“Roberts Resisted Women’s Rights; 1982-86 Memos Detail Skepticism”: This front page article will appear Friday in The Washington Post.
The New York Times on Friday will report that “Nominee’s Early Files Show Many Cautions for Top Officials, Including Reagan.”
And The Chicago Tribune on Friday will report that “Roberts documents include memos on Michael Jackson, Sinatra.”
Available online from law.com: Shannon P. Duffy reports that “Owens Corning Bankruptcy Consolidation Reversed.”
In other news, “11th Circuit Skeptical of Fired BellSouth Attorney’s Bias Claims; Appeal highlights company’s diversity program.”
An article headlined “Calif. Court: Judicial Immunity No Shield for Thuggery” reports on yesterday’s ruling of the California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District.
And finally, as noted here, “The Volokh Conspiracy” is no longer a part of the law.com blog network.
“U.S. Court Nominee Criticized Proposals on Sex Bias”: Bloomberg News provides this report.
“Newly released documents portray Roberts as brash, conservative”: Stephen Henderson, William Douglas and Shannon McCaffrey of Knight Ridder Newspapers provide this report.
Reuters is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Roberts documents underscore conservative values” and “US court reverses Owens Corning bankruptcy ruling.”
“Democrats struggle to find chinks in Roberts’s armor; For liberal activists who have been waiting for a confirmation battle, Roberts is proving a difficult target”: This article will appear Friday in The Christian Science Monitor.
“Kudos to Bashman”: The author of the blog “Have Opinion, Will Travel” offers these thoughts concerning my essay entitled “Recusal on appeal: An appellate advocate’s perspective” published in the current issue of The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process.
Today’s rulings of note from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Disagreement between panels and members of a panel seems to be the rule of the day in the two opinions I find of interest.
In an immigration removal appeal, the majority’s recognition that the state law offense of “attempted reckless assault” appears to involve an incoherent crime has precipitated a spirited dissent, which notes that “When judges raise an issue sua sponte and consider it without briefing, no one should be surprised that the issue seems to them to be ‘clear-cut.'” You can access the complete ruling at this link.
In a separate decision issued today, a panel expressly and unanimously disagrees with the ruling of an earlier divided panel that controls the result reached in today’s decision. Today’s opinion begins: “Child pornography is so repulsive a crime that those entrusted to root it out may, in their zeal, be tempted to bend or even break the rules. If they do so, however, they endanger the freedom of all of us.” I previously noted the earlier panel’s ruling in a post you can access here.
And in other news from The AP: Now available online are articles headlined “U.S. Wants Australian to Face Tribunal” and “Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against ‘Choose Life’ Plate.”
“Roberts Disparaged States’ Sex-Bias Fight”: David Espo of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Supreme Court nominee John Roberts disparaged state efforts to combat discrimination against women in Reagan-era documents made public Thursday, and wondered whether ‘encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good.’ A young White House lawyer at the time, Roberts also criticized a crime-fighting proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter as ‘the epitome of the “throw money at the problem”‘ approach.”
“Ohio school district must allow student to wear T-shirt with religious message”: The Alliance Defense Fund issued this press release today concerning a ruling that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued today. According to the court’s opinion, printed on the back of the T-shirt were the statements “Homosexuality is a sin! Islam is a lie! Abortion is murder! Some issues are just black and white!”
“U.S. court to change ‘gag order’ proposal; The new restrictions could have been worded better, says Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres, adding that ‘Some people seem to be paranoid on this'”: This article appears today in The Providence (R.I.) Journal. And The Associated Press reports that “Judge open to changing proposal to restrict court information.”
Comments that the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island received on the proposed local rule can be viewed via this link, while the rule itself can be accessed via this link.
“U.S. court affirms military’s abortion policy”: Reuters provides this report.
The Associated Press is reporting: An article reports that “Roberts Wary of Rankling the Press in 1983.”
And in other news, David Kravets reports that “Armed forces medical plan limits abortions.”
In news from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library: Law Professor Rick Hasen, at his “Election Law” blog, has a post titled “So Far Nothing New in Judge Roberts’ Papers at Reagan Library Related to Election Law Issues.”
“Did fiery essay get author fired? Allstate denies axing worker over anti-gay writing on the Web.” This article appears today in The Chicago Tribune.
According to the article (which is also available here via Newsday), “Barber filed a lawsuit in May in federal court in Chicago alleging that Allstate’s action constituted discrimination on the basis of religion, a novel argument, some legal experts said. He is represented by David Gibbs III of the Florida-based Christian Law Association, which represented Terri Schiavo’s parents in their high-profile efforts to prevent her feeding tube from being removed.”
