How Appealing



Tuesday, February 2, 2010

“Court: Part of Oklahoma immigrant law enforceable now.” The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld much of an injunction against Oklahoma’s tough anti-illegal immigrant law but said the state can now force public contractors to cross-check employee names against a government list of eligible workers.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit at this link.

Posted at 10:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Tax court allows deduction for woman’s sex change”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The U.S. Tax Court ruled Tuesday that a Massachusetts woman should be allowed to deduct the costs of her sex-change operation, a decision that could have broad implications for transgender people.”

And “TaxProf Blog” has a post titled “Tax Court: Gender Reassignment Surgery Is a Deductible Medical Expense.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Tax Court at this link.

Posted at 8:57 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court’s campaign finance ruling: just the facts; Questions and answers about the Supreme Court’s ruling on campaign finance and how it will change America’s elections.” Warren Richey and Linda Feldmann of The Christian Science Monitor have this report.

The Associated Press reports that “Lawmakers pledge action to limit election spending.”

And ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper has a blog post titled “President Obama Not Backing Down Against Supreme Court.”

Posted at 8:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Live from Stetson: It’s Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.” The St. Petersburg Times has this news update.

CBS affiliate WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg reports that “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas visits Stetson law students.”

WUSF has reports headlined “Thomas Warm, Fuzzy at Stetson Speech” and “Clarence Thomas Glad He Avoided State of the Union.”

And Stetson University College of Law has a news release headlined “Justice Thomas Visits Stetson Law.”

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“LAX ‘millennium bomber’ to be resentenced; 22 years is too lenient, court rules”: Carol J. Williams of The Los Angeles Times has this blog post.

And The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Sentence for millennium plotter too lenient.”

You can access today’s ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

Senior U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour will not get a third opportunity to impose a sentence on Ahmed Ressam because the majority has ordered that the case be reassigned on remand.

Posted at 3:28 PM by Howard Bashman



“Thomson Reuters Acquires Super Lawyers; Leading attorney rating business to align with Business of Law offerings”: So states a news release that Thomson Reuters issued today.

Posted at 2:21 PM by Howard Bashman



“GOP senators perfect art of stalling”: Online today at Politico.com, Nan Aron has an essay that begins, “The breathless reporting of the State of the Union ‘confrontation’ between President Barack Obama and the conservative members of the Supreme Court in the wake of the Citizens United v. FEC ruling has overshadowed a much more serious issue — congressional Republicans’ systematic blocking of the president’s judicial nominees.”

Posted at 11:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“California sex offender residency restrictions upheld; Housing restrictions barring offenders from living near schools or parks apply even to those convicted years before the law took effect, state Supreme Court says”: Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.

In today’s edition of The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that “Sex offenders lose challenge to residency rules.”

Denny Walsh of The Sacramento Bee reports that “California Supreme Court upholds key part of sex offender law.”

Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News reports that “California Supreme Court upholds parts of Jessica’s Law.”

And Greg Moran of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that “Sex offenders’ court battles will continue; Justices reject some challenges to law.”

My earlier coverage of yesterday’s California Supreme Court ruling can be accessed here.

Posted at 8:14 AM by Howard Bashman



“Rendition victim appeals to US Supreme Court”: Agence France-Presse has a report that begins, “A Canadian man who was transferred by US officials to Syria, where he was imprisoned and allegedly tortured, filed a suit before the US Supreme Court seeking to sue the United States. Maher Arar is appealing a lower court ruling that his case could not proceed because it involved secret national security information.”

Update: You can access the cert. petition at this link.

Posted at 8:05 AM by Howard Bashman



“Odor in the Court”: The Texas Tribune has an article that begins, “Forget all the rhetoric about the Jacksonian premise of a popularly elected judiciary. The public wants cash out of the courtroom — and that could mean pushing elections out, too.”

And attorney David Schenck has a related essay entitled “The End of Judicial Elections?

Posted at 8:02 AM by Howard Bashman



“‘Original victims’ cheated in Luzerne scandal?” The Philadelphia Inquirer today contains an article that begins, “The state’s victim advocate yesterday urged a special panel not to forget the thousands of ‘original victims’ allegedly harmed by juveniles whose cases were heard by judges at the center of the Luzerne County criminal-justice scandal.”

Posted at 7:44 AM by Howard Bashman



“Disorder in the court: chief justice slams Justice Orie Melvin; Legal experts surprised by Castille’s ‘verbal sledgehammer.'” Today’s edition of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contains an article that begins, “In an opinion more remarkable for its castigating tone than for the question of law it settled, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille last week delivered a broadside to fellow Justice Joan Orie Melvin, questioning her logic, her understanding of constitutional law and accusing her of ‘the height of judicial activism’ during her first month on the bench.”

On Saturday, I had this post linking to the opinions filed in that matter.

Posted at 7:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“Reagan defter in dealing with court”: Columnist Michael Smerconish has this op-ed today in The Philadelphia Daily News.

Posted at 7:38 AM by Howard Bashman