“In the beginning of the 20th century the great masters of American Jurisprudence — Oliver W. Holmes, Jr., Benjamin N. Cardozo and Professor Roscoe Pound — rejected the jurisprudence of concepts for what they called a jurisprudence of results.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit today issued a decision from which Senior Circuit Judge Ruggero J. Aldisert concurred in part and dissented in part.
In an interesting passage that begins at page 21 of his opinion, Judge Aldisert explains that “Because this discussion has not often appeared in many judicial opinions, if any at all, I will summarize how the great change came about, a change in the nature of jurisprudence doctrine that our courts have now followed for almost 100 years, a change that was advocated by these great American masters.”
“Is a fetus a person? The Colorado Supreme Court may have to decide.” This lengthy article will appear in tomorrow’s edition of The Denver Westword.
Access online video of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s appearance on the Univision program, “Al punto, con Jorge Ramos”: The video segments are titled “Sonia Sotomayor del Bronx a la Corte Suprema“; “Las decisiones de la Jueza Sonia Sotomayor“; and “Juez Sotomayor orgullosa de ser latina.”
“Supreme Court won’t hear Bald Knob cross challenge”: The Southeast Missourian has this report.
And The Southern Illinoisan reports that “Atheist’s Cross of Peace lawsuit ends.”
“Michigan’s newest justice takes seat on Supreme Court”: The Detroit News has an update that begins, “Bridget Mary McCormack was sworn in as Michigan’s newest Supreme Court justice Wednesday afternoon in a festive and traditional investiture ceremony attended by family and friends. McCormack, who left a University of Michigan law professorship to join the state’s highest court, was the top vote-getter among candidates for two eight-year seats. She’s the only member of the court not to have served as a judge before her election.”
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas finishes his thought”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this news update.
“Reid, McConnell Close To Filibuster Reform Deal”: Sahil Kapur of TPM DC has this report.
And Thursday’s edition of The New York Times will contain an article headlined “Bipartisan Filibuster Deal Is Taking Shape in Senate.”
“FDA Won’t Appeal Free-Speech Marketing Decision”: The Wall Street Journal has this news update. You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.
“Misconceptions”: Linda Greenhouse has this post at the “Opinionator” blog of The New York Times.
“Justice and Prosperity”: Today’s edition of The New York Times contains an editorial that begins, “When Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. congratulated President Obama after he completed his oath of office on Monday, Americans heard the cordial, affirming voice that regularly fills the courtroom of the Supreme Court.”
“Aaron Swartz’s supporters hack MIT site again”: This article appears today in The Boston Globe.
Today’s edition of The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper, contains articles headlined “MIT DNS hacked; traffic redirected; Emails sent to KAIST, other traffic redirected to Harvard” and “MIT Aaron Swartz report to be released ‘in a few weeks.’” The second of those articles links to additional materials pertaining to MIT’s review of the events preceding Aaron Swartz’s suicide, which you can access here, here, and here.
Declan McCullagh of c|net reports that “MIT review into Aaron Swartz’s death complete in ‘a few weeks’; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under fire for its role in the felony prosecution of Internet activist who downloaded academic papers, elaborates on its ongoing internal probe.”
Clay Shirky has a blog post titled “Remembering Aaron by taking care of each other.”
At The Huffington Post, Gareth Price has a blog entry titled “Aaron Swartz: A Libertarian Dilemma,” while Justin Beach has a blog entry titled “Was Wikileaks the Root of Aaron Swartz’s Problems?”
MarketWatch columnist David Weidner has an essay titled “Aaron Swartz believed a wrong made a right; If he didn’t want to pick a fight, why bother at all?”
Peter Martin of The Sydney Morning Herald has an essay titled “Hacker’s suicide a warning to those seeking to punish copyright breaches; Harsh penalties for violating websites’ terms of service are hugely out of proportion.”
At Inside Higher Ed, Rob Weir has an essay titled “Free Comes with a Price Tag.”
In today’s edition of The Daily Reveille of Louisiana State University, David Scheuermann has an essay titled “In wake of Aaron Swartz’s death, professors should consider open access.”
And Electronic Frontier Foundation has a blog post titled “Part 2: EFF’s Additional Improvements to Aaron’s Law.”
“Yes, it was a joke by Supreme Court’s Thomas”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has this report.
My coverage from earlier today appears at this link.
Update: Elsewhere, Ariane de Vogue of ABC News has a blog post titled “Mystery Solved: Justice Clarence Thomas Cracked Joke About Harvard Law School.”
“GOP Senators Delay Hearing on D.C. Circuit Nominee”: At “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Todd Ruger has a post that begins, “Senate Republicans are holding up the nomination of Sri Srinivasan for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, saying they want to know more about his role in the abrupt settlement of a Fair Housing Act case a year ago.”
