In Washington State, you can display “JOHN3:16” on your car’s license plate, but perhaps not “C9H13N”: Last week, I noted here an article published in The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington headlined “State says ‘JOHN3:16’ plate’s OK.”
Today, The Seattle Times reports that “Vanity plate shows formula for meth.” According to the article, “The plate appears to violate state law that bans vanity plates making reference to alcohol or illegal substances.” No word yet on whether Vermont (which bans “JOHN316” from a car’s license plate) permits a license plate to display the formula for methamphetamine.
“High court hears arguments in suit against chief justice”: The Providence (R.I.) Journal provides a news update that begins, “Four members of the state Supreme Court heard arguments this morning in the lawsuit that claims Frank J. Williams is no longer the high court’s chief justice now that he’s on a military review panel.”
“Supreme Court justice speaks at Indy conference”: The Indianapolis Star today contains an article that begins, “U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens delivered a brief address on judicial independence to the 7th Circuit Bar Association conference in Indianapolis on Monday night.”
“US Senate, with deal, moves to approve judge”: Thomas Ferraro of Reuters provides this report.
And The Associated Press reports that “Senate Votes to End Filibuster on Judge.”
“We must decide whether the First Amendment permits the government to punish a threat without proving that it was made with the intent to threaten the victim.” So begins an opinion that Circuit Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The U.S. Senate is now voting on cloture on the nomination of Priscilla R. Owen to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: Stay tuned for the result.
Update at 12:30 p.m.: The Senate has invoked cloture by a vote of 81-18, assuring an up-or-down vote after up to an additional 30 hours of debate on the nomination. It remains to be seen whether the up-or-down vote will occur today or tomorrow.
On today’s broadcast of NPR‘s “Morning Edition“: This morning’s broadcast contained segments entitled “Filibuster Compromise Averts Senate Showdown” and “John McCain on Filibuster Deal.” RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.
D.C. Circuit rejects challenge to the constitutionality of sec. 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, which implements Article 18 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works: The challenged provision, according to today’s ruling, “establishes copyright in various kinds of works that had previously entered the public domain, and plaintiffs argue that any such provision violates the Copyright and Patent Clause of the U.S. Constitution.” You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.
“Filibuster deal surprises leadership; 14 senators broker agreement allowing votes on judicial picks”: This article appears today in The Chicago Tribune.
And The Sacramento Bee reports that “Centrist senators’ deal averts filibuster face-off; Vote expected today on first of several judicial nominees.”
“Jury decides to put doctor on Death Row; Podiatrist ‘attacked system,’ juror says”: The Chicago Tribune today contains an article that begins, “A jury on Monday imposed the death penalty–for only the second time in the recent history of Chicago’s federal court–on a podiatrist convicted of murdering a former patient to keep her from testifying against him in a Medicare fraud probe.”
And The Chicago Sun-Times today reports that “Jury sentences podiatrist to death.”
“Judge orders Hale’s group to pay up”: The Chicago Sun-Times today contains an article that begins, “A federal judge ruled that white supremacist Matt Hale’s former hate group has to pay nearly half-a-million dollars in attorneys fees in a trademark infringement lawsuit.”
The Chicago Tribune reports that “Hale church must pay plaintiff’s attorney fees.”
And The Associated Press reports that “White Supremacists Ordered to Pay $450G.”
The U.S. Senate is back underway at 9:45 a.m. today: You can view the proceedings live via C-SPAN2 at this link. I anticipate we will learn shortly when the up-or-down vote on Fifth Circuit nominee Priscilla R. Owen will occur.
“Williams sought opinion on joining tribunal; The state Supreme Court will hear arguments today in the bid to oust the chief justice”: This article appears today in The Providence (R.I.) Journal.
“An Admission of Guilt: The agreement announced last night acknowledges that Owen, Brown, and Pryor should never have been filibustered in the first place.” U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has this essay today at National Review Online.
