WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday debated a case testing the scope of the exclusionary rule in oral arguments that featured a lawyer who also is a nominee to a federal appeals court (See Argument Transcript).

Caitlin Halligan, the general counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who argued in Tolentino v. New York, 09-11556, is awaiting a final Senate vote on her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.