On the agenda: Next week, on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 1:30 p.m., I will be arguing a criminal appeal before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a case that previously received some news coverage. You can access my client’s brief for appellant (minus 80 pages of attachments) at this link and his reply brief for appellant at this link. Substantial portions of the opening brief for appellant reflect the research and writing work of my client’s prior counsel, Peter Goldberger, Amy Adelson, and Nathan Dershowitz.
And on Wednesday, January 21 at noon, I will be at the National Constitution Center to attend a presentation by Second Circuit Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann on interpreting the law of Congress. After his talk, Chief Judge Katzmann will be signing copies of his new book — “Judging Statutes” — which will be available for purchase.
“Judicial Discipline Evidence Hearing Set for Alabama Judge Arrested for Domestic Abuse”: Alyson Palmer of the Daily Report of Fulton County, Georgia has this article today.
You can freely access the full text of the article via Google News.
“Supreme Court Will Hear Four Cases Challenging Same-Sex Marriage Ban; A decision in the case, expected by late June, could lead to the end of such bans across the country”: Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed has this report.
You can access today’s Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link. The Court’s grant of review in the same-sex marriage cases is limited to two questions:
1) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? 2) Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?
The same-sex marriage cases have been allocated 90 minutes for oral argument on question one and 60 minutes for oral argument on question two.
The Court also granted review in four cases other than the same-sex marriage cases.
In other coverage, Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “High court to hear gay marriage cases in April.”
Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Gay Marriage Gets U.S. Supreme Court Review in Landmark Case.”
Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Supreme Court agrees to rule on gay marriage.”
And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Court will rule on same-sex marriage.”
“This Badass Tattoo Takes Ruth Bader Ginsburg Fandom To New Levels”: Ashley Alman of The Huffington Post has this report today.
“Did Paul Ryan Undermine The SCOTUS Case To Topple Obamacare?” Sahil Kapur of TPM DC has this report today.
“Justices must act fast if gay marriage to be settled in June”: Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report.
Programming note: This morning I will be visiting an incarcerated client in federal prison as part of my preparations to argue his appeal next Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. This afternoon, I will provide links to my client’s appellate briefs in the case, which presents a number of interesting issues.
Additional posts will appear here this afternoon.
“Oklahoma executes Charles Warner in 20-minute procedure; state says no complications; The killer of an infant girl complains about burning sensation before the lethal drugs are administered”: The Tulsa World has this report.
The Oklahoman reports that “Oklahoma killer executed for death of infant girl; Charles Frederick Warner, 47, was put to death Thursday for raping and killing 11-month-old Adriana Waller in 1997.”
In today’s edition of The New York Times, Erik Eckholm has an article headlined “Oklahoma Executes First Inmate Since Slipshod Injection in April.”
Richard Wolf and Gregg Zoroya of USA Today report that “Oklahoma executes man after justices deny stay.”
In today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin and Nathan Koppel have an article headlined “Oklahoma Carries Out First Execution Since April’s Botched Lethal Injection; Supreme Court Declines to Halt Execution of Charles Warner for Killing an 11-Month-Old Girl.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google.
The Associated Press reports that “Inmate shows no obvious distress in Oklahoma execution.”
Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News reports that “Oklahoma Lethal Injections Allowed by U.S. Supreme Court.”
Reuters reports that “Supreme Court allows Oklahoma to proceed with execution.”
And at “SCOTUSblog,” Lyle Denniston has a post titled “Oklahoma executions allowed to resume.”
You can access yesterday evening’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court denying a stay, and the dissent therefrom, at this link.
“Virginia Supreme Court won’t rehear Huguely appeal”: The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia has this report.
And The Associated Press reports that “Va. Supreme Court declines to hear Huguley appeal.”
“A Nightmare of False Accusation That Could Happen to You: If you are called a criminal in a lawsuit to which you aren’t a party, you may have no legal recourse to defend yourself.” Alan M. Dershowitz had this op-ed in yesterday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
You can freely access the full text of the op-ed via Google.
“Justice Alito accepts an award that honors a colleague”: Chris Mondics will have this article in Friday’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
And in Friday’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Saranac Hale Spencer will have an article headlined “Alito, Accepting Becker Award, Lauds Third Circuit Icon.” You can freely access the full text of the article via Google.
“In Philadelphia, Alito Reminisces About Influential Appeals Judge”: Tony Mauro has this post today at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.”
You can freely access the full text of the post via Google.
“Michigan couple poised to make gay marriage history”: Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.
“The Supreme Court Is Likely To Set Up The Same-Sex Marriage Showdown On Friday”: Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed has this report.
“The City of San Jose steps up to the plate to challenge the baseball industry’s 92-year old exemption from the antitrust laws.” So begins an opinion that Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski issued today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Judge Kozinski’s opinion concludes:
Like Casey, San Jose has struck out here. The scope of the Supreme Court’s holding in Flood plainly extends to questions of franchise relocation. San Jose is, at bottom, asking us to deem Flood wrongly decided, and that we cannot do. Only Congress and the Supreme Court are empowered to question Flood‘s continued vitality, and with it, the fate of baseball’s singular and historic exemption from the antitrust laws
In early news coverage, Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has an update headlined “San Jose v. MLB: appeals court rejects city’s antitrust case over A’s move.”
