How Appealing



Sunday, February 22, 2009

In the current issue of The Harvard Law Record: The publication contains articles headlined “Kagan sails through confirmation hearing; Senators praise Dean’s public service, credentials; probe Obama administration policies on detainees, terror“; “HLS veterans defend Kagan from ‘anti-military’ charges; Praise Obama administration choices, but describe difficult road ahead on military justice questions“; and “Starr Struck: Clinton’s old investigator speaks on SCOTUS, Prop 8.”

Posted at 10:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Jury selection in Kent trial starts Monday; Federal judge’s sex crimes case being watched nationwide”: Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle has a news update that begins, “History will be made if a jury is selected as scheduled on Monday in the felony trial of U.S. District Judge Sam Kent, the first federal judge to be accused of federal sex crimes. The case is fascinating to area lawyers and those who practice the maritime law Kent has overseen for 17 years in Galveston. It will be watched by federal judges and legal scholars around the nation. If Kent is convicted, it could mean the U.S. Congress will have to take an interest, too.”

Posted at 9:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“From Captive To Suicide Bomber: Accused of Being Little More Than a Low-Level Taliban Fighter, Abdallah al-Ajmi Was Held by the U.S. for Nearly Four Years; After His Release, He Blew Up an Iraqi Army Outpost; Did Guantanamo Propel Him to Do It?” This front page article appears today in The Washington Post.

And Monday in The Christian Science Monitor, Warren Richey will have an article headlined “The case of the Guantanamo detainee who wanted to see the sun: Yasin Ismail’s case highlights the difficulty of verifying conditions of confinement.” The newspaper will also contain an article headlined “Canadian churches take up cause of five Guantanamo detainees; The churches have applied to help the men — who cannot be safely returned home — resettle as refugees in Canada.”

Posted at 8:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“High Court to Hear DNA Testing Case; Justices to Debate Whether Convicts Should Be Guaranteed Access to Latest Techniques”: Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post.

Posted at 3:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judge’s ethics case may hinge on phone calls; Recollections differ about Keller’s two exchanges on day of execution”: Today in The Austin American-Statesman, Chuck Lindell has an article that begins, “Sharon Keller picked up the phone at her Austin home two times on the day death row inmate Michael Richard would be executed. What she said could determine whether Keller continues as presiding judge of the state’s highest criminal court.”

And today in The Houston Chronicle, columnist Rick Casey has an op-ed entitled “A bizarre way to judge our judges.”

Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Federal judge’s trial on sex charges to begin”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “When U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent enters a courtroom on Monday, he’ll be making history, but not the good kind. Kent will join the handful of U.S. federal judges who have been a defendant, and he is the first charged with a sex crime. The judge, 59, is accused of fondling two female court employees as he tried to force them into sex acts. Jury selection in his trial is set to begin Monday. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.”

Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman



“Showdown could leave our courts in chaos; As Gov. Pawlenty looks to cut budgets, the chief justice he appointed is playing hardball over the justice system’s future”: The Minneapolis Star Tribune today contains an article that begins, “Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson bundled into his car on a recent bitter Sunday, set his satellite radio to a favorite old-time radio serial about a crusading insurance investigator, Johnny Dollar, and headed for Moorhead. There, he would embark on his own crusade to save Minnesota’s justice system as he knows it. Just seven months into the job, Magnuson is facing off against the man who appointed him, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, over budget cuts. The clash could be titanic.”

Posted at 11:12 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court ruling makes it easier to sue merchants; Consumers no longer required to ask retailer for a refund first”: Today’s edition of The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains an article that begins, “Consumer advocates are hailing a Supreme Court ruling that allows individuals who believe they have been cheated by a merchant to file a lawsuit under the state Consumer Fraud Act without first requesting a refund or giving the merchant an opportunity to make amends.”

You can access last Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at this link.

Last week’s ruling from New Jersey’s highest court appears to provide good news for a pro se attorney whose New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act claim involving a product promising to enlarge penis size was rejected late last month by New Jersey’s intermediate appellate court. My earlier coverage of that ruling appears at this link.

Posted at 11:00 AM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals court to hear faith case; Ky. funding of Baptist kids’ home challenged”: The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky today contains an article that begins, “A federal appeals court next month will hear arguments in a case involving a Kentucky Baptist children’s program and the role of government funding for faith-based institutions. A district court judge in Louisville last year dismissed the case in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court case that narrowed taxpayers’ rights to sue over allegations of state-sponsored religion.”

Posted at 10:47 AM by Howard Bashman



“Why Marbury v. Madison Still Matters: More than 200 years after the high court ruled, the decision in that landmark case continues to resonate.” Cliff Sloan and David McKean will have this article in the March 2, 2009 issue of Newsweek.

Posted at 10:39 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court case focuses on issue of judges’ bias”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this article today in The Baltimore Sun.

The Sunday Gazette-Mail of Charleston, West Virginia reports today that “Ala. AG requested to argue for Massey; U.S. Supreme Court denies motion; set to hear case in March.”

And The Detroit Free Press reports that “Michigan parties weigh in on Caperton v. Massey.” In addition, columnist Ron Dzwonkowski has an op-ed entitled “When cash, courts and politics mix: Supreme Court should order stricter rules on when judges should step out of cases.”

Posted at 10:38 AM by Howard Bashman



“A newspaper in Wonderland will culminate in Jabberwocky”: Today in The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, columnist Paul Carpenter has an op-ed that begins, “The bewildering Wonderland of symbiosis linking certain parts of our judicial system, as Alice might put it, gets interestinger and interestinger.”

Posted at 10:32 AM by Howard Bashman