I continue to dig through the record of Todd Butler, the new nominee to the Fifth Circuit. I wonder if anyone else did?
Butler's greatest claim to fame is arguing Olivier v. City of Brandon before the Supreme Court. The questions presented were fairly technical:
1. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit holds in conflict with the Ninth and Tenth Circuits, this Court's decision in Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims seeking purely prospective relief where the plaintiff has been punished before under the law challenged as unconstitutional.
2. Whether, as the Fifth Circuit and at least four others hold in conflict with five other circuits, Heck v. Humphrey bars § 1983 claims by plaintiffs even where they never had access to federal habeas relief.
