Reading Phillies 13, New Britain Rock Cats 8: My son and I traveled to nearby Reading, Pennsylvania this evening to see the Reading Phillies — the AA Eastern League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies — host the New Britain (Conn.) Rock Cats — the AA Eastern League Affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
I originally chose this game because the R-Phils were giving away a Jimmy Rollins MVP Collector’s Edition Retro Style Bobble Head.
The game began on a less than pleasant note for the home team as the Rock Cats jumped out to an 8-1 lead with nobody out in the top of the second inning and had a runner on third. The R-Phils placed the call to the bullpen, which miraculously held the Rock Cats scoreless for the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the R-Phils continued to chip away at the lead, narrowing the gap to 8-5 by the end of the third inning and trailing by just one run at the end of the fourth. At the end of the sixth inning, the game was tied. From there, the R-Phils scored another unanswered five runs to win the game 13-8.
According to this wrap of the game, tonight was the biggest comeback win for the Reading Phillies in ten years. Relievers Travis Minix and Josh Outman both turned in impressive performances, allowing starting pitcher Kip Bouknight to avoid the loss despite having given up eight earned runs in one-plus innings.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies enter July with only a half-game lead in the National League East. We will next see them play on Sunday against the New York Mets.
“Ga. court upholds partial banishment for offenders”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Faced with the question of whether banishment for criminals in Georgia should be banned, the state’s top court answered Monday with its own caveat: It depends on how far the ban extends.”
You can access today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Georgia at this link.
“Justice Antonin Scalia: Al Gore to blame for 2000 US election mess.” This article appeared last Friday in The Telegraph (UK).
By a vote of 7-5, the en banc Eleventh Circuit holds that National Geographic did not infringe the copyrights of a freelance photographer when the publication reproduced within a thirty-disc CD-ROM the print magazine issues that included his photographs: You can access today’s ruling of the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.
law.com has recently covered the case in articles headlined “Citing Supreme Court Precedent, 11th Circuit Reverses Major Copyright Ruling; ‘Greenberg’ and ‘Tasini’ cases pit publishers against freelance photographers and writers“; “National Geographic Copyright Case Reopens; Full 11th Circuit to consider freelance photographer’s back-and-forth dispute with magazine“: and “Major Publishers Back National Geographic in Copyright Fight.”
Ninth Circuit reinstates insider trading claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a former Fidelity National Financial director alleged to have traded on confidential information about the impending acquisition of LendingTree, Inc.: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.
“CCR Files Four New Abu Ghraib Torture Lawsuits Targeting Military Contractors in U.S. Courts”: The Center for Constitutional Rights has issued this news release today, linking to the complaints filed today in federal court.
And The Associated Press reports that “Abu Ghraib inmates sue contractors, claim torture.”
Ostriches and their head: Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner posted this comment to the “Language Log” blog overnight. For those concerned that the comment may be from a Judge Posner imposter — fear not, as Judge Posner himself sent me an email overnight proudly claiming responsibility for the comment.
Earlier “How Appealing” posts on this arguably now tedious subject can be accessed here, here, and here.
“U.S. Court Upholds Dismissal of Canadian’s Suit Over Rendition”: Bloomberg News provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by a Canadian man who sued the U.S. after he was stopped in a New York airport and forcibly removed to Syria where he was tortured over alleged ties to al-Qaeda.”
My earlier coverage of today’s Second Circuit ruling appears at this link.
“Davis: Leveling rich candidates’ speech unjustified.” Tony Mauro has this news analysis online at the First Amendment Center.
And The New York Sun today contains this editorial about the ruling.
“Individual Rights Make Headway; High-Court Rulings Reject Arguments Tried by Government”: Saturday in The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin and Gary Fields had an article that begins, “Whether they work in the White House, the Louisiana State Capitol or the District of Columbia’s municipal building, elected officials received a refresher course in the limits of their power from the Supreme Court. In the term that finished this week, the justices repeatedly championed individual rights over government arguments that public safety takes precedence, in such disparate areas as gun rights, detention and cruel-and-unusual punishment.”
