How Appealing



Tuesday, January 8, 2019

“Why Men Find the New Congresswomen So Frightening: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib aren’t just radicals — they also have institutional power.” Online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has an essay that begins, “There’s an extraordinary scene in the new Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic, On the Basis of Sex, in which crusading civil rights attorney Ginsburg takes her rebellious teenage daughter Jane to a rundown street somewhere in Manhattan sometime in the ’70s to meet with civil rights attorney Dorothy Kenyon . . . .”

Posted at 5:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Stays Out of Secret Case That May Be Part of Mueller Probe”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

And Robert Barnes, Devlin Barrett, and Carol D. Leonnig of The Washington Post report that “Supreme Court rules against mystery corporation from ‘Country A’ fighting subpoena in Mueller investigation.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Supreme Court at this link.

Update: The D.C. Circuit this afternoon issued this redacted opinion setting forth the reasons why that court affirmed the contempt order that is now the subject of challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Posted at 3:38 PM by Howard Bashman



Unanimous Ninth Circuit panel holds that federal statute prohibiting the possession of firearms by an alien unlawfully present in the United States withstands constitutional scrutiny and is a valid exercise of Congress’s authority: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

The panel reached that holding despite assuming that the Second Amendment affords rights to unlawful aliens. A footnote to the listing of the judges who decided the appeal notes that former Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski was originally a member of the three-judge panel that heard oral argument of the appeal. You can view the oral argument, which occurred December 12, 2016, on YouTube via this link.

Posted at 2:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“In His First Supreme Court Opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh Favors Arbitration”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Richard Wolf of USA Today reports that “Brett Kavanaugh issues first Supreme Court opinion, in unanimous arbitration case.”

Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times reports that “Justice Kavanaugh writes first opinion; case deals with arbitration.”

And Lydia Wheeler of The Hill reports that “Kavanaugh issues first opinion at Supreme Court.”

Posted at 1:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Kavanaugh will soon reveal his willingness to take on abortion cases”: Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 1:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ruth Bader Ginsburg absent from Supreme Court bench for second day in a row”: Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole of CNN have this report.

Posted at 1:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“National Emergency Powers and Trump’s Border Wall, Explained”: Charlie Savage has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

In today’s edition of The Washington Post, Robert Costa and Philip Rucker have an article headlined “Trump aides lay foundation for emergency order to build wall, saying border is in ‘crisis.’” And Paul Sonne has an article headlined “To build border wall as a national emergency, Trump would need to tap existing military budget.”

In today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times, Kurtis Lee has an article headlined “Trump has threatened to declare a national emergency to get his border wall — but will that work?

Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal has an article headlined “Can Trump Build a Wall Under a National Emergency? A move by Trump to build a border wall might survive court challenges, but Congress could take steps to defund it.”

William Cummings and John Fritze of USA Today have an article headlined “President Trump could declare a national emergency. But would that get him funds for a wall?

David Sherfinski of The Washington Times has an article headlined “House Majority Leader Hoyer: Trump lacks authority to use emergency powers to build wall.”

And at the “Lawfare” blog, Margaret Taylor has a post titled “Declaring an Emergency to Build a Border Wall: The Statutory Arguments.”

Posted at 12:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“How Cities Make Money by Fining the Poor: In many parts of America, like Corinth, Miss., judges are locking up defendants who can’t pay — sometimes for months at a time.” Matthew Shaer will have this article in this upcoming Sunday’s issue of The New York Times Magazine.

Posted at 11:50 AM by Howard Bashman



Access today’s rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court in argued cases: The Court today issued decisions in two argued cases.

1. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., No. 17-1272. You can access the oral argument via this link.

2. And Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court in Culbertson v. Berryhill, No. 17-773. You can access the oral argument via this link.

Posted at 10:03 AM by Howard Bashman



“Johnnie Lee Savory’s civil suit thrown out in Chicago’s federal court”: Back in December 2017, Andy Kravetz of The Peoria (Ill.) Journal Star had an article that begins, “A federal judge last week threw out a lawsuit filed by Johnnie L. Savory, saying the former Peoria man’s claims of ‘malicious prosecution’ 40 years ago in the wake of a double murder were barred by the statute of limitations.”

Yesterday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued this decision reversing the district court’s dismissal of the suit as untimely.

Posted at 8:33 AM by Howard Bashman