“Circuit Court Judge and Constitutional Law Scholar Michael W. McConnell Joins Stanford Law School Faculty”: Stanford Law School late today issued a news release that begins, “Stanford Law School today announced the appointment of Michael W. McConnell, a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and well-known constitutional law scholar, as Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law. McConnell will step down from his role on the bench to rejoin the legal academy and direct the Stanford Constitutional Law Center.”
And the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has posted at its web site a document described as “McConnell Resignation Media Release” consisting of a news release and the judge’s letter of resignation to President Obama. You can access Judge McConnell’s Federal Judicial Center biography at this link.
In early coverage, The Salt Lake Tribune has a news update headlined “U. law professor resigns from federal appeals court.”
And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has a post titled “Judge Michael McConnell Leaving the Bench.”
“Scalise urges quick action on Porteous impeachment probe”: Bruce Alpert of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has this report.
And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” David Ingram has a post titled “Louisiana Congressman Wants Swift Inquiry of Judge.”
“Charges Seen as Unlikely for Lawyers Over Interrogations”: The New York Times has a news update that begins, “An internal Justice Department inquiry into the conduct of Bush administration lawyers who wrote secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations has concluded that the authors committed serious lapses of judgment but should not be criminally prosecuted, according to government officials briefed on a draft of the findings.”
“Souter Bids a Fond Farewell”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this blog post.
“Stocks could pose conflicts for court prospects”: In this article, The Associated Press examines the stock holdings of various potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees.
“Supreme Court Justice gives keynote address at La. Bar Association conference”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “No stranger to sharply worded dissenting opinions, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says he has never sided with the court’s majority for the sake of collegiality or to avoid making a ‘spectacle’ of himself.”
“Souter bids fond farewell to his judges”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “An emotional Supreme Court Justice David Souter bid a fond farewell Tuesday to judges and lawyers he has worked with for nearly two decades.”
What’s up with “SCOTUSblog”? “SCOTUSblog” has been off-line thus far today, and some readers have emailed me asking if I could put up a post addressing that situation. I emailed Tom Goldstein, who advises that “our blog host crashed yesterday, and they say it will be back up this afternoon.” So stay tuned for the promised return of “SCOTUSblog” sometime later today.
“White House: No Supreme Court nominee this week.” The Associated Press has this report, along with an article headlined “Reid: No filibuster expected on Obama Supco choice.”
And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has a post titled “Souter’s Timing: Was it Age or Politics?”
“Former Bush Officials Work to Soften Report on Interrogations”: The Washington Post has a news update that begins, “Former Bush administration officials are launching a behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to urge Justice Department leaders to soften an ethics report criticizing lawyers who blessed harsh detainee interrogation tactics, according to two sources familiar with the efforts.”
“Hatch Says Obama Told Him He Won’t Pick ‘Extremist’ for Court”: James Rowley and Brian Faler of Bloomberg News have this report.
The Associated Press reports that “Reid hopes Obama makes unconventional Supco choice.”
At Politico.com, Josh Gerstein reports that “Groups push for first gay Supreme Court justice.” And Manu Raju and Jonathan Martin have an article headlined “Orrin Hatch: White House may announce Supreme Court nominee this week.”
At CQ Politics, Keith Perine and Seth Stern have an article headlined “Obama Urged to Look Beyond Federal Appeals Courts in Replacing Souter.”
Today’s edition of The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that “A Sen. Franken could sway court pick.”
The Macon Telegraph reports today that “Erick Erickson sends vulgar message about Souter.”
In The Boston Globe, columnist Derrick Z. Jackson has an op-ed entitled “I was wrong about Justice Souter.”
In The Philadelphia Inquirer, law professor Lisa T. McElroy has an op-ed entitled “In going his own way, Souter expanded rights; He should be replaced by another independent judge.”
At National Journal’s “Hotline on Call” blog, Jennifer Skalka has a post titled “A Note From Souter.”
