How Appealing



Sunday, June 17, 2007

“Editor’s Charge: His Lawyer Fell Short.” You can access Monday’s installment of Adam Liptak‘s “Sidebar” column at this link (TimesSelect temporary pass-through link). It begins, “People like to gripe about their lawyers after their cases go south. Listen, for instance, to Norman Pearlstine, who presided over the debacle that ended with Time Inc.’s disclosure of the identity of a source to a special prosecutor two summers ago.”

Posted at 11:57 PM by Howard Bashman



“U.S. attorneys fallout seeps into the courts; Defense lawyers in different cases are raising new questions about government prosecutors and potential political biases”: This article will appear Monday in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 11:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Guantanamo under a steady hammering; Experts foresee more legal obstacles ahead for the detention camp, although others think the system is salvageable”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today.

Posted at 11:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Nifong stripped of law license for lacrosse case misconduct; Hearing’s chairman calls the case ‘a fiasco,’ and parents of the exonerated players tell of the heartache they endured”: This article appears today in The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina, along with articles headlined “Leaders say penalty will improve lawyers’ image; It shows that DAs aren’t above law” and “Outcome turned on close calls.”

The Durham Herald-Sun today contains articles headlined “State Bar takes Nifong’s law license” and “Community largely expected Bar’s decision.”

The New York Times reports that “Prosecutor in Duke Case Disbarred by Ethics Panel.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that “Nifong loses law license in Duke case; The district attorney accepts a guilty verdict from a panel that says he engaged in deceit in the rape prosecution.”

The Washington Post reports that “Prosecutor in Duke Case Gives Up His Law License.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Disbarred Duke Prosecutor’s Future Dim.”

Posted at 11:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“When ‘enemy combatants’ aren’t: Executive overreach gets checked in a court ruling that labels a suspected al-Qaida operative as a civilian.” Columnist Robyn Blumner has this op-ed today in The St. Petersburg Times.

And today in The Washington Post, columnist David S. Broder has an op-ed entitled “Failure on Two Fronts.”

Posted at 11:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“In Louisiana town, wearing low-rider pants may cost you; Supporters say the new ordinance aims to curb indecent behavior while opponents say it infringes on freedom of personal expression”: This article will appear Monday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman



Detroit Tigers 7, Philadelphia Phillies 4: My son and I were back at Citizens Bank Park this afternoon, to see if Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander would equal the record held by Johnny Vander Meer by tossing back-to-back no-hitters. Failing that, we would have settled for a Phillies victory. Alas, we woud see neither, as Verlander was touched for seven hits and three runs, and left the game when replaced by a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh, trailing 3-1, but nevertheless achieved his third victory in a row as the Tigers ended up scoring five runs in the top of the seventh, putting the Tigers in the lead for good.

A strong effort from Phillies starting pitcher Adam Eaton was wasted as the Phillies ended up using a total of four pitchers in the top of the seventh. Geoff Geary, who replaced Eaton, faced only one batter, gave up a hit, and ended up as the losing pitcher. Yoel Hernandez, charged with giving up three earned runs in one-third of an inning, surrendered five hits while recording only one out. His ineffective outing put the game out of reach for the Phillies. Meanwhile, at the plate, Eaton also had two hits off of Verlander and knocked-in one run.

The only real remaining excitement for the Phillies came in the top of the eighth inning while newly-acquired relief pitcher Jose Mesa was on the mound. With Marcus Thames of the Tigers batting, it appeared that his check swing may have crossed the plate for strike three, but the home plate umpire did not think so and did not appeal to the first base umpire for a ruling. That led to the ejection of Phillies starting catcher Carlos Ruiz and the “mercy” ejection of Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, for whom the fans had nothing but boos given his unfortunate selection of relief pitchers in the top of the seventh inning. For good measure, the first base umpire also ejected Phillies third base coach Steve Smith, who had apparently been mouthing-off to the first base umpire from the dugout during the same interruption. It wouldn’t surprise me if both Ruiz and Smith receive suspensions given that they both appeared to shove the umpires with whom they were arguing.

If the New York Mets lose tonight, as they currently are, the Phillies will remain just two games out of first place in the National League East. You can access the box score of the Phillies-Tigers game at this link, while wraps are available here and here.

Posted at 9:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Don’t Listen to What the Man Says”: The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, “If the Supreme Court, with its new conservative majority, wanted to announce that it was getting out of the fairness business, it could hardly have done better than its decision last week in the case of Keith Bowles.”

And The Washington Post today contains an editorial entitled “Beware of the Judge: The Supreme Court’s doctrine of tough luck.”

The same ruling is also the subject of the brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com, headlined “Appeal on Time, or Don’t Appeal at All, U.S. Supreme Court Advises.”

Posted at 9:00 PM by Howard Bashman