Next Thursday, lawyers representing the NFL and Tom Brady will head to federal appeals court for the latest legal argument in the #Deflategate saga. This Thursday, the three judges who will handle the appeal were assigned.
Per multiple reports, they are Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, Judge Denny Chin, and Senior-Status Judge Barrington D. Parker.
Katzmann was appointed by President Bill Clinton, Chin was appointed by President Barack Obama, and Parker was appointed by President George W. Bush. Under the loose, superficial, Republican/Democrat conservative/liberal litmus test, Brady has a potential 2-1 advantage, since judges appointed by Republicans tend to issue pro-business rulings, and judges appointed by Democrats tend to issue pro-individual rulings.
Lawyers who routinely practice in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will have a better sense as to whether these judges have been true to the ideologies that qualified them for appointment in the first place. With a lifetime assignment, sometimes judges evolve.
For now, the luck of the draw suggests good news for Brady in his quest to stave off a four-game suspension.