SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: This is what is wrong with the American judiciary. “It is wholly ‘out of … bounds’ for an American judge to instruct litigants that their out-of-court statements are inconsistent with ‘effective advocacy.’ Even if not specifically intended, the natural, probable, and expected effect of the dissent’s language is to chill constitutionally protected speech.** It amounts to a directive, from the court*** to the lawyers before it, to instruct their clients to shut up during ongoing litigation. Bybee’s extraordinary language here demands a response from the public, the wider legal community, and the elected arms of the government.”

But there’s a small spot of good news.