How Appealing



Tuesday, November 13, 2007

“‘Personhood’ initiative wins Colo. court nod”: The Denver Post provides a news update that begins, “The Colorado Supreme Court today released a decision giving proponents the go-ahead for a ballot initiative that would amend the state Constitution in 2008 to define personhood as a fertilized egg. Opponents of the measure, which would lay the constitutional foundation for making abortion illegal in the state, asked the court to reject the ballot title as misleading to voters.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Court Clears Way for Egg Rights Showdown.”

Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“CIA admits to recording interrogations of top al Qaida captives”: Greg Gordon of McClatchy Newspapers has an article that begins, “The CIA has three video and audio recordings of interrogations of senior al Qaida captives but misled federal judges about the evidence during the case against terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, federal prosecutors revealed in a Nov. 9 court filing that was made public Tuesday.”

James Vicini of Reuters reports that “CIA erred, had tapes in Sept. 11 conspirator case.”

And ABCNews.com reports that “CIA Breakdown Kept Recordings From Terror Trial; Letter: CIA Declarations Had Errors About Taped Interviews With Enemy Combatants.”

Posted at 10:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Gun Case: We speak with the Cato Institute’s Robert Levy, who funded the original lawsuit challenging the D.C. law and also recruited the plaintiffs.” This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today’s broadcast of the public radio program “Here & Now.”

Posted at 3:14 PM by Howard Bashman



Creating a circuit split, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit holds that 28 U.S.C. sec. 1447(d) precludes appellate review of a federal district court’s remand of claims to state court based on a decision to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction: The second to last paragraph of today’s ruling states:

In short, because every §1367(c) remand necessarily involves a predicate finding that the claims at issue lack an independent basis of subject matter jurisdiction, a remand based on declining supplemental jurisdiction can be colorably characterized as a remand based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Accordingly, a remand based on declining supplemental jurisdiction must be considered within the class of remands described in §1447(c) and thus barred from appellate review by §1447(d).

Today’s Federal Circuit ruling, by its own admission, reaches a result contrary to the rulings of the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits. Stay tuned for the inevitable U.S. Supreme Court review!

Posted at 11:53 AM by Howard Bashman



Footnote one of the dissenting opinion begins, “Homer Simpson talking to God:” The rest of this ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued today is pretty interesting as well. At issue is whether an employee’s mere act of continuing to report for work after the effective date of her employer’s arbitration program constituted acceptance of a valid and enforceable contract to arbitrate all employment-related disputes.

Posted at 10:42 AM by Howard Bashman



Sex offenders whose convictions have been set aside under a Michigan law intended to benefit those convicted of breaking the law only once still must register as sex offenders under Michigan law, Sixth Circuit holds: You can access today’s Sixth Circuit ruling at this link.

Posted at 10:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Government Sought Sealing of Material in Higazy Case”: Patterico has this post today at “Patterico’s Pontifications.”

Posted at 10:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“Presidential dynasties can add layer of secrecy; Executive privilege allows for keeping documents sealed”: Charlie Savage has this article today in The Boston Globe.

Posted at 8:57 AM by Howard Bashman



“Crack sentencing needs another fix; Retroactively shortening sentences would make the system more equitable”: This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 8:54 AM by Howard Bashman



“Guantanamo defense lawyers see stacked deck; They point to problems including evidence and witnesses that are brought to their attention late — if at all — in war-crimes trials”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 8:52 AM by Howard Bashman



“Case Touches a 2nd Amendment Nerve”: Today in The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse has an article that begins, “Both sides in a closely watched legal battle over the District of Columbia’s strict gun-control law are urging the Supreme Court to hear the case. If the justices agree — a step they may announce as early as Tuesday — the Roberts court is likely to find itself back on the front lines of the culture wars with an intensity unmatched even by the cases on abortion and race that defined the court’s last term.”

And The Washington Post today contains an article headlined “Crime Data Underscore Limits Of D.C. Gun Ban’s Effectiveness” that begins, “Three decades ago, at the dawn of municipal self-government in the District, the city’s first elected mayor and council enacted one of the country’s toughest gun-control measures, a ban on handgun ownership that opponents have long said violates the Second Amendment.”

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“High court matters in ’08 vote: Today’s justices illustrate how the balance of power can shift in ways that can affect everyday lives; That means you.” Tony Mauro has this op-ed today in USA Today.

Posted at 8:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Above the Law wins Best Law Weblog”: This article appears today in The Journal Record of Oklahoma City. The article mentions the five law blogs that received the most votes, including “How Appealing.”

Posted at 7:55 AM by Howard Bashman