How Appealing



Thursday, December 15, 2011

“States seek to delay action on immigration laws”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “After the U.S. Supreme Court agreed this week to rule on Arizona’s controversial law targeting illegal immigrants, some states with similar statutes want to delay legal challenges against their own laws pending the high court’s decision.”

Posted at 5:10 PM by Howard Bashman



“Corporate Personhood Debate, Tortured Reasoning In Tow, Heads Back To Supreme Court.” Mike Sacks of The Huffington Post has this report.

Posted at 1:34 PM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals Court Judges Grill Arpaio’s Lawyer on Alleged First Amendment Violations”: Peter Jamison has this blog post at SF Weekly. According to the post, “Kozinski also delivered a tongue-lashing to GilBride [Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s lawyer] for her lack of preparation for the [en banc] hearing, as the lawyer let slip at one point that she had not brought briefs in the case to court with her and was apparently unaware that one of the current issues in the case is whether Arpaio was engaged in a conspiracy against Lacey, Larkin, and the New Times.”

And Kate Moser of The Recorder reports that “Newspaper Wins Judges’ Sympathies in Arpaio Suit.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has posted online at this link the audio of yesterday’s oral argument before an 11-judge en banc panel in the case captioned Lacey v. Arpaio.

Posted at 1:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Animal rights activists challenge 2006 federal law”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “A group of animal rights activists sued the U.S. government Thursday to challenge the constitutionality of a rarely used law they say treats them like terrorists if they cause a loss in profits for businesses that use or sell animal products.”

Posted at 1:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“Federal magistrate has a shot at appeals court position, sources say”: Today’s edition of The Tulsa World contains an article that begins, “A beleaguered process that repeatedly has failed to put Oklahomans in key federal positions reportedly has produced a potential nominee to fill a year-old vacancy on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Posted at 10:30 AM by Howard Bashman



A victory for the “blame it on the dead guy” defense, on appeal in a child pornography case no less: A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued this decision yesterday.

Circuit Judge E. Grady Jolly‘s dissenting opinion begins, “The record does not reflect whether the jury box had more than twelve chairs, but we do know–and we know for sure–that two more jurors are trying to crowd into the box. I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion, which is little more than a presentation of the defendant’s case and the substitution of the views of judges for the views of jurors.”

Posted at 9:50 AM by Howard Bashman



“Number of death sentences hits a 35-year low”: Joan Biskupic of USA Today has this report.

Today in The Wall Street Journal, Ashby Jones has an article headlined “New Death Sentences Fall to Lowest Level in 35 Years.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “Executions, death sentences continue steady declines in 2011.”

Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has an article headlined “Report: US death sentences reach 35-year low.”

Terry Baynes of Reuters reports that “Study finds death penalty use in decline.”

And today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition” contained an audio segment entitled “Death Sentences Drop To Historic Lows In 2011.”

Posted at 8:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“Ohio justice urges repeal of death penalty”: In today’s edition of The Toledo Blade, Jim Provance has an article that begins, “Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer said Wednesday he believes it’s only a matter of time before the death-penalty law he helped write 30 years ago will end. He urged the House Criminal Justice Committee to make that date sooner rather than later.”

And The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports today that “Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer urges lawmakers to repeal death penalty in Ohio.”

Posted at 8:24 AM by Howard Bashman



“Relentless anti-abortion crusader takes her fight to Supreme Court; Grandmother, 63, has been arrested, jailed many times for protesting at clinics”: Postmedia News of Canada has this report.

Posted at 8:20 AM by Howard Bashman



“Rock Bottom”: At the “Opinionator” blog of The New York Times, Linda Greenhouse has a post that begins, “Now that another highly qualified judicial nominee has been left as road kill, the question is how much lower can the confirmation process sink.”

Posted at 7:45 AM by Howard Bashman