Programming note: On Tuesday, my son and I will embark on a baseball-related road trip that will take us from the Philadelphia area to Cleveland and back over the next seven days.
Our first stop, on Tuesday, will be Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where on Tuesday night we will watch the Williamsport Crosscutters (the class A short-season affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies) host the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (the class A short-season affiliate of the Cleveland Indians) in New York-Penn League action.
On Wednesday, we will travel to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where on Wednesday night we will watch the Altoona Curve (the class AA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates) host the Akron Aeros (the AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians) in Eastern League action.
On Thursday, we will travel to Niles, Ohio, where on Thursday night we will watch the Mahoning Valley Scrappers host the Jamestown Jammers (the class A short-season affiliate of the Florida Marlins) in New York-Penn League action. The logos of these two teams (see here and here) are alone worth the $3-per-ticket price of admission.
On Friday, we will travel to Akron, Ohio, where on Friday night we will watch the Akron Aeros host the Erie SeaWolves (the AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in Eastern League action.
On Saturday, it’s on to Cleveland, where we will see the Cleveland Indians host the Minnesota Twins.
On Sunday, we head to Pittsburgh to watch the Pittsburgh Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals.
And on our way home from Pittsburgh on Monday, we’ll stop at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to visit the Gettysburg National Military Park.
Appellate law-related blogging and occasional baseball-related posts will continue to appear here during the days ahead while I’m on the road.
“Appeals court explains sports betting ruling”: The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware has this update.
And Tuesday in The Legal Intelligencer, Shannon P. Duffy will have an article headlined “3rd Circuit Explains Why It Sacked Delaware Sports Lottery.”
My earlier coverage of today’s Third Circuit ruling appears at this link.
“Montana Court to Weigh In on Assisted Suicide Case”: This article will appear Tuesday in The New York Times.
“Fewer Newspapers Fight to Open Court Proceedings”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in tomorrow’s edition of The New York Times.
“Major cigarette makers sue over new tobacco law”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “Two of the three largest U.S. tobacco companies filed suit against federal authorities Monday, claiming a law that gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration new authority over tobacco violates their right to free speech.”
“We must decide whether California law allows a celebrity to sue a greeting card company for using her image and catchphrase in a birthday card without her permission.” So begins today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case captioned Paris Hilton v. Hallmark Cards.
Update: The Associated Press reports that “Court sides with Paris Hilton in Hallmark fight.”
And Reuters has a report headlined “Court: Paris Hilton can pursue Hallmark lawsuit.”
“Court limits Delaware betting plan to NFL parlays”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court on Monday dealt another body blow to Delaware’s plans for a new sports betting lottery, saying it must be limited to parlay bets on professional football games.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link.
“Trial by Fire: Did Texas execute an innocent man?” David Grann has this article in the September 7, 2009 issue of The New Yorker.
“Caperton v. Massey returns to W.Va. Supreme Court”: Yesterday’s edition of The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette contained this article.
“Grand juror not happy Medina case dismissed; Says jury should have heard about the fire at home of justice and his wife, who could have been indicted”: This article appears today in The Houston Chronicle.
And yesterday’s newspaper contained an article headlined “DA drops fire charges against justice’s wife.”
In the Summer 2009 issue of The Green Bag: In articles about the October Term 2008 of the U.S. Supreme Court, Erwin Chemerinsky has an article headlined “Moving to the Right, Perhaps Sharply to the Right,” while John P. Elwood has an article headlined “What Were They Thinking: The Supreme Court in Revue, October Term 2008.”
“Tracking new cases: Suing gun makers.” Lyle Denniston has this post today at “SCOTUSblog.”
“Nebraska doctor takes up Tiller’s mission to keep late-term abortions available”: The Kansas City Star contains this article today.
Today’s edition of The Omaha World-Herald contains articles headlined “Abortions laws takes effect today” and “Abortion protest in Bellevue.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Abortion fight shifts to Neb. after Tiller death” and “Justifiable homicide defense eyed in Roeder’s case.”
“Case is a serious challenge to Florida’s gay-adoption ban; An adoption case that is now before an appellate court case presents a significant challenge to Florida’s law against gays”: This article appears today in The Miami Herald.
