It was my great pleasure to speak at this evening’s Annual Banquet of the Harvard Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: These two organizations have a wonderfully enthusiastic and intelligent membership. It was also very interesting to get to hear William Kristol’s perspective on law-related political battles now underway in Washington, DC.
Bloggers were well represented at the event. Both Amber Taylor of “Class Maledictorian” and Will Baude of “Crescat Sententia” were at my table. I had the chance to speak with Law Professor Randy E. Barnett of “The Volokh Conspiracy.” Joshua Davey of both “letters from babylon” and Locke v. Davey was present. And many contributors to the “Ex Parte” blog were in attendance.
Before I leave town tomorrow morning, I’m scheduled to grab an early breakfast with Jeremy Blachman.
“Justice Sunday”: You can access here the transcript of the cover story from this evening’s broadcast of the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.”
And available online from CBS News, Sunday Morning producer Brian Healy has an essay entitled “Cheapening Faith.”
“Judge Blocks Florida Teen’s Abortion”: This evening’s broadcast of NPR‘s “All Things Considered” included this segment (RealPlayer required).
“Rep. Holt joins student filibuster at Frist Campus Center; Protest continues into 78th hour”: The Daily Princetonian provides this news update. You can monitor the ongoing “‘Filibuster Frist’ @ Princeton University” at this link.
In commentary, Sunday’s edition of The Atlanta Journal Constitution will contain an op-ed by Jim Wooten entitled “Take a vote, and do it now” and an op-ed by Cynthia Tucker entitled “Must filibuster Justice Brown.”
Today in The Wisconsin State Journal, Bill Wineke has an op-ed entitled “Think of the future of the endangered filibuster.”
And today’s broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show contained a segment entitled “Frist Move Exposes Dingy Harry’s Dems.”
“Break the Filibuster: Democrats are looking to the Constitution to preserve the judicial filibuster; the Constitution isn’t on their side.” William Kristol, with whom I had the pleasure of visiting this evening at Harvard, has this essay in the May 9, 2005 issue of The Weekly Standard
“Teacher’s lawsuit moves forward”: The San Jose Mercury News today contains an article that begins, “In a case that put the national spotlight on Cupertino, a federal court ruling Thursday pushed forward a fifth-grade teacher’s discrimination lawsuit against the Cupertino Union School District. Stephen J. Williams, a teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School, filed a lawsuit in November, claiming Principal Patricia Vidmar and other district officials violated his constitutional rights when they restricted his use of excerpts from historical documents that contained references to God.”
Second Circuit affirms dismissal of lawsuit against the City of New York and Motorola brought by personal representatives of firefighters who lost their lives in responding to the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks: The lawsuit alleged that Motorola “provided the City with radio transmission communication equipment for firefighters that Motorola knew to be ineffective in high-rise structures like the Towers of the WTC.” You can access today’s ruling at this link.
“Judicial Partisan Warfare Escalates; Tempest Over Brown Nomination Shows Times Have Changed”: Peter Blumberg has this very interesting news analysis about D.C. Circuit nominee Janice Rogers Brown today in The Daily Journal.
And The Contra Costa Times today contains an editorial entitled “Justice Brown puts foot in mouth again.”
“Sanding Down Sander: The debunker of affirmative action gets debunked.” Emily Bazelon has this jurisprudence essay today online at Slate.
If only he had a PACER account, he might still be a free man today: The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that “Suspect delivers himself to feds.”
“Holy war against judges”: This editorial appears today in The Toledo Blade.
Divided three-judge Federal Circuit panel resolves appeal in patent dispute between manufacturers of three-blade and four-blade razors: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at this link.
Update: Thanks to the reader who sent along the link to The Onion’s parody from February 18, 2004, “F*ck Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades.”
“Senator fires back at attack ads; Filibuster: Murkowski says she’s taking a thoughtful approach on the issue.” This article appears today in The Anchorage Daily News.
And The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner today contains an article headlined “Senator works to keep doors open on ANWR” that begins, “As the Republican-led Congress marches toward opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday worried that the opportunity will disappear in a rancorous fight with Democrats over President Bush’s judicial nominations.”
Programming note: I’ll be en route shortly to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where this evening William Kristol and I will be the keynote speakers at the Annual Banquet of the Harvard Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. New posts will appear this afternoon, once I arrive at my hotel.
“Frist Proposes Deal on Judicial Filibusters”: This segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR‘s “Morning Edition.”
Today in The New York Times, seven letters to the editor appear under the heading “The Battle Over the Filibuster.”
Finally for now, you can access online “The Official Frist Filibuster Webcam @ Princeton University” showing the “nuclear option”-related protest underway for several days at the Frist Campus Center at Princeton University.
Seals and cross: On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Daily News reported that “Hahn endorses new effort to keep cross on city seal.”
