How Appealing



Wednesday, June 7, 2017

“Fed appeals court quashes bids to unravel Colorado marijuana laws, but door still open for RICO suits; Appeals court panel sends racketeering claim by southern Colorado horse ranchers back to district court; shuts down complaints by Oklahoma and Nebraska”: Alicia Wallace of The Cannabist, a publication of The Denver Post, has this report.

Sara Randazzo of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Court Allows Colorado Couple to Sue Marijuana Growers; Ruling based on federal law that considers pot production and sales illegal, even though the state law allows it; could expose recreational marijuana industry to more private litigation.”

And Kristen Wyatt of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Neighbors can sue pot grower for stinky smells.”

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

Not to be outdone, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit today issued a ruling upholding the First Amendment rights of an organization seeking to hold a rally supporting the legalization of marijuana on the steps of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, Indiana.

Posted at 11:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Constitution Can’t Stop Trump From Blocking Tweets: Twitter as a private company can set the rules, even for a public figure like the president.” Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg View.

Posted at 9:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Beef expert says controversial label for BPI product is false”: Nick Hytrek of The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal has this report.

Posted at 9:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“In defense of Trump’s DOJ lawyers: a guest post.” Andrew Pincus has this guest post at Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight.

Posted at 6:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Who Is Dangerous, and Who Dies? An appalling and racialized standard of ‘future dangerousness’ has been used to condemn defendants. This lawyer fought it.” Errol Morris has this essay/interview online at The New York Times.

Posted at 1:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Answers, and new questions, on partisan gerrymandering”: Lyle Denniston has this post at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

Posted at 1:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump nominates new slate of federal judges”: Dave Boyer of The Washington Times has an article that begins, “President Trump announced a new round of 11 judicial nominations Wednesday, including three nominees for high-profile federal appeals courts.”

Posted at 1:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s Terrible Judicial Trifecta: Passing on alt-right conspiracies. Railing about ‘teaching gayness.’ Arguing for leniency to sentence minors to death. And these three nominees are expected to be confirmed easily.” Eleanor Clift has this essay online at The Daily Beast.

Posted at 11:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“State Supreme Court skeptical about key death penalty provision”: Bob Egelko has this front page article in today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle.

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times reports that “California’s top court appears divided on ballot measure to speed up executions.”

Brian Melley of The Associated Press reports that “Justices skeptical about death sentence appeal deadlines.”

Randol White and Ben Adler of Capital Public Radio report that “California Supreme Court Weighs Proposition 66 Lawsuit.”

And Maria Dinzeo of Courthouse News Service reports that “California Justices Leery of Bid to Speed Executions.”

Once it becomes available online, you will be able to view the video of yesterday’s oral argument in the Supreme Court of California via this link.

Posted at 11:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“White House lawyers face a Clinton-era legal trap in Russia probe; In Whitewater, communications with government attorneys were subject to review by special counsel — something Trump may avoid now by relying on his own lawyer”: Josh Gerstein of Politico.com has this report.

Posted at 10:52 AM by Howard Bashman



“Former Pa. governors: Time for merit selection of judges.” Dick Thornburgh, Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker, Ed Rendell, and Tom Corbett had this op-ed in yesterday’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Posted at 8:40 AM by Howard Bashman