How Appealing



Friday, June 9, 2006

Justice Antonin Scalia speaks to summer associates at The University Club of Washington, DC: PG has this post at the “de novo” blog.

Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Is the 9th Circuit Bound by Its Earlier Pledge Ruling?” The brand new installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com can be accessed here.

Posted at 10:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Justices Report Road Trips”: Gina Holland of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Supreme Court justices crisscrossed the world last year, with stops in Bangkok, Paris, London and Prague, and less-exotic places like Omaha, Neb., and Morgantown, W. Va. Financial disclosure reports released Friday show that several justices got out of Washington a good bit in 2005 at the expense of law schools and legal groups.”

Posted at 9:18 PM by Howard Bashman



Doctors unwilling to provide abortion services even when essential to preserving the health or life of the mother must be allowed to intervene in California’s challenge to the constitutionality of a federal law, known as the Weldon Amendment, intended to protect the interests of such doctors: Late today, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this opinion in typescript format. Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski is the author of the opinion.

The web site “Women’s eNews” offers additional background on the litigation in an article headlined “California Sues U.S. Over Budget’s Abortion Ban.” In January 2005, Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle had an article headlined “Suit hits antiabortion amendment.” And in February 2005, The National Law Journal published an article headlined “Fighting refusal to treat; ‘Conscience’ clauses hit the courts.”

Posted at 5:35 PM by Howard Bashman



“Law Professor Blogs”: Via this link, you can listen to the mellifluent voices of Law Professors Eugene Volokh, Miriam Cherry, and Susan Crawford. Those law professors are visiting by telephone with attorneys J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, who host a weekly “radio” program known as “Coast to Coast” at Legal Talk Network.

Posted at 3:40 PM by Howard Bashman



Shoot: Thwarted in my efforts, despite countless emails from fans of this blog, to be the very final law blogger to broach the subject of the “rock, paper, scissors” discovery order, I shall now draw my coverage of that matter to an end as of this post.

The St. Petersburg Times on Wednesday reported that “Rock, paper, scissors – and gavel – will settle it; An exasperated judge orders two feuding attorneys to resolve their dispute with an old child’s game.”

And The Tampa Tribune on Wednesday published an article headlined “Judge’s Order: Rock, Paper, Scissors.”

Finally, the web site of the World RPS Society can be accessed here.

Readers are now implored to turn their attention back to matters of consequence, such as federal sentencing law.

Posted at 3:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court Orders a New Trial for an Inmate on Death Row”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

The Washington Post reports today that “Man’s Va. Death Sentence Overturned; 4th Jury Would Decide Whether Killer Is Mentally Retarded.”

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that “New trial ordered in Atkins case; Jury must determine again if death-row inmate is retarded.”

And The Virginian-Pilot reports that “Court orders new hearing on whether York killer is retarded.”

My earlier coverage appears at this link.

Posted at 3:15 PM by Howard Bashman



En banc Eleventh Circuit avoids fight over what limits on standing to impose on the “overbreadth doctrine” when considering a First Amendment challenge to a Georgia county’s sign ordinance: Today’s en banc ruling, which may be the first decision for the en banc Eleventh Circuit written by Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., finds most of the dispute moot. Only Circuit Judge Stanley F. Birch, Jr., in a specially concurring opinion, addresses the merits of the standing and overbreadth issue. The original three-judge panel’s ruling in the case can be accessed here.

Posted at 3:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Secrets and Spies: What we can learn about confidential sources from Wen Ho Lee.” Michael Kinsley has this essay today online at Slate.

Posted at 2:28 PM by Howard Bashman



Today’s Ninth Circuit en banc and not quite en banc developments: Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued two en banc rulings in immigration cases. One ruling, involving an eleven-judge en banc panel, was unanimous. The other ruling, involving a fifteen-judge en banc panel (an approach the Ninth began testing recently), produced a dissenting opinion in which four judges joined — so that decision could have been unanimous too if an eleven-judge panel had been used(!).

Even more interestingly, today seven of that court’s most conservative judges dissented from the denial of rehearing en banc in a case in which Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski‘s opinion for a divided three-judge panel begins, “We consider whether police may conduct a search based on less than probable cause of an individual released while awaiting trial. This issue is one of first impression in our circuit. Somewhat surprisingly, it is an issue of first impression in any federal circuit and the vast majority of state courts.”

Posted at 12:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Hey, where are the fireworks?” Yesterday in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, columnist Linda P. Campbell had an op-ed that begins, “Enough with the niceness. More than a week of June is toast, much like those patches of parched lawn in upper-90s heat, and the Supreme Court is still cruising without its usual last-month-of-the-term controversy and convolution.”

Posted at 12:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“School race case eyed locally; High court decision could play role in Brown v. Board”: This article appears today in The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Posted at 12:05 PM by Howard Bashman



Today’s rulings of note from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit: As with the U.S. Supreme Court, often many of the D.C. Circuit’s most interesting rulings come in the month of June.

Continuing that tradition, today the D.C. Circuit has issued four decisions of note:

1. Ruling on a mandamus petition related to the contentious Indian Trust litigation captioned Cobell v. Norton, a unanimous three-judge panel today issued a decision suppressing three reports that former Special Master Alan Balaran filed in the case because the special master had created a situation in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

2. In today’s second ruling of note, the majority on a divided three-judge panel rejected a challenge to the Federal Communication Commission’s ruling that requires broadband and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers to ensure that law-enforcement officers are able to intercept communications transmitted over the providers’ networks.

3. Today’s third ruling of note affirms the dismissal of a lawsuit against the United States and former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, seeking damages for actions allegedly taken in support of the Pinochet regime in Chile some 30 years ago.

4. And today’s fourth ruling of note orders the dismissal of portions of a lawsuit challenging the manner in which the Superior Court of the District of Columbia has decided to appoint lawyers under the local Criminal Justice Act to handle juvenile delinquency cases.

Posted at 11:02 AM by Howard Bashman



“Specter ready to force showdown; GOP senator emerges as White House rival on legislative issues”: This article appears today in The Boston Globe.

Posted at 10:50 AM by Howard Bashman



“Security or coverup? How a murky case became precedent.” Warren Richey had this article yesterday in The Christian Science Monitor.

Posted at 10:45 AM by Howard Bashman



“Tar Heels wanted for appeals court; Burr, Dole prod president for more N.C. presence”: This article appears today in The Charlotte Observer.

Posted at 10:42 AM by Howard Bashman



In today’s edition of The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger: An article reports that “Lawyers, judges sing Alito’s praises at homecoming; Supreme Court Justice returns to Jersey roots.”

And an article headlined “A top court liberal voice gets backing; Judiciary panel favors Long’s reappointment” begins, “Justice Virginia Long, a generally liberal voice and a consistent vote against the death penalty, was approved by a Senate committee yesterday for reappointment to the New Jersey Supreme Court.”

Posted at 10:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“For a Vegas Judge and His Friends, One Good Turn Led to Another; James Mahan got his jobs on the state and federal benches through the connections of old pal George Swarts; Things turned out well for Swarts too”: The Los Angeles Times contains this lengthy article today.

Posted at 7:25 AM by Howard Bashman



“Delaware Justices Uphold Ruling on Disney Severance”: The New York Times contains this article today.

The Los Angeles Times reports today that “Ruling on Ovitz’s Severance Is Upheld; Delaware’s high court finds that Disney’s board did not betray its duty to investors.”

And The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware reports that “Court’s Disney ruling stands; Decision wraps up lengthy fight over severance package.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Delaware at this link.

Posted at 7:14 AM by Howard Bashman