“Immigration fallout from saying no to ‘Obamacare'”: The Associated Press has this article reporting on “an unintended consequence of how last year’s Supreme Court decision changed the Medicaid provisions of President Barack Obama’s health care law.”
“Blogger contests ex-cheerleader’s libel suit”: The Associated Press has this report.
“Jury selection begins in Joan Orie Melvin corruption trial”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has this news update.
And Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a news update headlined “Seven jurors selected for Orie Melvin trial.”
What does an official U.S. Supreme Court oral argument transcript have in common with the Congressional Record (at least if you’re a Justice)? Apparently you can revise and extend your remarks. See page 42 of the newly revised official transcript of oral argument in Boyer v. Louisiana, No. 11-9953, to find the latest version of what Justice Clarence Thomas said after seven years of silence.
“U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor signs copies of her memoir in Houston”: Brenda Sapino Jeffreys has this post at the “Tex Parte Blog” of Texas Lawyer.
“Courts as Managers: American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock and Summary Disposition at the Roberts Court.” Alex Hemmer has this essay (available in both HTML and PDF) today at YLJ Online.
“Judge Arthur Gajarsa joins WilmerHale as senior counsel”: Reuters has this report.
“Former Michigan Supreme Court justice expected to plead guilty”: This article appears today in The Detroit News.
“Senate Democrats Moving Quickly on Judicial Nominees”: Todd Ruger has this post at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”
“can’t get enough of #scotus wandering out into the world. @kevinomccarthy’s portrait of badass Sam Alito.” Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a tweet linking to this photograph.
Unanimous three-judge Seventh Circuit panel declares unconstitutional a recent Indiana statute prohibiting most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites, instant messaging services, and chat programs: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in John Doe v. Prosecutor at this link.
Update: In early news coverage, The Indianapolis Star has a news update headlined “Court overturns Indiana ban on sex offenders using social networks.”
The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: Sex offender Facebook ban unconstitutional.”
Declan McCullagh of c|net reports that “Sex offenders have right to tweet, appeals court says.”
Tal Kopan of Politico.com has a blog post titled “Court upholds sex offenders’ right to social media.”
And Reuters reports that “Appeals court strikes down Indiana sex offender law.”
“At Supreme Court, Gay Marriage Foes Make Their Strongest Case Yet; With an eye to persuading Justice Kennedy, Prop 8’s supporters finally have laid out the best version of their argument”: Andrew Cohen has this essay online at The Atlantic.
Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor is reporting: He has articles headlined “‘Piracy’ at sea: Has definition changed? Supreme Court declines to enter fray” and “Did judge insert his religious views into case? Supreme Court refuses appeal.”
“Huguely files appeal for new trial”: Today’s edition of The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia contains an article that begins, “Attorneys representing convicted murderer George W. Huguely V are asking the Court of Appeals of Virginia to grant him a new trial, arguing that the former University of Virginia lacrosse player was denied his constitutional right to be represented by an attorney of his choosing, that the evidence didn’t support his conviction and citing what they call procedural errors.”
According to the article, “Washington-based attorney Paul D. Clement and attorney Craig S. Cooley, of Richmond, filed a 57-page petition for appeal Tuesday.”
The Baltimore Sun reports today that “Huguely petitions to appeal conviction in Yeardley Love death; Attorneys argue procedural missteps mean he should get new trial.”
ABC News reports that “UVa. Lacrosse Killer George Huguely Appeals for New Trial.”
And Bloomberg News reports that “Ex-UVA Lacrosse Player Seeks New Trial in Girlfriend Murder.”
“Innocence Project co-founder pushes scientific proof in law; Defense lawyer Barry Scheck spoke in honor of the 2012-2013 academic year theme, ‘Year of Proof'”: This article appears today in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
“Prop. 8 backers argue for states’ rights”: Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle.
And Jonathan Stempel of Reuters reports that “Supreme Court urged to support gay marriage limits.”
“Marijuana still a drug with no accepted medical use, court says; Appellate judges defer to federal health experts and side with the DEA”: David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times.
And Mike Scarcella of The National Law Journal reports that “D.C. Circuit snuffs challenge over marijuana classification.”
My earlier coverage of yesterday’s D.C. Circuit ruling appears at this link.
“Obama’s Promise To Close Guantanamo Prison Falls Short”: This audio segment appeared on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
“Supreme Commuter: Justice Is Swift — and in a Hurry.” Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke of The New York Observer has an article that begins, “If Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor has a fan club, you could have found its members on Saturday afternoon at El Museo del Barrio on Fifth Avenue and 104th Street.”
“Orie Melvin jury selection begins today”: In today’s edition of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Paula Reed Ward has an article that begins, “Jury selection begins this morning in the criminal case against suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin.”
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports today that “Trial to open in corruption case against Melvin and sister, former aide Orie.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Jury picking set for Pa. Justice Joan Orie Melvin.”
“Obama’s Gay-Rights Words Raise Advocate Hopes in Court”: Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report.
