How Appealing



Monday, October 3, 2005

“Bush Names Counsel as Choice for Supreme Court”: This article will appear Tuesday in The New York Times. The newspaper will also contain articles headlined “Miers Known as a Hard-Working Advocate for the President“; “Conservatives Are Wary Over President’s Selection“; “Miers Was Leader in Effort Within Bar to Rescind Support for Abortion“; “Mixed Review of Bush Pick in Oversight of Gambling“; “Some Liberals and Conservatives Find Themselves in Awkward Spots“; and “If Approved, a First-Time Judge, Yes, but Hardly the First in Court’s History,” along with a news analysis headlined “When a President Is Not Spoiling for a Fight.”

The Washington Post on Tuesday will report that “White House Counsel Miers Chosen for Court; Longtime Aide To Bush, but Never a Judge.” The newspaper will also contain articles headlined “A Deep Dedication to the President and Her Work“; “Once More, President Turns to Inner Circle“; and “Conservative Republicans Divided Over Nominee,” along with a news analysis headlined “A Bid for Confirmation, Rather Than Convictions.”

The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday will contain articles headlined “Miers Comes From Deep Within Bush Inner Circle“; “Many Conservatives Aren’t Happy About Miers’ Selection“; and “Nomination Is Met With Charges of Cronyism.”

Stephen Henderson of Knight Ridder Newspapers reports that “After oath, Roberts takes the helm as Supreme Court begins term” and “Miers’ experience, education would set her apart from other justices.” The KR Washington Bureau also reports that “Bush taps Miers for high court, drawing complaints from both sides“; “Miers described as a smart, pragmatic consensus builder“; and “Conservatives decry nomination, saying Miers’ views are unknown.”

The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday will report that “Dallas native picked for high court seat; White House counsel Miers hasn’t served as a judge.” Allen Pusey will have an article headlined “Nominee known for not being known for her views.” And the newspaper will also contain articles headlined “Aide: Miers opposed abortion in ’89; High court nominee’s view publicly unknown; both sides concerned“; “Loyalty, low-key style helped Miers“; and “Miers recalled as a tough leader at Lottery Commission; Backers call her an enforcer; foes say she was more of a politician.” And a profile that the newspaper originally published on July 28, 1991 is headlined “Reflections of a lawyer-politician,” and it begins, “Depending on who is talking, there seem to be three women named Harriet Miers in Dallas.”

Jan Crawford Greenburg of The Chicago Tribune will report on Tuesday that “Bush chooses longtime adviser to fill O’Connor’s seat on high court.”

Newsday on Tuesday will contain an article headlined “Judicial ‘roll of the dice.’

The Hill on Tuesday will contain articles headlined “Bruising battle less likely” and “Soothing the seething right wing.”

The New York Blade reports that “Miers opposed legislative repeal of Texas sodomy law; Supreme Court nominee disclosed views in 1989 gay questionnaire.”

BBC News reports that “Court pick is unknown quantity.”

Tuesday’s edition of Financial Times contains articles headlined “Bush turns to White House aide for vacant court seat“; “Nominee without a past has experts wondering“; and “Conservatives angry over Supreme Court choice.”

The Telegraph (UK) reports that “Bush nomination for swing vote with Supreme Court infuriates supporters.”

And The Guardian (UK) reports that “Bush offers crucial supreme court seat to his former lawyer; Surprise nominee has no experience as a judge; Position holds balance of political power.”

Posted at 11:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court considers Kansas fuel tax case”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a Kansas case involving the power of states to tax fuel sold on Indian reservations, a source of increasing conflict as more retailers thrive on tribal lands.”

Earlier, Indian Country Today published an essay entitled “Tribal sovereignty and the fuel tax case in the U.S. Supreme Court” written by an attorney for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Posted at 11:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Justices Without Prior Judicial Experience Before Becoming Justices”: FindLaw has compiled this list and wants you to identify any errors or omissions (which you can email to me, and I’ll pass them on to the chart’s creators).

Posted at 10:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“High court’s early task: assisted suicide case.” Howard Mintz has this article today in The San Jose Mercury News.

And The Salem (Ore.) Statesman Journal today contains articles headlined “Privacy issue is central to Oregon’s assisted-suicide law but is not defined in U.S. Constitution; U.S. Supreme Court has identified ‘zones of privacy’ in rulings“; “Both sides use Oregon’s statistics to support assisted-suicide arguments“; and “Oregon lawyers recall Supreme Court experience; Pair argued separate sides of Tigard case in Washington in ’94.”

Posted at 10:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Chief Justice Formally Takes Seat; Roberts’s Style Recalls Late Mentor Rehnquist”: Charles Lane will have this article Tuesday in The Washington Post.

Posted at 8:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Miers nominated to bench”: U.S. News & World Report provides this online update.

And Time magazine’s web site offers reports headlined “Bush’s Supreme Court Pick: Is She Right Enough? Harriet Miers is in the President’s comfort zone and may disarm the left; But it’s the right that’s uncomfortable“; “What Bush Had in Mind by Choosing Miers: The President was thinking of diversity, real-world experience and a close working relationship“; and “Harriet Miers: Profile of a Tireless Competitor; A longtime friend on the Texas supreme court tells about the rise of Bush’s new Supreme Court nominee.”

Posted at 8:05 PM by Howard Bashman



Available online from National Public Radio: This evening’s broadcast of “All Things Considered” contained segments entitled “Bush Nominates Harriet Miers for High Court“; “Capitol Hill Reacts to Miers Nomination“; “Miers Considered a ‘Bridge-Builder’ in Texas“; “Conversative Miers’ Political, Legal Career” (featuring Nina Totenberg); and “Legal Scholars Analyze Miers Nomination.”

