How Appealing



Wednesday, January 9, 2013

“Federal appeals court considers release of postmortem Osama bin Laden photos”: This article will appear Thursday in The Washington Post.

Posted at 10:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“From Wolves, Lambs: The Case for Gradual Abolition of the Death Penalty.” Law professor Kevin M. Barry has posted this article online at SSRN (via “Legal Theory Blog“).

The article’s syllabus begins, “This spring, the Connecticut Supreme Court will decide a novel issue in all of modern death penalty jurisprudence. The issue is this: Can a state gradually abolish its death penalty, that is, can it leave in place the sentences of those currently on death row but abolish the death penalty going forward? This Article argues that it can.”

Posted at 10:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Look at Legality of Drunken-Driving Test”: Adam Liptak will have this article Thursday in The New York Times.

In Thursday’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined “Supreme Court seems unlikely to let police order blood tests for drunk-driving suspects.”

In Thursday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage will have an article headlined “Justices wary of mandatory blood tests in drunk driving cases; Supreme Court justices express skepticism toward a request to set aside the search warrant requirement before police can force a motorist to submit to a blood test.”

In Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin will have an article headlined “Court Wary on Warrantless DUI Tests.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Nina Totenberg had an audio segment titled “Supreme Court Weighs Warrantless Blood Tests In Drunken-Driving Cases.”

And this evening’s broadcast of The PBS NewsHour contained a segment titled “High Court Examines Whether the Police Need a Warrant to Test Blood Alcohol” featuring Marcia Coyle.

Posted at 10:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Attorneys for Joan Orie Melvin file motion asking Pa. Supreme Court to halt her prosecution”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update that begins, “Attorneys for suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin asked the judge’s former peers on the high court to block the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office from prosecuting her on public corruption charges.”

Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a news update headlined “Melvin asks Supreme Court colleagues to block her criminal trial.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Melvin wants Pa. high court to halt prosecution.”

Posted at 8:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Castille plans new court run; Even though he would have to retire the following year under current law”: In today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tom Infield has an article that begins, “Judicial turnover could bring major change to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court over several years, but Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille isn’t ready to leave the bench one day sooner than he must.”

And CBS Philly reports that “Castille Hopes To Stay on Pa. Supreme Court Bench Until Mandatory Retirement.”

Posted at 8:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Govt: Reverse terror convictions — for now.” Pete Yost of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The Justice Department says a federal appeals court must reverse the military commission convictions in a terrorism case even though the Obama administration believes the convictions are consistent with the Constitution and federal law.”

Posted at 5:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Motorist Claims Corporation Papers are Carpool Passengers”: David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.

Posted at 5:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court declines to halt 2nd Circuit’s Twiqbal pushback”: Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report.

Posted at 3:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court weighs warrantless blood tests in DUI cases”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

Update: In other coverage, Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Court Questions Forced Blood Tests in Drunk Driving Cases.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has an article headlined “Drunk driving: Supreme Court considers whether forced blood tests are OK; The case, which the Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday, pits the requirements of the Fourth Amendment against the need for effective enforcement of drunk-driving laws nationwide.”

Ariane de Vogue of ABC News has a blog post titled “Supreme Court Argues DWI Blood Tests Without a Warrant.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Argument recap: Compromise on DUI blood tests?

You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Missouri v. McNeely, No. 11-1425.

Posted at 1:15 PM by Howard Bashman



Access online today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: The Court today issued two rulings in argued cases.

1. Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Smith v. United States, No. 11-8976. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. And Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., No. 11-982. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy issued a concurring opinion, in which Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Sonia Sotomayor joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

Posted at 10:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“Influence game: NRA lobbying targets courthouses.” The Associated Press has this report on the National Rifle Association’s involvement in the federal judicial confirmation process.

Posted at 9:50 AM by Howard Bashman



“Legislature needs to shut loophole in dentist case”: In today’s edition of The Des Moines Register, attorney Paige Fiedler has an op-ed that begins, “The Iowa Supreme Court recently decided that a dentist was within his rights to fire a longtime employee because he found her irresistibly attractive.” Attorney Fiedler represents the plaintiff-employee in that lawsuit.

Posted at 9:48 AM by Howard Bashman



“1965 Voting Rights Act: Alabama attorney general says there’s no need for federal input; Arguments set for Feb. 27 in U.S. Supreme Court.” Mary Orndorff Troyan has this article today in The Montgomery Advertiser.

Posted at 9:45 AM by Howard Bashman



“U.S. Supreme Court hands L.A. County a victory in water lawsuit; The Supreme Court overturns a ruling won by environmental groups that said the flood control district had violated its storm water permit”: Abby Sewell and David Savage have this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 9:36 AM by Howard Bashman



“Texas calls on Supreme Court to settle water dispute with New Mexico”: This article appears today in The Austin American-Statesman.

Posted at 9:34 AM by Howard Bashman