Former Assistant Federal Public Defender John Badalamenti was recently sworn in to the Second District Court of Appeals. This great honor comes on the heels of his decisive win in Yates v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 1074 (2015). In that case, then-AFPD Badalamenti successfully argued to the United States Supreme Court that the “anti-shredding” provision of Sarbanes-Oxley did not apply to a Florida fisherman’s alleged instruction to his crew to throw undersized fish overboard during an federal inspection. Now-Judge Badalamenti’s win curbs the trend of overcriminalization and helps to level the playing field for federal defense attorneys everywhere. Although the Tampa defense bar is losing one of its finest, they celebrated this nomination because they know that Judge Badalamenti will now apply his talents to a wide variety of cases in the years to come.