to a Miami Herald computer analysis of precinct designations, the Democrats are devoting two-thirds of their poll watchers to precincts where less than 25 percent of the voters are black.

Their observers include immigration lawyer Ira Kurzban, lawyer and former Orange Bowl Committee president Albert Dotson Jr. and Miami-Dade prosecutor Abe Laeser.

Some 250 GOP lawyers and other volunteers for McCain's Miami-Dade campaign are designated as poll watchers in exactly the opposite way: They are committing two-thirds of their poll watchers to precincts heavily populated with African Americans, Haitian Americans and other minorities, according to the Miami Herald analysis.

Party officials said they stationed observers in areas where GOP candidates traditionally have not performed as well as Democrats.

Among the Republican observers: Raquel Rodriguez, former general counsel to ex-Gov. Jeb Bush; Paul Huck Jr., former general counsel to Gov. Charlie Crist; and state Rep. J.C. Planas, R-Miami.

Oh the good old days, I remember Chief Justice Rehnquist used to go to the polls back in the 60s.

Wait a minute -- Paul Huck, Jr. is a Republican pollwatcher? For this election? Doesn't he know he's a plaintiff's lawyer now? Lovable Paul is actually gonna spend election day possibly monitoring a African-American or heavily Haitian precinct -- oy.

Oh well, we still love him.