How Appealing



Friday, May 23, 2014

“No, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals isn’t issuing its same-sex marriage decision today”: Marissa J. Lang of The Salt Lake Tribune has this blog post.

Posted at 10:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Rader Steps Down as Chief, Apologizes for Reines Email”: Scott Graham of The Recorder has this report (free registration required).

According to the article, “Rader will remain on the court but relinquish the chief judgeship on May 30 to Judge Sharon Prost — apparently the same judge whose confidence Rader betrayed with his March 5 email.”

The article goes on to report:

The controversy apparently stems from two cases Reines argued back-to-back on behalf of Promega Corp. to a Federal Circuit panel comprising Judges Prost, Haldane Mayer and Raymond Chen on March 4. Rader emailed Reines the next day, saying that over lunch one of his colleagues had remarked on Reines’ prowess against Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr partner Seth Waxman.

“She said Seth had a whole battery of assistants passing him notes and keeping him on track. You were alone and IMPRESSIVE in every way,” Rader wrote.

“In sum, I was really proud to be your friend today!” Rader added. “Actually, I not only do not mind, but encourage you to let others see this message.”

The email does not identify which judge Rader was referring to, but Prost was the only female member of the panel. The court issued a summary Rule 36 affirmance against Promega and Reines in one of the two cases March 10. The other case — the one Waxman participated in — remains pending.

And at Gigaom, Jeff John Roberts has a post titled “Ethics fail by top judge gives Congress new reason to close patent court.”

Posted at 10:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals court judge faces ethics questions”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The chief judge of a federal appeals court has issued a public apology for sending an inappropriate email to an attorney who had argued cases before him.”

You can view at this link what the Federal Circuit‘s web site currently describes as “An Open Letter from Chief Judge Randall R. Rader.”

Meanwhile, in earlier coverage, Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “Chief judge on U.S. patent court steps down from lead role.”

Posted at 2:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“In vacating convictions in this Hobbs Act robbery case, a panel of the court reaches the paradoxical conclusion that a defendant who acted knowingly and voluntarily in waiving his Miranda rights could not have acted knowingly and voluntarily in responding to ensuing police questions.” So states a dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc that Second Circuit Judge Reena Raggi issued today, in which five other Second Circuit judges joined.

The vote to deny en banc review was 7-to-6. As a separate dissent from the denial of en banc review written by Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes explains, some of the seven judges who voted against rehearing may have believed that the case was too important to delay on its inevitable path to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The original three-judge Second Circuit panel assigned to this case issued its original ruling in December 2013 and a revised ruling on panel rehearing in March 2014.

One especially notable aspect of today’s Second Circuit denial of rehearing en banc and the three separate opinions accompanying it — neither the order nor any of the judges writing today themselves employed the term “in banc.”

Posted at 1:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Solicitor General’s Brief in Medical Device Tort Case Capitulates to Plaintiffs’ Bar”: Richard Samp has this post at “The Legal Pulse” blog of the Washington Legal Foundation.

Posted at 1:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Scalia’s Remarks on Law School Renew Legal Education Debate”: Tony Mauro has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Posted at 12:12 PM by Howard Bashman



It appears that the “How Appealing” blog has been mentioned by Tom Goldstein in this morning’s “SCOTUSblog” credentialing appeal: Details here.

You can follow the “SCOTUSblog” live blogging of its credentialing appeal via this link.

Posted at 11:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Legal fight over gay marriage spreads to 30 states”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Federal lawsuits filed this week in Montana and South Dakota leave just one state — North Dakota — with a gay marriage ban that’s not facing some form of legal challenge.”

Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman



“Federal Circuit’s Judge Rader Resigns as Chief Judge; Will Remain on Court”: Ashby Jones and Brent Kendall have this post at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog.”

The web site of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit provides this announcement.

The announcement follows an article in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal headlined “Top Judge Who Gave Lawyer Praise Recuses Himself From Patent Cases; Laudatory Email Raises Questions About Patent Bar” (free access).

Jones and Kendall also now have a more extensive news update headlined “Judge Who Recused Himself From Patent Cases Resigns as Chief Judge; Randall R. Rader Leaves Post as Chief Judge of Court of Appeals, Stays on the Bench” (free access).

And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Zoe Tillman has a post titled “Randall Rader Resigns As Chief Judge of Federal Circuit.”

Posted at 10:55 AM by Howard Bashman



“Tennessee brings back the electric chair”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “As the rest of the nation debates the feasibility and humanity of lethal injections against a backdrop of scarce drugs and botched executions, Tennessee has come up with an alternative: the electric chair.”

Posted at 9:03 AM by Howard Bashman



“Rare execution stay shows Supreme Court concern on death penalty”: Michael Doyle of McClatchy Washington Bureau has this report.

Posted at 8:52 AM by Howard Bashman



“Scotusblog loss of Senate press credentials fuels media uproar; Website to mount appeal of press gallery decision on Friday; Legendary reporter Lyle Denniston may be affected”: The Guardian (UK) has this report.

And yesterday at “SCOTUSblog,” Kali Borkoski had a post titled “Standing Committee to hear appeal tomorrow.” “SCOTUSblog” intends to live-blog the appeal proceeding at this link beginning at 10:30 a.m. eastern time today.

Posted at 8:47 AM by Howard Bashman