“Padilla case lacked key piece of evidence”: The Miami Herald provides a news update that begins, “It looked like smoking-gun evidence: a suspected al Qaeda graduation list with Jose Padilla’s alleged Muslim name written on it. Had it gone before jurors, the list might have placed Jose Padilla directly at an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in September 2000, just after he had allegedly filled out his application to be a jihad soldier. But prosecutors couldn’t introduce the list.”
“Dred Scott 150 Years On”: This audio segment (available in both RealPlayer and Windows Media Player formats) — featuring Justice Stephen G. Breyer and Law Professors John McGinnis and Charles Ogletree — appeared on today’s broadcast of the public radio program “On Point.”
“The Hospital Visit, Revisited: The FBI director verifies Mr. Gonzales’s arm-twisting.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.
“Cuban spies appeal for US retrial; Five Cubans convicted in the US of spying for Havana have appealed for a retrial, saying they were found guilty because of anti-Castro bias”: BBC News provides this report.
The Associated Press reports that “‘Cuban Five’ Plea for Freedom.”
This evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered” contained an audio segment entitled “Five Men in Cuba Spying Case Appeal Convictions” (RealPlayer required).
And today’s edition of The Miami Herald contains an article headlined “‘Cuban Five’ appeal to be heard; The case of five Cubans convicted of spying in 1998 comes up for its third appeals review in Atlanta.”
“Suspended Pa. judge pleads not guilty, says he will retire”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Suspended Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of mail fraud and money laundering, but abandoned his re-election campaign and said he plans to retire when his term expires in January.”
The Legal Intelligencer provides a news update headlined “Judge Joyce Drops Bid for Retention.”
And The Erie Times-News provides an update headlined “Joyce pulls out of race.”
“[W]e clarify the scope of the waiver of attorney-client privilege and work product protection that results when an accused patent infringer asserts an advice of counsel defense to a charge of willful infringement.” Late this afternoon, the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision in In re Seagate Technology, LLC.
“Researcher Taps High Court Over Samples”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A cancer researcher is asking the Supreme Court to block a decision handing ownership of thousands of blood and tissue samples to a university. Dr. William Catalona spearheaded creation of a repository of more than 3,500 prostate tissue samples and 100,000 blood samples during a 27-year career at Washington University in St. Louis.”
My earlier coverage of the Eighth Circuit’s ruling in this case can be accessed here.
Update: The AP is now reporting that “Top Court Judge Rejects Doctor’s Request.”
“Split Third Circuit debates (at extraordinary length) reasonableness review”: Law Professor Doug Berman has this post today at his “Sentencing Law and Policy” blog noting a decision that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued today.
“Vick takes plea deal, avoids additional dogfighting charges”: The Virginian-Pilot provides a news update that begins, “Atlanta Falcons quarterback and Hampton Roads native Michael Vick has accepted a plea deal — and a likely prison sentence — to avoid additional federal charges related to a professional dogfighting operation, according to one of Vick’s attorneys. Vick is going to enter a guilty plea to the felony conspiracy charge next Monday at 10:30 a.m., said Lawrence Woodward, one of Vick’s defense attorneys.”
And CNN.com provides an update headlined “Report: Vick agrees to plea deal, prison possible.”
Access today’s U.S. Supreme Court Order List: The Court has posted it online at this link.
The battle over whether to mandate use of the vaccine for human papilloma viruses may have been intense, and so is the battle over patent rights to that vaccine: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued this ruling today.
“Toy Recalls May Push ‘Medical Monitoring’ Debate; Suits Seek Funds to Test Children Before Injuries Show”: This article appears today in The Wall Street Journal.
Ninth Circuit grants rehearing en banc to consider questions of justiciability and exhaustion in the context of the Alien Tort Claims Act: Over one year ago, on August 7, 2006, I had a post titled “Divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel reinstates most of the claims of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea residents who allege that they or their family members were victims of numerous violations of international law resulting from Rio Tinto, PLC’s Bougainville mining operations and the 10-year civil conflict that followed an uprising at the Rio Tinto mine” noting a lengthy decision issued that day.
More recently, on April 12, 2007, that same divided three-judge panel issued a revised opinion and dissent that was even longer than the panel’s original decision.
Today, the Ninth Circuit issued an order granting rehearing en banc in the case.
The battle of Monster versus Freek was moot: On Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an order in typescript form vacating that panel’s earlier decision on the merits issued on June 29, 2007.
According to Friday’s order, the dispute had become moot on June 8, 2007, when the parties entered into a settlement agreement. Why neither of the parties brought the settlement agreement to the Ninth Circuit’s attention during the three weeks that followed between the time of the settlement and when the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling is not immediately apparent.
“European Legal Circles Await Ruling by Top Appeals Court on Microsoft”: This article appears today in The New York Times.
“A Quest to Get More Court Rulings Online, and Free”: The New York Times today contains an article that begins, “The domination of two legal research services over the publication of federal and state court decisions is being challenged by an Internet gadfly who has embarked on an ambitious project to make more than 10 million pages of case law available free online.”
“Greasing the Wheels on the Machinery of Death”: You can access at this link (TimesSelect temporary pass-through link) today’s installment of Adam Liptak‘s “Sidebar” column.
“Kentucky Trial Derby”: The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial that begins, “How’s this for a legal bestseller? Three tort lawyers are accused of defrauding their clients of $62 million. A state judge signs off on the scam, and is rewarded with a cushy job. When the scandal comes to light, the bar association looks the other way and another state judge fails to force the men to return the money. A federal judge finally intervenes and jails all three as flight risks.”
“Dispute Over Monkey Meat Hits on Religious Freedom”: The New York Sun today contains an article that begins, “What started as a late-night talk show joke topic — a New York woman originally from Liberia who was indicted for allegedly trying to smuggle steaks of monkey meat into America via John F. Kennedy International Airport — is shaping up into a potentially major religious freedom dispute.”
“On Tap: Hey, That New Wiretapping Law Isn’t Really So Bad.” Benjamin Wittes has this essay online today at The New Republic.
