Ted Olson Retained To Represent Paul Minor In Appeal To Supreme Court

[Hissyspit]

Via Press Release

Theodore B. Olson Retained To Represent Paul Minor in Appeal To
The U.S. Supreme Court

April 27, 2010
For Immediate Release
Former United States Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson—one of the Nation’s premier
appellate attorneys and Supreme Court advocates—will represent Mississippi attorney Paul
Minor in his upcoming appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

A partner in the Washington D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Mr. Olson was
Solicitor General of the United States from 2001-2004.

Imprisoned since 2006, Mississippi attorney Paul Minor was one of America’s top trial lawyers
when he was convicted in 2007. The prosecution of Minor garnered national attention in 2007
after the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary detailed the Minor
prosecution in public hearings and its final report on selective prosecution within the United
States Department of Justice. Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned
several of Minor’s convictions; his remaining convictions are premised on the “Honest Services”
statute—a provision that has been widely criticized as ambiguous and potentially
unconstitutional.

Mr. Olson stated, “The open-ended and unclear language of the ‘Honest Services’ statute is
inconsistent with the fundamental principle that the public must be able to understand what a
criminal law means. Mr. Minor will ask the Supreme Court to make clear that the vague
language of the ‘Honest Services’ statute cannot be used to criminalize lawful campaign
contributions.”

The Minor case raises First Amendment free speech issues concerning campaign contributions
that are similar to the First Amendment issues addressed by the Supreme Court in the Citizens
United decision handed down earlier this year. Mr. Olson and his firm briefed and argued that
case in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Olson has argued 56 cases in the Supreme Court, including Bush v. Palm Beach County
Canvassing Board and Bush v. Gore, stemming from the 2000 presidential election, and has
prevailed in over 75% of those arguments. He has handled cases at all levels of state and federal
court systems throughout the United States, and in international tribunals.

Mr. Olson’s Supreme Court arguments have included cases involving separation of powers;
federalism; voting rights; the First Amendment; the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses;
sentencing; jury trial rights; punitive damages; takings of property and just compensation; the
Commerce Clause; taxation; immigration; criminal law; copyright; antitrust; securities;
telecommunications; the environment; the internet; and other federal constitutional and statutory
questions.

As Solicitor General, during the presidency of George W. Bush, Mr. Olson was the
Government’s principal advocate in the United States Supreme Court, responsible for
supervising and coordinating all appellate litigation of the United States, and a legal adviser to
the President and the Attorney General.

Mr. Olson has served as private counsel to two Presidents, Ronald W. Reagan and George W.
Bush, in addition to serving those two Presidents in high-level positions in the Department of
Justice. He has twice received the United States Department of Justice’s Edmund J. Randolph
Award, named for the first Attorney General, its highest award for public service and leadership.

[merh]

1. can you link to the press release, please