And law.com reports that “In Fla. Adoption Case, State Argues Gays Prone to Mental Illness, Breakups.”
“Supreme Court to Revisit ‘Hillary’ Documentary”: Adam Liptak has this front page article today in The New York Times.
“Justice Sotomayor, Justice Scalia and Our Six Catholic Justices”: Law professor Geoffrey R. Stone has this blog post at “The Huffington Post.”
“Comcast Wins Appeal Of FCC Ownership Cap; Largest Provider Can Grow Even Bigger”: This article appears today in The Washington Post.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that “U.S. court gives Comcast greater expansion rights.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Court rejects cap on cable market share – again.”
You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit at this link.
“U.S. appeals court: Return MLB players’ drug-test records; Panel says data from confidential tests of baseball players was improperly seized.” Maura Dolan and Lance Pugmire had this article Thursday in The Los Angeles Times.
In Thursday’s edition of The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz had an article headlined “Appeals court bars feds from using pro baseball players’ steroids test results.”
Thursday’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle reported that “Feds improperly seized players’ steroid records.”
Thursday’s edition of The New York Times reported that “Court Rules U.S. Seized 2003 Tests Improperly.”
And The Associated Press had articles headlined “Court: Investigators wrong to seize MLB drug list” and “Court ruling small consolation for exposed players,” along with a column entitled “Hard to feel bad for outed players from ‘The List.’”
You can access Wednesday’s ruling of an eleven-judge en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.
My coverage of the original three-judge panel’s ruling, which issued in December 2006, can be accessed here and here.
In other coverage of this week’s ruling, at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post titled “Court’s Steroid Ruling Pumps Up Computer Privacy.”
At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” law professor Orin Kerr has a series of posts largely critical of the en banc ruling.
And WSJ.com’s “Law Blog” has a post titled “Beyond A-Rod and ManRam: Plain Talk on the ‘Plain View Doctrine.’”
“FBI loses appeal of $101.7m verdict; Circuit court cites ‘trauma’ to 4 sent to prison”: Yesterday’s edition of The Boston Globe contained an article that begins, “A federal appeals court upheld yesterday a landmark verdict for four men framed by the FBI in a gangland slaying, although the appellate judges said the $101.7 million damage judgment awarded by a lower court was ‘at the outer edge of the universe of permissible awards.””
And The Associated Press reports that “Mass. court OKs $102M wrongful-conviction award.”
You can access Thursday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit at this link.
“Board turns down judge pension claim”: Yesterday’s edition of The Boston Herald contained an article that begins, “Members of the state retirement board denied former Superior Court Judge Ernest Murphy’s disability pension request yesterday that would have granted the former judge 75 percent of his salary. Treasurer Tim Cahill, who recommended the board vote down Murphy’s request, thanked board members for ‘taking a stand’ against the pension. Murphy claimed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress following a series of Herald stories in 2002.”
“Mass. Case May Be Key in Taking Gay Marriage Fight to Supreme Court”: Marcia Coyle will have this article in the August 31, 2009 issue of The National Law Journal.
“‘Important Questions of Federal Law’: Assessing the Supreme Court’s Case Selection Process.” The Yale Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Clinic and the Yale Law Journal Online will host this half-day conference on the morning of September 18, 2009 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
There is no charge to attend the conference, but because space is limited pre-registration — which can be accomplished online via this link — is required.
After the conference has occurred, podcasts of conference sessions and downloadable papers from the panelists will be available via this link.
Thanks to Linda Greenhouse for informing me about this event.
Pa. Superior Court issues ruling in Confrontation Clause case that I argued in March 2009: As noted in two earlier posts (see here and here), in March 2009 I argued an appeal to a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in which the main question presented on appeal involved whether the defendant’s rights under the Confrontation Clause were violated by the trial court’s admission into evidence at a jury trial of the videotaped testimony of a child who provided incriminating testimony against the defendant on direct examination but who then refused to or was unable to complete her direct examination and thus was entirely unavailable for cross-examination.
I previously linked to the Brief for Appellant and Reply Brief for Appellant that I filed in the appeal.
Yesterday, the appellate court issued this unanimous decision holding that the defendant’s Confrontation Clause rights were violated and that the defendant is entitled to a new trial on all of the charges on which he had been convicted.
