How Appealing



Tuesday, December 4, 2007

“Supreme Court casts doubts on Jeff death row trial”: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans provides a news update that begins, “Some U.S. Supreme Court justices reacted with skepticism to a Jefferson Parish prosecutor’s argument Tuesday that all five black members of a jury pool were disqualified from a 1996 murder trial for nonracial reasons and that the prosecution’s reference to the acquittal of O.J. Simpson wasn’t designed to incite the all-white jury to impose the death penalty.”

Posted at 11:11 PM by Howard Bashman



“Gitmo returns to high court; Detainees seek right to challenge status”: James Oliphant will have this article Wednesday in The Chicago Tribune.

Wednesday in The Austin American-Statesman, Chuck Lindell will report that “UT students take part in high court debate; Law school clinic helps develop Guantanamo detainee arguments.”

BBC News provides a report headlined “Supreme Court showdown on detainees.”

Mother Jones provides an article headlined “From Sarajevo to Guantanamo: The Strange Case of the Algerian Six.”

And The Washington Post on Wednesday will contain an editorial entitled “Their Day in Court: Guantanamo lawyers make the case for a tenet of American law.”

Posted at 11:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Senate Judiciary Dems push contempt motion”: The Hill on Wednesday will contain an article that begins, “Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats are pushing forward with a resolution holding the White House in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with their subpoenas for information and testimony related to the firings of several U.S. attorneys.”

Posted at 10:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Guantanamo headache faces next president; Democrats would shut detention site, but detainees remain a problem”: Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides this report.

Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Key Guantanamo cases hit Supreme Court; The high court hears two cases Wednesday that challenge the basic US terms of detention at the prison camp”: Warren Richey will have this article Wednesday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted at 5:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judges appear divided on latest challenge to students reciting Pledge”: Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News provides an update that begins, “A federal appeals court today appeared divided over the latest legal challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. In an hour of legal sparring and occasional musings about the meaning of God in public life, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard the case of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who argues that the pledge in schools is unconstitutional because it contains the phrase ‘under God.'”

Posted at 4:53 PM by Howard Bashman



Unanimous three-judge Ninth Circuit panel rejects California death row inmate Kevin Cooper’s latest attempt to prove his supposed innocence: You can access today’s ruling at this link.

The reason the first page of the 35-page PDF file containing today’s Ninth Circuit ruling states that the ruling consists of four volumes is that the official copy of the ruling includes as an attachment the 159-page federal district court decision that today’s ruling affirms.

Posted at 2:40 PM by Howard Bashman



To what extent, if any, may a state Attorney General investigate evidence of possible racial discrimination in the residential real estate lending practices of several national banks and their operating subsidiaries? A partially divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued this ruling today.

The case involves the New York State Attorney General’s appeal from a federal district court’s rulings that permanently enjoined him from investigating national banks and their operating subsidiaries for possible violations of federal and state fair lending laws.

Posted at 11:10 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court Sends Summons to Mickey Mouse”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Your honor, I thought I saw a pussycat! Tweety may finally air his signature complaint in front of a judge, after an Italian court ordered the animated canary along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy to take the witness stand in a counterfeiting case.”

Posted at 10:55 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court turns down ‘for sale’ case; Appeals-court ruling against Glendale’s sign ban stands”: This article appears today in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Posted at 10:34 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court rules on armed career criminal law”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog” reporting on today’s two opinions in argued cases.

Today’s first ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court comes in the case of Logan v. United States, No. 06-6911, argued October 30, 2007. You can access the opinion at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

The Court today also issued its ruling in CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Georgia State Bd. of Equalization, No. 06-1287, argued on November 5, 2007. You can access the opinion at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

Posted at 10:08 AM by Howard Bashman



Michael A. Newdow will argue two appeals today before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: And one of the judges on the three-judge panel that will hear and decide both appeals joined in the Ninth Circuit’s previous decision holding that it’s unconstitutional to include “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance when spoken in public school.

Today’s appeals challenge not only that aspect of the Pledge but also the use of “In God We Trust” on money and as this Nation’s motto. My recent detailed preview of both of today’s oral arguments can be accessed here.

Posted at 9:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“Web search for nudity is ruled ‘fair use’; A federal appeals court says Google can display tiny photos in search results, even when the images are copyrighted”: The Los Angeles Times today contains an article that begins, “The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday reaffirmed its earlier support for the socially redeeming value of searching the Internet for nudie pictures.”

You can access yesterday’s amended ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

Posted at 8:57 AM by Howard Bashman



“Wacky tabacky case: Garden Grove police are ordered to return a suspect’s marijuana; But the ruling is not as strange as it sounds.” The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today. My earlier coverage appears at this link.

Posted at 8:53 AM by Howard Bashman



“Nevada man is guilty of killing trees; Douglas Hoffman, 60, of Henderson faces up to 35 years in prison for destroying hundreds of trees that blocked his view of the Strip”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. I’m pleased to report that the defendant is not a federal appellate judge (but see here, here, and here).

Posted at 8:49 AM by Howard Bashman



“Now Online, a Guide to Detainee Treatment”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments this week on the rights of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the public is getting another peek at how detainees have been treated there.”

I previously linked to the guide in this earlier post from mid-November 2007.

Posted at 8:33 AM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Express Skepticism in a Discrimination Case”: In today’s edition of The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse has an article that begins, “Beneath the surface of a Supreme Court argument on Monday in a case of job-related age discrimination was a surprising question: has the Supreme Court drifted so far toward the employer’s side in job discrimination cases that it is now to the right of the Bush administration?”

Posted at 8:22 AM by Howard Bashman