AIPAC and the never-ending case

When a federal judge deploys an exclamation point in an opinion, you know something unusual is going on.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon tried to dispense of a case entitled Akins v. Federal Election Commission. The excruciatingly long-running case really involves, though, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AKA AIPAC. A number of former ambassadors, congressmen and government officials critical of the pro-Israel lobbying group sued the Federal Election Commission after the FEC declined to regulate AIPAC as a political commitee.

The date of that original lawsuit? 1992.

In the meantime, three of the original plaintiffs have died and the case has had a tortured path up and down the appellate path. On Wednesday, for reasons that may or may not be worth exploring, Judge Leon dismissed the case with these heart-felt words:

"This never ending legal saga has spanned almost twenty years, multiple administrative complaints, and the careers of numerous Judges and Justices. To say the least, the time to complete the judicial review of these FEC decisions is long overdue. While time will tell what role, if any, this Opinion will have played in this interminable legal drama, I certainly trust that I will be the last District Judge that has to wrestle with this seemingly inexhaustible Hydra."

Oh, and the exclamation comes when Judge Leon exclaims, "Unfortunately, this appellate odyssey had only just begun!"