How Appealing



Tuesday, July 9, 2019

“The Courts Still Don’t Understand Trump’s Twitter Feed; An appeals court ruling that says the president can’t block followers is actually bad for free speech”: Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

Posted at 9:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Gun manufacturers seek Indiana Supreme Court review of Gary gun violence lawsuit”: Dan Carden of The Times of Munster, Indiana has an article that begins, “The Indiana Supreme Court is being asked to overturn a May 23 Court of Appeals ruling that revived a long-running lawsuit seeking to hold numerous gun manufacturers responsible for the costs of 1990s gun violence in the city of Gary.”

Posted at 9:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Senate confirms Trump judicial nominee to California-based 9th Circuit”: Hailey Fuchs of The Washington Post has this report. As the article explains, “Bress was nominated to fill the vacancy left by Alex Kozinski, who resigned from the court in December 2017 amid allegations of sexual misconduct.”

You can access official roll call tally of the U.S. Senate, confirming Daniel Aaron Bress to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by a vote of 53-to-45, at this link.

Posted at 7:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals Court Seems Skeptical About Constitutionality of Obamacare Mandate; A three-judge panel heard 90 minutes of oral arguments in a closely watched case that threatens the health coverage of millions”: Abby Goodnough of The New York Times has this report.

Noam N. Levey of The Los Angeles Times reports that “Federal appeals court appears skeptical of Obamacare, putting future of law in doubt.”

And Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Appeals Court Questions Whether Health Law Should Remain in Place; Three-judge panel hears arguments on whether all of the ACA could be scrapped without coverage penalty.”

Posted at 5:56 PM by Howard Bashman



“Republican-appointed judges appear to side with Texas challenge to Obamacare”: Tami Luhby, Dan Berman, and Joan Biskupic of CNN have this report.

Posted at 5:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Republican federal appeals court appears determined to strike down Obamacare; The was no law in New Orleans today”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at ThinkProgress.

Posted at 4:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Can’t Block Critics From His Twitter Account, Appeals Court Rules; The decision may have broader implications for how the First Amendment applies to officials’ accounts in the social-media era”: Charlie Savage of The New York Times has this report.

Nicholas Wu of USA Today reports that “Federal appeals court rules Trump can’t block people on Twitter.”

Ronn Blitzer of Fox News reports that “Appeals court rules Trump violated First Amendment by blocking Twitter users.”

Kate Cox of Ars Technica reports that “Trump’s Twitter blocks violate First Amendment rights, appeals court affirms; The best response to criticism is ‘more speech, not less,’ court rules.”

And at the “THR, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter, Eriq Gardner has a post titled “Appeals Court: Trump’s Blocking of Twitter Users Is Unconstitutional; According to the 2nd Circuit, the First Amendment doesn’t allow public officials when using social media accounts for official purposes to exclude others in viewpoint discrimination.”

Posted at 1:07 PM by Howard Bashman



“President Trump cannot block his critics on Twitter, federal appeals court rules”: Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post has this report.

Corinne Ramey of The Wall Street Journal reports that “President Trump Can’t Block Twitter Users, Federal Appeals Court Rules; Court says the practice of blocking users violates free-speech protections.”

Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press has a report headlined “Federal court: Trump can’t ban critics from Twitter account.”

Jessica Schneider and Katelyn Polantz of CNN report that “Appeals court rules Trump can’t block users on Twitter.”

Jacqueline Thomsen of The Hill reports that “Appeals court rules Trump can’t block people on Twitter.”

And Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed News reports that “Trump Can’t Block People On Twitter He Disagrees With, A Federal Appeals Court Ruled; Because Trump uses his Twitter account for official purposes and creates a ‘public forum,’ he can’t exclude people based on their views, the 2nd Circuit ruled.”

You can access today’s ruling of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

Posted at 11:28 AM by Howard Bashman



“Two Reasons Why Title VII Bans Discrimination Based on Transgender Status”: Joshua Matz has this post at the “Take Care” blog.

Posted at 10:03 AM by Howard Bashman



“Plaintiffs seek to block Justice Department from changing lawyers in census citizenship case”: Felicia Sonmez and Matt Zapotosky of The Washington Post have this report.

Posted at 8:24 AM by Howard Bashman



“Obamacare in Jeopardy as Appeals Court Hears Case Backed by Trump; Millions could lose health coverage if a lower-court ruling striking down the law is upheld”: Abby Goodnough of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 8:22 AM by Howard Bashman



“Good Luck to Trump’s New Census Lawyers. They’re Going to Need It. To continue the fight, the Justice Department will have to stand up in court and say it was previously wrong about some aspect of the citizenship question.” Law professor Noah Feldman has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.