Those lacking a WSJ.com subscription may still access the full text of the article via this link at Google News.
D.C. Circuit makes public a redacted version of its recent ruling that overturned the Pentagon’s classification of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant: The redacted ruling, made public today, can be accessed here.
My earlier coverage of the ruling appears at this link.
And The Associated Press reports that “Judges cite nonsense poem in Guantanamo case.”
Update: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Circuit Court: No detention based on ‘bare assertions.’”
“Plaintiff, a dual citizen of Syria and Canada, * * * alleges that he was mistreated by U.S. officials in the United States and removed to Syria with the knowledge or intention that Syrian authorities would interrogate him under torture”: So begins the syllabus to today’s lengthy ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Maher Arar v. John Ashcroft, et al.
By a vote of 2-1, today’s ruling affirms a federal district court decision that dismissed the lawsuit. In dissent, Circuit Judge Robert D. Sack explains that he would allow Arar’s Bivens-like claims for monetary damages to survive defendants’ motions to dismiss.
In early news coverage, Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that “Court Rules Against Canadian’s Torture Suit.”
“Can California’s same-sex marriages be saved? A constitutional ban would also likely doom the unions already on the books.” Law Professor Kenji Yoshino has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.
“High court’s tilt hinges on election’s outcome”: Yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko had an article that begins, “The final flurry of rulings in the Supreme Court’s just-completed term made it clear that the future of the court, and some of its most contentious rulings, rests with voters who will elect a new president in November.”
“Gun Shops Await New D.C. Rules; Stores Turn Away Buyers After Ruling”: The Washington Post contains this article today. The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Guns: The Next Step; Congress should let the D.C. Council decide what to do.” And columnist Robert D. Novak has an op-ed entitled “Obama’s Dodge on Handguns.”
Today’s edition of The Washington Times contains an article headlined “Gun ruling’s impact on election unclear; Little ‘political hay,’ Norton says.”
Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that “Supreme Court Decision May Permit Felons To Own Guns.” The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Why Not Here?” And David Kopel has an op-ed entitled “Heller’s Kitchen.”
And in The Wall Street Journal, Michael R. Bloomberg and Thomas M. Menino have an op-ed entitled “Some Gun Rules We Can All Agree On.”
“Ethics Expert Stephen Gillers: Judge Kozinski Should Not Be Disciplined.” This post appears today at “Patterico’s Pontifications.”
“Beyond Guantanamo: Gaps in the candidates’ stances on handling terror suspects.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.
“A Death Penalty Puzzle: The Murky Evidence for and Against Deterrence.” Cass R. Sunstein and Justin Wolfers have this op-ed today in The Washington Post.
“The Chief Justice, Dylan and the Disappearing Double Negative”: Yesterday in the Week in Review section of The New York Times, Adam Liptak had an article that begins, “The last chief justice liked light opera. The new one cites Bob Dylan. Four pages into his dissent on Monday in an achingly boring dispute between pay phone companies and long distance carriers, John G. Roberts Jr., the chief justice of the United States, put a song lyric where the citation to precedent usually goes.” Liptak’s article proceeds to observe that the quote from Dylan that the Chief Justice used was inaccurate.
A graphic accompanying the article shows the “Most-Cited Rockers in Judicial Opinions.”
“Common Sense on Punitive Damages”: Columnist L. Gordon Crovitz has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal.
“The Supreme Court’s Blockbuster Second Amendment Ruling: What the Court Resolved and What it Left Open.” Michael C. Dorf has this essay online at FindLaw.
“By a nose: A Rockland County mom draws Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.” Ben McGrath has this Talk of the Town item in the July 7, 2008 issue of The New Yorker.
“Divided Rulings Thrust U.S. High Court Into Presidential Race”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
“A less deferential high court: Key decisions of this term show a willingness of some justices to reject political leaders’ judgments.” Warren Richey will have this article Monday in The Christian Science Monitor.
