How Appealing



Thursday, May 11, 2006

“John Roberts: The Missing Years; Did the White House steal a document from the Reagan library?” Timothy Noah has this item online at Slate this evening.

Posted at 10:10 PM by Howard Bashman



Fifth Circuit holds that Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, which protects the employment rights of members of the armed forces, does not preclude the enforcement of an individual contract to arbitrate such disputes: You can access today’s ruling of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, written by Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, at this link.

Posted at 8:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ex-Justice Sidesteps Phone Data Questions”: Gina Holland of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor declined to step into the uproar over secret collection of Americans’ phone records, saying a close look at the facts by courts could determine whether the government acted properly.”

Posted at 5:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“DNA Fingerprinting Criminals’ Kin Could Solve Crimes; Report Raises Complex Civil Liberties Issues”: The Washington Post provides this news update.

Posted at 4:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Battle Over the Soul of Law Professor Blogs”: The text of my “Upon Further Review” column published this Monday in The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers, can be accessed here. Therein, I propose what is destined to become the most popular entrant in the Law Professor Blogs Network — a law professor blog devoted to the law of sex and pornography.

Posted at 3:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ex-Newspaper Owners Seek to Revive Suit”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A lawyer for the former owners of the Salt Lake Tribune asked a federal appeals court Thursday to revive their lawsuit challenging the $355.5 million price set for them to buy the paper back.”

Posted at 2:14 PM by Howard Bashman



Who was the last federal appellate court nominee to receive a unanimous “Not Qualified” rating from the American Bar Association? Today in The Washington Post, Charles Lane reports that “The last nominee to be rejected unanimously by the ABA was Sherman Unger, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 1982. His nomination was later withdrawn.”

Some quick research on the internet suggests that Unger died of cancer not long after being nominated to the bench (see here and here [final paragraph]), and thus it is unclear whether his nomination was withdrawn due to the unfavorable ABA rating or due to the requirement that judicial nominees must be among the living in order to be confirmed.

Posted at 12:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Top Court Off Hook; FOI Commission Won’t Seek Review Of Controversial Ruling”: Today in The Hartford Courant, Lynne Tuohy has an article that begins, “The Freedom of Information Commission Wednesday voted 3-2 against asking the state Supreme Court to reconsider the controversial ruling that former Chief Justice William J. Sullivan secretly withheld from release to benefit his presumed successor.”

Posted at 10:38 AM by Howard Bashman



“Short Circuit — Breakdown of Trust Led Judge Luttig To Clash With Bush; After Fight in Terrorism Case, Conservative Star Gives Up Court Seat for Boeing Job; New Task: Appease McCain.” Jess Bravin and J. Lynn Lunsford have this must-read front page article (pass-through link) today in The Wall Street Journal.

That newspaper today also contains an editorial entitled “Luttig’s Legacy” (pass-through link).

Posted at 10:05 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judge in Enron Case Delivers a Serious Blow to the 2 Defendants”: This article appears today in The New York Times.

The Washington Post reports today that “Judge Lets Enron Jurors Consider If Defendants Turned a Blind Eye.”

In The Houston Chronicle, Mary Flood reports that “Judge ready for the final act; Jury will be told to weigh whether Skilling and Lay were ‘deliberately ignorant.’

And USA Today reports that “For Lay and Skilling, day of judgment near; After 55 witnesses, closing arguments begin Monday.”

Posted at 7:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Truck driver faces new trial in 2003 smuggling deaths; Appeals court removes Houston judge from case”: Harvey Rice has this article today in The Houston Chronicle. My earlier coverage is here.

Posted at 7:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“L.A. Psychologist Who Didn’t Get Tote Bag at Mother’s Day Angel Game Files Lawsuit”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 7:12 AM by Howard Bashman



“The Case of Roberts’s Missing Papers; Investigators Are Still Unable to Locate File On Affirmative Action”: The Washington Post contains this article today.

Posted at 7:00 AM by Howard Bashman



“What Kind of Justice Will Samuel Alito Be? A Recent Death Penalty Decision Provides Some Insights.” Edward Lazarus has this essay today online at FindLaw.

Posted at 6:40 AM by Howard Bashman