How Appealing



Sunday, October 7, 2007

“Disorder in the Court: Military commissions were supposed to ensure easy terror convictions, but that hasn’t been the case.” This article will appear in the October 15, 2007 issue of Newsweek.

Posted at 11:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Going to Court, but Not in Time to Live”: Monday’s edition of The New York Times will contain the brand new installment of Adam Liptak‘s “Sidebar” column.

It begins, “Let us consider the arithmetic of death. There are nine justices on the Supreme Court. It takes four votes for the court to agree to hear a case. But it takes five votes to stay an execution. It is possible, then, for a death row inmate to persuade the court that his case is so important that it deserves a place on the court’s tiny docket of roughly 80 cases a year — but not so important that he should be allowed to stay alive in the meantime.”

Posted at 11:07 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bush, Texas at Odds Over Death Case”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “To put it bluntly, Texas wants President Bush to get out of the way of the state’s plan to execute a Mexican for the brutal killing of two teenage girls. Bush, who presided over 152 executions as governor of Texas, wants to halt the execution of Jose Ernesto Medellin in what has become a confusing test of presidential power that the Supreme Court ultimately will sort out.”

Posted at 10:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“At high court: In a drugs-for-gun deal, is the gun being ‘used’? The issue is coming up more often in sting operations — and has meant more jail time for convicts.” Warren Richey had this article Friday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted at 10:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice moved through 2 worlds; Thomas’ story starts in tiny Pinpoint, Ga.” This article appeared Friday in The Chicago Tribune.

Posted at 4:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Read This Book: Clarence Thomas’s memoir is almost as important a contribution to his beloved country as his work as a Supreme Court justice.” William Kristol will have this essay in the October 15, 2007 issue of The Weekly Standard.

At Newsweek’s web site, Weston Kosova has an essay entitled “Fortunate Son — There is a theme running through Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s new autobiography: It’s only affirmative action if you go looking for a job, not if it comes looking for you.”

And Friday at washingtonpost.com, Howard Kurtz had an essay entitled “Thomas Controversy Still Ticking.”

Posted at 4:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Long wait, high cost plague Nichols trial”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains an article that begins, “Prosecutor Al Dixon stood silently in Courtroom 8-H at the Fulton County Courthouse and tried to come to terms with what had just happened. A judge he admired, who wore cowboy boots under his black robe, was slumped over dead behind the bench from a bullet to the head. Nearby, the judge’s court stenographer, known for bringing jurors homemade treats, lay lifeless.”

Posted at 3:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“More Torture Memos: The Bush administration’s secret legal decisions defy Congress and the courts.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.

Posted at 2:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Democrats to Offer New Surveillance Rules; Bill Aims to Meet Privacy and Security Concerns; Fierce Debate Is Expected”: The Washington Post contains this article today.

Posted at 2:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Justice’s Scribbles on Journalists’ Rights”: In the Week in Review section of today’s issue of The New York Times, Adam Liptak has an article that begins, “The Supreme Court has only once ruled on whether reporters may be forced to testify about their confidential sources, in a 1972 decision called Branzburg v. Hayes. Thanks to a cryptic concurring opinion from Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr., to this day no one is quite sure what the decision meant.”

Posted at 2:33 PM by Howard Bashman