How Appealing



Monday, April 16, 2007

“Court won’t consider libel law in ‘Howling Pig’ case”: The Rocky Mountain News provides an update that begins, “A University of Northern Colorado student investigated for publishing a satirical online journal may be eligible for damages from the assistant district attorney who approved a search warrant for the student’s Ault home, a federal appeals court ruled today. But the three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said it will not consider whether Colorado’s criminal libel statute is unconstitutional because prosecutors announced shortly after searching his home that they would not file charges against Thomas Mink, author of the journal ‘The Howling Pig.'”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit at this link.

My earlier coverage of this case appears at this link. Also available online is earlier coverage of the case from “The Volokh Conspiracy” and “InstaPundit.”

Posted at 8:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“What Next in the U.S. Attorneys Scandal? What to look for after Gonzales testifies.” National Review Online posted this essay by Byron York early today.

Posted at 8:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Consenting Adults: The next frontier in the legal battle over abortion is whether women need protection from themselves.” Sarah Blustain has this essay online at The American Prospect.

Posted at 8:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Nifong ignores clues from DNA tests; The SBI tests are no help, so Mike Nifong turns to a private lab; The results there? ‘He was not happy with it,’ says his former campaign manager.” This article — part three in a five-part series, appears today in The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. Parts one and two remain available online.

Posted at 7:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“This case strikes an unprecedented blow at the core of Fourth Amendment protections.” So writes Circuit Judge Harry Pregerson, dissenting from the Ninth Circuit‘s denial of rehearing en banc today in Sanchez v. County of San Diego. Eight judges note their dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc. A total of seven judges joined in Judge Pregerson’s dissent, while Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski notes that he dissents from the denial of rehearing en banc for the reasons explained in Circuit Judge Raymond C. Fisher‘s dissent from the original three-judge panel’s ruling.

My earlier coverage of the three-judge panel’s ruling appears here, while The San Diego Union-Tribune’s coverage of that ruling can be accessed here. By a vote of 2-1, the panel rejected a constitutional challenge to San Diego County’s welfare eligibility program, requiring all welfare applicants to consent to a warrantless home visit as a condition of eligibility.

Posted at 1:33 PM by Howard Bashman



California Supreme Court set to rule today on procedure for certifying class action cases: California’s highest court has announced that it plans to issue a decision today in Fireside Bank v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County (Sandra Gonzalez, Real Party). The case presents the following question:

May a trial court ever depart from the preferred practice of deciding whether to certify a class action before adjudicating any class claims on the merits, or is the rule against such “one-way intervention” in class actions a firm prohibition applicable in all circumstances?

The decision of the California Court of Appeal in the case can be accessed here (Microsoft Word document).

The blog “The UCL Practitioner” has previously covered the case in posts that you can access here and here. Today’s ruling is scheduled to issue at 1 p.m. eastern time and will be available via this link.

Update: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

Posted at 10:15 AM by Howard Bashman



“Overtime case may change pay rules for home care workers”: The Chicago Tribune today contains an article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court today will hear a case that could affect hundreds of thousands of home care workers and their elderly and disabled clients.”

Posted at 7:45 AM by Howard Bashman



“The N-Word and a Plaintiff’s Right to His Day in Court”: You can access at this link today’s installment of my weekly “On Appeal” column for law.com.

Posted at 6:48 AM by Howard Bashman



“When a Judge Offers an Opinion Away From the Bench”: Today in The New York Times, the brand new installment of Adam Liptak‘s “Sidebar” column (TimesSelect temporary pass-through link) begins, “Judge Wendell L. Griffen sits on the state appeals court here, and he likes to give a lively speech now and then. That may cost him his job.”

Posted at 6:40 AM by Howard Bashman



Online today at FindLaw: Julie Hilden has an essay entitled “A Student Who Posted Profanities About Her School Principal on MySpace Wins Before The Indiana Court of Appeals: Why the State Constitution Protected Her, And How She Would Have Fared Under The First Amendment.”

And Jonna M. Spilbor has an essay entitled “Closing The Door On the Duke Lacrosse Rape Claims: Why the Accuser Should Be Prosecuted, and The State Should Revamp the Way It Handles False Crime Reports.”

Posted at 6:34 AM by Howard Bashman



“Overheated: The Court’s EPA ruling won’t clean up our air.” Benjamin Wittes has this essay online today at The New Republic.

Posted at 6:30 AM by Howard Bashman