How Appealing



Tuesday, December 28, 2010

“In this case, the plaintiff’s attorneys * * * filed a sixty-three page errata sheet containing 868 attempted changes to their client’s deposition testimony”: Today. the majority on a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upholds a federal district court’s imposition of sanctions against the attorneys who created that errata sheet. Circuit Judge Ed Carnes wrote the majority opinion.

A senior U.S. District Judge, sitting by designation, joined in all of Judge Carnes’s opinion except for Section III.C. (pages 49 to 62 of the PDF document), in which Judge Carnes addresses (and, some might say, dismantles) the theory on which the dissenting opinion of Circuit Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat is based.

Posted at 8:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“The key to settling a big fight: The Court can take some — perhaps a good deal — of the credit for the settlement of an interstate fight that had been unfolding on its docket for two and a half years.” Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”

Posted at 5:36 PM by Howard Bashman



Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood issues lengthy dissent from a three-judge Seventh Circuit panel’s refusal to recognize the University of Wisconsin’s waivers of sovereign immunity by litigation conduct: You can access both today’s majority opinion and Judge Wood’s dissent by clicking here.

Posted at 3:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ohio Supreme Court rules in bus wreck survivors’ favor”: The Columbus Dispatch has a news update that begins, “In a victory for the families of victims of a 2007 bus crash involving the Bluffton University baseball team, the Ohio Supreme Court today ruled that the university’s insurance is liable to cover the costs of the accident.”

The Associated Press reports that “Ohio’s highest court says university’s insurance should cover deadly 2007 bus crash.”

And the Public Information Office of the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a news release headlined “Driver of Chartered Bus Is Insured Under ‘Hired Vehicle’ Clause in College’s Insurance Policy.”

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

Posted at 3:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Obama’s Detainee Mess: The White House prefers indefinite detention to military tribunals.” This editorial appears today in The Wall Street Journal. You can freely access the full text of the editorial via Google News.

Posted at 10:35 AM by Howard Bashman



“Feds pull rules to fast-track death penalty cases”: In Sunday’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko had an article that begins, “With prodding from a Bay Area judge, the Obama administration has quietly withdrawn regulations by President George W. Bush’s Justice Department that would have helped California and other states put their death penalty cases on a fast track in federal courts.”

Posted at 10:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judge says cops can’t track with GPS; ‘Unreasonable search’ ruling tosses out marijuana evidence”: Sean O’Sullivan of The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware today has an article that begins, “In what may set a Delaware precedent, a Superior Court judge has gutted a criminal case against a Newark man who was pulled over with 10 pounds of marijuana because police used a GPS tracking device without a warrant to follow him for nearly a month.”

Posted at 10:11 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court to review Oneida reservation’s existence”: Today’s edition of The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York contains an article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court has set a date to hear from attorneys for Madison and Oneida counties and the Oneida Indian Nation on whether the counties can foreclose on nation land.”

Posted at 10:09 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judges must increase confidence of public; Lack of trust can undermine courts’ foundations”: Shira Goodman and Lynn A. Marks have this op-ed today in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Posted at 10:02 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court won’t hear appeal in conviction of former CGA cadet”: Today’s edition of The Day of New London, Connecticut contains an article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of the conviction of Webster Smith, the only Coast Guard Academy cadet ever court-martialed.”

Posted at 9:55 AM by Howard Bashman