How Appealing



Saturday, January 12, 2008

“A Militia of One (Well Regulated)”: Sunday in The New York Times, Adam Liptak will have a “Week in Review” article that begins, “The Supreme Court is poised to decide whether the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms or only a collective right tied to service in a state militia. While the arguments in the case will draw on history, policy and empirical data, the discussion must at least start with the text of the amendment.”

Speaking of which, “SCOTUSblog” has posted online this amicus brief filed in that case by linguists.

Posted at 11:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Let merit replace mudslinging”: In this editorial published in its Sunday edition, The Wisconsin State Journal calls on that State to adopt merit selection of judges.

Posted at 11:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Terror Threat in the Courts”: Sunday in The New York Times, John Farmer will have an op-ed in which he writes, “A closer look at the Padilla case and other terrorism prosecutions reveals, to the contrary, that the continued reliance on our criminal justice system as the main domestic weapon in the struggle against terrorism fails on two counts: it threatens not only to leave our nation unprotected but also to corrupt the foundations of the criminal law itself.”

Posted at 11:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Smoke shop trial set to begin”: Sunday’s edition of The Providence (R.I.) Journal will contain an article that begins, “To many Narragansett Indians, the upcoming trial of seven tribe members accused of fighting with state police officers as they raided a tribal smoke shop is the continuation of centuries of mistreatment at the hands of Rhode Island leaders.”

Posted at 11:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“White House Secrecy Starts to Give; As Congress Intensifies Efforts for Openness, Administration Accedes”: This article will appear Sunday in The Washington Post.

Posted at 11:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Activists Pose as Guantanamo Prisoners”: The Washington Post on Sunday will contain an article that begins, “More than 24 hours after he was arrested while kneeling on the steps of the Supreme Court in an orange prisoner jumpsuit and a hood, Tim Nolan stood before a judge yesterday in D.C. Superior Court Room 202 and said the word he’d come to Washington to say: ‘Fazaldad.'”

Posted at 11:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Blog battle becomes free speech case”: Sunday’s edition of The Providence (R.I.) Journal will contain an article that begins, “The divorce and custody case involving children ‘Sara Doe’ and ‘Mary Doe’ might have remained just another of the bitter battles that play out in Family Court, deeply personal and unnoticed by the public. But a retired minister began a blog that blasted the state Department of Children, Youth and Families and others involved in the case, saying they’d used a ‘bogus theory’ to take a mother’s two daughters from her and to send one of the sisters to live with the father — after the father had been accused of sexually abusing the girl. At DCYF’s request, a Family Court judge ordered the state agency to ‘advise’ the Rev. Anne Grant to stop publishing the blog ‘as it pertains’ to the two children.”

And now, according to the article, the blogger is asking the Supreme Court of Rhode Island to overturn the trial court’s order.

Posted at 11:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals court bars parents from speaking at gun case sentencing; Panel agrees slain woman was not a direct victim of the illegal firearm sale to the killer prior to the rampage”: Pamela Manson has this article today in The Salt Lake Tribune.

And The Deseret Morning News reports today that “Shooting victim’s parents denied again; Sentencing to go forward for Trolley Square gun seller.”

See also this post from yesterday, in which I previously linked to yesterday’s Tenth Circuit order.

Posted at 7:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“High court defies lawmakers on salaries; Justices say their employees’ pay is their business, not the Legislature’s”: This article appears today in The Las Vegas Sun.

Posted at 4:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court: Embryo implanted in mother’s womb after father’s death not an heir.” The Arkansas News Bureau provides a report that begins, “A child conceived through in vitro fertilization but implanted in his mother’s womb after his father’s death is not automatically considered his father’s heir under Arkansas’ inheritance laws, the state Supreme Court said Thursday in an advisory opinion.”

You can access Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Arkansas at this link.

Posted at 3:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Students get a firsthand look at state’s high court”: Today’s edition of The World of Coos Bay, Oregon contains an article that begins, “Michael Gillette’s first visit to Marshfield High School was much different than his second. In 1959, Gillette arrived in Coos Bay as a starting forward for the McLoughlin High School basketball team. With the help of his inside play, Gillette helped guide the Pioneers past Coquille in the semi-finals and then defeat Newport to win the Oregon A2 title. On Tuesday, Gillette returned to Marshfield on a different kind of team, the Oregon Supreme Court.”

Posted at 3:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Dept. Critical Of Appellate Ruling On D.C. Handgun Ban”: Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post.

“SCOTUSblog” has posted the Solicitor General’s amicus brief at this link.

Posted at 3:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“Older workers’ benefits argued to Supreme Court; State retirement plan challenged”: Thursday in The Louisville Courier-Journal. James R. Carroll had an article that begins, “Kentucky’s public employee retirement plan discriminates against older workers in violation of federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court was told yesterday.”

Posted at 3:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Blogging lawyer silenced as judge expands gag order in Liberty City 7 case”: Vanessa Blum of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel today has an article that begins, “A prominent South Florida criminal defense lawyer who writes online commentary about federal court cases can no longer opine on the so-called Liberty City 7 terror case because the judge has expanded a sweeping gag order. David O. Markus, an affable attorney who is often critical of prosecutors, gave a forlorn sign-off Friday explaining how he had agreed to challenge the gag order on behalf of a defense lawyer in the case, only to find himself silenced.”

Markus writes the “Southern District of Florida Blog.”

Posted at 3:22 PM by Howard Bashman



Wal-Mart seeks en banc review of revised Ninth Circuit ruling that, once again, affirms certification of the largest-ever employment discrimination class action: The majority on a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel issued its original decision affirming class certification in February 2007. I covered that ruling in posts you can access here and here.

In response to Wal-Mart’s rehearing petition directed toward that original ruling, last month the same three-judge panel, still divided 2-1 over the outcome, issued a revised ruling that once again affirmed the federal district court’s class certification order. My coverage of last month’s ruling can be accessed here and here.

Now, this past Tuesday, Wal-Mart filed a petition for rehearing en banc directed toward the panel’s revised ruling. I have also posted online a PDF document that illustrates in redlined format the differences between the Ninth Circuit’s original ruling and the court’s revised ruling.

Posted at 3:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“U.S. attorney’s office accused of anthrax case leaks; An Army doctor, a ‘person of interest’ never charged in the deadly 2001 mailings, names three federal officials”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 8:48 AM by Howard Bashman



“S.F. appeals court bars government’s probes of NASA scientists”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court barred the Bush administration Friday from looking into the personal lives of NASA scientists and engineers who have no access to classified information, saying the probes are intrusive and unrelated to national security.”

The New York Times reports today that “Court Allows Scientists to Work at NASA Until Trial Over Background Checks.”

And The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports that “Judge halts JPL worker checks; Privacy issues must be decided by court.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Posted at 8:45 AM by Howard Bashman



“Justices to Hear Case Testing Rule on Witness”: Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage reports that “Justices to decide whether murder victims’ prior statements are admissible; A Los Angeles killer says his late girlfriend’s plea to an officer shouldn’t be used in court, because she can’t be cross-examined.”

Extensive coverage of the above case is available at “The Confrontation Blog,” whose author filed this amicus brief in support of U.S. Supreme Court review.

And Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Supreme Court agrees to hear campaign-finance case.”

Posted at 8:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“U.S. supports gun rights, but more narrowly”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “The Bush Administration urged the Supreme Court Friday night to rule that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to have a gun for private use, but argued that the D.C. Circuit Court went too far in applying that personal right view.” You can access the federal government’s amicus brief at this link.

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman