How Appealing



Tuesday, February 18, 2014

“Another Chance for the Justices to Say No to Prosecutorial Misconduct: Virginia prosecutors hid exculpatory evidence and defied a federal judge in a death-penalty case; Will the Supreme Court let them get away with it?” Andrew Cohen has this essay online today at The Atlantic.

Posted at 5:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Idaho Supreme Court justice Daniel T. Eismann at odds with three of his colleagues”: The Idaho Statesman recently published an article that begins, “The Idaho Supreme Court delivered a legal opinion on Valentine’s Day , with one justice spreading a bouquet of black roses among his colleagues.”

You can access last Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Idaho at this link.

Justice Daniel T. Eismann‘s notable dissenting opinion begins, “Courts decide cases in one of two ways: (a) they apply the law to the facts and thereby arrive at the result or (b) they determine the desired result and then twist the law and/or the facts to justify it.”

Posted at 1:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Some Kansas GOP lawmakers would rather religious freedom bill would just ‘go away'”: In today’s edition of The Wichita Eagle, Bryan Lowry has a front page article that begins, ” It’s easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, Kansas House speaker Ray Merrick said as lawmakers returned to work after facing national criticism for passing a bill critics say would have legalized discrimination against same-sex couples.”

Posted at 12:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“State high court says warrants are needed for law enforcement to obtain cellphone location data”: The Boston Globe has a news update that begins, “The state’s highest court ruled today that law enforcement must generally obtain a search warrant before acquiring cellphone data showing the past locations of a cellphone.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts at this link.

The majority opinion begins: “The central question we address in this appeal is whether, consistent with the Massachusetts Constitution, the Commonwealth may obtain from a cellular telephone service provider historical cell site location information for a particular cellular telephone without first obtaining a search warrant supported by probable cause.”

Posted at 12:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Advertising Campaign Pitches Cameras in Supreme Court”: Tony Mauro has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

You can access the web site of the Coalition for Court Transparency at this link.

Posted at 9:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“State’s lethal-injection secrecy law challenged”: Bill Rankin has this article today in the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Associated Press reports that “Georgia High Court Hears Arguments In Hill Case.”

Atlanta’s NPR Station WABE 90.1 FM has a report titled “Attorneys Ask Georgia Supreme Court to Strike Down Execution Drug Secrecy Law.”

And the “fresh loaf” blog of Creative Loafing Atlanta has a post titled “Georgia’s Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Warren Hill appeal.”

Posted at 8:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Constitution Check: Do school uniform policies violate the First Amendment?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

Posted at 8:09 AM by Howard Bashman