When a federal jury in Maryland found Thomas Goldstein guilty this week, it brought a stunning chapter in American legal culture to an abrupt end. A man who once moved comfortably inside the marble corridors of the Supreme Court now stands convicted of federal crimes, his reputation reshaped by a case built on poker debts, hidden income, and years of misleading financial records. Jurors convicted Goldstein on 12 out of 16 felony counts, including tax evasion, filing false tax returns, failing to pay taxes, and making false statements to lenders. The seven-week trial pulled back the curtain on what prosecutors described as a double life. In public, he was a polished appellate lawyer and legal commentator. In private, they said, he was chasing multimillion-dollar poker games while scrambling to keep the IRS and creditors at bay.…