“Alito: The life and times of a justice in the making.” Because The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger is a newspaper whose articles do not remain online for long, I’m going to break with my usual vacation-week practice to note that today’s edition of that newspaper contains an article headlined “Alito: The life and times of a justice in the making.”
The article explains, “With the court in summer recess, Sam Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann, agreed earlier this month to their first interviews since he was confirmed. They talked about the Senate hearings, about her tearful breakdown during a now famous session. He also spoke about the inner workings of one of the most closely watched courts in the nation’s history.”
Meanwhile, rainy weather today in the vicinity of where I’m vacationing has resulted in an actual doubleheader (not one of those separate-ticket, day-night doubleheaders) tomorrow for the Atlantic City Surf baseball team.
Programming note: As has happened each of the past four years since I began this blog in May 2002, I am again embarking on a week-long blogging break during the final week in August. If you find yourself in the vicinity of Margate, New Jersey and happen to see someone who resembles the author of this blog, I hope you’ll say hello. New posts will appear here on September 2, 2006. Until then, readers are invited to let me know via email of news, court rulings, and developments that might be worthy of mention upon my return.
Available online from law.com: Shannon P. Duffy reports that “Bar Prep Co. Ordered to Pay $11.9M for Copying Multistate Exam Questions; Federal judge finds evidence of illegal copying ‘practically leaps from the page.’” My earlier coverage appears at this link.
And a news report from Florida is headlined “Did a Federal Judge Cross a Legal Line for His Clerk?”
“Making Rain on the Net: Today’s Web Offers a Wide World of Marketing Tactics, if You’re Savvy.” Jason Krause has this article in the August 2006 issue of the ABA Journal. The article contains a lengthy discussion of law blogs and even mentions me at one point.
“Jewish veterans, local ACLU latest to sue over cross”: The San Diego Union-Tribune today contains an article that begins, “The local chapter of The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit yesterday to force the Mount Soledad cross to be moved in the latest challenge over the La Jolla landmark’s constitutionality. The suit, filed in San Diego federal court on behalf of a national Jewish war veterans organization and three San Diego residents, is the newest development in an increasingly high-profile, 17-year legal battle over the cross.”
And The Associated Press reports that “ACLU sues federal government in battle over San Diego cross.”
You can access the complaint initiating suit at this link.
“La. Supreme Court upholds extension to file Katrina/Rita insurance claims”: Raymond Ward has this post linking to the ruling at his “Minor Wisdom” blog.
And in other coverage, The Associated Press reports that “La. High Court Upholds Insurance Laws.”
Three-judge Tenth Circuit panel rejects facial challenge to the adequacy of the judicial bypass exception to Oklahoma’s newly-enacted statute requiring parental notification before a minor may receive an abortion: You can access today’s ruling at this link.
“Should the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit afford a presumption of reasonableness to within-Guidelines criminal sentences?” That was the title of my post from Wednesday of this week reporting on an order granting rehearing en banc in two Sentencing Guidelines cases that day.
Today, the Ninth Circuit issued a new order in those cases specifying the precise issues on which rehearing en banc has been granted and welcoming amicus briefs addressing those issues.
“La. Limit on Violent Video Games Blocked”: The Associated Press provides this report.
Update: You can access the opinion at this link.
From the October 2006 issue of The Third Branch: An item headlined “Report Details Action On Judicial Accountability” begins, “In August 2006, the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference sent to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. a status report detailing the Conference’s action on judicial ethics and accountability.”
An item headlined “Advantages of Videoconferencing Grow with Use” notes that “The FJC surveyed 14 appellate court judges on their use and opinions of videoconferencing technology.” You can also access online the complete “Report of a Survey of Videoconferencing in the Courts of Appeals.”
And an item headlined “Access As Easy As Tuning In” begins, “The next time you see someone pop on the headphones and get that faraway look in his or her eyes, don’t be so sure it’s a tune that’s beguiling them. It just may be the latest oral arguments from the Seventh Circuit.”
“Why I need to see child porn: It’s outrageous that academics and reporters like me can be thrown in prison for doing front-line research into pornography.” Debbie Nathan has this essay online today at Salon.com.
Update: For whatever reason, it appears that Salon.com (at least for the time being) has taken this article off-line. It further appears that at least one blog has reprinted much if not all of the essay.
Second update: Salon.com has now posted a “Correction” explaining why the opinion piece has been removed from that web site.
“Bar Prep Company Ordered to Pay $11 Mil. for Copying Questions”: Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer provides this news update (free access). My earlier coverage appears here.
“What’s a Wetland, Anyhow?” This editorial about the U.S. Supreme Court‘s recent ruling in Rapanos v. United States appears in today’s issue of Science magazine.
“Judge J. Clifford Wallace to Receive Prestigious Devitt Award for Judicial Service”: The Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this news release yesterday.
“May we see your photos please?” Fans of the Late Show with David Letterman are likely familiar with that recurring feature. Today, in an opinion you can access here, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit addresses whether the U.S. Supreme Court‘s ruling earlier this year in Georgia v. Randolph applies to a search of a home computer’s files for child pornography.
In the case decided today, the majority holds that where a husband is arrested at work and denies consent to search his home computer, the wife who’s at home with the computer lacks the ability to override the husband’s refusal by consenting to the search. The dissenting opinion argues that the Randolph case ought not be applied under the circumstances and that the effect of today’s ruling will discourage law enforcement officers “in seeking consent, to bypass the suspect lest the suspect refuse consent, and instead seek only the consent of an authorized co-occupant.”
