It's been six years in the making. But we finally get to see it.
The Battle of the Smiths.
In the Red corner, we have Judge N. Randy Smith. "Randy". BYU undergrad. Bush II appointee to the Ninth Circuit.
In the Also Red (but Slightly Purplish) corner, we have Judge Milan Smith. "Milan". BYU undergrad. Bush II appointee to the Ninth Circuit.
Let the grudge match between these vicious opponents begin!
Okay, so, in truth, it's not a grudge match. They're not even universes apart in their respective worldviews. Unlike some other judges on the Ninth.
Moreover, the Smiths have been on the same panel before. But except in a couple of en banc votes, they've been largely on the same page. As far as I can tell, we've never seen a panel opinon where one Smith writes an opinion and the other one writes a dissent.
Until today.
Randy authors the majority opinion. Joined by Judge Kleinfeld. Milan dissents. It's a labor (unions) case, so you can probably guess from the lineup which way it comes out. The district court issues an injunction that stops some workers at Sea-Tac from conducting a threatened eight-hour strike. The majority says that's okay. The dissent respectfully disagrees.
No one's going ballistic. Partially because no one on the panel is a hard core member of the Blue Corner.
Still, it's Randy versus Milan. Smith v. Smith. And in the first of perhaps three or four battles in the next twenty years, at present, the winner is . . . Randy.
