“Appeals court reverses ruling that State Farm acted in bad faith”: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has a news update that begins, “A Port Sulfur couple whose home vanished in Hurricane Katrina won’t be able to collect penalties, bad faith and attorneys fees from State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeal overturned the finding that the state’s largest insurer acted in bad faith in handling their claim.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Court vacates part of Katrina insurance case award.”
You can access yesterday’s non-precedential, per curiam ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.
“Nacchio denied bond again”: The Denver Post has this news update.
The Denver Business Journal reports that “Nacchio loses latest bid to stay out of prison.”
And The Associated Press provides this report.
“Court upholds gun ban in airport”: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a news update that begins, “A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that licensed firearms owners may not carry guns into parts of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Federal court upholds gun ban in Atlanta airport.”
You can access today’s non-precedential, per curiam ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link.
“Regrets Only? Native Hawaiians Insist U.S. Apology Has a Price.” Jess Bravin and Louise Radnofsky have this article today in The Wall Street Journal.
Greetings from New Orleans: Where it was warm and sunny this afternoon. I’m here because tomorrow afternoon I’ll be a a speaker at a Loyola Law Review symposium titled “On the Brink: The Judiciary’s Tug of War with Technology.”
My wife and I spent the afternoon exploring the French Quarter. We had lunch at Central Grocery on Decatur Street, where I enjoyed the world-famous muffuletta sandwich.
Before even leaving Philadelphia, thanks to a luggage tag bearing my name, we bumped into a “How Appealing” fan immediately behind us in line at the Terminal B security screening checkpoint at Philadelphia International Airport.
Among the people with whom I’ll be enjoying dinner tonight at Clancy’s will be the author of the “Ernie the Attorney” blog, who has been blogging for even longer than I have.
Finally, I had the pleasure of seeing both the front and back of the Fifth Circuit‘s New Orleans headquarters during my taxi rides to and from the French Quarter this afternoon.
Programming note: On Thursday morning, I’ll be traveling to New Orleans, where on Friday afternoon I’ll be a speaker at this event.
My hotel will supposedly have internet access, so new posts could appear here as early as Thursday evening.
Available online from law.com: An article is headlined “No Warrant? No Problem, Rules 9th Circuit on Arrest Following Armed Standoff.” My earlier coverage of today’s en banc Ninth Circuit ruling appears here and here.
And in other news, “9th Circuit Considers Christian Student Group’s Challenge to Law School’s No-Bias Policy.”
“Texas on pace to execute far more in 2009”: This article appears today in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
And Thursday in The Seattle Times, former Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Utter will have an op-ed entitled “Washington state must abandon the death penalty.”
Happy birthday to Justice Antonin Scalia: According to The AP’s popular “Today in History” feature, today Justice Scalia celebrates his 73rd birthday.
And on April 14, 2009, Justice Scalia will visit the University of New Mexico School of Law for an event co-sponsored by the Federalist Society.
“Model Liskula Cohen, suing over ‘skank’ slur, breaks down in court during lawsuit against Google”: The New York Daily News provides this update.
And at Slate’s “The Big Money,” Chris Thompson has an item headlined “Obscenities ‘Fly During ‘Skank” Hearing.”
“Florida lawmaker files bills that would legalize gay adoptions”: The Miami Herald has a news update that begins, “As gay rights advocates and religious groups queue up in an effort to influence the outcome of a Miami appeals court case that will help decide whether gay people can adopt children in Florida, a state lawmaker has quietly introduced two bills that could render the dispute moot.”
“How long can executions be delayed? The Supreme Court denied the appeal of a Florida inmate on death row for 32 years.” Warren Richey will have this article Thursday in The Christian Science Monitor.
“Federal appeals court rejects civil rights case against San Jose police”: Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has this update.
And The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update headlined “Court sides with cops; no warrants in standoffs.”
My earlier coverage of today’s en banc Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.
“Leahy Vows to Name Names if Nominees Are Delayed”: This post appears today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”
“Model to NY judge: Make Google ID blogger.” The Associated Press has this report.
Eleven-judge en banc Ninth Circuit panel divides 6-5 over the lawfulness of a warrantless in-home arrest following a 12-hour armed stand-off: You can access today’s en banc ruling at this link.
Circuit Judge Richard C. Tallman wrote the majority opinion, in which Circuit Judges Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Pamela Ann Rymer, Ronald M. Gould, Jay S. Bybee, and N. Randy Smith joined. Dissenting from the decision were Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Circuit Judges Harry Pregerson, Stephen Reinhardt, Sidney R. Thomas, and Richard A. Paez.
Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook quotes Yoda: At page 3 of this interesting decision that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.
The quote from Yoda found in the opinion is “Size matters not,” and the opinion involves an appeal from federal criminal convictions that arose from running a brothel.
Seventh Circuit upholds $8,000 fine imposed against U.S. citizen who traveled to Iraq in early 2003 to serve as a “human shield” against U.S. military action: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at this link.
Earlier news coverage of the fine can be accessed via this link.
The Internal Revenue Service decided this successful CEO’s salary was unreasonably high, but a three-judge Seventh Circuit panel disagrees: Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner issued this interesting ruling today on behalf of a unanimous panel.
In coverage of the ruling, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a news update headlined “Menard wins big bucks tax case.”
“Owners of extreme pornography company plead guilty”: Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this news update.
