Dallas Attorney Tom Melsheimer Delivers Perspectives on Supreme Court/Obama Fracas

Online, March 17, 2010 (Newswire.com) - DALLAS - Attorney Tom Melsheimer, managing principal in the Dallas offices of Fish & Richardson P.C., is co-author of an opinion article published by the Houston Chronicle that focuses on the fallout from President Barack Obama's historic chiding of the U.S. Supreme Court during his State of the Union address.

Co-authored by Texas State District Court Judge Craig Smith, the op-ed column, "Trashing Supreme Court Not Appropriate for Obama," notes that while many people are rightly concerned about how the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Citizens United ruling will cause an influx of corporate money in U.S. elections, President Obama's direct rebuke of the Court during his State of the Union address was improper. A strong supporter of President Obama, Mr. Melsheimer says the president's State of the Union comments mark a departure from the traditional respectful relationship between the three independent branches of government.

"It's no surprise that the ruling was on the top of President Barack Obama's mind - a former constitutional law professor, no less - when he went under the lights for the 2010 State of the Union address. But we were equally shocked when the president used this one-sided forum to devote just 72 words to a complex ruling and publicly rebuke the court in a manner that will go down in the history books."
"This kind of knee-jerk criticism of complex judicial rulings is reminiscent of the kind of one-sided and simplistic oratory you typically hear on talk radio, where hosts enjoy an unfair forum to say what they like without rebuttal or interruption. Judges are no strangers to having their rulings misinterpreted by those with their own political agendas. Those who support the Environmental Protection Agency's legal position are 'tree huggers.' One who sides with a corporation is forever known as being 'against the little guy.' The reality is far more complicated than the handful of words the president reserved to address the Citizens United ruling. In doing so he degraded, not elevated, the debate on this important issue," Mr. Melsheimer and Judge Smith write in the article.
Mr. Melsheimer, who D Magazine described as one of the city's top "courtroom fighters," has been named in the magazine's annual round-up of "The Best Lawyers in Dallas" on multiple occasions. He is a repeat honoree in the Texas Super Lawyers annual list of top attorneys in Texas, and he has been named by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the top defense attorney in North Texas.
Mr. Melsheimer's trial practice includes complex civil and criminal litigation in state and federal courts, emphasizing intellectual property, antitrust, and False Claims Act litigation. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas from 1990 to 1993. During his tenure, he was honored by the Justice Department as one of the nation's top prosecutors.