And now, because it is quite the beach day today in Margate City, New Jersey, I must return to my regularly scheduled summer vacation.
Programming note: As has happened the final week of August almost every year since this blog began in May 2002, I’ll be spending next week downashore. New posts will next appear here on Saturday, August 29th. Between now and then, readers are invited to let me know via email of news, court rulings, and other developments that might be worthy of mention upon my return.
As for attending baseball games in the near future, on the night of Monday, August 24th, my son and I will watch the Lakewood BlueClaws host the Lake County Captains.* Then, on the night of Sunday, August 30th, we’ll watch the Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, last night we were at Waterfront Park in Trenton, New Jersey as “Thunder toss 10-inning one-hitter; Bush, four relievers combine on Trenton’s 15th shutout.”
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*The Lakewood BlueClaws game of Sunday, August 23, 2009 was cancelled due to rain. As a result, the tickets we have for Monday, August 24th will now allow us to attend a doubleheader consisting of two seven-inning games. Even better, the rehab appearance by Phillies pitcher Brett Myers, which was to have occurred on Sunday, will now occur in game one of Monday’s doubleheader, allowing us to see Brett pitch as he works to rejoin the Phils following hip surgery earlier this year to repair a torn labrum. The official game notes in advance of Monday’s doubleheader can be accessed here.
“In ‘Hillary: The Movie’ case, Supreme Court considers major shift in election law; Supreme Court precedent on corporate spending limits may be overturned; The conservative majority has opposed campaign spending laws in narrower cases, citing free speech”: David G. Savage will have this article Sunday in The Los Angeles Times.
“The government versus Hal Turner: As vile as his rhetoric is, the right-wing extremist’s odious online views deserve 1st Amendment protections.” Today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial that begins, “In bringing criminal charges against an Internet radio host and blogger who wrote that three judges ‘deserve to be killed’ for their ruling in a 2nd Amendment case, the U.S. Justice Department isn’t risking much public criticism.”
“Appeals Court Orders Church-Run Post Office To Remove Religious Materials”: This article appeared Friday in The Hartford Courant.
And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Religious items OK in Conn. postal facility.”
My earlier coverage of Thursday’s Second Circuit ruling appears at this link.
“Feds Urge Dismissal of High-Profile Spy Case”: At Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post that begins, “The Obama administration is urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit weighing whether a sitting U.S. president may lawfully create a spying program to eavesdrop on Americans’ electronic communications without warrants or congressional authorization.”
And at Politico.com, Josh Gerstein has a post titled “Obama DOJ punts on warrantless taps’ legality” at his “Under the Radar” blog.
“Second Amendment cases up early”: At “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, “The Supreme Court will consider two new cases on the scope of individuals’ Second Amendment right to have guns at its first Conference for the new Term, on Sept. 29, according to the Court’s electronic docket.”
“Newly Released Documents Show Rehnquist’s Private Side”: Tony Mauro will have this article in next Monday’s edition of The National Law Journal.
And today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony has posts titled “Rehnquist Papers: The Monthly Poker Game” and “Rehnquist Papers: The Chief and Judge Hall.”
“When the bedroom leads to the courtroom: Despite U.S. Supreme Court decisions, lower courts still use the ‘morality of the majority’ to criminalize consenting sexual acts.” Law professor J. Kelly Strader had this op-ed yesterday in The Los Angeles Times.
“Planned Parenthood’s CEO ‘thrilled’ by ruling”: The Argus Leader of Sioux Falls, South Dakota has a news update that begins, “Planned Parenthood’s CEO said she ‘couldn’t be happier’ with today’s rulings on South Dakota’s informed consent for abortion law.”
And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Judge: SD doctors must say abortion ends life.”
I have posted online today’s summary judgment opinion and order of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.
“Judge Betty’s Revenge: Conservatives thought they’d sidelined the 9th Circuit’s lion of liberalism; They were wrong.” Nina Shapiro has this lengthy cover story in the current issue of Seattle Weekly.
“Rehnquist Papers: White House Wanted Publicity on Thomas Oath-Taking.” Tony Mauro has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” along with a related post titled “Rehnquist Papers: On Singing Dixie, and Minority Law Clerks.”
“Ore. court rejects car salesman’s ethics case”: The Associated Press has this report on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Oregon issued today.