“Lesbian Child Custody Cases Head to Court”: The Associated Press provides this report on three cases to be argued today before the Supreme Court of California. That court’s web site promises a live internet audio feed of the oral arguments beginning at noon eastern daylight time today.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting: Today’s newspaper contains articles headlined “Oregon Law Fuels Debate on Suicide; Experience is cited by both sides as California considers letting doctors prescribe lethal drugs” and “Critics Are Saying ‘That’s Too Hot’ of Sexy Carl’s Jr. Ad.” (You can access the Carl’s Jr. ad here and here.)
“Deal Preserves Constitutional Superduper Majority”: “ScrappleFace” provides this report.
“Death by ‘Due Process’: Activist courts are defying, not enforcing, the Constitution.” Law Professor Lino A. Graglia has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.
“Senate Deal Reached on Filibusters; A bipartisan agreement forged by 14 lawmakers will allow votes on three of five stalled judicial nominations; A ‘nuclear’ showdown is averted”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times, along with articles headlined “Conservative Groups Accuse Senators of Sellout; Activists are outraged by a deal that doesn’t guarantee up-or-down votes on all nominees“; “A Center Forms to Outflank Left, Right“; “Friends Byrd and Warner Play Key Roles Forging Pact“; and “Clear Path for Some Nominees.”
The Boston Globe today reports that “Deal in Senate averts filibuster showdown; Judicial standoff ends“; “As battle approached, both sides had dug in; The stage was set for debate, vigil“; “Frist on sidelines as moderates agree; Conservatives see deal as inadequate“; and “The center holds clout.”
The Houston Chronicle reports that “Deal averts filibuster showdown in Senate; Confirmation votes ensured on 3 judicial nominees but not on 2 others.”
The San Francisco Chronicle contains articles headlined “Moderates avert Senate showdown; 14 senators agree to OK some judicial appointees, save stalling tactic” and “Only time will define extraordinary circumstances.”
The Washington Times reports that “7 Republicans abandon GOP on filibuster.”
The Washington Post profiles C. Boyden Gray in an article headlined “A Moving Force In Fight for Bush’s Judicial Nominees.”
The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser reports that “Deal clears path for Pryor vote.”
The Baltimore Sun contains articles headlined “Senate forges deal on judges; Senators of both parties agree to continue role of filibuster” and “A show of centrist strength; Bush may have the most to lose from the Senate’s bipartisan deal.”
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “Senate heads off ‘nuclear’ vote; Group of 7 Democrats, 7 Republicans agrees to act on Bush nominees, but save filibusters.”
Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides a report headlined “What the deal on judges means; McCain and GOP centrists deal a setback to Frist.”
USA Today contains an article headlined “‘We came together and did the unexpected’; Bipartisan group of 14 moderates strikes deal.”
In The Philadelphia Inquirer, political analyst Dick Polman has an article headlined “Not everyone cheering deal.”
Newsday contains articles headlined “Compromise reached; Bipartisan Senate group averts ‘nuclear option’ in deal to vote on three nominees, keep unlimited debate” and “A long Senate history of filibuster threats.”
The Orange County Register contains articles headlined “Team of two builds pact of 14; Sens. John McCain and Ben Nelson wheel colleagues into evenly split bipartisan deal, keeping finger off the button” and “Both sides come out ahead.”
The Des Moines Register reports that “Grassley skeptical, Harkin pleased about compromise; ‘What’s the harm in giving all of these nominees a fair up-or-down vote?’ Iowa’s Republican senator asks.”
The St. Petersburg Times reports that “Moderates take charge, defuse filibuster fight; Seven Republicans and seven Democrats compromise on judicial nominees and preserve filibuster power in the Senate.”
The Repository of Canton, Ohio reports that “Ohio senator plays key role in agreement.”
The Deseret Morning News reports that “Senate showdown averted; Pact will allow votes on most judicial nominees.”
The Toronto Globe and Mail reports that “Deal averts U.S. Senate crisis; Moderates hammer out compromise on filibuster, judges but fight isn’t over.”
