“Group of Alabama voters challenges state Constitution; New vote or document wanted”: Friday’s edition of The Birmingham News contained an article that begins, “A group of Alabama voters who say the state’s constitution was never legally ratified by the people are asking for a new vote on it or on a new constitution. The voters this month sued several state officials in Jefferson County Circuit Court’s Bessemer division, claiming they violated voter rights by failing to ensure that Alabama’s 108-year-old constitution is valid. State historians say the 1901 referendum on the document was plagued with voter fraud. The lawsuit is the latest approach at forcing reform of a lengthy state constitution that is riddled with racist language, offers little power to local governments and imposes a tax system that critics call immoral. Efforts to change it at the legislative level for years have been unsuccessful.”
The newspaper has posted online both the complaint initiating suit and an affidavit in support of the lawsuit.
Friday evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered” contained an audio segment entitled “Effort To Scrap Alabama’s Constitution” (RealPlayer required).
“Case May Alter Judge Elections Across Country”: Adam Liptak will have this article Sunday in The New York Times.
“Cal Web site draws anti-evolution lawsuit”: The San Francisco Chronicle today contains an article that begins, “If you think dying can keep you out of court, look at Charles Darwin. The celebrations of his 200th birthday coincide with an anti-evolution lawsuit that has just landed him on the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“Diabetic man wins Americans With Disabilities Act ruling; An Arizona utility worker’s case shouldn’t have been dismissed, a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules; His suit now goes to trial”: Today in The Los Angeles Times, Carol J. Williams has an article that begins, “In a decision with potential implications for the nation’s 24 million diabetics, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that a Type 2 diabetes patient may be entitled to the protections of the Americans With Disabilities Act.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.
“Coal Industry Wins a Round on Mining”: The New York Times contains this article today reporting on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued yesterday.
And in other coverage, Reuters reports that “U.S. court overturns ban on W. Va surface mining.”
“Feds: Estalella said Bonds admitted steroid use.” Lance Williams has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.
The New York Times reports today that “Witness to Say She Saw Bonds Being Injected.”
The Los Angeles Times reports that “Government set to make case against Barry Bonds; Witnesses will testify that they saw the former slugger being injected and heard him admit use of steroids.”
And Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News reports that “Bonds’ mistress and Giambi scheduled to testify in Bonds’ perjury trial.”
“New Team, Old Position: Barack Obama needs a check on the state secrets privilege just as much as George Bush did.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.
“Justice Dept. request denied in wiretapping case”: In today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A federal judge tersely denied the Obama administration’s request Friday to suspend a challenge to former President George W. Bush’s wiretapping program while the administration asks an appellate court to dismiss the case. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco said he would not allow the government to appeal his Jan. 5 ruling, which allowed the suit to proceed and required the Justice Department to arrange security clearances for the plaintiffs’ lawyers. The clearances would enable the lawyers to examine a classified document and determine whether their client, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, had been wiretapped.”
And at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has this related post. The court’s order denying the stay can be accessed here.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg home after cancer surgery; The 75-year-old Supreme Court justice had her spleen and part of her pancreas removed; A newly discovered tumor is small and hasn’t spread; the tumor that prompted the operation is benign”: David G. Savage and Karen Kaplan have this article today in The Los Angeles Times.
And The Washington Post reports today that “Justice’s Surgeons Find Malignant Tumor; Ginsburg Goes Home After Procedure To Remove Spleen, Growth in Pancreas.”
“Review of Guantanamo detainees begins; The Justice Department is compiling the evidence against each prisoner, a first step toward shuttering the facility and deciding whether Obama can close the book on Bush’s detention policies”: This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Not even a little torture: Some Obama officials are sending disturbingly mixed messages about the treatment of terrorism suspects.”
“Wal-Mart wins chance to block class-action suit”: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, “A federal appeals court gave Wal-Mart another chance Friday to derail the nation’s largest-ever civil rights suit, a class action by 2 million past and present female employees who accuse the retail giant of discriminating in pay and promotions. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a majority of its judges had voted to grant Wal-Mart a new hearing in its appeal of rulings that have allowed the case to proceed as a nationwide class action, rather than as separate lawsuits by each woman who chooses to file one. The case will be heard by an 11-judge panel on a date yet to be scheduled.”
