How Appealing



Monday, May 22, 2006

“GOP to Push for Vote on Appeals Judge”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Despite Democratic opposition, Senate Republicans signaled Monday they will attempt to win confirmation by week’s end for President Bush’s nomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh as a federal appeals court judge.”

Posted at 10:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bench warfare: Judge Terrence Boyle’s former law clerks have launched a dubious defense of the embattled Bush nominee; Will their tactics backfire on Bill Frist and the White House?” Will Evans has this report, bearing tomorrow’s date, online at Salon.com.

Posted at 10:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Criticism Mounts that Judiciary Lacks Self Discipline; Congressman Wants An Inspector General To Ensure Unethical Judges Are Punished”: Lawrence Hurley of The Daily Journal of California has this report today.

Posted at 10:35 PM by Howard Bashman



“At high court, no rush to resolve conflicts over lethal injection”: Warren Richey will have this article Tuesday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman



Greetings from Richmond, Virginia: Additional updates will appear momentarily.

Posted at 9:55 PM by Howard Bashman



“Is less more? To lawyers, unlike philosophers, the question may appear facetious, but the answer has real-life implications.” The appellate review timing provision contained in the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 is the subject of a dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc written by Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee, in which a total of six judges joined. In the order denying rehearing en banc, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today, the original three-judge panel responds to Judge Bybee’s dissent.

I examined this issue in the February 13, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law. com, headlined “Less Is More: When Courts Decide a Law Means the Opposite of What It Says.” For the reasons explained in that column, in this argument I side with the dissenters from the denial of rehearing en banc.

Posted at 12:55 PM by Howard Bashman



Today’s U.S. Supreme Court Order List and opinion in an argued case: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a posts titled “Decisions: Police may enter home” and “Orders: No new cases granted.”

Today’s only decision in an argued case came in Brigham City, Utah v. Stuart, No. 05-502. Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. You can access the syllabus here; the Chief Justice’s opinion here; the concurring opinion of Justice John Paul Stevens here; and the oral argument transcript here. Additional background on the case is available at this link.

You can access today’s Order List at this link. The Court today did not grant review in any new cases but did call for the views of the Solicitor General in one case.

In early news coverage, Gina Holland of The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court Backs Police in Emergencies.” The AP also reports that “Court Won’t Hear Murderer-Lawyer Case“; “Justices Avoid Gay Couple’s Custody Fight“; and “Supreme Court Rejects N.Y. Murder Appeal.”

Posted at 10:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“Scalia-Alito Is the New O’Connor-Ginsburg”: Today’s brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed at this link.

Posted at 9:28 AM by Howard Bashman



“A test that means everything while measuring nothing; What does passing the state bar have to do with being a good lawyer?” Yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle, Hans Allhoff had an op-ed that begins, “It’s like the story about Michael Jordan not making his high school basketball team, only in reverse. Kathleen Sullivan, the former Stanford Law School dean and constitutional lawyer extraordinaire, recently failed the California Bar Exam.”

The op-ed was likely finalized before information became available this weekend, as I noted in this post yesterday, that “Kathleen M. Sullivan has passed the February 2006 California bar exam.”

Posted at 7:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Abuse Trial Revives Old Questions; Involvement of Superior Officers at Abu Ghraib to Be Raised”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.

Posted at 7:08 AM by Howard Bashman



“Jury deliberations often yield surprises; It’s not easy reading the minds of jurors, whose actions run from crafty to cryptic”: The Houston Chronicle today contains this front page article reporting on the Enron trial.

Posted at 7:04 AM by Howard Bashman



“The Indictment of the Milberg Weiss Law Firm and America’s Love/Hate Relationship with Class Action Litigation”: Michael C. Dorf has this essay today at FindLaw.

Posted at 6:35 AM by Howard Bashman