How Appealing



Wednesday, May 30, 2012

“Campaign Finance Challenge: Supreme Court Will Consider Direct Challenge to Citizens United Decision With Montana Case.” Roll Call has this report.

Posted at 11:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Is Citizens United already shrinking?” Tonight at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Retired Justice John Paul Stevens, a dissenter to the Supreme Court’s controversial 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission on money in politics, said Wednesday that the Court has already begun paring the scope of that decision, and predicted that it very likely will do so further in future cases.”

In other coverage, Adam Liptak of The New York Times has a blog post titled “Former Justice Stevens Portrays Court as Inconsistent After Citizens United.”

David G. Savage has a news update headlined “Justice Stevens: Obama right to criticize court ruling on campaign spending.”

The Associated Press has a report headlined “Stevens: Exception needed to Citizens United case.”

Pete Williams of NBC News has a blog post titled “Former justice predicts cracks in Citizens United decision.”

And Arkansas News Bureau has a report headlined “Stevens: Supreme Court may be rethinking Citizens United ruling.”

You can access the full text of Justice Stevens’ remarks at this link.

Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“As governor, Mitt Romney backtracked on promised reforms in appointing judges”: Jerry Markon and Alice Crites of The Washington Post have this news update.

Posted at 4:06 PM by Howard Bashman



“Accused killer Pleau in federal custody after arraignment, will be held at Wyatt”: Katie Mulvaney of The Providence (R.I.) Journal has a news update that begins, “After a months-long legal battle that led to the U.S. Supreme Court, Jason Pleau was arraigned Wednesday on federal charges that he plotted to rob and then killed gas station manager David Main outside a Woonsocket bank in September 2010.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Inmate in RI legal tug-of-war pleads not guilty.”

Posted at 3:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“District courts have several tools for dealing with indigent litigants who abuse the court system. Requiring a party to post a cost bond that the court knows the party cannot afford, however, is not one of those available tools for dismissing or discouraging frivolous suits.” So rules a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in a per curiam opinion issued today.

Posted at 2:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“A judge’s delayed order ruffles no feathers in the 9th Circuit”: Erin Geiger Smith has this report at Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight.

Posted at 1:26 PM by Howard Bashman



“Faculty Q&A: Kendrick Defines Pattern for Supreme Court’s First Amendment Jurisprudence.” The University of Virginia School of Law has today posted online an item that begins, “Though many critics have pegged the U.S. Supreme Court’s First Amendment doctrine as incoherent, the court’s opinions have long shown a definable pattern, argues University of Virginia law professor Leslie Kendrick in her latest article.”

You can access law professor Leslie Kendrick‘s article “Content Discrimination Revisited” via SSRN.

Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Class (of One) Conflict”: At “PrawfsBlawg,” Bill Araiza has a post that begins, “A fascinating set of opinions has been released by the Seventh Circuit in a case dealing with the so-called ‘class-of-one’ theory of equal protection.”

My earlier coverage of the en banc Seventh Circuit‘s recent opinions in the case can be accessed here.

Posted at 9:52 AM by Howard Bashman



“Jennifer Granick to Direct New Civil Liberties Initiative at Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society”: Stanford Law School has issued this news release.

Posted at 9:47 AM by Howard Bashman



“Family may keep autopsy photos private, court says”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “Family members have a constitutional right to keep a loved one’s autopsy photos private and can sue law enforcement officers who release the pictures to the news media, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.”

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Orin Kerr has a post titled “Ninth Circuit Finds Substantive Due Process Right to ‘Control Public Dissemination of a Family Member’s Death Images.’

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Ninth Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

Posted at 9:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“Louisiana monks go to court to sell their caskets”: In today’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes has an article that begins, “Not very long after God told some at St. Joseph Abbey that the way out of financial hardship might be selling the monks’ handcrafted caskets, the state of Louisiana arrived with a different message. It was a cease-and-desist order and came with threats of thousands of dollars in fines and possible criminal prosecution.”

Posted at 8:07 AM by Howard Bashman



“British Court Clears Way for Extradition of WikiLeaks Founder”: The New York Times has a news update that begins, “Britain’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, should be deported to Sweden to face allegations of sexual abuse there, the culmination of an 18-month legal battle.”

The Guardian (UK) has a news update headlined “Julian Assange loses appeal against extradition; WikiLeaks founder’s lawyers given 14 days to decide whether to ask supreme court to reopen case, during which extradition will be stayed.”

The Independent (UK) has a news update headlined “Julian Assange’s fight to evade extradition to Sweden appears doomed despite stay of execution.”

The Associated Press reports that “UK’s top court backs extradition of WikiLeaks boss.”

Reuters reports that “UK court backs Assange extradition to Sweden.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “WikiLeaks’ Assange Loses U.K. Top Court Extradition Case.”

Today in the case captioned Julian Assange v. Swedish Prosecution Authority, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom issued this ruling. The court also issued a related press summary and a further statement.

Posted at 7:22 AM by Howard Bashman