How Appealing



Friday, May 6, 2016

“Court: Slipknot bassist’s child born after he died can sue.” The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that deceased Slipknot bassist Paul Gray’s child may sue for loss of a parent’s companionship, affirming the rights of children born after a parent’s death.”

Earlier at “On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog,” Rox Laird previewed the case in a post titled “Iowa Supreme Court to hold evening argument in case involving the death of a rock star and the constitutional rights of the unborn.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Iowa at this link.

Posted at 11:58 AM by Howard Bashman



“Resolved: Ted Cruz Was His Worst Self as a Presidential Candidate; In his surly, failed campaign, Cruz turned into a cartoon version of the blowhard I knew on the college debate circuit.” Dahlia Lithwick has this essay online at Slate.

Posted at 11:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“Are US Courts Going Dark?” U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Wm. Smith (S.D. Tex.) has this post today at “Just Security.”

Therein, Magistrate Judge Smith writes:

I am * * * better positioned to ponder a less publicized “going dark” threat to another branch of government, the branch most indispensable to the rule of law — our court system. Over the last 40 years, secrecy in all aspects of the judicial process has risen to literally unprecedented levels. Let me describe what I have seen, and why it is troubling.

This appears to be his first post at the “Just Security” blog.

Posted at 11:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Breaking: NC Supreme Court Deadlocks 3-3 Over Whether Its Recused 7th Member Must Run in Competitive Election.” Rick Hasen has this post today at his “Election Law Blog.”

Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman



“Anti-Trans Discrimination Is Sex Discrimination: A decision written by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia helps explain why North Carolina’s H.B.2 bathroom bill is illegal.” Law professor Garrett Epps has this essay online today at The Atlantic.

At Justia.com’s “Verdict,” law professor Joanna L. Grossman has an essay titled “A Room With a View: Federal Appeals Court Says School District Cannot Bar Transgender Boy from Using the Bathroom Aligned with His Gender Identity.”

And at National Review’s “Bench Memos” blog, Ed Whelan has a six-part series titled “Obama Administration’s Outrageous War on North Carolina.”

Posted at 11:10 AM by Howard Bashman



“Senate Republicans Are Breaking Records for Judicial Obstruction; As President Obama enters his final months in office, dozens of seats on the bench will remain unfilled”: Patrick Caldwell of Mother Jones has this report today.

Mike DeBonis of The Washington Post reports that “Mitch McConnell’s Senate is confirming very, very few presidential nominees.”

And in today’s edition of The El Paso Times, Marty Schladen has a front page article headlined “Cornyn, Cruz blasted over judicial appointments.”

Posted at 11:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee Just Bragged About Sending This Man To Prison; Now He’s Free; He was let out mere days after Merrick Garland’s big moment”: Emily L. Judd and Ryan J. Reilly of The Huffington Post have this report.

Posted at 10:55 AM by Howard Bashman



Today the “How Appealing” blog celebrates its 14th birthday: Fourteen years ago today this blog came into existence. And, thanks to a dedicated and enthusiastic readership that quickly followed and remains to this day, this blog continues to exist and thrive.

On May 6, 2017, this blog will turn 15 years old. On that date, and for the remainder of this blog’s 15th year in existence (from May 2017 through April 2018), one of this blog’s most popular features — “20 questions for the appellate judge” — will return for a limited 12-month engagement.

What this means is that I will conduct and publish interviews with 12 additional federal and state appellate judges over that 12-month period. Of course, every judge who previously participated in this blog’s “20 questions for the appellate judge’ feature has volunteered to do so, and a judge’s willingness to participate remains a necessary feature of my interview series going forward.

At the same time, to maximize the impact of these 12 interviews, I would like to interview those judges whom this blog’s readers are most interested in. Thus, I am now opening my blog’s email for nominations of those appellate judges whom this blog’s readership would most like me to include as interviewees in the “20 questions for the appellate judge” series. (You can reach me at appellateblog@hotmail.com.) The judges I have yet to interview on my list of the dozen federal appellate judges I currently view as the most engaging and talented opinion writers will also receive close consideration for inclusion as interviewees.

Lastly, in this era of “crowdsourcing,” I pledge to devote at least half of each interviewee’s 20 questions to questions received from this blog’s readership once an interviewee’s participation has been announced. Thus, I am counting on this blog’s readers to help me identify, obtain the participation of, and decide what questions to ask of the 12 federal or state appellate judges who will participate in this blog’s “20 questions for the appellate judge” feature during this blog’s 15th anniversary year beginning in May 2017.

My decision 14 years ago today to launch “How Appealing” remains one of the most satisfying and professionally rewarding decisions I have made in my nearly 25-year career as an appellate lawyer. Let me conclude for now by thanking the many friends and devoted readers I have gained as a result of simply typing words on a computer keyboard concerning a subject of mutual interest. This blog’s readers are the best, and I thank each and every one of you for your continued interest and devotion.

Posted at 10:30 AM by Howard Bashman