How Appealing



Friday, May 2, 2008

D.C. Circuit reinstates lawsuit filed by man seeking a court order requiring the Attorney General to act on the man’s request to renounce his United States citizenship: You can access today’s ruling at this link. In seeking to renounce his citizenship, the man was relying on a statutory provision codified at 8 U.S.C. sec. 1481(a)(6).

Posted at 10:52 AM by Howard Bashman



“The victim’s voice: Statements by a woman murdered by her boyfriend should be allowed to stand in his conviction.” Today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial that begins, “In a case reminiscent of the story of the boy who killed his parents and then asked for mercy because he was an orphan, the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to overturn a California man’s murder conviction because the victim’s statements about his violent nature were read in court. The case is legally more complex than the apocryphal story about the orphan, but the principle is the same: A defendant shouldn’t benefit from silencing his accuser.”

Posted at 10:01 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court says feds don’t have to reveal names”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “The federal government doesn’t have to reveal the names of employees involved in a bungled operation to a private watchdog group that doesn’t trust official investigations of the incident, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.”

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

Posted at 9:55 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court Orders Tyson to Suspend Ads For Antibiotic-Free Chicken”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “Poultry giant Tyson Foods has 14 days to dismantle a national multimillion dollar ad campaign centered on the claim that its chickens are raised without antibiotics, a federal appeals court in Richmond ruled yesterday.”

And The Baltimore Sun reports today that “Tyson bid denied for stay on pulling drug-free ads.”

I have posted online at this link Wednesday’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Posted at 9:54 AM by Howard Bashman



“Notes From the War on Terror”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial that begins, “For more than a year, President Bush has refused to honor legitimate requests from the Democratic majority in Congress for legal documents that he used to justify ordering the abuse, humiliation and torture of prisoners. This week, the Justice Department finally agreed to show some papers to members of the House and Senate. Sounds like good news? Not so much.”

Posted at 9:38 AM by Howard Bashman



“Al Jazeera TV journalist released; At Guantanamo, a long-held Arab cable news journalist was freed, while a military judge denied a Canadian captive’s ‘child soldier’ defense”: Carol Rosenberg has this article today in The Miami Herald.

And The New York Times reports today that “Cameraman Is Released From Guantanamo.”

Posted at 9:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Teacher fired for refusing to sign loyalty oath; Cal State system ousts another instructor who objects on religious grounds to a pledge adopted by California in 1952 to root out communists”: The Los Angeles Times contains this front page article today.

Posted at 9:32 AM by Howard Bashman



“McCain’s Birth Abroad Stirs Legal Debate; His Eligibility for Presidency Is Questioned”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

Posted at 9:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“False Claims Gold Rush”: The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial that begins, “Imagine handing the tort bar a huge new lawsuit business, funded with dollars owed to taxpayers. Imagine that those doing this favor are Senate Democrats and Republicans. Welcome to the legal gold rush occurring under the cover of ‘reforming’ the False Claims Act.”

Posted at 9:05 AM by Howard Bashman



“Amazon.com Sues To Strike Down New N.Y. Tax Law”: Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, “Amazon.com is fighting back with a lawsuit trying to strike down New York state’s new law forcing the online retailer to collect sales taxes on the state’s behalf. The dispute, which is before a state court in Manhattan, is heading toward a constitutional showdown that will center on whether New York State is hindering interstate commerce by imposing on out-of-state companies, such as Amazon.com, the burden of serving as a tax collector for New York.”

And The New York Times reports today that “Amazon Sues Over State Law on Collection of Sales Tax.”

Posted at 8:57 AM by Howard Bashman



“Giuliani’s Next Campaign: Appellate Limelight; Recent key additions signal bid to take on established players.” This article appears in this week’s issue of The National Law Journal.

Posted at 8:55 AM by Howard Bashman



“Overpaid Judges”: The New York Sun today contains an editorial that begins, “If the judges in the State of New York want to understand why the people of the State of New York haven’t raised their pay in nearly a generation, let them study the decision handed down this week by Judge Jonathan Lippman in the case involving the first bombing of the World Trade Center. It’s hard to recall a decision that is more outrageous. Judge Lippman, whom Governor Spitzer appointed to the First Department, upheld the notion that the Port Authority was 68% liable for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, while the terrorists were only 32% liable.”

And yesterday in that newspaper, Theodore Frank had a related op-ed entitled “Blame Port Authority.”

My earlier coverage of the ruling appears at this link.

Posted at 8:54 AM by Howard Bashman



“Woman can sue Marshall over ban on dancing”: Yesterday’s edition of The Ashville (N.C.) Citizen-Times contained an article that begins, “A Madison County woman banned seven years ago from a Marshall dance hall on allegations that her gyrations were sexually suggestive has won the right to take her lawsuit against the town to trial. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., issued a ruling Wednesday overturning the 2003 dismissal of Rebecca Willis’ lawsuit. The decision means the case can proceed to trial on the question of whether the town violated her constitutional right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment by singling her out and banning her for life from the town’s public music arena, said her attorney, Jon Sasser, of Raleigh.” The article also features a photograph of the plaintiff.

My earlier coverage of Wednesday’s Fourth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Posted at 8:45 AM by Howard Bashman



“Marshal faces World Series investigation; Deputies allegedly drove Fox announcers to Fenway”: The Boston Globe today contains an article that begins, “Federal authorities are investigating whether the head of the US Marshals Service in Boston assigned deputy marshals, normally charged with tracking fugitives and protecting judges, to ferry Fox Sports broadcasters Tim McCarver and Joe Buck between their hotel and Fenway Park during last year’s World Series. The Justice Department’s office of the inspector general in Boston is looking into whether Yvonne Bonner overstepped her authority as acting US Marshal in Boston or violated any ethics rules by allegedly ordering her deputies to essentially serve as private taxi drivers, according to two law enforcement officials and other people familiar with the investigation.”

Posted at 8:18 AM by Howard Bashman