BBC News reports that “US Senate deal prevents showdown.”
Voice of America News reports that “US Senate Deal Averts Showdown on Bush Nominees.”
The Arkansas News Bureau reports that “Pryor scores victory in Senate standoff.”
And Gallup News Service reports that “Public Conflicted in Filibuster Debate; A third say both parties acting like ‘spoiled children.’”
In commentary, The Washington Post contains an editorial entitled “The Center Holds.”
The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial entitled “Alas, a Nuclear Freeze.”
The Denver Post contains an editorial entitled “Agreement restores order in the Senate.”
The Rocky Mountain News contains an editorial entitled “Judge Owen deserves a vote.”
The Detroit Free Press contains an editorial entitled “The Filibuster: Late compromise preserves minority party’s voice.”
The Arizona Republic contains an editorial entitled “Guys, it ain’t broke; ‘Fixing’ Senate rules to conform to political whims puts both sides in peril.”
The Washington Times contains an editorial entitled “Senate traditions evolving.” Also, Bruce Fein has an op-ed entitled “Disparaging dissent,” while Tod Lindberg has an op-ed entitled “Battle over Supreme Court nominees looms.”
In The Boston Globe, U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has an op-ed entitled “Fallout from ‘nuclear option.’”
At Salon.com, Tim Grieve has an essay entitled “Done deal — for now; The ‘Group of 14’ moderates defuse the nuclear option, but who really wins and loses in the filibuster compromise? And how close are we to the next showdown?”
In The Washington Post, columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has an op-ed entitled “‘Watch Those Guys.’”
In The Detroit News, columnist George Weeks has an op-ed entitled “Filibuster extremes require bipartisan solution.”
In The Providence (R.I.) Journal, columnist M. Charles Bakst has an op-ed entitled “Reed, Chafee and judges in 2005 America.”
And in The Amarillo Globe-News, Greg Sagan has an op-ed entitled “GOP, Dems can compromise on judicial nominees.”
Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro has articles headlined “High Court Turns Aside Mexican’s Appeal of Death Sentence” and “Supreme Court Says Beef Producers Can Be Forced to Fork Over for Ads.”
In other news, “High Court to Jump Back Into Abortion Debate.”
And Jeff Chorney reports that “9th Circuit Split on Grand Jury Nullification.”
In Tuesday’s edition of The Washington Post: Tomorrow’s newspaper will contain front page articles headlined “Senators Reach Deal on Judicial Nominees; A Showdown On Filibusters Is Averted” and “Breakthrough Pact Unlikely To End Battle.”
And Charles Lane will have articles headlined “Justices to Hear N.H. Abortion Notification Challenge” and “High Court Rejects Case of Mexican Death Row Inmate.”
In Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times: Linda Greenhouse will have articles headlined “Supreme Court to Tackle Abortion Again After 5 Years“; “Supreme Court Drops Case Ruled on by World Court“; and “In Free-Speech Ruling, Justices Say All Ranchers Must Help Pay for Federal Ads.”
In judicial filibuster-related news, “Bipartisan Group in Senate Averts Judge Showdown“; “Efforts of 2 Respected Elders Bring Senate Back From Brink“; and “A Modest Victory for Bush, but More Tests Lie Ahead.”
And in other news, “Trial Begins in Washington Over Election for Governor.”
“Judges Deal Landowners a Setback; High Court Makes It Harder To Obtain Payment if Laws Diminish Property’s Value”: Jess Bravin will have this article (pass-through link) in Tuesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
“Supreme Court ventures back into abortion debate”: Stephen Henderson of Knight Ridder Newspapers provides this report.
Available online from C-SPAN: “Senators Press Conference on Judicial Nominees Compromise” and “Sen. Harry Reid, (D-NV) Press Conference on Judicial Nominees Compromise.”
RealPlayer is required to launch these video segments.
“Senators Reach Deal to Avert Showdown on Judicial Nominees”: The New York Times provides this news update.
The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined “Compromise on Judicial Nominees Is Reached.”
