How Appealing



Tuesday, December 8, 2015

“Constitution Check: Can guns used in mass shootings be banned?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.

Posted at 10:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judicial misconduct charges filed against Eakin in porn email scandal”: Craig R. McCoy and Angela Couloumbis of The Philadelphia Inquirer have this news update.

Charles Thompson of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania reports that “Pa. Supreme Court justice charged in email scandal.”

Steve Esack of The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania reports that “PA Supreme Court justice charged with using taxpayer-funded computer to receive porn.”

And Brad Bumsted of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that “Pennsylvania high court justice hit with ethics charges.”

The complaint of Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board, preceded by a related news release, can be accessed here.

Posted at 5:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“U of Michigan offers self as test case for considering race in admissions”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 3:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Revives Challenge to Maryland Congressional Map; Challengers get chance to argue extreme partisan redistricting is unconstitutional”: Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Posted at 12:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Art Authenticator Loses Defamation Suit Against the New Yorker”: The Village Voice had this report back in August 2013.

Also at that time, the “SDNY Blog” had a post titled “Judge Oetken Dismisses Claims in Biro Defamation Lawsuit Relating to New Yorker Article” linking to the district court’s decision.

Today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued this ruling affirming the lawsuit’s dismissal.

Posted at 12:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“UT-Austin’s Race-Conscious Policies”: David B. Rivkin Jr. and Andrew Grossman have this essay online today at National Review.

Posted at 11:53 AM by Howard Bashman



“Recusal Required in Pennsylvania Death Penalty Case, Judges Say”: The Constitution Project today issued a news release that begins, “Seven distinguished former appellate judges say the U.S. Supreme Court should determine that it is inappropriate for a district attorney who sought and obtained a death sentence against a convicted murderer to subsequently hear an appeal of the inmate’s case as a judge.”

You can access the two amicus briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to which the news release links here and here.

Posted at 11:46 AM by Howard Bashman



“Student-Rapper Appeals to high court, as a matter of last resort”: David L. Hudson Jr. has this post online today at the Newseum Institute First Amendment Center.

Posted at 10:50 AM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Thomas: Second Amendment Is Not a ‘Second-Class Right.'” Josh Blackman has this essay online today at National Review.

Posted at 10:14 AM by Howard Bashman



Access online the contents of the Autumn 2015 issue of The Green Bag: Via this link (certificates to be redeemed for U.S. Supreme Court justice bobblehead dolls not included).

Posted at 10:12 AM by Howard Bashman



“How A Long-Lost Footnote Could Save The Supreme Court From Itself; The biggest voting rights case of the year may depend on a few sentences that never saw the light of day — until now”: Cristian Farias of The Huffington Post has this report.

Posted at 9:48 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court to Hear Two Disputes Over How to Draw Political Maps; ‘One person, one vote’ case from Texas could upend politics”: Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Posted at 8:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Argument analysis: Seeking two-century-old guidance.” At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “Except for the fact that no one was wearing buckled shoes, knee breeches, and lace cuffs, an argument in the Supreme Court Monday might have been a reenactment of a day at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 228 years ago.”

Posted at 8:32 AM by Howard Bashman



“Ruling on pretrial publicity could aid Tsarnaev defense”: In today’s edition of The Boston Globe, Milton J. Valencia has a front page article that begins, “In a decision that could provide a framework when it considers the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a federal appeals court in Boston on Monday ordered a new trial for a Puerto Rico man who had asked that his trial be moved because the jury pool had been tainted by pretrial publicity.”

Valencia’s article also makes clear why — as I noted in my post last night about yesterday’s First Circuit ruling — the appeal was decided by three judges sitting by designation from other circuits. According to the article, the defendant in the case — Pablo Casellas-Toro — is “the son of a US district judge on the island” of Puerto Rico.

And in other coverage of yesterday’s ruling, El Nuevo Dia.com reports that “Casellas enfrentaria nuevo juicio a nivel federal; Defensa habia pedido que el caso se viera en otra jurisdiccion.”

Posted at 8:26 AM by Howard Bashman