How Appealing



Thursday, March 24, 2005

“Down with the judicial tyrants who are killing Terri Schiavo! Oops — most of them are Republican. Never mind.” Joe Conason has this essay online at Salon.com.

Posted at 11:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Refuses to Hear the Schiavo Case”: This article will appear Friday in The New York Times.

Friday’s edition of The Washington Post will report that “Justices Decline Schiavo Case; Options Dwindle for Those Trying to Keep Florida Woman Alive.”

And David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “Parents Didn’t Prove Their Case; The inability to show that their daughter’s rights had been violated doomed their effort.”

Posted at 10:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Barnes Foundation: Money could run out unless appeal is heard quickly.” The Philadelphia Inquirer has posted online this news update, in which I am quoted.

After the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on March 8, 2005 issued an order allowing this appeal to be heard on the merits, counsel for The Barnes Foundation was quoted here in The Inquirer as stating that “Nothing that has happened will affect the Barnes Foundation’s ability to move forward.” By contrast, today lawyers for The Barnes are telling Pennsylvania’s highest court that unless the appeal is resolved immediately, The Barnes will face serious financial peril.

Tomorrow I will post online electronic copies of the documents that The Barnes Foundation filed late today in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania asking that court to assume jurisdiction over an appeal currently pending before one of Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate courts.

Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman



Available online from law.com: An article reports that “Supreme Court Rejects Request to Reinsert Schiavo’s Feeding Tube.”

In other news, “N.Y. Panel Defines 911 Tapes as Admissible Evidence; No ‘Crawford’ support found for exclusion as testimonial.”

In news from Florida, “Judge Rules Morgan Stanley Helped Defraud Financier Perelman; In a pleading, Morgan Stanley said it has ‘put Kirkland & Ellis on notice of a potential malpractice claim.’

And in news from Atlanta, “Georgia Sheriff: Deputy Was Qualified to Escort Nichols; Freeman expects to ask county for money to upgrade courthouse security in wake of fatalities.”

Posted at 10:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Fla. Court Won’t Overturn Schiavo Decision”: The Associated Press reports here that “The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday refused to overturn a judge’s order blocking the state from taking temporary custody of Terri Schiavo, another setback in her parents’ battle to keep their brain-damaged daughter alive.”

The order that the Supreme Court of Florida entered today can be accessed at this link. And other documents filed in that court pertaining to Terri Schiavo can be accessed via this link.

Posted at 9:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Setting the Record Straight”: Harold Johnson today has this essay about Justice Clarence Thomas online at FrontPageMagazine.com.

Posted at 7:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Taking the Fifth: When journalists threaten our right to remain silent.” Reason has today posted online this essay by Matt Welch.

Posted at 7:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Barnes seeks expedited action on planned move”: The Philadelphia Business Journal offers a news update that begins, “The Barnes Foundation said Thursday it has asked the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to expedite review of legal action that could threaten the organization’s planned move into Philadelphia.”

Posted at 5:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“State Supreme Court refuses to hear challenge to stem cell research program; The action leaves unsettled California’s authority to issue bonds for the $3 billion to pay for the plan voters approved”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.

The Sacramento Bee reports today that “Stem cell cases put off; State Supreme Court rejects attempt to put suits on a fast track.”

And The Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports that “S.C. Rejects Bid to Block Implementation of Stem Cell Initiative.”

Posted at 5:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Wash. Court Nixes Man’s Defamation Claim”: The Associated Press provides this report on a ruling (majority opinion; concurring opinion; opinion concurring in part and dissenting in result) that the Washington State Supreme Court issued today.

The AP’s report begins, “In a case that raised fears that courts would become ‘super-editors,’ the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a businessman cannot sue a TV reporter simply for omitting facts that might have made him look better in a critical story.”

Posted at 3:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court prevents release of most September 11 emergency calls; Privacy concerns outweigh public interest, judges rule”: CNN.com provides this report on a ruling that the Court of Appeals of New York issued today in the case captioned In the Matter of the New York Times Company v. City of New York Fire Department.