“Roberts Critics Reviewing Documents”: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report.
“Kline seeks court order prohibiting state-funded abortions”: This article appears today in The Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World.
Unanimous three-judge Ninth Circuit panel upholds as lawful Congress’s prohibition in military health care on the use of federal funds for “abortions except where the life of the mother would be endangered”: You can access at this link today’s decision, which reverses a Seattle-based federal district court’s ruling that required the federal government to pay for an abortion to be performed on the pregnant wife of a naval enlisted man after the fetus the wife was carrying was diagnosed as anencephalic. As the opinion explains, “Anencephaly is an ultimately and unequivocally fatal birth defect.”
“Altria shares at record high on State Farm ruling”: Reuters provides a report that begins, “Altria Group Inc. stock hit an all-time high on Thursday after the Illinois Supreme Court threw out a verdict against State Farm Insurance in a case some hoped would give clues as to how the court will rule on a $10.1 billion verdict against the cigarette maker.”
“Parents can share Wicca with son; Ruling shielding child from beliefs overruled”: This article appears today in The Indianapolis Star. My earlier coverage is here.
Not exactly on par with the Fifth Circuit‘s recent “Back That Azz Up” opinion: Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision holding that “the district court erred in construing ‘rear end.'”
One more reason not to be a drug dealer — you may be ordered to forfeit your lottery winnings: The Associated Press reports that “Drug Dealer Wins Lottery, Can’t Keep It,” while Reuters reports that “Drug dealer must forfeit lottery winnings – court.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.
“$1B Verdict Against State Farm Tossed”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a $1 billion judgment against State Farm Insurance Co. in a class-action lawsuit alleging the company used substandard parts to repair damaged cars.” And Reuters reports that “State Farm $1.06 bln Illinois judgment reversed.”
Today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Illinois can be accessed here.
“Property rights vs. battling blight: Lawmakers hear proposals to keep a lid on home seizures after a key U.S. Supreme Court ruling.” Claire Cooper, legal affairs writer for The Sacramento Bee, today has this article in that newspaper.
“Progress for America today launched a video highlighting Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s fair treatment during her 1993 confirmation hearings”: Progress for America has issued a press release announcing the online availability of its newest video.
Sixth Circuit upholds constitutionality of Michigan’s medical malpractice damages cap: Today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit can be accessed here.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to allow the optional filing of electronic briefs: That court’s amended local rule, which became effective last Friday, can be viewed at this link.
“California Supreme Court is Making a Mess of California’s Initiative Law”: Via this post, you can access online Law Professor Rick Hasen’s op-ed that appeared yesterday in The Daily Journal of California.
Available today from National Review Online: Jennifer Gratz has an essay entitled “‘End Race Preferences’: The fight continues in Michigan.”
And Anthony Dick has an essay entitled “Uncivil ‘Civil-Rights’ Group: BAMN vs. equality.”
Offspring with superpowers: “How Appealing” readers will notice something familiar on page two of the October 2005 issue of Marvel Adventures “Fantastic Four” #3, which arrived on newsstands yesterday.
“Roberts meeting ‘illegal’; Legal ethicists say White House interview jeopardized judge’s impartiality in a case on military tribunals”: Newsday contains this article today.
In The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage reports today that “Ginsburg Nomination Cited as Example; GOP says John Roberts should be confirmed to the Supreme Court as easily as she was in ’93.”
In The Boston Globe, Rick Klein and Charlie Savage report that “Leading liberal groups likely to fight Roberts; Consider launching campaign to portray court pick as extremist.”
The New York Times reports that “Archives Investigates Loss of Roberts File.”
And The Salt Lake Tribune reports that “LDS apostle was studied for ’81 court; Promise: Reagan concentrated on women to fill the seat and to fulfill a campaign pledge; Dallin Oaks: The Utahn was among the few candidates before Reagan picked O’Connor.”
In commentary, The Washington Times contains an editorial entitled “Durbin got it wrong on Roberts.”
The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware contains an editorial entitled “Pay for the privilege of anointing the next Supreme Court justice.”
And FindLaw commentator Edward Lazarus has an essay entitled “Why Liberals Are Wrong to Castigate the Right Wing For Its Critique of the Judiciary: Some of the Critique of ‘Justice Sunday II’ Rings True, Regardless of One’s Politics.”
“Flag-case prosecution spurs concern; Justices assail state because Utah law is unconstitutional”: This article appears today in The Deseret Morning News.