How Appealing



Thursday, November 3, 2011

“Feds Drop Plan to Lie in Public-Record Act Requests”: At Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post that begins, “Bowing to political pressure, the Justice Department abruptly dropped proposed revisions to Freedom of Information Act rules Thursday that would have authorized the government to inform the public that requested records do not exist even if they do.”

Posted at 10:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“When the supreme court won’t hear: Despite commendable openness, we still don’t know how and why the court decides to decline to hear two-thirds of applications.” Robert Hazell and Graham Gee have this op-ed today in The Guardian (UK).

Posted at 9:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Occupy Supreme Court: Could it happen? Protests and demonstrations, such as the Occupy movement, are banned on the plaza in front of the Supreme Court — even though the high court is the institution overseeing the First Amendment.” The Christian Science Monitor has this report.

Posted at 9:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“Strip-Search Lawyers Air Dirty Linen; Team Feuded Over Appealing Case to High Court, Endangering Lucrative Legal Niche”: In Friday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin will have an article that begins, “A Supreme Court case testing whether jails can strip-search every arrestee has provoked a bitter clash between two headstrong lawyers–on the same side.”

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

Posted at 9:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judges who will hear arguments on GHG rules have history with global warming”: Lawrence Hurley of Greenwire has an article that begins, “The three [D.C. Circuit] judges who will assess the legality of U.S. EPA rules aimed at regulating greenhouse gas emissions have a history when it comes to climate change.”

Posted at 4:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Schools ask high court review of 2 student online-speech cases”: David L. Hudson Jr. has this news analysis online today at the First Amendment Center.

Earlier this week, at the “School Law” blog of Education Week, Mark Walsh had a post titled “Justices Decline Student Internet Speech Case, Others Await.”

And at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, Mark Kravets had a post earlier this week titled “Supreme Court Plays Hooky, Leaves Student Online Free Speech Rights Murky.”

Posted at 2:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“Castille says Family Court probe stays private”: Today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer contains an article that begins, “When a Family Court deal blew up last year, after the payment of millions in fees, Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille hired an investigative consultant and pledged a ‘full public accounting’ of what went wrong. But now, Castille’s lawyer says there will be no report released to the public. Instead, the findings of Chadwick Associates, paid $780,540 so far, will be used to support a lawsuit seeking to recover the lost public money.”

Posted at 2:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“Hearing Her Story: Women Judges speak from the bench.” Pepperdine Magazine has posted this article online.

You can access at this link the audio of a discussion described as follows: “School of Law dean Deanell Reece Tacha shares memories from the bench with fellow judges Carolyn Dineen King, Dorothy W. Nelson, and Rosemary Barkett in an exclusive interview for Pepperdine Magazine, conducted by Shelley Saxer, professor of law and director of Pepperdine’s Byrne Judicial Clerkship Institute.”

Posted at 1:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Canada court ends US bid for terror suspect”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A Canadian indicted in the U.S. on charges he supplied al-Qaida with weapons in Pakistan will not be extradited to the United States after Canada’s Supreme Court said it wouldn’t hear the case.”

And Reuters reports that “Canada high court blocks Khadr extradition to U.S.

Posted at 11:26 AM by Howard Bashman



“Not Following the ‘Leader'”: At the “Opinionator” blog of The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse has a post that begins, “Almost everywhere I’ve traveled this fall, people have asked me whether it’s true that Justice Clarence Thomas is the real, if under-appreciated, intellectual leader of the Supreme Court.”

Posted at 11:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Same-sex marriage: GOP cites pro-gay psychologist.” In today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “House Republicans defending the federal ban on marital benefits for same-sex couples in a San Francisco court have cited findings by a pro-gay-rights psychologist to support their view that gays and lesbians are not entitled to strong judicial protection from discrimination. But in a sworn declaration this week, psychologist Lisa Diamond said the Republican brief distorted her research on changes in a person’s sexual identification and turned her conclusions upside down.”

Posted at 8:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“3rd Circuit Throws Out ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ Fine Against CBS, Again”: Gina Passarella has this article today in The Legal Intelligencer.

At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “‘Wardrobe malfunction’ — Act II.”

And Mark Kernes of AVN News reports that “3rd Circuit Finds In Favor of Janet Jackson’s Tit; Ruling may affect arguments in the upcoming Supreme Court case of Fox Broadcasting v. FCC.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Third Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Posted at 8:37 AM by Howard Bashman



“Obama nominates Arizona justice to U.S. appeals court; Arizona Supreme Court Justice Andrew D. Hurwitz is among four nominees to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals facing Senate confirmation”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

The State Press of Arizona State University reports that “Obama nominates ASU law professor to appeals court.”

And Ginny LaRoe of The Recorder reports that “Obama Nominates Arizona Justice for 9th Circuit Slot.”

Posted at 8:32 AM by Howard Bashman



“Candidates for Pa. judgeships court Commonwealth voters”: Emilie Lounsberry has this article today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman