How Appealing



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

“Vote Hurts Obama’s Push to Empty Cuba Prison”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has a news update that begins, “Congress voted Wednesday to impose strict new limits on transferring detainees out of the Guantanamo Bay prison, dealing a major blow to President Obama’s vows to shut down the center and give federal court trials to many of the prisoners.”

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court rules against Miller”: The Anchorage Daily News has an update that begins, “The Alaska Supreme Court today ruled against Joe Miller on all counts, a decision that leaves his challenge of Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s victory on life support.”

The Associated Press reports that “Alaska high court throws out Miller claims.”

And at his “Election Law Blog,” law professor Rick Hasen has a post titled “Breaking News: Alaska Supreme Court Rejects Miller Appeal, Says Certification Can Go Forward.”

You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Alaska at this link.

Posted at 5:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Senate Confirms Five Judicial Nominees”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post that begins, “President Barack Obama’s nominees for three circuit judgeships and two district judgeships in Washington won confirmation today, as other judicial nominees remained in limbo.”

And The Salt Lake Tribune has a news update headlined “Scott Matheson Jr. OK’d for appeals court position.”

Posted at 5:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Pick for Sensitive Justice Post”: In today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Evan Perez has an article that begins, “The Obama administration plans to nominate a veteran Washington lawyer to head the Office of Legal Counsel, the Justice Department unit that has been the center of ideological battles over national security during the past decade. A senior administration official said Tuesday that President Barack Obama’s nomination of Virginia Seitz is expected early in 2011, aiming to end a seven-year vacancy without a Senate-confirmed head in the office.”

And at the “Lawfare” blog, Jack Goldsmith has a related post titled “New Nominee for Office of Legal Counsel.”

Posted at 3:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“We address the viability of a takings claim arising out of a rent control ordinance affecting mobile home parks.” So begins the opinion that the majority on an eleven-judge en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today in Guggenheim v. City of Goleta. Senior Circuit Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld, who dissented from the original three-judge panel’s decision before taking senior status on June 12, 2010, wrote today’s en banc majority opinion.

Senior Circuit Judge Alfred T. Goodwin sat on the original three-judge panel that issued the Ninth Circuit’s first ruling in this case, and thus Judge Goodwin qualified for the lottery to determine who would sit on the eleven-judge en banc panel. On the original three-judge panel, Judge Goodwin joined in the opinion from which Judge Kleinfeld dissented. Today, Judge Goodwin joins in Judge Kleinfeld’s majority opinion for the en banc court.

Of course, today’s en banc result comes as no surprise to law professor Shaun Martin of the “California Appellate Report” blog, who predicted it on the day the original three-judge panel’s decision issued.

Earlier this year, law professor Richard A. Epstein posted online an article about the three-judge panel’s ruling titled “Takings Law Made Hard” at SSRN.

Posted at 3:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Detainee Review Proposal Is Prepared for President”: In today’s edition of The New York Times, Charlie Savage has an article that begins, “President Obama’s advisers have been drafting an executive order that would set up a system for periodically reviewing the cases of Guantanamo prisoners whom courts have approved for detention without trial, officials said.”

Posted at 8:15 AM by Howard Bashman



“Carolinas settle water-use case; Dispute between the two states was headed to the U.S. Supreme Court”: This article appears today in The State of Columbia, South Carolina.

Posted at 8:07 AM by Howard Bashman