Today’s broadcast of “Talk of the Nation” contained segments entitled “Weighing the Miers Supreme Court Nomination” (featuring David G. Savage) and “High Court Takes Up Physician-Assisted Suicide.”

Today’s broadcast of “Day to Day” contained segments entitled “Chief Justice John Roberts’ First Day on the Job” (featuring Dahlia Lithwick); “White House Counsel Tapped for O’Connor Vacancy“; “Slate’s Jurisprudence: Harriet Miers Nomination” (featuring Emily Bazelon); “Conservative Reaction to Miers Pick“; and “Assessing the Miers Nomination.”

Finally, today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained too many Court-related segments for me to list right now, but you can access them all via this link.

RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.

Posted at 6:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ninth Circuit to Increase Size of En Banc Courts”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this news release on Saturday. I first mentioned this news here.

The news release states:

Commenting on the change, Chief Judge Schroeder said that her court has been pleased with the operation of the 11-judge en banc court, but this action “is intended to respond to criticism that we should have a majority of our active judges sit on each en banc.”

Some readers may recall, however, that the Judicial Conference of the United States recently recommended that the Ninth Circuit grow by an additional seven authorized active judgeships. Thus, the current solution may be short-lived unless the Ninth Circuit is willing to go to eighteen-judge en banc panels.

Posted at 5:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“The internet is not a safe haven for illicit conduct. Rather, it is a digital community where the zeros and ones that translate into visible and audible expressions have legal consequences.” So writes the majority of a three-judge Second Circuit panel in denying panel rehearing today in the case known as United States v. Martin. My earlier coverage of the three-judge panel’s original divided ruling in this very interesting child pornography e-group probable cause case can be accessed here.

Posted at 5:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Miers 2006: Does the president’s second Supreme Court pick hurt Republicans?” Wynton C. Hall has this essay at National Review Online.

Posted at 5:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court puts off Hamdan appeal”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins:

The Supreme Court opened its new Term Monday, acting on nearly 2,000 new cases, but it chose — for the time being — to take no action on the most important case on the list. That was the appeal of Salim Ahmed Hamdan in what may be the most significant test yet of the Justices’ willingness to weigh the constitutionality of President Bush’s actions toward war on terrorism suspects. Hamdan has mounted a broad-based challenge to the war crimes tribunals that the President has set up (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 05-184).

There was no explanation for the Court’s failure to act; this almost certainly was not one of the cases the Court was holding back until Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., joined its ranks on Monday. He is likely to be disqualified from the case because he ruled on it as an appellate judge last July 15. It appears likely that the Court will consider the case again shortly, perhaps later this week.

In that connection, a reader emails:

The Presiding Officer of the military commissions just released an order that says “Under commission law, confrontation of persons offering information to be considered by the Commission is not mandatory.” As you may know, the right to confrontation is a key element of Hamdan’s challenge to the military commissions, and the Solicitor General’s Brief opposing cert suggested that this right would be preserved. Evidently the military commission feels otherwise.

You can access the order in question at this link.

Posted at 5:22 PM by Howard Bashman



In Tuesday’s edition of The Christian Science Monitor: Tomorrow’s newspaper will contain articles headlined “Bush’s unconventional choice; Harriet Miers, nominee to the high court, has never been a judge, so paper trail is short” and “Miers may avert a Senate storm; Democratic leader Harry Reid expresses confidence in her.”

In addition, Warren Richey will have an article headlined “High court lets stand ‘no Bible’ ruling; States disagree over role Holy Scriptures should play in jurors’ deliberations.”

Posted at 5:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Whither Roe v. Wade? In nominating Miers, Bush looks set to keep having it both ways on abortion.” Melinda Henneberger has this essay online at Newsweek.

Posted at 5:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Legal community overjoyed”: The Dallas Morning News provides an update that begins, “Word that an esteemed Dallas lawyer and former councilwoman could become the next justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has stirred Texas pride among her many colleagues and friends.”

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram provides a news update headlined “Miers’ blank slate prompts all sides to counsel patience.”

And The Houston Chronicle provides news updates headlined “President picks White House counsel for Supreme Court“; “During stint at Texas Lottery, Miers ‘maybe ate nails’“; and “Miers would be only the 2nd Texan on high court.”

Posted at 4:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Miers Pick”: National Review Online offers this editorial.

Online at The New Republic, Akiba Covitz has an essay entitled “How Harriet Miers can avoid the Abe Fortas trap: And why the future of the Court would depend on it” (pass-through link).

Online at The Nation, David Corn has a post titled “Harriet Miers: Supreme Court Choice with Few Footprints.”

And a new post at “Confirm Them” is titled “Harriet Myers — A Profound Disappointment.”

Posted at 2:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Down to the Last Detail: Bush’s pick for White House counsel sports an exacting style.” On December 15, 2004, law.com posted online this profile of White House Counsel Harriet Miers.

Posted at 2:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Girl Next Door: Harriet Miers used to pay my salary; Now Bush wants to put her on the Supreme Court.” Bruce Reed has this post online at Slate’s “The Has-Been.”

Posted at 2:30 PM by Howard Bashman



The wire services are reporting: The Associated Press reports that “Roberts Is Businesslike His First Day” and “Miers Had Stormy Tenure at Texas Lottery.” Anne Gearan reports that “Miers Led Bid to Revisit Abortion Stance.” And Jesse J. Holland reports that “Hispanics Upset Bush Passed on Them.”

Reuters, meanwhile, offers reports headlined “Supreme Court enters the John Roberts era“; “Bush picks White House’s Miers for court“; and “Bush pick for high court outrages conservatives.”

Posted at 2:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Analyzing the pick of Miers: NBC Analyst Turley says nomination could ruffle Republicans, Democrats.” MSNBC provides this report.

Posted at 2:22 PM by Howard Bashman