And online at The Atlantic Monthly, Jeannette Lee has a blog post titled “Justice Souter’s Dream.”
“Democrats Seek More Interrogation Documents”: The Washington Post contains this article today.
CNN.com reports that “Deadline for Bush lawyers to respond to probe passes.”
At “TPMMuckraker,” Zachary Roth has a post titled “Congress Seeking Zelikow’s ‘Alternative’ Torture Memo.”
And at The Huffington Post, Nan Aron has an essay entitled “Should Torture Memo Author Be Accountable?”
“G.O.P. Picks Conservative for Senate Judiciary Post”: This article appears today in The New York Times.
Today in The Chicago Tribune, James Oliphant has an article headlined “GOP on Judiciary Committe: Conservative Sessions to replace moderate Specter as Republican leader on panel.”
The Des Moines Register reports that “Plan shuffles Grassley’s roles on committees.”
The Associated Press reports that “Conservative to lead GOP fight on court nomination.”
CQ Politics reports that “Sessions Brings Conservative Cred to Top Judiciary Slot.”
Politico.com reports that “Sessions to replace Specter on Judiciary.”
And The Hill reports that “Deal struck on Judiciary” and “Sessions seeks fair treatment of court pick.”
“Chief Justice Roberts Addresses 3rd Circuit Judicial Conference”: At “The Legal Intelligencer Blog,” Shannon P. Duffy has a post that begins, “As lawyers and their spouses streamed out of the Hyatt Regency grand ballroom on Monday night, the overheard on-the-spot reviews of the keynote speech by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. were decidedly mixed.”
“The court and New Haven firefighters: The Supreme Court is weighing a case involving diversity; a narrow reading of the law is probably best.” The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today.
“Souter’s Successor Will Likely Be A Woman”: This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.”
“Sessions Takes Specter’s Judiciary Post; Senator Will Lead GOP’s Scrutiny Of Next Justice”: This article will appear Tuesday in The Washington Post.
And The Birmingham News has an update headlined “Deal struck to make Sen. Jeff Sessions ranking Republican on Senate Judiciary Committee.”
“Future Dangerousness: The tricky sex offender case that could trip up one of the judges on the short list to replace Souter.” Emily Bazelon has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
Tony Mauro is reporting at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.” This afternoon, he has posts titled “No Retirement Press Conference for Souter” and “SG Kagan Pays Tribute to Justice Souter.”
The first of those two posts concludes, “When he joined the Court in 1990, Souter attended the traditional press room reception that the Supreme Court press corps has held for incoming justices. As the event wound down, Souter turned to the journalists as he was about to leave and said (paraphrasing here,) ‘This was fun. Let’s do it again when I retire.'” Apparently he was just kidding.
“The Next Justice: No More Mr. White Guys.” Christopher Eisgruber has this essay online at NPR.org.
Is Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor particularly annoying at oral argument? Law professor Jeffrey Rosen suggests the answer may be “yes” in this essay posted online today at The New Republic.
You can hear her in action at oral argument via C-SPAN by clicking here. My recollection is that at some point during this en banc oral argument, at least one and perhaps several of Judge Sotomayor’s colleagues seem to lose patience with her questioning and interruptions of their lines of questioning, although the amount of aggravation that Judge Sotomayor was causing was probably increased by the fact that she was participating in the oral argument from a remote location via videoconference.
At the “Concurring Opinions” blog, Gerard Magliocca has a post titled “The Case for Sotomayor” responding to Rosen’s essay.
One appellate geek’s reaction to news of Justice David H. Souter’s impending retirement: “The First Circuit and the Third Circuit will each need a new Circuit Justice.” The current assignment list can be accessed here.
My guess is that Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who was serving as the First Circuit‘s chief judge when he was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, will become Circuit Justice for the First Circuit.
I also am guessing that Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., who was next in line to serve as the Third Circuit‘s chief judge when he was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, will become Circuit Justice for the Third Circuit.
Whether Justice Souter’s replacement will thus get to serve as Circuit Justice for both the Eighth and Tenth Circuits remains to be seen.
