“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.”
“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.
“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.
“At high court, no rush to resolve conflicts over lethal injection”: Warren Richey will have this article Tuesday in The Christian Science Monitor.
The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “Justices Deny Lethal Injection Challenge” and “Settlement May Be Near in Wen Ho Lee Case.”
Greetings from Richmond, Virginia: Additional updates will appear momentarily.
Programming note: I will be arguing a case tomorrow before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia. I will be traveling there this afternoon. Additional posts will appear here tonight, if the hotel internet connection functions properly.
“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.
“Teen Fights S.C. School’s Confederate Ban”: The Associated Press provides this report.
Available online from National Public Radio: Today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “Roberts’ Court Produces more Unanimous Decisions” featuring Nina Totenberg.
And yesterday’s broadcast of “Weekend Edition Sunday” contained audio segments entitled “Attorney-Client Privilege Under Attack?” and “Netflix Manuever Draws Legal Fight.”
RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.
“Courts & The Law: The Bush Bench.” Columnist Kenneth Jost has this essay in today’s issue of CQ Weekly.
“Judge Edward R. Becker, R.I.P.” This post appears today at the blog “Underneath Their Robes.”
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.”
“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.
In this week’s issue of The National Law Journal: The newspaper contains an article headlined “Lethal injection stays not consistent in U.S.; Awaiting high court review, courts are divided and attorneys unnerved.”
Mark I. Levy has an essay entitled “Appellate Overload.”
And Law Professor Bennett L. Gershman has an essay entitled “Unpublished Opinions: At last, a citability rule.”
“Gay-marriage ban a no-win deal for Bush”: Today in The Philadelphia Inquirer, political analyst Dick Polman has this article.
“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.”
“Act before midnight Nov. 7! Desperate senators peddle the Constitution to the lowest common denominator.” This editorial appeared yesterday in The Los Angeles Times.
And yesterday in The Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman had an op-ed entitled “Unconservative constitutional amendments.”
USA Today is reporting: Today’s newspaper contains articles headlined “Government keeps info from defense lawyers in terror cases; Lawyers ask whether clients monitored without warrants” and “Charges could drive Milberg Weiss clients away; Bribery, fraud accusations may have big impact.”
“Abuse Trial Revives Old Questions; Involvement of Superior Officers at Abu Ghraib to Be Raised”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.
“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.
“In Malvo’s Testimony, Hope for Full Story; Witness May Prove Hard to Control”: The Washington Post contains this article today.
And The Baltimore Sun reports today that “Malvo to face former mentor; Legal experts expect him to make critical links for sniper jury.”
“Gitmo, get gone: Running out of excuses for not removing a national blight.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.
“A Blind Eye on Judges”: The New York Times today contains this letter to the editor from Law Professor Monroe H. Freedman.
“Gonzales Says Prosecutions of Journalists Are Possible”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.
And The Washington Post reports today that “Prosecution of Journalists Is Possible in NSA Leaks.”
“Settlement could leave issue of reporter ‘privilege’ unsettled”: Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today.
“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.
Blawg Review #58: Available here, at “Tech Law Advisor.”