How Appealing



Thursday, April 3, 2008

“Appeals court: Fla. can enforce anti-voter fraud law for now.” The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Florida can temporarily enforce a law that disqualifies any voter registration where the Social Security or driver license number on the application can’t be matched with government databases, an appeals court ruled Thursday.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.

Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman



Does the rule requiring that a federal district court’s subject-matter jurisdiction be evaluated as of the time the lawsuit was filed prohibit the plaintiff from relying on an amended complaint filed as of right that asserts a valid jurisdictional basis lacking from the original complaint? Senior Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya issued this ruling today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a contentious dispute over who invented the idea behind the Facebook web site. Today’s ruling holds that where an amended complaint filed as of right supplies a viable jurisdictional basis, the lawsuit cannot be dismissed merely because the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the original complaint.

Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman



The Supreme Court of California unanimously adopts the “sophisticated user” defense to negate a manufacturer’s duty to warn of a product’s potential danger when the plaintiff has (or should have) advance knowledge of the product’s inherent hazards: You can access at this link today’s ruling from California’s highest court.

Posted at 2:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Jurors in Wecht case tell judge they’re deadlocked”: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides a news update that begins, “The jury in the Dr. Cyril H. Wecht trial told U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab they were deadlocked, but the judge told them to keep deliberating anyway. The jury sent a note at 1:40 p.m. to Judge Schwab that read, in part, ‘We agree that additional deliberations would not be helpful.’ The judge then polled jurors individually, and all agreed they would be unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the 41 charges the former county coroner faces.”

And Jason Cato of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review provides a news update headlined “Wecht jurors say they are deadlocked.”

Posted at 2:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judge in DUI case buoyed by support; Letter-writing effort shows perspective shift”: This article appears today in The Boston Globe.

Posted at 2:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Suit on Light Cigarettes Is Thrown Out”: The New York Times provides a news update that begins, “The tobacco industry scored a legal victory on Thursday when a federal appeals court threw out an $800 billion class-action lawsuit on behalf of smokers of light cigarettes who said they were misled to believe the cigarettes were safer than regular ones.”

Reuters reports that “Appeals court tosses $800 billion tobacco suit.”

Dow Jones Newswires report that “Appeals Court Rejects Class Action In ‘Light’ Cigarettes Marketing Case.”

And The Associated Press reports that “Court Overturns Tobacco Suit Ruling.”

My earlier coverage of today’s Second Circuit ruling appears at this link.

Posted at 2:27 PM by Howard Bashman



Eleven-judge en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issues its ruling in Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com: You can access today’s 8-3 ruling at this link.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who had written the majority opinion on behalf of a divided three-judge panel in this case, wrote today’s en banc majority opinion. Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote a spirited dissent from today’s ruling, and Circuit Judges Pamela Ann Rymer and Carlos T. Bea joined in the dissent.

My extensive earlier coverage of the three-judge panel’s ruling in this case can be accessed via posts that appear here and here. And the May 21, 2007 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com was headlined “When Should a Commercial Web Site Be Held Liable for User-Generated Content?

Posted at 1:32 PM by Howard Bashman



U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reverses U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein‘s class action certification of an action brought by cigarette smokers allegedly deceived into believing that “light” cigarettes were healthier than “full-flavored” cigarettes: You can access today’s ruling, by a unanimous three-judge panel, at this link.

Today’s Second Circuit decision overturns a 540-page ruling issued on September 25, 2006. My earlier coverage of that ruling appeared here and here.

Update: Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that “$800 Billion Tobacco Lawsuit Is Thrown Out.”

Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Prosecutor says cyclist hampered BALCO case”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Lance Williams has an article that begins, “Authorities were unable to close the deal and indict a chemist who played a key role in the BALCO steroids scandal, because a former cycling champion lied about the drugs she obtained from him, a federal prosecutor declared Wednesday. But a lawyer for perjury defendant Tammy Thomas, a former high-profile bicycle racer, retorted that his client’s only offense was to refuse to ‘confess her sins’ to government investigators whom the attorney characterized as being bent on driving steroids from elite sports rather than prosecuting real crime.”

Posted at 9:55 AM by Howard Bashman



“Legal Bondage: Why we like restrictions on sex.” Online at The New Republic, Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen has an essay that begins, “The day of Eliot Spitzer’s ignominious resignation, I reread one of the most splenetic dissents in the recent history of the Supreme Court: the jeremiad Antonin Scalia wrote in response to the Lawrence v. Texas ruling that legalized sodomy.”

Posted at 9:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“A warrant for William Jefferson: Members of Congress should be subject to warrants, just like any other American citizen.” This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 9:32 AM by Howard Bashman



“Quilt Show Bumps Ex-Soldier’s Trial”: In news from Paducah, Kentucky (which I once had to visit for work, many years ago), The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “The trial of a former Fort Campbell soldier charged with raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her and her family has been delayed by two weeks because of a quilt show.”

Posted at 9:23 AM by Howard Bashman



“Freedom eludes many crack inmates; Though new rules have reduced sentences for some, others remain behind bars because of bureaucratic delays and Justice Department opposition”: The Los Angeles Times contains this article today.

Posted at 9:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Gitmo tribunal rules limit evidence disclosures; As the Guantanamo war court edges toward full-blown trials, closures, censorship and document delays cloud transparency”: Today in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg has an article that begins, “A defense lawyer lets slip at the war court convening here that a battlefield commander changed an Afghanistan firefight report in a way that seemed to help a U.S. government murder case. Reporters hear the field commander’s name but are forbidden to report it. In another case, a judge approves the release of a captive’s interrogation video showing the blurred face of an American agent. But a federal prosecutor on loan to the Pentagon withholds it ‘out of an abundance of caution.'”

The newspaper has also posted online a 12-page document entitled “Media Policy and Ground Rules for Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” I guess this would be useful reading material for anyone hoping to be included in a possible law bloggers’ tour of Guantanamo.

Posted at 9:14 AM by Howard Bashman



“Florida abortions may require ultrasound; The House passed a bill to mandate ultrasounds for all abortions while critics called it a barrier to abortion access”: The Miami Herald contains this article today.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports today that “Florida House votes to require ultrasound before all abortions.”

The Tampa Tribune reports that “House Votes To Require 1st Trimester Ultrasound.”

The St. Petersburg Times reports that “House votes to add abortion rule.”

The Tallahassee Democrat reports that “Florida House debates, OKs abortion bill.”

And The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida reports that “Abortion Bill Would Require Ultrasound; State House OKs plan; Senate may hear the proposal next week.”

Posted at 9:08 AM by Howard Bashman



“After bitter race, calls for reform; Election’s tone hurt high court’s standing, some say”: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today contains an article that begins, “The bitter race between Louis Butler and Michael Gableman for the state Supreme Court turned what was supposed to be a nonpartisan contest into a partisan battle that former justices and others said tattered the court’s reputation.”

Relatedly, The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial entitled “The Wisconsin ‘Tragedy’: A state Supreme Court justice is ousted by referendum; Too bad more states can’t hold their judges to account.”

And in other news from Wisconsin, The New York Times today contains an article headlined “Wisconsin Voters Excise Editing From Governor’s Veto Powers” that begins, “Wisconsin governors have long been allowed to sign off on budget bills but do some tricky erasing first. They could delete words, numbers, sentences, paragraphs or some combination of all of those, to create entirely new meanings never intended by the original authors — a legislative twist on the game of Mad Libs.” Those interested in this issue won’t want to miss the “VetoMatic” web site.

Posted at 8:33 AM by Howard Bashman