How Appealing



Saturday, December 5, 2020

“Lawsuit filed week after election to stop certification dismissed by 11th Circuit Court of Appeals; The suit, filed by Lin Wood, had earlier been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia”: Jonathan Raymond of NBC affiliate 11 Alive in Atlanta has this report.

And at Law & Crime, Colin Kalmbacher has a post titled “Lin Wood Loses Again as Federal Appeals Court Savages Georgia Election Lawsuit.”

Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. wrote today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel.

Posted at 1:07 PM by Howard Bashman



Friday, December 4, 2020

“Supreme Court weighs heirs’ claims over forced Jewish art sales during Nazi era”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

Posted at 9:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“John Roberts, the High Court’s Middleman: He was in the majority 97% of the time in the term ending in July, his highest percentage in 15 years.” Greg Stohr has written this profile, part of Bloomberg Businessweek’s “The Bloomberg 50” for 2020.

Posted at 9:18 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court to Hear Case on Trump’s Medicaid Work Requirements; The case, which could become moot if the Biden administration eliminates the requirements, will be scheduled to be heard early next year”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump effort to revive Medicaid work requirements.”

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Supreme Court Agrees to Consider Medicaid Work Requirements; Federal program allowing states to make Medicaid recipients work has been blocked by lower courts.”

Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court will hear Trump administration defend controversial Medicaid work requirements.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. Supreme Court takes up Trump bid to revive Medicaid work requirements.”

Tami Luhby of CNN reports that “Supreme Court agrees to consider Medicaid work requirements.”

Susannah Luthi of Politico reports that “Supreme Court to review rulings against Trump’s Medicaid work rules; Lower courts had rejected President Donald Trump’s Medicaid overhaul.”

And Jack Rodgers of Courthouse News Service reports that “Medicaid Work Rules Mooted by Pandemic Will Face High Court Scrutiny.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

Posted at 8:53 PM by Howard Bashman



“What Edwards v. Vannoy Case Means For People Convicted By Jim Crow Jury”: This audio segment appeared on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Posted at 7:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s Desperate Effort To Overturn The Election Is Running Out Of Time; Trump’s own lawyers have acknowledged that a Dec. 8 deadline for states to certify federal election results is ‘critical’ as they push last-ditch challenges in court”: Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News has this report.

Posted at 5:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court sets date for state response in Mike Kelly election suit. Is it a day late?” Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has this report.

Posted at 5:06 PM by Howard Bashman



“De Facto Denials on the Shadow Docket: When the Circuit Justice Slow-Walks The Call For Response; Justice Alito effectively denies Pennsylvania emergency appeal by calling for response after Electoral Count Act ‘Safe Harbor Date.'” Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”

Posted at 5:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Covid-19 Lawsuits Are Running Into Skeptical Judges; Companies hoping their business interruption insurance would bail them out are finding it hard to get insurers to pay”: Law professor Stephen L. Carter has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

Posted at 2:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“An Epidemic of Arrogance on the Supreme Court: Under cover of Covid-19, the high court’s conservative bloc is dreaming up some radical ideas about religious freedom and public health.” Matt Ford has this essay online at The New Republic.

Posted at 11:36 AM by Howard Bashman



“Court order, state GOP leaders effectively end Trump’s dreams of legislative reversal of Pa.’s election results”: Jeremy Roebuck of The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article that begins, “If its fate had not been abundantly clear already, President Donald Trump’s dream of having Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled legislature overturn the state’s election results received what appeared to be its final death blows Thursday with a late-night order from the U.S. Supreme Court and an unequivocal statement from the General Assembly’s Republican leadership that they had no intention of doing so.”

Posted at 11:16 AM by Howard Bashman



“N.Y. and N.J. Face Skeptical Appeals Court in SALT Tax Fight”: Bob Van Voris of Bloomberg News has a report that begins, “New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland faced skeptical questioning from a panel of federal judges considering whether to revive a lawsuit that challenges a U.S. cap on individual deductions for state and local taxes.”

