Bergman v. United States

The majority’s bare-bones treatment of the events leading to this appeal obscures the unacceptable behavior of the Department of Justice in the conduct of this litigation. Because the Justice Department clearly acted in bad faith when it openly disobeyed a court order, I would reverse the District Court and award attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs. Not only must federal legal authorities act in good faith in complying with the principle of the rule of law in order to have a just and an effectual legal system, the integrity of the judicial system depends upon it. Our disposition of this case…