United States v. Rita Gluzman: 1997

Rita Gluzman appealed her sentence on several grounds. In U.S. v. Gluzman 154 F.3d 49 (2nd Cir. 1998), the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied her appeal on August 28, 1998. Then the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari on March 22, 1999. In that appeal her attorney Judd Berstein contested the constitutionality of the federal statute, claiming Congress exceeded its power to control interstate commerce by extending the commerce clause to cover domestic violence. Berstein also alleged that the jury selection system in White Plains, New York, by excluding jurors from the Bronx, tended to discriminate against minority representation in the jury pool. U.S. attorney Cathy Seibel argued for the federal government, showing precedents for use of the interstate commerce clause to protect against spousal abuse.

In a later appeal Rita argued that she had received ineffective counsel due to failure to use mental illness as a defense. In a decision on December 7, 2000, Judge Parker dismissed that appeal, noting that her careful planning was not symptomatic of someone insane. Although she might have been distraught at the thought of divorce, there was no evidence she was mentally ill. In his 16-page opinion he scolded Rita Gluzman's lawyers for raising that appeal.