How Appealing



Thursday, December 18, 2014

Second Circuit goes all “in”: Via the Second Circuit’s web site, you can access the text of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 35, which governs rehearing en banc.

Unwilling to bow to the pressure of conformity, however, today the Second Circuit issued an order granting rehearing “in banc” in a case. Lest anyone think that might represent an unintentional oversight, today’s order invokes the term “in banc” a total of five times.

Back in December 2008, I had a post in which I non-prophetically observed that “[i]n news of significance to appellate geeks everywhere, it appears that the Second Circuit has finally abandoned ‘in banc’ in favor of ‘en banc.'”

Between then and now, I had another seven posts in which, with repeated assists from the Second Circuit, I proved myself wrong (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Thank you, Second Circuit, for prolonging this controversy. Were it not for you, I might have spent the past 30 minutes covering the actual substance of appellate court rulings issued today.

Posted at 11:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Terror victims to 2nd Circuit: Let case vs PLO go to trial next month.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.

Posted at 10:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Nebraska and Oklahoma Sue Colorado Over Marijuana Law”: Jack Healy will have this article in Friday’s edition of The New York Times.

The Los Angeles Times reports that “Nebraska, Oklahoma sue Colorado over legal marijuana.”

USA Today reports that “Colorado sued by neighboring states over legal pot.”

Nathan Koppel of The Wall Street Journal has a news update headlined “Colorado’s Marijuana Law Challenged by Nebraska, Oklahoma; Supreme Court Ruling Sought in Legal Rift Between States.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google.

John Ingold of The Denver Post reports that “Nebraska and Oklahoma sue Colorado over marijuana legalization.”

Lori Pilger of The Lincoln Journal Star reports that “Nebraska, Oklahoma sue over Colorado marijuana law.”

The Omaha World-Herald reports that “Bruning files lawsuit over Colorado’s legalization of marijuana.”

The Oklahoman reports that “Oklahoma seeks to snuff out Colorado marijuana sales; State joins with Nebraska in asking U.S. Supreme Court to deem recreational sales unconstitutional.”

The Tulsa World reports that “Oklahoma AG Pruitt joins Nebraska suit against Colorado marijuana law.”

The Washington Times reports that “Oklahoma, Nebraska ask Supreme Court to overturn Colorado pot law.”

The Associated Press reports that “2 states challenge Colorado marijuana legalization.”

And Reuters reports that “Neighboring states challenge Colorado pot laws in top U.S. court.”

Posted at 10:12 PM by Howard Bashman



The American Academy of Appellate Lawyers opposes amending the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure to reduce the word limits on briefs and to apply a conversion rate of 250 words per page when switching from a page limit to a word limit: The organization’s position paper can accessed at this link.

The organization also posted this comment summarizing its position.

Posted at 9:44 PM by Howard Bashman



Solicitor General files U.S. Supreme Court invitation brief in generic prescription drug failure to update warning label case initiated in California state court: You can access the CVSG brief filed today in Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Superior Court of Calif., No. 13-956, at this link.

And thanks to “SCOTUSblog,” you can access the other cert.-related documents previously filed in the case via this link.

Posted at 2:56 PM by Howard Bashman



Programming note: This morning, I am visiting an appellate client who is incarcerated in a nearby federal correctional institution. As a result, additional posts will appear here this afternoon.

Posted at 9:06 AM by Howard Bashman