“Exxon decision may re-emerge in court contest; Shaw-Paseur race again puts focus on contributors”: The Huntsville (Ala.) Times today contains an article that begins, “The source of campaign money could turn out to be an issue in the only state Supreme Court race on the ballot this fall.”
“Court is ignoring juries: Victims losing 100 percent of appeals? Is the Mississippi Supreme Court a ‘rubber stamp’ for powerful corporate entities?” Alex A. Alston Jr. has this op-ed today in The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi.
“Florida prepares for 1st execution since foul up”: The Associated Press provides this report.
And The Palm Beach Post reports that “Execution nears for man who murdered 11-year-old.”
“The Court’s Gay Rights Legacy”: Yesterday. Time magazine’s web site posted online an article that begins, “Five years ago this week, the United State Supreme Court delivered its most sweeping gay rights decision ever, striking down laws in Texas and other states that had criminalized sex between gays. The court erected a shield of privacy around sexual behavior for all consenting adults, and in doing so paved the way for other milestones in the gay rights legal movement, including judicial victories for gay marriage in Nov. 2003 in Massachusetts and this year in California.”
“9-0 ruling modernizes defence of fair comment; Controversial radio host Mair didn’t defame Christian-values advocate on book-banning, court says, setting terms for ‘honest belief'”: On Saturday, The Toronto Globe and Mail contained an article that begins, “The media should not live in constant fear of facing a libel suit every time a provocative commentary is published or broadcast, the Supreme Court of Canada said yesterday in a major ruling won by controversial Vancouver radio broadcaster Rafe Mair. In a 9-0 decision that modernizes the defence of fair comment, the court found that Mr. Mair did not defame Christian-values advocate Kari Simpson when he denounced her stand on a book-banning controversy.”
Saturday’s edition of The Toronto Star reported that “Top court ditches libel case against B.C. ‘shock jock’; Decision on boundaries of fair comment will make it easier to engage in freewheeling debate.”
The Vancouver Sun reported on Saturday that “Rafe Mair wins libel appeal in Supreme Court; Vancouver radio host compared public figure to Ku Klux Klan.”
And The Canadian Press reports that “Supreme Court of Canada raises bar on libel lawsuits, expands fair comment.”
You can access Friday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada at this link.
“The evolving Supreme Court: Despite 5-4 rulings in some key cases, consensus made a comeback this term.” The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today.
“Targeting The Supreme Court: How A Libertarian Who’s Never Owned A Gun Brought The Decisive Case On The Second Amendment.” This segment (transcript with link to video) appeared on today’s broadcast of the CBS News program “Sunday Morning.”
Today in The Chicago Tribune, columnist Eric Zorn has an op-ed entitled “Court to 2nd Amendment: You clearly need some editing.”
And in The Houston Chronicle, Ted Cruz has an op-ed entitled “Supreme Court ruling scored a bull’s-eye; Court’s finding is true to our founding fathers’ original intent.”
“Fairness of law to be judged; Mandatory sentences: Georgia’s Supreme Court will consider proportion.” Today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bill Rankin has an article that begins, “The judge had only one option when he sentenced Cedric Bradshaw: life in prison. Bradshaw had not committed murder, rape or armed robbery. His offense was failing to properly register as a convicted sex offender for a second time — even though he had repeatedly tried to follow the law.”
“Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ziegler won’t recover what she lent campaign”: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today contains an article that begins, “State Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler quietly closed her campaign account last year, a move that that will prevent her from recovering nearly $823,000 she personally lent her campaign. That amount equals more than half the pay she will receive for her entire 10-year term on the court.”
“In Courts, Afghanistan Air Base May Become Next Guantanamo”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.
And The Associated Press reports that “Guantanamo’s days numbered, tough choices ahead.”
“Why dirty is funny: Judge Kozinski’s raunch collection raises questions about obscenity and humor.” Jim Holt has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times.
Based on the manner in which the op-ed is displayed online, apparently an absence of paragraph breaks is also quite humorous. [Update: Since the time this post first appeared, paragraph breaks have been added to the online version of this op-ed.]
