How Appealing



Wednesday, February 29, 2012

“Federal Circuit Nominee Faces Tough Questions During Senate Hearing”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Todd Ruger has a post that begins, “D.C. lawyer Richard Taranto, nominated for a slot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, handled some tough questioning during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday over his views on the Defense of Marriage Act and whistleblower litigation.”

Posted at 8:57 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court appears split on Indy sewer tax case”: The Indianapolis Star has a news update that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court appeared split Wednesday over whether Indianapolis treated some homeowners fairly when it forgave the outstanding debt their neighbors owed for sewer hookups.”

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Argument recap: That old slippery slope — again.”

You can access the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Armour v. Indianapolis, No. 11-161, at this link. Mark T. Stancil argued for the petitioners, and Paul D. Clement argued for the respondents.

Posted at 8:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Constitutional Showdown Voided: Feds Decrypt Laptop Without Defendant’s Help.” David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.

Posted at 8:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bad Marriage: Why the Supreme Court should stay out of affirmative action.” Richard Thompson Ford has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

This blog’s earlier Bad Marriage coverage — from 2006 and 2004 — can be accessed here and here.

Posted at 4:17 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court Wary of Torture Cases; Conservative Justices Suggest Foreign Organizations Can’t Be Sued in the U.S.” Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 2:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“This appeal requires us to consider the circumstances in which the search of a cell phone is permitted by the Fourth Amendment even if the search is not authorized by a warrant.” So begins an interesting opinion that Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

And in somewhat related news, you can now access online via this link video from the 2012 symposium of the Stanford Law Review, titled “The Privacy Paradox: Privacy and Its Conflicting Values.” Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski delivered the keynote address, which you can view online via this link.

Posted at 12:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Obama makes a play for Scalia”: Politico.com has a report that begins, “The Obama administration needs to win over at least one conservative Supreme Court justice to save its health care reform law and it’s pulling out the stops to get one.”

Posted at 12:26 PM by Howard Bashman



Access online today’s ruling in an argued case of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court issued one opinion today in an argued case.

Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court in Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp., No. 10-879. Justice Elena Kagan issued a concurring opinion. And Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part, in which Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer joined. You can access the oral argument via this link.

Posted at 10:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Debates Rights Case Aimed at Corporations”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage reports that “Supreme Court appears to back corporations in torture cases; Conservative justices indicate that multinational firms and political groups should be shielded from lawsuits in the U.S. over atrocities overseas.”

And yesterday evening’s broadcast of The PBS NewsHour contained a segment entitled “Supreme Court Weighs Corporate Liability in Human Rights Cases” featuring Marcia Coyle.

Posted at 8:10 AM by Howard Bashman