How Appealing



Wednesday, November 25, 2020

“Over 30 Trump Campaign Lawsuits Have Failed. Some Rulings Are Scathing. As President Trump continues to litigate the 2020 election, some judges have lost all patience. Here are some excerpts of their rulings.” Alan Feuer and Zach Montague of The New York Times have this report.

Posted at 10:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump campaign takes complaints over Pa. election before friendly state lawmakers in Gettysburg, after a string of court losses”: Jeremy Roebuck, Sean Collins Walsh, and Angela Couloumbis have this article online at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Elise Viebeck and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post report that “GOP effort to invalidate more than 2.5 million votes in Pennsylvania dealt another setback.”

And Kevin Breuninger and Dan Mangan of CNBC report that “Trump lawyer details far-fetched strategy to reverse Pennsylvania win for Biden.”

Posted at 10:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Pardons Michael Flynn, Ending Case His Justice Dept. Sought to Shut Down; The president’s former national security adviser twice pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his conversations with Russia’s ambassador”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this report.

Kevin Johnson and Kristine Phillips of USA Today report that “President Trump pardons ex-natl security adviser Michael Flynn; ends three-year legal odyssey.”

Eric Tucker of The Associated Press reports that “Trump pardons Flynn, taking direct aim at Russia probe.”

Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico report that “Trump pardons former national security adviser Flynn; Michael Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.”

And Morgan Chalfant and Harper Neidig of The Hill report that “Trump pardons Michael Flynn.”

Posted at 4:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“From Oswego to the Supreme Court: Port City native Noel Francisco rose to highest levels of government but never forgot where he came from.” Seth Wallace of The Palladium-Times of Oswego, New York has this report.

Posted at 2:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“NC delays end of recount in Supreme Court chief justice race between Newby, Beasley”: Will Doran of The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina has this report.

Posted at 1:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Remote Arguments Will Continue Into 2021 at Supreme Court”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report (subscription required for full access).

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued this news release about its January 2021 oral argument session.

Posted at 1:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“Felons Can’t Bear Arms. Third Circuit Tells Tax Criminals: This Means You.” Alexandra Jones of Courthouse News Service has this report.

And at his “Res ipsa loquitur” blog, Jonathan Turley has a post titled “Barrett Reloaded? A New Third Circuit Decision Could Prove The Perfect Base For A Second Amendment Blowout.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link.

Posted at 9:10 AM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, November 24, 2020

“The Law Finally Got Ahead of Trump: Trump has used the legal system’s inherent slowness to his advantage for years; But in his election battle, it finally wasn’t an advantage.” Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Posted at 8:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Republicans Are Souring on Trump’s Antics; Mitch McConnell should join colleagues urging the president to accept his loss”: In Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, columnist William A. Galston will have an op-ed that begins, “When the history of the 2020 election is written, historians may cite this weekend as the moment when the wall of Republican resistance to the results began to crumble. And Matthew Brann may be identified as the man who delivered the decisive blow.”

Posted at 8:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Indiana Asks the Supreme Court to Let It Strip Rights From Same-Sex Parents; The justices have shown interest in a case that could begin the rollback of marriage equality”: Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.

Posted at 8:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“Democrats Defrock Dianne Feinstein; Her Senate Judiciary demotion is a message to Georgia voters”: The Wall Street Journal has published this editorial.

Posted at 8:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ziccarelli asks Pa. Supreme Court to reconsider decision to count undated Allegheny County ballots”: Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has this report on an emergency application for reargument filed this morning in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

This afternoon, Pennsylvania’s highest court received two answers in opposition (access here and here) to the emergency application for reargument.

At the “Election Law Blog,” Richard Pildes has a post about yesterday’s Pa. Supreme Court ruling titled “The PA Supreme Court’s Interesting Recent Decision.”

Posted at 7:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court Order: Congress Has the Power to Override Supreme Court Rulings; Here’s How.” Rachel M. Cohen and Marcia Brown have this article online at The Intercept.

Posted at 7:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“The One Word That Bars Trump From Pardoning Himself: The question shouldn’t be whether the president can pardon himself but whether he can grant himself a pardon — and those are not the same thing.” Law professor Eric L. Muller has this essay online at The Atlantic.

Posted at 2:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Pennsylvania just certified its presidential election results, officially declaring Joe Biden the winner”: Jonathan Lai of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

Posted at 11:36 AM by Howard Bashman



“What We Know About Sidney Powell, the Lawyer Behind Wild Voting Conspiracy Theories; A frequent guest on conservative radio and TV, she briefly became a public face of the Trump campaign before being cut loose on Sunday”: Jeremy W. Peters and Alan Feuer have this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 11:12 AM by Howard Bashman



“Election Case Risks Awkward About-Face for Biden Administration”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has a report that begins, “President-elect Joe Biden’s top lawyer at the Supreme Court may have no choice but to change the government’s position in an election dispute out of Arizona, the sort of pivot that is awkward for lawyers and irritates the justices.”

Posted at 10:50 AM by Howard Bashman



“This appeal, challenging as unreasonably severe a sentence of fifty-five years imposed on a defendant who was fifteen years old at the time of the offense, presents the legal issue of the lawfulness of the sentence and also serves as a classic illustration of the unfortunate consequences of the congressional decision to eliminate parole in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.” So begins the opinion that a unanimous two-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

In earlier news coverage, back in August 2018, Liz Robbins of The New York Times had an article headlined “MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty in Quadruple Murder Highlighted by Trump.”

And in June 2019, Robert E. Kessler of Newsday reported that “MS-13 member sentenced to 55 years in machete quadruple murder.”

Posted at 10:42 AM by Howard Bashman



Monday, November 23, 2020

“Feinstein won’t seek top judiciary committee spot following complaints from progressives”: Jennifer Haberkorn of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

Andrew Sheeler of The Sacramento Bee reports that “Sen. Dianne Feinstein to step down as ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member.”

Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett of Politico report that “Dianne Feinstein to step down as top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary panel; The 87-year-old was criticized for her handling of Amy Coney Barrett’s contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings.”

And Alexander Bolton of The Hill reports that “Feinstein to step down as top Democrat on Judiciary Committee.”

Posted at 6:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s bizarro-world ‘elite strike force’ legal challenge is about to implode”: Elie Honig has this essay online at CNN.

Posted at 4:11 PM by Howard Bashman