The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined “DeLay Says Courts Erred in Ballot Ruling“; “Court Upholds President’s Authority“; and “American Indians Advance Trust Case.”
Who needs law school? Virginia woman becomes member of the bar through that State’s law-reader program: The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia today contains an article headlined “Raising the bar: New lawyer didn’t go to law school; Spotsylvania County woman becomes lawyer through special Virginia program.”
Sixth Circuit acknowledges that a motion requesting an extension of time in which to file a notice of appeal can itself serve as a notice of appeal, but the would-be-appellants in the case decided today are unable to benefit from that rule: Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton issued this decision today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
“Waco ordinance against congregating near schools struck down, anti-abortion protesters celebrate”: This article appears today in The Waco Tribune. Chief Judge Edith H. Jones wrote yesterday’s ruling on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
“Bush Administration Opposes Integration Plans; The solicitor general urges the Supreme Court to scrap schools’ voluntary programs that exclude some students because of their race”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.
“U.S. Frees Longtime Detainee; Court Had Ruled In Favor of Turk”: The Washington Post today contains an article that begins, “A German native who was imprisoned by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was released Thursday, more than 18 months after a federal judge in Washington ruled there was insufficient evidence to detain him.”
Available online from law.com: An article reports that “Baseball a Risky Business — for Spectators.”
And Judith A. Moldover has an essay entitled “Maddened by Makeup: Gender-based appearance policies, such as makeup requirements, have some employees donning war paint.”
“Judge Denies Former CIA Officer’s Request To Keep Her Home Address a Secret”: Josh Gerstein has this article today in The New York Sun. My earlier coverage is at this link.
“A Clash Between Two Cases Involving Equality and Religious Speech: How the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s Decisions Are Inconsistent.” Marci A. Hamilton has this essay online at FindLaw.
Minnesota Twins 11, Baltimore Orioles 2: My son and I just returned home from Baltimore, where we attended Thursday night’s baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. When my wife and I were recently at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, we bought my son a Minnesota Twins t-shirt featuring Joe Mauer‘s name and number, and my son picked the perfect time to wear the shirt last night, as the player who possesses Major League Baseball’s best batting average had a great night, going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs. You can access the box score at this link, while wraps are available here and here.
Programming note: My son and I will be attending an event this evening in Baltimore that will have me away from the computer for a bit. Additional posts will appear online here on Friday.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denies request by Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson to file their civil action complaint without including their home address: You can access today’s ruling by U.S. District Judge John D. Bates at this link.
“[M]ay New Jersey open prisoners’ legal mail outside of the prisoners’ presence pursuant to a state policy intended to protect the safety and security of its prisons by reducing the risk of anthrax contamination?” Today a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit answers “no” in an opinion that you can access here.
“The judge and the ACLU”: This editorial appears today in The Chicago Tribune.
That newspaper today also contains an op-ed by Law Professor Geoffrey R. Stone entitled “An independent and fearless judiciary.”
Penis pump used in court (as evidence): The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that “Evidence ruled sufficient in penis pump case.”
And The Associated Press provides a report headlined “Officials: Man Says Penis Pump Is a Bomb.”
National Conference of Bar Examiners wins $11.9 million copyright infringement judgment against owners of PMBR bar review course: Tuesday’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania can be accessed at this link.
The court’s ruling also includes the following provision: “Defendants, their employees, and agents are enjoined from taking any Multistate Bar Examination for any purpose other than to obtain bar admission in the jurisdiction in which the examination is being given.”
Seventh Circuit affirms $4 million Lanham Act verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds against Cigarettes Cheaper!, operator of a chain of retail outlets that had reimported “gray market” Reynolds products for domestic sale: You can access today’s opinion, written by Circuit Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, at this link. Today’s ruling also affirms judgments in favor of Reynolds on Cigarettes Cheaper!’s antitrust counterclaims arising under the Sherman and Robinson-Patman Acts.
Today’s rulings of note from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: In a decision issued today, the court rejected a federal criminal defendant’s constitutional challenge to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The challenge argued that the law did not constitute an appropriate delegation of congressional authority to the executive branch. The defendant had pleaded guilty to transferring money into Iraq on three specific occasions in 1999 and 2000, in violation of Executive Orders and regulations issued pursuant to the IEEPA, but the defendant’s plea agreement permitted him to pursue a constitutional challenge to the law.
And in a separate ruling issued today, the court reversed a federal district court’s order refusing to certify for class action status certain issues presented in a lawsuit challenging Nassau County (N.Y.) Correctional Center’s blanket strip search policy for newly admitted misdemeanor detainees.
“GMU’s law seminars are fruitful and nonpartisan”: Today in The Roanoke Times, Charles J. Goetz has an op-ed that begins, “If one believed certain sources, the nation’s judges are being brainwashed at propaganda seminars that are staffed by shills and bent to the behest of dirty-money bankrollers.”
“Hecht faulted for double standard; Justice is challenging a rebuke for ethics rules he helped write, lawyer charges”: The Austin American-Statesman today contains an article that begins, “Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht was faulted Wednesday for raising a legal challenge to ethics rules that he helped write only after he was rebuked for violating the standards. Hecht did nothing while five other state judges were rebuked under the same standards in the past six years, said Mark Alexander, lawyer for the state regulatory agency that issued the ethics reprimand.”
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports today that “Attorney says justice had double standard.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Panel Considers Reprimand of Texas Justice.”