David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times is reporting: He has news updates headlined “Supreme Court rules against government in immigration identity-theft case; In a 9-0 decision, the justices say the crime is limited to those who knew they had stolen another person’s Social Security number; The decision limits efforts to prosecute illegal workers” and
“Supreme Court: Take another look at Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction; The high court sets aside an appeals court ruling. So, CBS may once again face a $550,000 fine for the flash image of the singer’s breast during the 2004 Super Bowl.”
Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News is reporting: He has articles headlined “Life Sentences on Youths Draw U.S. High Court Review“; “Companies Win at U.S. Supreme Court on Cleanup Costs“; “Court Told to Revisit Fine of CBS for Jackson Breast Exposure“; and “New York Suits Over Cigarette Sales Get U.S. High Court Review.”
James Vicini of Reuters is reporting: He has articles headlined “Supreme Court to consider life in prison for juveniles“; “U.S. government loses immigrant identity-theft case“; and “More court review set for 2004 Janet Jackson flash.”
“Obama calls senators about high court pick”: The Associated Press has this report.
Available from Politico.com: Josh Gerstein reports that “Obama’s search for ’empathy’ shapes Supreme Court replacement debate.”
And Mike Allen reports that “Obama urged to look beyond courts when replacing Souter.”
“Kagan: Just call her ‘The General’; The first female solicitor general talks about the high court and her new role.” Tony Mauro has this article in the current issue of The National Law Journal. Mauro’s interview with the Solicitor General occurred before Justice David H. Souter’s intention to retire from the U.S. Supreme Court became public.
Available online from National Public Radio: Today’s broadcast of “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “Obama’s Chance To Fill Supreme Court Slot.”
And yesterday’s broadcast of “Weekend Edition Sunday” contained an audio segment entitled “Souter’s Retirement Is Obama’s Opportunity” featuring Nina Totenberg.
RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments.
Access today’s opinions in argued cases and Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Court today has issued four opinions in argued cases.
1. In Flores-Figueroa v. United States, No. 08-108, Justice Stephen G. Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined. Justice Anonin Scalia issued an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Justice Clarence Thomas joined. And Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.
2. In Carlsbad Technology, Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc., No. 07-1437, Justice Thomas delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. In addition, Justices Stevens, Scalia, and Breyer issued concurring opinions. Justice Souter joined in Justice Breyer’s concurring opinion. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.
3. In Arthur Andersen LLP v. Carlisle, No. 08-146, Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Alito joined. Justice Souter filed a dissenting opinion, in which the Chief Justice and Justice Stevens joined. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.
4. And in Burlington N.&S.F.R. Co. v. United States, No. 07-1601, Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Breyer, and Alito joined. Justice Ginsburg issued a dissenting opinion. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.
You can access today’s Order List at this link. The Court today granted review in four cases.
In early news coverage, The Associated Press has articles headlined “Court rules for immigrant in ID theft case“; “Court will review life sentences for young“; “Court: Shell not at fault in cleanup“; and “High court throws out ruling on Janet Jackson.”
At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court to rule on long juvenile sentences.”
“The Case Against Sonia Sotomayor: Indictments of Obama’s front-runner to replace Souter.” Law professor Jeffrey Rosen has this essay online today at The New Republic.
“Specter Re-emphasizes Independence”: The New York Times contains this article today.
And The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that “Specter says he jumped parties based on principle.”
“Obituary: Ralph J. Cappy / Retired Pennsylvania chief justice.” This obituary appeared yesterday in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
And yesterday’s edition of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review contained an article headlined “Former state chief justice praised for service.”
“Same-sex marriages gradually gain legal ground; Even in states that don’t allow gay marriage, court decisions on child custody, divorce and other issues are giving incremental rights to same-sex couples”: Carol J. Williams has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.
“Doubting Discrimination: The troubling case of conservative skepticism over voting rights violations.” This editorial appears today in The Washington Post.
