How Appealing



Tuesday, January 21, 2014

“41 years after Roe v. Wade, abortion foes undaunted; In annual report, National Right to Life Committee applauds antiabortion measures in states, and takes the long view on getting measures through Congress and before the Supreme Court”: Linda Feldmann of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

Posted at 10:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Texas Prepares to Execute Mexican Despite Concerns That His Arrest Violated Law”: Manny Fernandez will have this article in Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 10:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Appear Divided On a Sweeping Challenge To Public Workers’ Unions”: Adam Liptak will have this article in Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times.

In Wednesday’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined “Supreme Court considers major change in public employee unions.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court considers striking down mandatory public union dues.”

Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Justices hear case threatening public employee unions; An effort by home-care workers to opt out of union representation threatens the labor movement.”

On this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Nina Totenberg had an audio segment titled “High Court Considers Legality Of ‘Fair Share’ Union Fees.”

At Education Week’s “School Law” blog, Mark Walsh has a post titled “Supreme Court Weighs High-Stakes Case on Union Fees.”

At Forbes.com, Daniel Fisher has a post titled “Supreme Court Debate: Are Public-Sector Unions Too Political?

And online at The Atlantic, law professor Garrett Epps has an essay titled “The Supreme Court Case That Could Clobber Public-Sector Unions.”

Posted at 10:00 PM by Howard Bashman



After waiting more than two years and four months, what’s one more day? The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania today decided the case that I described on September 13, 2013 — the two-year anniversary of my oral argument of the appeal — as “my oral argument toddler.”

Ordinarily, Pennsylvania’s highest court would post the decision online on the day of issuance. However, due to the big snowstorm affecting Philadelphia today, the court’s Philadelphia filing office closed at 2 p.m. today. Consequently, the opinion was not posted online today.

Here is what I currently know, thanks to the Pa. Supreme Court’s updated docket sheet in the case. The decision of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, which was partially in favor of my client and partially in favor of the defendants, was affirmed in part and reversed in part. That disposition, however, can describe a large range of possible outcomes in the case. I also know that Justice Thomas G. Saylor wrote the majority opinion, in which Justices Max Baer, Debra McCloskey Todd, and Seamus P. McCaffery joined. Finally, I know that Justice J. Michael Eakin issued a dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille joined.

The wait for a decision has ended. And the wait to learn the precise outcome of the case and what the court’s decision actually says has begun, starting midday today.

Posted at 5:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“‘Raging Bull’ on the ropes in copyright challenge; Justices’ decision will hinge on whether the daughter of a screenwriter waited too long to file her case”: Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.

Posted at 5:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Volokh Conspiracy joins The Washington Post”: You can access the press release at this link.

You can view the WaPo version of the VC by clicking here.

Update: An explanatory post from Eugene Volokh is titled “In Brazil, you can always find the Amazon — in America, the Amazon finds you.”

Contrary to my initial comment, above, there is no WaPo version of the VC — rather, only the WaPo version will exist going forward. In addition, the VC after six months will exist “behind the Post’s rather permeable paywall.”

Posted at 3:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times” opts to become more difficult to access. Mike Scarcella has the announcement at this link.

Heading in the opposite direction, as previously reported, WSJ.com’s “Law Blog” recently decided to make itself much more accessible by entirely dropping its paywall.

Lest anyone be concerned, the “How Appealing” blog’s agreement with law.com ensures that this blog will remain freely accessible to all who have internet access.

Posted at 2:31 PM by Howard Bashman



“Va. Supreme Court declines to rehear Virginia Tech shooting case; The ruling effectively ends the case in the state court system”: The Roanoke Times has this news update.

Posted at 2:01 PM by Howard Bashman



“This appeal’s central question is whether equal protection prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in jury selection.” A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit answered “yes” in a decision issued today.

Update: In early news coverage, Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has a report headlined “Gay bias in jury selection: federal appeals court forbids barring gays and lesbians from jury service.”

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “Court says prospective jurors can’t be removed because they are gay.”

Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “Exclusion of gay juror forces new U.S. trial between GSK, Abbott.”

The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Gay juror was taken off panel improperly.”

Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed reports that “Federal Appeals Court Says Jurors Can’t Be Excluded Because They Are Gay.”

And at her “Trial Insider” blog, Pamela A. MacLean has a post titled “Sexual Orientation No Basis to Block Jurors.”

Posted at 12:31 PM by Howard Bashman



Access online today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court has posted its Order List at this link. The Court did not grant review in any new cases.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court upholds Hawaii reapportionment” and “High court stays out of Conn. layoff case.”

Bloomberg News reports that “SAP Rejected by Supreme Court Over $391 Million Loss.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. top court declines to hear $345 million SAP AG patent appeal.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Hawaii redistricting upheld.”

Posted at 9:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“Harris v. Quinn: The Context of First Amendment Claims.” Benjamin Sachs has this post at the blog “On Labor,” whose entire home page is devoted to the case right now.

Posted at 9:28 AM by Howard Bashman



“What Happens to the Death Penalty When Lethal Injection Isn’t Quick and Painless?” Andrew Cohen has this essay online today at The Daily Beast.

Posted at 8:32 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court battle over what child pornography viewer owes victim”: Cheryl Wetzstein of The Washington Times has this report.

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court questions judge’s travel expenses; Former top judge of federal appeals court faces Justice Department investigation”: Dan Horn has this article today in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

You can access this blog’s earlier related posts here, here, and here.

Posted at 8:23 AM by Howard Bashman