How Appealing



Tuesday, September 16, 2008

“Appeals court upholds Doctor John’s decision”: The Deseret News provides an update that begins, “A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an earlier decision that First Amendment rights were not violated by an ordinance requiring a sexually oriented business license for a Roy boutique.”

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

Posted at 11:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Prosecutors say reputed Klansman is flight risk”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A reputed Ku Klux Klansman recently acquitted in the abductions of two black teenagers slain in 1964 is a flight risk and should remain in prison while the government considers appealing the ruling, federal prosecutors argued Tuesday.”

Posted at 8:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. praises Constitution; Jurist speaks to 1,500 at Susquehanna”: This article appears today in the Daily Item of Sunbury, Pennsylvania.

Posted at 6:35 PM by Howard Bashman



Ninth Circuit rejects argument that a federal district court may require that notices of appeal be filed electronically in order to be timely: The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California received the appellant’s notice of appeal in the mail before the deadline for appeal had expired but rejected the notice because, among other reasons, that federal district court is an ECF jurisdiction requiring that notices of appeal be filed electronically. The appellant’s electronic notice of appeal, however, was not filed until after the deadline for a timely appeal.

In a ruling issued today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that the appeal was timely, because the appellant provided the notice of appeal (albeit on paper rather than electronically) for filing to the district court’s clerk before the deadline for appeal had expired.

Posted at 3:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Although economic rights are at stake, we are not basing our decision today on our personal approach to economics, but on the Equal Protection Clause’s requirement that similarly situated persons must be treated equally.” So explains the majority on a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in an opinion issued today striking down as unconstitutional a California pest controller license exemption to the extent the exemption does “not include mice, rats, or pigeons.”

Update: Law Professor Orin Kerr criticizes the legal basis for this ruling in a post that you can access here at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

Posted at 2:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Attorney who won landmark Guantanamo case to work here; Retired naval lawyer setting up practice in Seattle”: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer today contains an article that begins, “The retired Navy lawyer who beat the president of the United States in a pivotal Supreme Court battle over trying alleged terrorists at Guantanamo Bay plans to open a criminal defense practice in Seattle.”

Posted at 9:25 AM by Howard Bashman



“Cable Programmers Air FCC Challenge in D.C. Circuit”: Mike Scarcella had this post late yesterday at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”

Posted at 9:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Standing Up to Angler: A group of administration officials took on the vice president to defend the rule of law on surveillance.” The Washington Post contains this editorial today.

Posted at 9:10 AM by Howard Bashman



“No Longer in Sniper’s Shadow; Muhammad’s Ex-Wife Determined to Heal Her Children, Other Abuse Victims”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

Posted at 9:07 AM by Howard Bashman



“Lawmakers Are Seeking Answers in Anthrax Case; FBI’s Mueller to Be Queried by House Panel About Evidence Against Researcher”: The Washington Post contains this article today.

And yesterday at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro had a post titled “New Twist in Hatfill Case.”

Posted at 9:02 AM by Howard Bashman



“Scalia says judges need to interpret, not rewrite Constitution”: This article appears today in The Salt Lake Tribune.

And The Herald Journal of Logan, Utah today contains an article headlined “‘Supreme’ opinion” featuring a very large photograph of Justice Antonin Scalia at yesterday’s appearance.

Elsewhere, The Day of New London, Connecticut reported yesterday that “Scalia To Visit Mystic To Get Church Award; St. Edmundites honoring U.S. Supreme Court justice.”

Posted at 8:48 AM by Howard Bashman



“Partying by prosecutor kept out of Nichols trial”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains an article that begins, “A judge said Monday he believed a prosecutor partied with illegal drugs before trying Brian Nichols for rape, but spared her from having to testify about it during Nichols’ upcoming murder trial. Superior Court Judge James Bodiford ruled that questions about Gayle Abramson Csehy’s use of cocaine and Ecstasy are irrelevant to the murder case, in which testimony starts next Monday.”

Posted at 8:44 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judge Upholds Student’s Suspension for Fake MySpace Page”: Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer has an article that begins, “An eighth-grade student who was suspended for 10 days after she created a fake page on MySpace.com that depicted her principal as a pedophile and a sex addict has lost her civil rights suit now that a federal judge has ruled that the discipline was proper and didn’t violate her free speech rights.”

And The Pottsville (Pa.) Republican & Herald reported last Friday that “Court won’t block suspension.”

I have posted a copy of last week’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania at this link.

Posted at 8:28 AM by Howard Bashman