Bloomberg News reports that “Wal-Mart Wins Request in Bias Case; Company Challenged Class-Action Status.”
And Reuters reports that “Wal-Mart hails court ruling on discrimination suit.”
My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Ninth Circuit order appears at this link.
“In Defense of Secrecy: Even after the Bush years, there’s still a place for government behind closed doors.” Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay in tomorrow’s issue of The New York Times Magazine.
“Slimed Online: Cyber-bullying has reached a new low–at the highest levels of the professional world; So when anonymous attackers went after two Yale law students, they struck back and filed suit; Their case may help change the rules.” David Margolick will have this article in the March 2009 issue of Conde Nast Portfolio magazine (via “Copyrights & Campaigns“).
Ninth Circuit grants rehearing en banc in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc. You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.
Previously, a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel affirmed the order of a California federal district court certifying the largest sex discrimination class action in U.S. history. You can access online the three-judge panel’s original ruling and its amended ruling issued some ten months later.
You can access some of this blog’s earlier coverage of this case here, here, here, and here.
It appears that the Ninth Circuit has carefully considered whether to grant rehearing en banc in this case, as Wal-Mart’s rehearing petition presumably had been pending for about a year or so.
“Washington Legal Community to Honor Senior Circuit Judge Betty Binns Fletcher”: The Public Information Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit yesterday issued a news release that begins, “The Washington state legal community and invited guests from across the country will gather next month in Seattle to honor Senior Circuit Judge Betty Binns Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.”
It appears that Senior Judge Fletcher’s son, Ninth Circuit Judge William A. Fletcher, won’t be recused from participating in the event, as he’s slated to deliver the keynote address.
D.C. Circuit holds that federal government need not pay the attorneys’ fees of woman who spoke up to protect the mute swan: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued this ruling today.
“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returns home; The Supreme Court justice leaves the hospital with an encouraging report showing no sign her cancer had spread”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this news update.
The Washington Post has a news update headlined “Ginsburg Returns Home; Spleen Removed in Cancer Surgery.”
James Vicini of Reuters reports that “No spread of cancer for Supreme Court’s Ginsburg.”
The Associated Press reports that “Ginsburg’s cancer has not spread, court says.”
And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has a post titled “Justice Ginsburg Home From Hospital.”
The Public Information Office of the U.S. Supreme Court issued this press release today.
“Judge in Medtronic case didn’t disclose son’s work”: The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “Medtronic Inc. on Friday defended a judge who dismissed thousands of lawsuits against the company amid revelations that his son works for a law firm that represents the medical device maker. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle sided with the Minneapolis-based company in a case involving thousands of patients who received potentially faulty wires used with the company’s heart-shocking Sprint Fidelis defibrillators.”
And The Wall Street Journal reports today that “Judge’s Son Had a Link To Medtronic” (subscription required; free access via Google News).
“An Effort to Upgrade a Court Archive System to Free and Easy”: Today in The New York Times, John Schwartz has an article that begins, “Americans have grown accustomed to finding just about anything they want online fast, and free. But for those searching for federal court decisions, briefs and other legal papers, there is no Google. Instead, there is Pacer, the government-run Public Access to Court Electronic Records system designed in the bygone days of screechy telephone modems. Cumbersome, arcane and not free, it is everything that Google is not.”
“Obama’s Antiterror Progress: He embraces Bush policies on secrecy, rendition.” This editorial appears today in The Wall Street Journal.
“Will Chief Justice Roberts Have to Recuse Himself in One of This Term’s Blockbuster Cases, Wyeth v. Levine? Why Calls for His Recusal May Exemplify a Too-Costly Quest for Perfect Ethical Purity.” Edward Lazarus has this essay online at FindLaw.
Available online from law.com: An article is headlined “Former Solicitor General Warns: Don’t Be Quick to Switch Course; Bush’s solicitor general says the new administration must be cautious about how to change position on cases before U.S. Supreme Court.”
