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.
