How Appealing



Wednesday, May 27, 2009

“On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Show Unease”: Charlie Savage will have this article Thursday in The New York Times. Tomorrow’s newspaper will also contain an article headlined “For Republicans, Court Fight Risks Losing Hispanics to Win Conservatives.” Today’s edition of The New York Times, meanwhile, contained articles headlined “Obama Hails Judge as ‘Inspiring’“; “Sotomayor, a Trailblazer and a Dreamer“; “Was a Hispanic Justice on the Court in the ’30s?“; “For Hispanics, Court Pick Sets Off Pride, and Some Concerns“; “On the Bench, With Fairness and Empathy“; “Sotomayor’s Baseball Ruling Lingers, 14 Years Later“; and “Health Spotlight Is on Diabetes, Its Control and Its Complications.” Today’s newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “The New Justice.” Linda Greenhouse has an op-ed entitled “Every Justice Creates a New Court.” And law professor Gerard N. Magliocca has an op-ed entitled “Scenes From Judge Sotomayor’s Courtroom.”

Thursday in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined “Battle Lines Are Drawn On Sotomayor Nomination; Ideology, Abortion and Remarks on Ethnicity Come to Fore.” Today’s newspaper, meanwhile, contained articles headlined “First Latina Picked for Supreme Court; GOP Faces Delicate Task in Opposition“; “Heritage Shapes Judge’s Perspective“; “Disparate Group United in Pride“; and “Riskiest Choice on Obama’s List Embodies His Criteria; President and Judge Cite Her Life Experience.” Today’s newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “The President’s Pick: Kudos, and some questions, for Judge Sonia Sotomayor.” Columnist George F. Will has an op-ed entitled “Identity Justice: Obama’s Conventional Choice.” Columnist Ruth Marcus has an op-ed entitled “An Easy Choice for Obama.” Dana Milbank’s “Washington Sketch” essay is headlined “But Will She Suit Up With the Washington Nine?” And Howard Kurtz’s “Media Notes” essay is headlined “Fighting To Win the Sotomayor Spin War.”

Thursday in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage and Peter Nicholas will have an article headlined “Abortion-rights groups concerned about Sotomayor’s stance; Obama’s Supreme Court nominee has little record on issues related to Roe vs. Wade.” Tomorrow’s newspaper will also contain articles headlined “GOP looks for alternate routes to block Sotomayor’s path; Facing long odds of defeating her nomination to the Supreme Court, Republicans are looking to gun rights and other wedge issues that could undermine her support“; “Bronx bursting with pride over Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor; Local officials say the judge gives the New York City borough a new ambassador to improve its image problems“; and “Diabetes shouldn’t affect Sotomayor’s ability to serve on Supreme Court; Potentially the first justice with Type 1, she can expect to live as long and productively as anyone else if she manages the disease well, experts say.” Today’s newspaper, meanwhile, contains articles headlined “Sotomayor’s record sets off few ideological alarm bells; Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court is like outgoing Justice Souter in many ways, experts say; She has made some controversial remarks, but observers say she’s not particularly liberal“; “Sotomayor nomination splits GOP; Conservative activists are outspoken in their opposition; But Republican senators who will vote on her nomination offer muted responses; Some think the party has a chance to reach Latino voters“; “Sotomayor rose from humble roots; Obama’s Supreme Court nominee grew up in a South Bronx housing project, excelled at Princeton and Yale, and was named a district court judge by President George H.W. Bush“; and “L.A. Latinos savor Supreme Court choice; It’s about time, some say, as President Obama nominates federal judge Sonia Sotomayor; She would be the court’s first Latina.” Today’s newspaper also contains an editorial entitled “Sotomayor, a sound choice: Judge Sonia Sotomayor would bring a compelling life story and sterling credentials to the Supreme Court.” And David Greenberg has an op-ed entitled “The rough road to the Supreme Court: Since the ’60s, most nominees have had to run a harrowing political gantlet in the Senate.”

The New York Post today contains articles headlined “Kid From Bronx Reigns Supreme“; “Ex-assistant DA Thrives In Heat Of Legal Battles“; “Historic Selection Fills Latinos With Pride“; and “Life Of Truth & Justice.”

And today’s edition of The New York Daily News contains articles headlined “Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s record gives liberals little to cheer about“; “Obama’s Supreme Court pick Sonia Sotomayor never forgot her Bronx roots“; “Sonia Sotomayor pays emotional tribute to her mother“; and “GOP realizes that it can’t stop U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor.”

Posted at 10:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court, cameras, action! Souter’s departure could clear the way for far more transparency at the Supreme Court.” Tony Mauro has this op-ed today in USA Today.

Posted at 9:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“No filibuster, but Sotomayor battle still looms”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Republicans won’t try to filibuster Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination, a key GOP senator conceded Wednesday, all but admitting there’s little chance of blocking her confirmation as the first Hispanic justice.”

Posted at 6:17 PM by Howard Bashman



“5th Circuit council backs impeachment for Houston judge”: The Houston Chronicle has a news update that begins, “The Fifth Circuit judicial council and Chief Judge Edith Jones dealt a double blow today to convicted U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Kent, 59, by formally recommending his impeachment for criminal misconduct and by rejecting his bid to be certified as disabled — a status that might have allowed Kent to collect judicial retirement benefits indefinitely even while in prison.”

You can access at this link today’s order of the Judicial Council of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Posted at 2:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“GOP should question pick”: Today in The Boston Globe, law professor William K. Kelley has an op-ed that begins, “Now that the president has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, attention turns to the confirmation process.”

Posted at 1:47 PM by Howard Bashman



Available online from Bloomberg News: Greg Stohr reports that “Sotomayor’s Record Suggests Similarities With Retiring Souter.”

James Rowley and Kim Chipman report that “Obama High Court Choice Poses Political ‘Peril’ for Republicans.”

Catherine Dodge and Justin Blum report that “Sotomayor Draws on Life Experience in Legal Thinking.”

Peter Robison reports that “Sotomayor Gives ‘Exploding’ Hispanic Population a Role Model.”

And columnist Ann Woolner has an essay entitled “Sotomayor Opens the Season on Obama’s Court Picks.”

Posted at 10:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Just Looking: Should Internet Ignorance Be a Defense to Child Porn Charges?” That was the title of the December 4, 2006 installment of my “On Appeal” column for law.com. Therein, I criticized the ruling of a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania setting aside a criminal conviction in a case captioned Commonwealth v. Diodoro.

Thereafter, the Pa. Superior Court granted rehearing en banc, and later the en banc court affirmed the defendant’s conviction by means of a 7-2 ruling.

In late December 2007, as I originally reported in this post, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued an order granting the defendant’s petition for allowance of appeal to decide “[w]hether accessing and viewing child pornography over the internet constitutes ‘control’ of such pornography under 18 Pa.C.S. sec. 6312(d)?”

Yesterday, a unanimous Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, by a vote of 4-0, affirmed the en banc Superior Court’s decision upholding the defendant’s conviction. You can access yesterday’s ruling at this link.

The Associated Press has coverage of yesterday’s ruling in an article headlined “Pa. court: Just viewing child porn’s a crime; based on Delco case.” And in earlier coverage of the case, The Delaware County (Pa.) Times has previously published articles headlined “Superior Court rules Ridley man ‘possessed’ child porn” and “State appeals court to review conviction in child porn case.”

Posted at 10:08 AM by Howard Bashman