“Court panel overturns dismissal of Charlottesville panhandling suit”: The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia has a news update that begins, “Five homeless men who challenged a Charlottesville ordinance prohibiting panhandling along part of the Downtown Mall will have their day in court after all, a federal appeals panel ruled Thursday.”
You can access today’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at this link.
“U.S. attorney: Criticism of Aaron Swartz prosecution is ‘unfair’; Carmen Ortiz, who previously compared the late Internet activist to a common criminal, tells a Boston radio station that charges of overzealousness by her office are ‘unfair.'” Declan McCullagh of c|net has this report.
“Georgia rushes to carry out executions before lethal drug supply expires; State’s entire supply of pentobarbital runs out on March 1 with Georgia seeking permission from courts to block legal delays”: The Guardian (UK) has this report.
“Prop. 8 Supreme Court: Gay Marriage Supporters Want Obama To Weigh In.” Ryan J. Reilly of The Huffington Post has this report.
“Sandusky attorney Joe Amendola appealing to Superior Court for new trial”: The Centre Daily Times of State College, Pennsylvania has this news update.
“Anticipating Patentable Subject Matter”: Stanford Law Review Online has today posted an essay (available in PDF and HTML) written by law professor Dan L. Burk addressing the question “Are human genes patentable?”
“Pryor Cashman wins trademark suit over the movie ’50/50′”: Erin Geiger Smith of Reuters has this report on a ruling that Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
“The Lawfulness of Section 5 — and Thus of Section 5”: Law professor Akhil Reed Amar has this article (available in PDF and HTML) at Harvard Law Review’s online Forum.
“Morning-After Pills Don’t Cause Abortion, Studies Say”: This audio segment appeared on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
“Two new camera-shy Supreme Court justices”: Michael McGough has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.
“Harvard Law Review Expands Affirmative Action Program to Include Gender”: Orin Kerr has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
And at “walshslaw,” Kevin C. Walsh has a post titled “What is Harvard Law Review’s new gender-based affirmative-action membership policy?”
My coverage from earlier today can be accessed here.
“Victim in SCOTUS generics case has powerful amici: Harkin and Waxman.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report.
“U.S. oil, food groups petition Supreme Court over ethanol blend”: Reuters has this report.
“Judge: No sleepover but lawyers can spend 12 hours in Guantanamo’s secret prison.” Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has this report.
And Reuters reports that “Guantanamo lawyers can visit top-secret cells, judge says.”
“After Scalia: Don’t give up on campaign finance reform, however hopeless it seems now.” Law professor Richard L. Hasen — author of the “Election Law Blog” — has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
“Judge’s Use of Electronic Social Networking Media”: The American Bar Association issued Formal Opinion 462 today.
“All-out assault on Proposition 8”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Gay couples ask high court for marriage equality.”
Update: Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has a report headlined “Proposition 8 challenge: Same-sex marriage advocates urge U.S. Supreme Court to strike down California’s gay marriage ban.”
“Melvin guilty of six of seven counts”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a news update that begins, “An Allegheny County jury on Thursday convicted suspended Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin on six counts for misusing state-paid employees to campaign for a seat on the high court in 2003 and 2009. Although the jury acquitted her of one count, Melvin, 56, will likely be stripped of her seat on the state’s highest court, and will likely lose her pension.”
And Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a news update headlined “Jury finds Orie Melvin guilty on all but one count.”
The Wikipedia entry for the last Pa. Supreme Court Justice convicted of a crime indicates that official removal from judicial office will not occur until sentencing. Moreover, removal from office may not take effect immediately if the conviction is appealed. According to Wikipedia, former Justice Rolf Larsen’s impeachment conviction occurred nearly six months after the jury returned a guilty verdict in his case.
Update: In other coverage, The Associated Press reports that “Guilty on all but 1 count for Justice Melvin.”
“Melvin jury says it has a verdict, is being brought back into the courtroom”: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has this news update.
Update: Via Twitter, Mark Scolforo of The Associated Press reports that “Jury has verdict on all but 1 count in corruption trial of Pa. Justice Joan Orie Melvin.”
Further update: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s trial reporter, via Twitter, is reporting that “Melvin guilty on all counts, jury hung on one. Orie guilty on all.”
“Harvard Law Review Expands Affirmative Action”: Today’s edition of The Harvard Crimson contains an article that begins, “The Harvard Law Review, which has historically been staffed by disproportionately more men than women, has expanded its affirmative action policy to include gender as a criteria in its editor selection process.”
“SCOTUS won’t lift stay of execution for Ga. inmate”: The Associated Press has this report.
“Judges learn it’s human to have feelings on bench”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.
“Can They Patent Your Genes?” Professor Daniel J. Kevles has this article in the March 7, 2013 issue of The New York Review of Books.
Access online the merits Brief for Respondents filed today in the U.S. Supreme Court in the Proposition 8 same-sex marriage case: You can access the brief at this link.
“Jury deliberating Orie Melvin public corruption case ‘close’ to verdict”: Paula Reed Ward of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this news update.
Although I am reluctant to speculate on a verdict based on a jury’s question to the court, this morning’s question from the jury, as described in the article linked above, would not seem to portend an acquittal on all charges for Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin.
Update: In other coverage, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that “Melvin jury says it is close to a verdict.”
“Andre Thomas: The Mentally Ill, From Asylums to Jails.” Part two of Brandi Grissom’s six-part series “Trouble in Mind” appears online at this link at The Texas Tribune. My earlier coverage of the series can be accessed here.
“The case for the Voting Rights Act isn’t made with exaggerations”: Columnist Linda P. Campbell has this op-ed today in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“McCutcheon case could give Citizens United a run for its money in Supreme Court”: T.W. Farnam has this article today in The Washington Post.
“Judge Pauline Newman ’58 honored by NYU Law Women as Alumna of the Year”: New York University School of Law has issued this news release, which provides access to video of the event.
“Top court unlikely to decide conditional sale issue in Monsanto case”: Lawrence Hurley of Reuters has this news analysis.
“Why Clarence Thomas Uses Simple Words in His Opinions; The law ought to be accessible to the average person, he argued during a recent appearance at Harvard”: Conor Friedersdorf has this essay online at The Atlantic.
“Constitution Check: Do states have the power to block new federal gun controls?” Lyle Denniston has this post today at the “Constitution Daily” blog of the National Constitution Center.
“Who Will Mind the Drones?” Neal K. Katyal has this op-ed today in The New York Times.
“Easton Area School District hopes judges in ‘Boobies’ case clarify educators’ power to limit speech”: In today’s edition of The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Peter Hall has this article reporting on yesterday’s reargument en banc in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Yesterday afternoon, I had this post linking to additional news coverage and the audio of yesterday’s oral argument.
Update: At the “School Law” blog of Education Week, Mark Walsh has a post titled “‘Boobies’ Wristbands in Schools Weighed by Full Appeals Court.”
“When solitude is torture”: Columnist George F. Will has this op-ed in The Washington Post.
