How Appealing



Tuesday, April 19, 2011

“Feds to Supreme Court: Allow Warrantless GPS Monitoring.” David Kravets has this post at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog.

Posted at 11:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“Second look at who owns the beaches; High court justices’ questions might hint that their 1st ruling won’t change”: The Houston Chronicle has this news update.

Posted at 11:23 PM by Howard Bashman



“5th Circuit: Ex-prosecutor doesn’t have immunity.” The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court panel has upheld a ruling that former U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton does not have immunity from a lawsuit filed against him by former Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Oliver Diaz Jr.”

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

Posted at 11:11 PM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals court backs MacDonald on review of new evidence”: The Fayetteville Observer has a news update that begins, “A federal appeals court has sided with convicted killer Jeffrey MacDonald, ordering a second review of his claims of newly discovered evidence.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Court orders new hearing in ‘Fatal Vision’ case.”

You can access today’s ruling of a unanimous two-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.

Posted at 10:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Skeptical on Role of Courts in Setting Emissions Standards”: Adam Liptak will have this article Wednesday in The New York Times.

In Wednesday’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage will have an article headlined “Supreme Court indicates it will dismiss 6-state global warming lawsuit; The suit, filed by California and others, seeks limits on carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants; Justices say the EPA, not the courts, should regulate greenhouse gases.”

In Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin will have an article headlined “Justices Skeptical in Emissions Case.”

Ariane de Vogue of ABCNews.com reports that “Global Warming Comes to the Supreme Court; Justices Skeptical of Suit Filed by States Against Power Industry.”

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor reports that “Supreme Court wary of empowering judges to order greenhouse gas cuts; A lawsuit asking a federal judge to order big power companies to cut greenhouse gases, because the emissions are a public nuisance, got a skeptical reception Tuesday at the Supreme Court.”

And Lawrence Hurley of Greenwire reports (via The New York Times) that “States’ Emissions ‘Nuisance’ Argument Seems to Fall on Deaf Ears in Supreme Court.”

Posted at 10:34 PM by Howard Bashman



“Gay Marriage Cases Could Cost House $500K or More”: David Ingram has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Posted at 2:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter”: This diavlog featuring Dahlia Lithwick and Ann Althouse was posted online today at Bloggingheads.tv.

Posted at 2:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court casts doubt on states’ global warming suit”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.

And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Searching for a judicial formula: The Court, tempted to keep global warming cases in the federal courts, confronts the seeming likelihood that such lawsuits would be too complex for judges actually to handle.”

You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut, No. 10-174.

Posted at 2:03 PM by Howard Bashman



Even the Chief Justice of the United States misspells a case name every now and then: As though further proof that everyone’s human were needed, a reader emails to note that in his dissenting opinion issued today, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. has misspelled the “Coeur” in the case name Idaho v. Coeur d’Alene Tribe of Idaho as “Couer” some three times. So, the next time you happen to misspell a case name, remember that you’re in good company.

And in early news coverage of today’s ruling, The Associated Press reports that “Court reinstates Va. mental health lawsuit.”

In early 2009, a lovely new federal courthouse opened its doors in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as noted in this earlier post. Coincidentally, the Chief Justice visited Idaho in 2009, although according to the University of Idaho College of Law the Chief Justice visited in person only Boise and Moscow — and appeared in Coeur d’Alene only via compressed video feed.

Update: As of 4:10 p.m. eastern time, the Court has corrected the misspelling in the version of the decision available for download from the Court’s web site. The original version of the opinion containing the misspelling, which was available for download from the Court’s web site earlier today, can be accessed here.

Posted at 11:20 AM by Howard Bashman



Access online today’s ruling in an argued case of the U.S. Supreme Court: Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court in Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy v. Stewart, No. 09-529. Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor joined in the opinion of the Court. Justice Kennedy also filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Thomas joined. The Chief Justice issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined. And Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in the ruling. You can access the oral argument via this link.

Posted at 10:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“GOP hires ex-solicitor general to defend federal same-sex marriage ban”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

In today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, James Oliphant reports that “GOP taps ex-solicitor general to defend gay marriage law.”

The Washington Times reports today that “GOP steps up defense of law on marriage; Lawyer hired in lieu of Justice.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “Boehner hires top lawyer for fight over marriage law, sources say.”

Ariane de Vogue and Devin Dwyer of ABCNews.com report that “House Republicans Hire Lawyer to Take Defense of Marriage Act Cases; Boehner Appoints Lawyer to Defend DOMA, Seeks Justice Dept Budget Cuts to Cover Cost.”

At his “Under the Radar” blog at Politico.com, Josh Gerstein has a post titled “Boehner wants Justice Department to fund fight for Defense of Marriage Act.”

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post titled “Former Solicitor General Paul Clement Signs Up to Defend Marriage Law.”

Posted at 9:46 AM by Howard Bashman



“Justices hear case on boosting criminals’ sentences; The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether a prisoner can be given a longer sentence in order to undergo rehabilitation; A woman caught smuggling immigrants into California awaits the outcome”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 9:33 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judges See Sentencing Injustice, but the Calendar Disagrees”: Adam Liptak has this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in today’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 9:30 AM by Howard Bashman