Jason Cato of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update headlined “California porn producers plead guilty in Pittsburgh.”
And Mark Kernes of Adult Video News reports that “Extreme Defendants Plead Guilty; Rob Black, Lizzy Borden Could Each Get Up To Five Years In Prison, $250,000 In Fines” (advertisements accompanying this article may not be work safe).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit takes notice that Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner isn’t a U.S. District Judge: The Federal Circuit yesterday issued this errata correcting a non-precedential ruling issued March 6, 2009.
My earlier post on this matter can be accessed here.
“Jinsoo Kim begins his opening brief by stating, ‘Blood may be thicker than water, but here it’s far weightier than a peppercorn.'” So begins an unpublished ruling that the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, issued yesterday.
In news coverage of the ruling, The Associated Press reports that “Calif. court upholds rejection of blood contract.”
My earlier coverage of this case appeared in a post from May 30, 2006 titled “You and your bloody contract.”
“Sex Column causes controversy; First Amendment issues raised”: Today’s issue of The Montana Kaimin — the student newspaper of the University of Montana at Missoula — contains an article that begins, “A University of Montana law professor who opposes the content of the Kaimin’s weekly sex column could eventually take the issue to the state legislature unless the newspaper establishes written policies for hiring columnists and reviewing content.”
A recent installment of the column can be accessed here. And the law professor’s online bio can be accessed here. (Via “Romenesko“).
“Gov. Crist to fill Supreme Court post”: The Miami Herald today contains an article that begins, “Gov. Charlie Crist will fill the last of four open seats on the Florida Supreme Court at a morning news conference Wednesday, while the debate in the Legislature turns to open records, property taxes and dismantling growth management laws.”
According to the article, Florida’s Governor is expected to select Judge James E.C. Perry of that State’s Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Earlier this month, The St. Petersburg Times profiled Judge Perry in an article headlined “Driven to succeed by father’s failings, Circuit Judge James Perry later begins to see a different man.”
“Accused 9/11 Suspects Declare Themselves ‘Terrorists to the Bone'”: Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal.
You can access the pro se filing titled “The Islamic Response to the Government’s Nine Accusations” by clicking here.
“Narrowing the Voting Rights Act”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial that begins, “The Supreme Court narrowed the scope of the Voting Rights Act this week when it ruled that it does not require states to create so-called crossover districts.”
“How the California Supreme Court’s Proposition 8 Ruling Can Vindicate Both Equality and Religious Freedom”: Douglas W. Kmiec has this essay — the second in a two-part series — online at FindLaw.
“Contentious curfew: The Supreme Judicial Court will rule whether Lowell’s late-night restriction violates the rights of those under 17, and other communities with bans will be watching closely.” This article appears today in The Boston Globe.
“Ex-appeals judge gets prison term”: Jason Cato has this article today in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The Erie Times-News reports today that “Fraud sends Joyce to prison; Former state judge maintains innocence.”
And Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “Ex-judge gets jail for insurance fraud.”
“Justice stands to gain from ruling; Sanders should have recused himself from case, ethics experts say”: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer today contains an article that begins, “Justice Richard Sanders, who sued the state to get documents about himself, could be awarded much more money because of a ruling he wrote recently for the state Supreme Court. Sanders’ lawyers say new legal guidelines — ones the justice himself created — mean he should get far more than the $18,112 he was already awarded in his lawsuit. They contend the state should have to pay him something closer to $614,670. Legal-ethics experts say Sanders probably should not have participated in the high court case because of its similarity to his own.”
The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Judicial conduct: On the edge.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court justice may benefit from own ruling.”
“Obama’s Court Nominees Are Focus of Speculation”: In Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times, Neil A. Lewis will have an article that begins, “President Obama will soon begin naming a small stream of nominees to the federal appeals courts, administration officials said, a step that will provide the first signs of how much he intends to impose any ideological stamp on the nation’s judiciary.”
“NFL Settles ‘Voice of God’ Case”: Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer has this report.
“Appeals court panel denies Nacchio bond”: The Denver Post provides this news update.
The Denver Business Journal reports that “Appeals judges deny Nacchio’s motion to stay out of prison.”
The Associated Press reports that “Ex-Qwest CEO cites health in latest court document.”
And Reuters reports that “Ex-Qwest CEO Nacchio asks again for jail term delay.”
You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit at this link.
“University Club ‘Public Service’ Discount for Justices Causing a Stir”: At the ABA Journal’s “Law News Now” blog, Terry Carter has a lengthy post that begins, “The University Club of Washington, D.C believes it has found a way to bring back Supreme Court justices and federal judges who had to give up their free memberships because of a new law prohibiting ‘an honorary club membership with a value of more than $50 in any calendar year.’ The club recently replaced the ‘Honorary Membership’ with a new and deeply discounted ‘Public Service Membership’ category. It is only for justices and judges who previously had the free memberships. Typically, members over age 35 pay $3,400 annually ($185 monthly dues and $100 monthly minimum food and beverage purchase) and that is on top of a $5,000 initiation fee. The justices and judges now pay $588 a year. Their savings in comparison to other members: $2,812. Some believe that looks like a gift valued at more than $50.”
“Justice Scalia at Pepperdine”: Benjamin Shatz has this interesting post at “en Banc,” the blog of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
And the Pepperdine University School of Law has a news release about yesterday’s event titled “Justice Scalia Addresses Pepperdine Community.”