James Kuhnhenn of Knight Ridder Newspapers reports that “Senators strike deal to end showdown over judicial nominees.”
The Hill reports that “Deal heads off nuclear option.” Tomorrow’s edition of The Hill was also going to contain articles headlined “It’s apocalypse now — deal ‘very, very remote’“; “Specter signals ‘yes’ vote“; and “The filibuster saga in the news.”
And you can access online press releases entitled “Dobson Blasts Filibuster ‘Betrayal’“; “Gary Bauer Calls Senate Judicial Deal a ‘Sell Out’“; “Statement of People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas on Senate Compromise Rejecting Nuclear Option“; “Statement of Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron Regarding Deal on Filibusters“; and “Earthjustice: Senate Compromise Preserves Independent Courts, Protects Environment; Anti-environmentalist Myers Remains Blocked.”
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times is reporting: Available online are news updates headlined “High Court Returns to Abortion Debate” and “Justices Say Beef Producers Must Pay for Ads.”
The filibuster-“nuclear option” deal: what does it mean? The deal expressly guarantees up-or-down votes, and thus confirmation, for D.C. Circuit nominee Janice Rogers Brown, Fifth Circuit nominee Priscilla R. Owen, and Eleventh Circuit nominee William H. Pryor, Jr. The deal permits filibusters to continue against Sixth Circuit nominee Henry W. Saad and Ninth Circuit nominee William Gerry Myers III.
Implicit in the deal is that the three other current Sixth Circuit nominees from Michigan — Richard Allen Griffin; David W. McKeague; and Susan Bieke Neilson — will be confirmed. And the deal would even appear to be good news for D.C. Circuit nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh and Fourth Circuit nominee William James Haynes II.
Apparently Judge Saad’s nomination was unlikely to be confirmed in a straight up-or-down vote, making the continued filibuster of his nomination of less consequence. And if liberal Democrats were given their choice of one other nominee to block, I doubt they would have chosen Myers as opposed to Brown, Pryor, or Owen.
On the other hand, the deal is bad news for the White House with respect to U.S. Supreme Court vacancies. Had invocation of the “nuclear option” succeeded, Republicans would have been able to confirm Edith H. Jones or someone like her. Now it appears much more likely that the next Supreme Court nominee will be a nominee with broad, consensus support, such as Michael W. McConnell or John G. Roberts, Jr. Whether this makes any difference in the long run remains to be seen.
“Senators Reach Deal on Filibuster; Small Group Reports Compromise To Avoid Showdown Over Judicial Nominees”: The Washington Post provides this news update.
“Senators compromise on filibusters”: CNN.com provides this report.
Thomas Ferraro and Joanne Kenen of Reuters report that “Deal reached to avert U.S. showdown on judges.”
And Bloomberg News reports that “U.S. Senate Group Reaches Agreement to Avert Showdown.”
Access online the “Memorandum of Understanding on Judicial Nominations” that avoided the so-called “nuclear option” in the U.S. Senate: I have posted a copy online at this link.
BREAKING NEWS — “Senators Said to Reach Filibuster Deal”: The Associated Press reports here that “Centrists from both parties reached a compromise Monday night to avoid a showdown on President Bush’s stalled judicial nominees and the Senate’s own filibuster rules, officials from both parties said.”
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) has just stated that the cloture vote on Priscilla R. Owen‘s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will occur around noon tomorrow: The U.S. Senate is now taking a brief recess, but the debate is expected to go through the night into tomorrow morning.
“Court nominee scorned demise of sodomy laws; Says a judge must set personal beliefs aside”: This article appears today in The Lexington Herald-Leader.
In Tuesday’s edition of The Christian Science Monitor: Warren Richey will have an article headlined “Court upholds ‘Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner’; The justices rule that First Amendment protections don’t apply to the beef campaign, alienating some ranchers.”
And in other news, “Limits on filibusters are already pervasive; Amid ‘nuclear option,’ Congress has already restricted rights to debate and amendment on other matters.”