You can access online a press release entitled “Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn Formally Endorses Petition Drive to Retain the Original LA County Seal; Citing historical reasons and the right of the people to vote on the issue, Mayor Hahn issued the endorsement” that The Committee to Support
the Los Angeles County Seal Ordinance issued on Tuesday.
“Politics by Design: Why is L.A.’s liberal mayor attacking the ACLU?” Today in the Wall Street Journal, Jill Stewart has an op-ed that begins, “James Hahn, the mayor of Los Angeles, has a cross to bear–not that he minds. A tiny cross on the seal of Los Angeles County–removed under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union–has become a potential political opportunity for him, not to mention the occasion for filial piety.”
“Panel hears Cedarburg native Clement, solicitor general nominee”: This article appeared yesterday in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Democrats Reject Deal on Judges; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s offer of 100 hours to debate before a vote may be a final gesture before the GOP changes filibuster rules”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today, along with an article headlined “‘Mr. Smith’ Gets Caught Up in Ideological Fight; Groups on both sides of the filibuster debate want the film hero on their side, but Columbia Pictures has stopped allowing partisan use.”
The Houston Chronicle today contains articles headlined “Senate nearing showdown on filibusters; Democrats reject GOP plan to allow votes on nominees” and “Opposition to judge nominees not ‘an issue of faith,’ Bush says; His comments appear to counter attempts to paint Dems as having a religious bias.”
The Washington Times contains articles headlined “Democrats scorn Frist offer“; “‘Miracle’ needed to win back Senate“; and “Salazar’s ‘Antichrist’ flap spotlights judicial battle.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “Frist makes offer to Democrats on judicial nominees; Democrats react coolly to proposal.”
The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that “Debate offer gets tepid response.”
The Daily Princetonian reports that “Filibuster continues at Frist.”
The Princeton Packet reports that “Sen. Frist target of Princeton University student filibuster.”
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that “Whitman fears ‘nuclear option’; Republican centrist urges votes on judges without rules changes.”
The Virginian-Pilot reports that “Plan to end Senate filibuster criticized.”
In commentary, The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial entitled “Advise and Consign: The filibuster isn’t the only procedure Senators are abusing.”
The Washington Times contains an editorial entitled “A compromise on the ‘nuclear option.’” In addition, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) has an op-ed entitled “Debate and then vote,” while Linda Chavez has an op-ed entitled “Confirmation angst.”
The Austin American-Statesman contains an editorial entitled “When traditions tumble.”
The Amarillo Globe-News contains an editorial entitled “Nomination process filled up with filibusters.”
The Daily Press of Hampton Roads, Virginia contains an editorial entitled “The filibuster.”
The Denver Post contains an editorial entitled “Salazar skids off the high road.” And columnist Reggie Rivers has an op-ed entitled “Importance of checks and balances.”
In The Rocky Mountain News, columnist Mike Rosen has an op-ed entitled “Salazar welshes on deal.”
In The Athens Banner-Herald, Michael J. Gerhardt and Larry D. Kramer have an op-ed entitled “Filibuster shouldn’t be set aside out of impatience, frustration.”
In The Arizona Republic, columnist Robert Robb has an essay entitled “Rules?! Senate don’t need no stinking rules!”
In The Orlando Sentinel, columnist Peter A. Brown has an op-ed entitled “How to judge Bush’s court picks?”
In The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, columnist John Farmer has an op-ed entitled “The filibuster is too crucial a safeguard to toss away.”
Finally for now, in The Providence Journal, Julian E. Zelizer has an op-ed entitled “Make Senate more democratic — Filibuster deserves to be deep-sixed.”
“Cramton Leads Discussion on Supreme Court Developments”: This article appears today in The Cornell Daily Sun.
“Stenberg announces another Senate bid”: The Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star today contains an article that begins, “Don Stenberg entered the 2006 Senate race Thursday with a focus on cultural concerns and judicial nominees as well as economic and security issues.”
“Third postponement no charm for judge; 14-year veteran waits as 2 other N.C. nominees get nod”: The Winston-Salem Journal today contains an article that begins, “Terrence W. Boyle has waited 14 years for a vote on his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and he will have to wait another two weeks because of a technical glitch.”
The Charlotte Observer reports today that “2 federal judges approved for N.C.; Former U.S. attorney for Charlotte confirmed 2 years after nominated.”
And The Daily Tar Heel reports that “N.C. judge’s future part of national debate.”
On a personal note, I’d like to congratulate “How Appealing” reader James C. Dever, III for finally attaining U.S. Senate confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. As a result of Dever’s voice-vote confirmation yesterday, someone else now holds the distinction of being the longest-waiting federal district court nominee yet to be confirmed.
“Pryor vote pushed back once again”: The Mobile Register today contains an article that begins, “The Senate Judiciary Committee again delayed a vote Thursday on Mobile native Bill Pryor’s nomination for a federal appellate judgeship, but Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., promised to make it the ‘number one item’ at the panel’s next business session, probably May 12.”
