How Appealing



Tuesday, December 5, 2006

“US Supreme Court justices debate their views of Constitution”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A day after voicing starkly opposing views on voluntary public school integration, U.S. Supreme Court justices Stephen G. Breyer and Antonin Scalia shed their robes and kept up their debate about their differences in interpreting the Constitution. The justices’ traveling Supreme Court road show Tuesday did not venture very far, just to a Washington hotel ballroom. But the liberal Breyer and the conservative Scalia took part in a rare public discussion touching on some of the most contentious issues that have come before the court, including abortion, religion and the death penalty.”

Posted at 11:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Huge IPO Case Hits Big Snag at 2nd Circuit; Decision comes amid developing rifts among plaintiffs committee members over Milberg Weiss’ status as lead counsel”: law.com provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court Tuesday vacated class certification in six key cases in the massive litigation over dot-com era initial public offerings — a potentially devastating setback for plaintiffs in the biggest consolidated securities class action in U.S. history.”

And Bloomberg News reports that “Morgan Stanley, 11 Securities Firms Win IPO Appeal.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

Posted at 10:35 PM by Howard Bashman



Tonight’s Federalist Society Event at Yale Law School: It was a pleasure to finally meet in person my co-panelists, Law Professor Jack M. Balkin, of “Balkinization,” and Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, of “Instapundit.” Moreover, the event itself was quite interesting.

Before the event, I enjoyed visiting with Will Baude of “Crescat Sententia.” And earlier this afternoon, it was great to visit with a friend whose office is located in the U.S. Courthouse here in New Haven.

Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“National dollars find, defeat circuit judge; What happened in Cole County to Tom Brown represents a growing trend across the U.S.” The Kansas City Star yesterday published an article that begins, “If you’re irritated by a local judge’s decision on an issue dear to your heart, a national group opposed to ‘judicial activism’ has a blueprint to ease your angst.”

Posted at 4:23 PM by Howard Bashman



“‘For sale’ sign tests speech; Full appeals court to hear Glendale car seller’s suit”: The Cincinnati Enquirer today contains this article reporting on a case to be reargued tomorrow before the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Back on May 19, 2006, I covered the original three-judge panel’s ruling in this case in a post titled “Divided three-judge Sixth Circuit panel rejects attorney’s commercial speech challenge to Village of Glendale, Ohio’s ordinance prohibiting the display of ‘for-sale’ signs on a vehicle parked on a public street.”

Posted at 4:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court Decision Favors Native Hawaiians”: David Kravets of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A private school in Hawaii can favor Hawaiian natives for admission as a means of giving a helping hand to a downtrodden indigenous population, a divided federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.”

The Honolulu Advertiser provides a news update headlined “Attorneys want to take case to high court.”

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin provides a news update headlined “Kamehameha Schools admission policy upheld.”

And Reuters reports that “Court backs Native Hawaiian school.”

Posted at 3:44 PM by Howard Bashman



En banc Ninth Circuit issues its ruling in Doe v. Kamehameha Schools: The 110-page en banc ruling consists of an “Opinion by Judge Graber; Concurrence by Judge W. Fletcher; Dissent by Judge Bybee; Dissent by Judge Rymer; Dissent by Judge Kleinfeld; Dissent by Judge Kozinski.”

According to a summary of today’s ruling from the majority opinion, “We took this case en banc to reconsider whether a Hawaiian private, non-profit K-12 school that receives no federal funds violates § 1981 by preferring Native Hawaiians in its admissions policy. We now answer ‘no’ to that question and, accordingly, affirm the district court.” The 15-judge en banc court appears to have divided 8-7 over the outcome of the case. I will surely be providing additional coverage of this ruling later today and in the days to come.

Update: Before going en banc, a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel ruled 2-1 in favor of Doe that “the Schools’ admissions policy, which operates in practice as an absolute bar to admission for those of the non-preferred race, constitutes unlawful race discrimination in violation of § 1981.” My earlier coverage of that ruling can be accessed here.

Both the judge who wrote the three-judge panel’s opinion and the dissenting judge on the three-judge panel (who today emerges as the author of the en banc majority’s opinion) were selected to serve on the 15-judge en banc panel. But Senior Circuit Judge Robert R. Beezer, who joined in the three-judge panel’s majority opinion holding the Kamehameha Schools’ policy unlawful, was not selected to serve on the 15-judge en banc panel. Thus, of the 16 Ninth Circuit judges to vote on the lawfulness of the Hawaiian schools’ policy, the court is evenly divided 8-8.

Posted at 2:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“UVa law school well represented at Supreme Court; University 3rd nationwide in placing alumni in prestigious clerk post”: The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia today contains an article that begins, “The University of Virginia School of Law has more graduates clerking for the U.S. Supreme Court this term than any other school save Harvard and Yale.”

And speaking of Yale, I have arrived safe and sound in New Haven, Connecticut.

Posted at 1:58 PM by Howard Bashman



Programming note: Early this evening, I’ll be at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut to speak at a Federalist Society-hosted panel on law blogging. Also scheduled to speak at the event are Law Professor Jack M. Balkin, of “Balkinization,” and Law Professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds, of “Instapundit.” The event is slated to begin at 6:10 p.m. and is open to the public.

Additional posts will appear online here this afternoon, after I arrive in New Haven.

Posted at 9:00 AM by Howard Bashman



“Prosecutor’s death remains a mystery”: The Baltimore Examiner today contains an article that begins, “Three years ago, federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna left the courthouse in Baltimore, never to return. He was found dead hours later in a Pennsylvania creek with multiple stab wounds, and his case remains unsolved.” My most recent earlier coverage appears at this link.

Posted at 6:47 AM by Howard Bashman



“Justices question school policies; The Supreme Court debate suggests most favor halting the use of race to assign students to public facilities”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

In USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports today that “Diversity programs may face ax; Justices cool to using race in school choice.” In addition, the newspaper contains an editorial entitled “52 years later, integration faces new Supreme Court test; ‘Brown v. Board of Education’ set standard; new case draws questions.” And Law Professor Douglas W. Kmiec has an op-ed entitled “Stop discriminating by race: Rigid ratios of white, non-white only indulge ugly stereotypes.”

The Seattle Times contains an article headlined “Aggressive questions from court in Seattle race case.”

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that “Justices uneasy with Seattle schools ‘Open Choice’; U.S. high court looks at schools’ race policy.”

The Louisville Courier-Journal contains articles headlined “Justices may favor color-blind schools; Experts: Questions suggest Jefferson policy in danger” and “Some fear case may rekindle segregation.”

In Newsday, Tom Brune reports that “Question of using race as a factor in voluntary plans sees little support from Supreme Court bench.”

And The Washington Times reports that “Justices reconsider race-based school admissions.”

Posted at 6:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“Trial strategy change postpones Gates’ visit; The plaintiffs’ attorney will use a taped deposition of the Microsoft founder”: The Des Moines Register contains this article today.

Posted at 6:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“Nevada high court to debate judicial ethics; Proposed rules include banning jurists from personally soliciting campaign funds; Free speech may be an issue”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 6:23 AM by Howard Bashman