Posted at 8:20 AM by Howard Bashman



Monday, July 8, 2019

“Trump’s labor secretary under pressure again over the deal he cut with Jeffrey Epstein”: David Smiley and Alex Daugherty of The Miami Herald have this report.

Julie K. Brown of The Miami Herald has an article headlined “With Jeffrey Epstein locked up, these are nervous times for his friends, enablers.”

Online at The Daily Beast, Vicky Ward has an essay titled “I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003; When Vicky Ward profiled Jeffrey Epstein for Vanity Fair, allegations of his attempted seduction of two young sisters were excised from the final piece.”

And at his “Simple Justice” blog, Scott H. Greenfield has a post titled “Jeffrey Epstein Arrested; Constitution Tested.”

Posted at 9:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Attorneys for Michelle Carter ask US Supreme Court to review her conviction in suicide case”: Danny McDonald of The Boston Globe has this report.

Doha Madani of NBC News reports that “Michelle Carter, who encouraged boyfriend’s suicide, appeals to Supreme Court; Lawyers for Carter argued that her conviction violated her constitutional right to freedom of speech.”

Zack Budryk of The Hill reports that “Woman convicted for telling boyfriend to commit suicide appeals case to Supreme Court.”

And Tasneem Nashrulla of BuzzFeed News reports that “Michelle Carter, Who Encouraged Her Boyfriend To Kill Himself, Wants The Supreme Court To Review Her Case; Carter’s lawyers said her manslaughter conviction for urging Conrad Roy through text messages to kill himself violates her First Amendment right to free speech.”

You can view the petition for writ of certiorari at this link.

Posted at 9:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Lied to the Supreme Court, and Four Justices Don’t Care; The White House insisted allegations that it wanted to add a citizenship question to the survey for political reasons were conspiracy theories, right up until the moment the president confirmed them”: Adam Serwer of The Atlantic has this report.

Posted at 9:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“By adding justices to the Arizona Supreme Court, did Ducey help the state — or help himself?” Maria Polletta of The Arizona Republic has this report.

Posted at 8:53 PM by Howard Bashman



“Federal court backs atheists, wiccans in Florida discrimination suit”: Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.

Dave Berman of Florida Today reports that “Federal appeals court: Brevard policy on invocations at commission meetings is unconstitutional.”

Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has a report headlined “Florida county cannot ban invocations by atheists: U.S. appeals court.”

And Jim Saunders of The News Service of Florida reports that “Court rules Brevard prayer practice unconstitutional.”

My earlier coverage of today’s Eleventh Circuit ruling can be accessed here.

Posted at 8:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Barr Sees a Path to Legally Add Census Citizenship Question; Attorney general doesn’t explain how the Trump administration will get around high court ruling”: Sadie Gurman and Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Posted at 8:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“New York City Asks Supreme Court to Drop Gun Case; Request comes after city loosens restrictions on transporting firearms”: Corinne Ramey and Jess Bravin of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Posted at 8:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“Affordable Care Act threatened as Trump administration, GOP states fight US House, Democratic states in court”: Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.

Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Hopes to Stem Tide of Legal Setbacks on Health Care; A hearing this week on a lawsuit to topple the Affordable Care Act is the latest test.”

Tom Howell Jr. of The Washington Times reports that “Democrats go on offense ahead of Obamacare showdown; Revive midterm strategy as health lawsuit, 2020 campaign heat up.”

Chuck Lindell of The Austin American-Statesman has an article headlined “In court, it’s red Texas vs. blue California for future of Obamacare.”

David Reich-Hale of Newsday reports that “Court battle over Affordable Care Act could affect millions of New Yorkers.”

Lydia Davenport and Laurel Brubaker Calkins of Bloomberg News report that “Obamacare’s Survival May Hinge on Some Technical Legal Questions.”

Joan Biskupic of CNN reports that “Affordable Care Act gears up for momentous test in court.”

Paul Demko of Politico reports that “Long-shot legal challenge could end Obamacare during the 2020 campaign; The lawsuit could jeopardize health care coverage for more than 20 million people insured through the 2010 health care law.”

Mary Ellen McIntire of Roll Call reports that “High-stakes lawsuit makes health care law a 2020 issue; Court hearing comes as Democrats have been debating their next steps beyond the 2010 law.”

Emma Platoff and Edgar Walters of The Texas Tribune report that “Texas is going to court to end Obamacare. It hasn’t produced a plan to replace it.”

And in commentary, The Washington Post has published an editorial titled “It’s time for an appeals court to right the ship on Obamacare.”

Posted at 8:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Fate of the Lemon Test: D.O.A. or Barely Surviving?” David L. Hudson Jr. has this essay online at the Freedom Forum Institute.

Posted at 7:52 PM by Howard Bashman