“Judge tells state to recognize 300 same-sex marriages”: The Detroit Free Press has this news update.
The Detroit News has an update headlined “Judge: Michigan must recognize 300 same-sex marriages.”
MLive.com has a report headlined “Judge: Michigan must recognize marriages of same-sex who wed on day it was legal.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Judge: Michigan must recognize 300-plus gay marriages.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at this link.
“Why Obama Should Pardon Don Siegelman”: Jeffrey Toobin has this post online at The New Yorker.
“Porn publisher pushes to join suit to reveal Missouri execution process”: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has this report.
St. Louis Public Radio reports that “Larry Flynt Seeks Records In Missouri Execution Case.”
The Associated Press reports that “News groups back Larry Flynt’s push for execution info.”
And Courthouse News Service reports that “Media Ask 8th Circuit to Unseal Documents on Missouri Execution.”
You can access at this link the audio of yesterday’s oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
“Muhammad Sculpture Inside Supreme Court a Gesture of Goodwill”: Jacob Gershman had this post yesterday at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog.”
“Oklahoma to resume executions after 9-month delay”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, “After a nearly nine-month delay prompted by a botched lethal injection last spring, Oklahoma plans to execute a death row inmate Thursday with the same three-drug method Florida intends to use about an hour earlier.”
“Supreme Court Weighs Power of Bankruptcy Judges”: Sara Randazzo has this post at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog.”
You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Wellness Int’l Network Ltd. v. Sharif, No. 13-935.
“Justices parse federal, state laws in drug case that led to man’s deportation”: Robert Barnes will have this article in Thursday’s edition of The Washington Post.
Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Justices sock Obama administration on drug deportations.”
Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “Justices sympathetic to man deported for minor drug crime.”
On this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Nina Totenberg had an audio segment titled “Supreme Court Considers Whether A Sock Is Drug Paraphernalia.”
And online at Bloomberg View, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “How a Sock Could Lead to Deportation.”
You can access at this link the transcript of today’s U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Mellouli v. Holder, No. 13-1034.
“A flood seeks Pa. top court seats”: Amy Worden and Thomas Fitzgerald have this front page article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Cleveland’s ‘jock tax’ argued before Ohio Supreme Court”: The Cleveland Plain Dealer has this news update.
And The Associated Press reports that “Court weighs Ohio’s taxation of out-of-town athletes.”
You can view the video of today’s oral argument in the Supreme Court of Ohio at this link.
“United, American owe World Trade Center developer billions: lawyer.” Reuters has a report that begins, “The developer rebuilding the World Trade Center in New York told a federal appeals court on Wednesday that he is entitled to recoup billions of dollars from two airline companies, even though he has already collected $4 billion in insurance money for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that destroyed the site.”
“Certiorari and the Marriage Equality Cases”: Law professor Carl Tobias has this short article (also available in PDF) online today at the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform.
“Supreme Court sides with company in cell tower dispute”: Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.
And Lawrence Hurley of Reuters reports that “U.S. top court rules for T-Mobile in cellphone tower dispute.”
“State: Court should deny appeal of man at center of ‘Serial.'” The Associated Press has this report.
“Citigroup loses appeal over Abu Dhabi fund’s arbitration”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.
“Prison Visitation Ban May Have Been Unfair”: Back in January 2014, Courthouse News Service had a report that begins, “Public criticism may have led prison officials to suspend the visitation privileges of a woman married to a Georgia inmate, a federal judge ruled.” You can access last January’s ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia at this link.
Yesterday, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision in which all three of the judges wrote separately. The majority held that the prison officials were entitled to qualified immunity on all of the plaintiff’s claims. The majority consisted of two judges sitting by designation, one of whom called for a reexamination of an aspect of the Eleventh Circuit’s qualified immunity jurisprudence. Circuit Judge Beverly B. Martin issued a dissenting opinion. Under these circumstances, this case would seem to have a better than ordinary chance of obtaining rehearing en banc should plaintiff seek that form of further review.
“Tough Attorney General Pick Loretta Lynch Vies For Senate Confirmation”: Carrie Johnson had this audio segment on today’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
“View from the courtroom: Justice Scalia, a bit late to the stage.” Mark Walsh had this post yesterday at “SCOTUSblog.”
“The End of ‘Disparate Impact’? The third time could be the charm for the Supreme Court to throw it out.” Hans A. von Spakovsky and Elizabeth Slattery have this essay at National Review Online.
“Lawyer asks court to toss Kwame Kilpatrick’s conviction”: The Detroit Free Press has this report.
“Supreme Court Seeks Compromise on Equality Cases”: Adam Liptak has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.
And in today’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes has an article headlined “Justices push back on whether judicial review is needed.”