Posted at 3:34 PM by Howard Bashman



“Fla. Judge Won’t Hear Schiavo Arguments”: The Associated Press reports here that a state court judge this afternoon has rejected Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s attempt to have a state agency take custody of Terri Schiavo.

The Orlando Sentinel provides a news update headlined “Courts refuse to intervene in Schiavo case; Supreme Court turns down Schiavo parents; State judge won’t hear Bush request.”

And The Miami Herald provides a news update headlined “Supreme Court and state court rule against Schiavo’s parents; Attorney: ‘She’s dying.’

Posted at 2:44 PM by Howard Bashman



Sometimes the fight over custody of a loved one extends past death: The San Francisco Chronicle today contains a front page article headlined “Burial-rights fight: Court sides with father in clash over where soldier will be laid to rest.”

The San Jose Mercury News reports that “Father wins right to bury son; Soldier’s mom opposed move.”

And The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that “Soldier’s body heads to Tulsa; Freedom family loses court fight to bury son locally.”

Posted at 2:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Stiffer sentence sought for Hale; U.S. prosecutors say plot to kill judge was a crime of terrorism”: The Chicago Tribune today contains an article that begins, “White supremacist Matthew Hale, convicted last year of soliciting the murder of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow, should get a stiffened sentence because he committed a crime of terrorism, prosecutors argued Wednesday in a court filing two weeks before his sentencing.”

The Chicago Sun-Times today contains articles headlined “Hale could get 40 years in prison, prosecutors say” and “Bart Ross headed for pauper’s burial.” The latter article begins, “An international hunt for relatives of the man who killed U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow’s husband and mother before killing himself has failed to find anyone willing to claim his body.”

And The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today contains an article headlined “Officer honored for finding killer of judge’s family.”

Posted at 2:00 PM by Howard Bashman



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today has rendered the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act of 1995’s administrative remedies exhaustion requirement nearly toothless: Further exacerbating a preexisting circuit split, the Ninth Circuit today rejected the rulings of three other federal appellate courts which have held that an inmate’s failure to timely exhaust administrative remedies, regardless of the merits of his grievance, bars the inmate from bringing a subsequent federal suit challenging prison conditions. Instead, as a result of today’s ruling, in the Ninth Circuit a prisoner can sue in federal court, even if he failed to take advantage of available administrative remedies to redress his claim, so long as the time for taking advantage of those administrative remedies has passed.

This issue is certainly deserving of U.S. Supreme Court review and is now quite likely to receive it.

Posted at 1:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Issue 1 conflicts with domestic abuse law, judge says; Marriage amendment makes portion of law unconstitutional, he rules”: The Cleveland Plain Dealer today contains an article that begins, “Ohio voters who approved a constitutional amendment last fall that denied legal recognition of unmarried and gay couples probably didn’t envision the measure being successfully used as a defense in domestic violence cases.”

Posted at 11:04 AM by Howard Bashman



Four U.S. Senators join in amicus brief urging U.S. Supreme Court review in Terri Schiavo case: You can access the amicus brief — filed by Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) and Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA), Mel Martinez (R-FL), and Sam Brownback (R-KS) — at this link.

Posted at 10:10 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court to Hear Web Speech Censorship Case”: David Kravets of The Associated Press provides this preview of a case that will be argued today before an eleven-judge en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The case, Yahoo! Inc. v. La Ligue Contre Le Racisme Et L’Antisemitisme, presents the following questions: “Whether the federal district court has personal jurisdiction over defendants, French organizations in an action brought by Yahoo! seeking a declaratory judgment that orders issued by a French court were unenforceable? Whether the exercise of personal jurisdiction requires wrongful conduct by the defendant and whether the Supreme Court’s ‘express aiming’ test may be met by a defendant’s intentional targeting of actions at plaintiff in the forum state?”

Coincidentally, the Ninth Circuit today is also hearing en banc reargument in United States v. Ameline, involving plain error review of sentences imposed under the federal sentencing guidelines.

A list of the judges assigned to each of the en banc panels can be found on page two of this PDF document.

Posted at 10:01 AM by Howard Bashman