Demjanjuk v. Petrovsky, Motion for Interim Relief

Michael Tigar’s Notes:

Demjanjuk v. Petrovsky (motion for interim relief).  This was a motion to allow Mr.
Demjanjuk to get back into the United States after his acquittal in Israel.  The Court’s ruling is remarkable.  As I prepared to go to Cincinnati to argue, my UT colleague Michael Churgin told me that this was an impossible case.  The argument went well, as one can see.  As I waited to argue, before the judges entered the courtroom, a New York Times reporter asked the government lawyer how he thought the case would go. The lawyer said, “Well there will be a ruling before 5pm because Judge Merritt wants to see his kisser on the 6 o’clock news.”  A woman in the front row turned and said, “I am Mrs. Merritt, and my husband will not be happy about what you just said.”  Note that the argument turns on some arcane law about the different kinds of habeas corpus.

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