How Appealing



Friday, March 22, 2013

“Al Franken Sends Eric Holder Letter Over ‘Remarkably Aggressive’ Aaron Swartz Prosecution”: Zach Carter of The Huffington Post has this report.

Posted at 11:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Issues Remain for Same-Sex Couples, Whatever the Justices Rule”: Tara Siegel Bernard will have this new installment of her “Your Money” column in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 5:49 PM by Howard Bashman



“Obama Recess Picks Meet Skepticism From Appeals Judges”: Tom Schoenberg of Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “President Barack Obama’s appointment of labor board members last year while most senators were out of town met skepticism from appeals court judges weighing whether he overstepped his constitutional powers.”

Update: You can access the oral argument audio file for this case from the web site of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit via this link (53.0 MB mp3 audio file).

Posted at 4:06 PM by Howard Bashman



“Obama withdraws appeals court pick”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, ” President Barack Obama is withdrawing his nominee to a federal appeals court after Republicans twice blocked her confirmation.”

And Politico.com reports that “White House withdraws Halligan nomination.”

“The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times” has posted a PDF copy of the nominee’s withdrawal letter at this link. And The White House has issued a “Statement by the President on the Withdrawal of the Nomination of Caitlin Halligan.”

Update: In other coverage, The Washington Post has a blog entry titled “White House withdraws Caitlin Halligan nomination.”

The New York Times has a blog post titled “Obama Withdraws Judicial Nomination After Second G.O.P. Filibuster.”

The Washington Times has a blog post titled “Obama gives up on U.S. appeals court pick.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Obama Pulls Court Nomination Blocked by Republicans.”

The Hill has a blog post titled “White House withdraws court nominee who was blocked twice by GOP.”

At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Todd Ruger has a post titled “After a Two-Year Fight, White House Withdraws Halligan for D.C. Circuit.”

Tom Curry, national affairs writer for NBC News, has a blog post titled “NRA scores victory as Obama appeals court nominee withdraws.”

And suggesting that the U.S. Senate’s filibuster may have been Xenia-phobic, The Columbus Dispatch has a blog post titled “White House withdraws judicial nominee born in Xenia.”

Posted at 4:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“ND lawmakers define life as starting at conception”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “North Dakota lawmakers moved Friday to outlaw abortion in the state by passing a bill defining life as starting at conception.”

Posted at 3:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“Line formed for marriage arguments”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Spectators seeking to get into the Supreme Court chamber for next week’s oral arguments on the same-sex marriage cases began lining up on Thursday at about 9 p.m. — more than four days before the first argument, Tuesday at 10 a.m.”

And on a related note, Yale Law School has issued a news release titled “Yale Law School Professors, Alumni Submit Amicus Briefs in Hollingsworth v. Perry.”

Posted at 2:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Senate Judiciary Committee approves nomination of Jane Kelly as next 8th Circuit appeals judge”: The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, Iowa has this news update.

Posted at 1:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Stealthy Solicitor General”: Lincoln Caplan has this post today at the “Taking Note” blog of The New York Times.

Posted at 1:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Gay Marriage and the Libertarian’s Dilemma: The Supreme Court will consider two same-sex marriage cases that pit original intent against individual liberty.” Law professor Richard A. Epstein has this essay online today at the Defining Ideas site of the Hoover Institution.

Posted at 1:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Milbank Tweed Forum, moderated by Samuel Estreicher, features Supreme Court correspondents for Wall Street Journal and New York Times sharing behind-the-scenes scoop”: New York University School of Law has posted the video online at YouTube at this link.

Posted at 1:11 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Sexual Fetish of Gay Marriage Opponents: Defenders of DOMA and Proposition 8 say marriage isn’t about love or parenting; It’s about coitus.” Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Posted at 11:28 AM by Howard Bashman



“Mentor, Protege Square Off on Gay Marriage; Theodore Olson Helped Paul Clement Ascend Conservative Ranks; Next Week, They Argue Opposite Sides of Landmark Issue”: Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 11:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Abortion and Gay Marriage: Separate Issues; America has become more pro-life, more pro-gun, and more pro-gay.” Jonah Goldberg has this essay today at National Review Online.

Posted at 10:48 AM by Howard Bashman



“EXCLUSIVE: EMails Show Prop. 8 Judge Sought Ted Olson’s Advice On Whether to Attend Supreme Court Argument on Gay Marriage.” Patterico has this post today at his blog, “Patterico’s Pontifications.”

Posted at 10:34 AM by Howard Bashman



“UPMC, Pittsburgh stake positions for court fight on nonprofit status”: This article appears today in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“Argument preview: Is ‘pay for delay’ of drugs illegal?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”

Posted at 8:19 AM by Howard Bashman



“Senate filibustering amounts to contempt of the courts: The Senate’s habit of filibustering judicial nominees must end; Both Republicans and Democrats are to blame.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 8:10 AM by Howard Bashman