How Appealing



Monday, January 9, 2012

“Notice is hereby given that motions to exceed the page or word limitations for briefs are strongly disfavored and will be granted only upon demonstration of extraordinary circumstances.” So states an unusual order entered today on behalf of all judges, active and senior, serving on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

The order notes that “motions to exceed the page/word limitations for briefs are filed in approximately twenty-five percent of cases on appeal, and that seventy-one percent of those motions seek to exceed the page/word limitations by more than twenty percent.”

Wow! In my experience, briefs that exceed the applicable appellate word limit in federal court or page limit in state court typically result from trial counsel’s effort to create an appellate brief by using or combining briefs previously filed in the trial court, instead of writing the appellate brief from scratch.

Posted at 11:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court appears sympathetic to Idaho couple in 4-year battle with EPA”: Robert Barnes will have this article Tuesday in The Washington Post.

In Tuesday’s edition of USA Today, Joan Biskupic will have an article headlined “High court weighs high-profile case over wetlands, EPA fines.”

In Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin will have an article headlined “Justices Appear Inclined To Rein In EPA.”

And Sean Cockerham of McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Supreme Court hears Idaho couple’s argument against EPA.”

Posted at 11:09 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Grapple With Voting Rights Case That Could Help Tip the House”: Adam Liptak will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times.

In Tuesday’s edition of USA Today, Joan Biskupic will have an article headlined “High court pressed for time in redistricting case.”

In Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin and Nathan Koppel will have an article headlined “Texas War On Districts Reaches High Court.”

The San Antonio Express-News has an update headlined “Supreme Court struggles with Texas redistricting.”

Maria Recio of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that “Supreme Court considers Texas redistricting case.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor reports that “Supreme Court justices face tangled mess with Texas redistricting plan; Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments Monday over competing plans for redrawn legislative districts in Texas amid allegations the state Legislature was diluting Latino political power.”

Tony Mauro of The National Law Journal reports that “In Texas Voting Rights Case, Court Chooses a Narrow Path.”

Mike Sacks of The Huffington Post reports that “Texas Redistricting Case Risks Political Firestorm; Slowly Supreme Court Backs Away.”

Ariane de Vogue of ABC News has a blog post titled “Supreme Court Hears Messy Texas Redistricting Case.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Nina Totenberg had an audio segment entitled “Supreme Court Hears Texas Redistricting Case.”

And online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has a Supreme Court dispatch entitled “Mess With Texas: The Supreme Court wrangles a runaway Texas redistricting case.”

Posted at 10:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court decision could give California’s ‘Skid Row Stabber’ his release”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this report.

And in Tuesday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage will have an article headlined “High court upholds ruling overturning ‘Skid Row Stabber’ verdicts; The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had set aside Bobby Joe Maxwell’s 1984 murder convictions because a key witness for the prosecution, a notorious jailhouse informant named Sidney Storch, had been exposed as a ‘habitual liar.’

Posted at 10:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Wrestle With Texas Voting Rights Case”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this news update.

Todd J. Gillman of The Texas Morning News has an update headlined “Supreme Court signals willingness to further delay Texas primary.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Texas Voting Rights Clash Puts High Court in Fray.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com has a blog post titled “Justices hear appeal over Texas redistricting map.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “A way out on Texas?

You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Perry v. Perez, No.11-713.

Posted at 5:03 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court allows reversal of ‘Skid Row Stabber’ convictions”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this blog post.

And The Associated Press reports that “Court rejects Calif. appeal in Skid Row killings.”

In connection with today’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court denying certiorari in Cash v. Maxwell, No. 10-1548, Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a statement respecting the denial of certiorari, while Justice Antonin Scalia issued a dissent in which Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined.

Posted at 3:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court critical of EPA wetland order against Idaho couple”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this blog post.

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “A weak defense of EPA.”

You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Sackett v. EPA, No. 10-1062.

Earlier, Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor previewed the oral argument in an article headlined “Supreme Court to hear case of dream home quashed by EPA; The Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a case that shows the EPA is out of control, property-rights advocates say; Environmentalists say the couple involved is merely trying to scapegoat the EPA.”

Posted at 3:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court backs foreigner campaign donation ban”: James Vicini of Reuters has this report.

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Foreigners Rejected by U.S. High Court on Campaign Spending Ban.”

The Associated Press reports that “High court backs foreign campaign contribution ban.”

And Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has an article headlined “Is new Supreme Court ruling a retreat from Citizens United? The Supreme Court upheld Monday a long-established provision of campaign finance law that seeks to prevent foreign interests from influencing domestic politics.”

Posted at 3:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Suit by Conservative Sees Bias in Law School Hiring”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 2:47 PM by Howard Bashman