How Appealing



Monday, September 8, 2014

Programming note: On Tuesday morning, I will be presenting oral argument on behalf of the plaintiff-appellant in the second case on this page to a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Consequently, additional posts will not appear here until Tuesday afternoon.

This is quite a busy week for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, as three separate panels are sitting this week to hear oral arguments there. Tomorrow morning, when all three panels will be hearing arguments, panel three will be hearing cases in Courtroom 16-A of the Philadelphia courthouse, which is ordinarily a room reserved for trial court proceedings.

On Wednesday morning, I will be back at the Third Circuit to argue an appeal on behalf of plaintiffs-appellants (the second case on this page) before panel two. In this post from early June 2014, I linked to all of the appellate briefs filed in the appeal being argued on Wednesday. Scheduled to argue for the defendant-appellee is attorney Lisa S. Blatt.

Posted at 10:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Another Reduction in Appellate Brief Length on the Horizon”: This new installment of my monthly “Upon Further Review” column will appear in Tuesday’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers.

You can freely access the full text of the column via Google News.

Posted at 9:34 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court hears arguments over gay marriage’s impact”: The Associated Press has this report.

Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “Court sharply questions gay marriage bans from three U.S. states.”

Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “9th Circuit judges appear skeptical of same-sex marriage bans.”

And The Las Vegas Review-Journal has a news update headlined “Court hears challenge to Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban.”

You can view the video of today’s Ninth Circuit same-sex marriage oral arguments via this link.

Posted at 9:05 PM by Howard Bashman



Next on the Eleventh Circuit’s agenda, two judges with the last name Tjoflat: This evening, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jill A. Pryor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 97-0. You can access the official roll call vote tally at this link.

Consequently, the Eleventh Circuit now has two active judges with the last name Pryor to join its two active judges with the last name Carnes. Astonishingly, however, the court still only has one Tjoflat. My “20 Questions for the Appellate Judge” interview with Circuit Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat, currently the longest serving federal appellate judge still in active service, can be accessed here.

Interestingly, Judges Tjoflat and Jill A. Pryor were both born in Pennsylvania. If any circuit other than the Third has more than two active judges who were born in Pennsylvania, that would be news to me.

Posted at 7:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“David Lat’s first novel, ‘Supreme Ambitions,’ deftly dissects judicial power, how to get it and how to use (and abuse) it”: Senior U.S. District Judge Richard G. Kopf had this post yesterday at his “Hercules and the Umpire” blog.

Although I have yet to receive an advance copy of the book myself, I am advised that the “How Appealing” blog and I make an appearance at some point in the novel.

Posted at 4:08 PM by Howard Bashman



Access online the live video of today’s Ninth Circuit same sex marriage oral arguments: Via this link (which is currently up and running, just click play). The oral arguments are scheduled to get underway moments from now, at 4 p.m. eastern time.

Update: At 4:14 p.m. eastern time, the oral arguments are getting underway.

Posted at 3:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Should the word limit for federal appellate briefs be decreased?” Emil J. Kiehne has this post today at his “New Mexico Appellate Law Blog.”

The proposed word count reduction will also be the subject of tomorrow’s installment of my monthly “Upon Further Review” column in The Legal Intelligencer, Philadelphia’s daily newspaper for lawyers.

My earlier posts on the pending proposal can be accessed here and here.

Posted at 1:18 PM by Howard Bashman



“9th Circuit to take up same-sex marriage bans in Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii”: Maura Dolan of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.

Dan Levine of Reuters reports that “U.S. appeals court to review gay marriage bans in three states.”

Karen Gullo of Bloomberg News reports that “Nevada, Idaho Marriage Cases May Be Appeals Court Deja Vu.”

The Associated Press reports that “Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada gay marriage laws in court.”

In today’s edition of The Arizona Republic, Alia Beard Rau has a front page article headlined “9th Circuit gets 3 cases on same-sex marriage.”

And yesterday’s edition of The Las Vegas Review-Journal contained an article headlined “Challenge to Nevada’s same-sex marriage ban heard Monday.” In addition, political columnist Steve Sebelius has an essay titled “No way to win.”

The oral argument of these cases is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. eastern time before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and you can access a live video feed of the oral argument via this link.

Posted at 9:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“Pennsylvania donors among those upping contributions after Supreme Court ruling”: Laura Olson has this front page article in today’s edition of The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Posted at 7:48 AM by Howard Bashman