And Marcia Coyle of The National Law Journal reports that “Supreme Court Justices to Weigh Superfund Cleanup Liability.”
“Bills would limit use of ‘state secrets’; Obama backs privilege in torture case”: The Boston Globe contains this article today.
And at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post titled “Bill Would Limit Judges on State Secrets.”
“Cooper City widow gets cancer verdict against Philip Morris; Decision could mean big trouble for Big Tobacco in new round of cases”: This article will appear Friday in The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The Miami Herald has a news update headlined “Broward smoker’s death due to addiction.”
The Associated Press reports that “Jury finds against tobacco company in smoker death.”
Bloomberg News reports that “Altria Loses First Phase of Trial in Smoker’s Suit.”
And Reuters has a report headlined “Loss for cigarette maker in Florida smoker trial.”
“State Supreme Court agrees woman was a victim, not accomplice, in fatal crash”: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a news update that begins, “The state Supreme Court has found that a woman who was a passenger in a car that crashed when it’s drunken driver plowed into a concrete support post cannot be convicted as an accomplice to DUI. That’s because she was a victim of that crime, the court ruled.”
And The Associated Press provides a report headlined “WA high court: victim of crash not DUI accomplice.”
My earlier coverage of the ruling, and links to the opinions, can be accessed here.
“Will Obama keep some Bush antiterror tactics? The new administration’s stance in a rendition case raises questions about how much it will break from past policy.” Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has this report.
“Obama administration goes to bat for secrecy”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update that begins, “For the second time this week, the Obama administration has gone to court in San Francisco to argue for secrecy in defending a terrorism policy crafted under George W. Bush – in this case, wiretapping that President Obama denounced as a candidate.”
Patricia A. Millett and law professor Cruz Reynoso discuss Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s recent cancer surgery, its impact on the U.S. Supreme Court, and how the Obama adminstration might fill a possible vacancy: You can hear the current broadcast of “Lawyer2Lawyer” at LegalTalkNetwork by clicking here (Windows Media Player required).
Fifth Circuit denies former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling’s petition for rehearing en banc: The Houston Chronicle provides a news update that begins, “Former Enron Chief Executive Jeff Skilling won’t get a second chance to argue his appeal before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, so he’s going to try for the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“Judge delivers ‘KO punch’ in Roger Clemens’ defamation suit against former trainer Brian McNamee”: The New York Daily News provides this update.
Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle has a news update headlined “Judge tosses most of Clemens lawsuit against trainer.”
MLB.com reports that “Most of Clemens’ lawsuit dismissed; Judge rules Houston court lacks jurisdiction over events in New York.”
And ESPN.com reports that “Judge dismisses most of Clemens’ suit.”
I have posted online at this link today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
“Court: La. hotel chain doesn’t owe foreign workers.” The Associated Press provides a report that begins, “A federal appeals court has ruled a Louisiana hotel chain wasn’t obligated to cover the relocation expenses incurred by immigrant workers recruited to work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.
“Plessy and Ferguson unveil plaque marking their ancestors’ actions”: This article appears today in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. You can view a related photo at this link (via “Althouse“).
The curious case of Musladin’s victim’s supporters’ buttons: On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, today a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling addressing the balance of Mathew Musladin’s appeal from the denial of his federal habeas corpus petition. Suffice it to say that, this time, it won’t be the State of California that’ll be seeking U.S. Supreme Court review.
Don’t blame the victim in Washington State: So rules the Washington State Supreme Court, by a 5-4 margin, in a decision issued today. The majority opinion begins, “Under Washington statutes, a person is not an accomplice to a crime if she is a victim of that same crime.”
The dissenting opinion, meanwhile, argues that “the majority’s reading of the statute leads to absurd and untenable results.”
“Just In: Federal Court Reports on Autism-Vaccine Link.” Tony Mauro has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”
The Associated Press reports that “Court says vaccine is not to blame for autism.”
And an email from the Acting Clerk of Court of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is titled “US Court of Federal Claims’ Office of Special Masters Has Released Certain Autism Claim Decisions.” You can access the decisions filed today via this link.
