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Libby Judges Orders More Briefs on Releasing Support Letters

Things are heating up in the Scooter Libby sentencing. The Judge today ordered "that the media and, to the extent they have position on the issue, the parties shall submit to the Court by 5:00 p.m. on May 30, 2007, their legal views regarding what right, if any, the media has to access the sentencing letters prior to the June 5, 2007 imposition of the defendant's sentence."

Jane Hamsher and Marcy Wheeler, as credentialed bloggers for Firedoglake and Daily Kos, have submitted their letter. More from Jane here and Marcy here.

My view on the letters is here.

The Judge also ordered Team Libby reply to the government's sentencing memoranda (here and here, pdf) by 5:00 p.m. on May 31, 2007.

Update: Here is Team Libby's response.

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    and, now -- big media makes itself known. . . (none / 0) (#1)
    by the rainnn on Wed May 30, 2007 at 09:15:11 PM EST
    as i assume everyone here knows
    by now, "big media" has also filed
    a brief in support of access to
    the libby-supporter-letters. . .

    i'll be blogging on their very-
    compelling arguments shortly, but
    i will note that even libby's defense
    team, in its filings of today, seems
    to concede that most of the letters
    will be public -- now, it is all over,
    save for the shouting -- that being,
    whether they get released before
    sentencing
    -- or only after. . .

    particularly important is that judge
    walton has requested briefs on that
    issue, specifically -- "before or after"?

    btw, the "big media" brief really nails
    libby/ted wells' team for not playing
    straight with the kushner precedent. . .

    a very entertaining read, indeed. . .

    great work here, jeralyn. . .

    News? (none / 0) (#2)
    by squeaky on Wed May 30, 2007 at 09:24:26 PM EST
    Judge Walton has announced [pdf] that he will permit at least some kind of disclosure on the letters submitted in support of Libby's sentencing.

    emptywheel

    i've ended up with a different. . . (none / 0) (#3)
    by the rainnn on Thu May 31, 2007 at 12:55:18 AM EST
    . . .more populist piece, on
    the "access" legal arguments
    story tonight -- mainly due
    to serendipity -- in comments on
    my blog. . .  so -- while the
    "big media" argument may be more
    concise, and mostly free of tire-
    some legal jargon, the populist
    "amicus petition" has a rather
    alluring charm
    , all its own
    . . .

    do take a squint. . .