And Josh Russell of Courthouse News Service reports that “States Fighting Trump Tax Law Face Steep Climb at 2nd Circuit.”

Posted at 10:58 AM by Howard Bashman



Thursday, December 3, 2020

“Prosecutor to Jeffrey Epstein victims: I’m sorry deal labeled you as prostitutes; Assistant U.S. attorney says the young women were mistreated and misled.” Jane Musgrave of The Palm Beach Post has this report.

Tom Hals of Reuters reports that “Judges skeptical of bid by alleged Epstein victims to void non-prosecution deal.”

Kayla Goggin of Courthouse News Service reports that “Full 11th Circuit Asked to Revive Challenge to Epstein Plea Deal.”

And Raychel Lean of the Daily Business Review has an article headlined “Could Jeffrey Epstein’s Alleged Co-Conspirators Be Prosecuted? Court Hears Courtney Wild’s Petition; Courtney Wild’s attorney told the court, ‘She wants to go to the prosecutors in Florida and say, “Prosecute the men and women who abused me.”‘

You can access via this link the audio of today’s en banc reargument of this appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Posted at 10:06 PM by Howard Bashman



“Kentucky religious school defies Covid mandate, court ruling by continuing in-person class; Classes at the Maryville Independent Christian Academy of Hope remained in session even after the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed an order to close schools”: Doha Madani of NBC News has this report.

Posted at 8:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Pro-Trump legal crusade peppered with bizarre blunders; Spelling errors, misplaced states and client mix-ups are the main results so far of Sidney Powell’s legal efforts to overturn the election”: Zach Montellaro and Kyle Cheney of Politico have this report.

And online at Politico Magazine, Rich Lowry has an essay titled “The Conspiracy Theory That Could Hand Joe Biden the Senate: There is no evidence that Lin Wood and Sidney Powell are secretly working for the Democratic National Committee, but no one has definitively disproved it, either.”

Posted at 8:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“How Jenna Ellis Rose From Traffic Court to Trump’s Legal Team; The 36-year-old’s career includes six months as a local prosecutor and a book interpreting the Constitution through a biblical lens”: Mark Maremont and Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Posted at 7:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s losses stack up further as Wisconsin Supreme Court declines to hear campaign challenge to election results”: Rosalind S. Helderman, Emma Brown, and Elise Viebeck of The Washington Post have this report.

Posted at 7:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“‘Good Grief’: 11th Circuit Judges Get Into Scathing Exchange in Fractious Order; Chief Judge William Pryor and Judge Kevin Newsom said Judge Robin Rosenbaum’s strong dissent threatened the circuit court’s collegiality.” R. Robin McDonald of The Daily Report of Fulton County, Georgia has this article about an order denying rehearing en banc and the opinions concurring therein and dissenting therefrom that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued today.

Posted at 7:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“A New Look at Who’s Activist and Restrained on the Court”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.

Posted at 6:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Tell Federal Judge to Reconsider Virus Limits on California Churches; The move followed a decision last week lifting restrictions on religious services in New York”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court sides with California church protesting coronavirus restrictions.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Supreme Court gives partial win to churches fighting California’s limits on indoor worship services.”

Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court grants California church’s challenge to coronavirus restrictions.”

Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. Supreme Court sides with challenge to California’s COVID-19 religious service curbs.”

Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Supreme Court Orders New Look at California Worship-Service Limits.”

Ariane de Vogue of CNN reports that “Supreme Court sides with California religious ministry against state Covid restrictions.”

And in commentary, at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has a post titled “SCOTUS Creatively Punts in COVID Appeal from 9th Circuit: Grants Cert Before Judgment, then Vacates and Remands; Given the likely trajectory of COVID-19, the Court may never have to decide a pandemic case on the merits.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

Posted at 6:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Supreme Court Is Colliding With a Less-Religious America; Justices’ drive to promote ‘religious liberty’ may only become more intense”: Ronald Brownstein of The Atlantic has this report.

Posted at 5:38 PM by Howard Bashman