Mass media icon — Who? Me? Owen Gleiberman of Variety has a movie review headlined “‘Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words’: Film Review; The Supreme Court justice offers a monologue of self-justification in a talking-head memoir that’s revealing even when it doesn’t want to be.”
Gary Goldstein of The Los Angeles Times has a movie review headlined “‘Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words’ tells one story — his.”
And online at The Washington Times, Rebecca Hagelin has an essay titled “Justice Clarence Thomas documentary shows keys to overcoming adversity.”
“Justice Thomas: Judges aren’t ‘mass media icons,’ should uphold the law.” Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report. (One wonders to whom could he be referring?)
Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that “‘Rule Of Law’ Honored At Dedication Of Nathan Deal Judicial Center.”
And Katheryn Tucker of the Fulton County Daily Report has an article headlined “Justice Thomas at Georgia Courthouse Dedication: ‘We are Not Mass Media Icons. We Are Judges.’“
“Texas asks Supreme Court to repeal California’s multistate travel ban”: Morgan Phillips of Fox News has this report.
“Senate Republicans confirm Trump’s 51st federal appeals court judge; McConnell: ‘My motto for the year is “leave no vacancy behind.”‘” Alex Swoyer of The Washington Times has this report.
Tia Mitchell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “Despite criticism, Senate confirms Trump appointee to appellate court.”
Howard Koplowitz of Alabama Media Group reports that “Senate confirms Alabama Judge Andrew Brasher for federal appeals court post.”
Madison Alder of Bloomberg Law reports that “Trump Pick Confirmed, Boosts 11th Cir. Conservative Lean.”
And Tim Ryan of Courthouse News Service reports that “Former Alabama Official Confirmed to Seat on 11th Circuit.”
Today, the U.S. Senate confirmed U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Brasher (M.D. Ala.) to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit by a vote of 52-to-43.
When Judge Brasher joins the Eleventh Circuit, that court’s current Chief Judge — Ed Carnes — will take senior status. As a result, the Eleventh Circuit will have a new chief judge — William H. Pryor Jr.
“Upcoming Supreme Court cases put private schools’ ‘ministerial exception’ in spotlight”: Christopher Vondracek of The Washington Times has this report.
“Pete Rose Has Done His Time; He should be allowed back into baseball and be eligible for the Hall of Fame”: Law professors Evan Caminker and Erwin Chemerinsky have this essay online at The New York Times.
“Barr takes control of legal matters of interest to Trump, including Stone sentencing; Barr’s intervention in Roger Stone’s case wasn’t the first time senior political appointees reached into a case involving an ex-Trump aide, officials say”: Carol E. Lee, Ken Dilanian, and Peter Alexander of NBC News have this report.
Aruna Viswanatha and Byron Tau of The Wall Street Journal report that “Prosecutors Quit Roger Stone Case After Justice Department Seeks Less Prison Time; Moves come after Trump criticized the initial sentence recommendation; Democrats see improper influence by president.”
Philip Rucker and Paul Kane of The Washington Post report that “Trump escalates campaign of retribution as Republican senators shrug.”
And online at Bloomberg Opinion, law professor Noah Feldman has an essay titled “Trump Has Hijacked Roger Stone’s Sentencing; The president would like some leniency for the man who lied for him.”
“Major Tax Case for Tech Giants Reaches Supreme Court”: Aysha Bagchi of Bloomberg Tax has this report.
“The Private Jim Crow: Lawful Discrimination by Public Businesses.” Law professor Suja A. Thomas has posted this article on SSRN.
“Prosecutors quit amid escalating Justice Dept. fight over Roger Stone’s prison term”: Matt Zapotosky, Devlin Barrett, Ann E. Marimow, and Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post have an article that begins, “All four career prosecutors handling the case against Roger Stone, a confidant of President Trump, asked to withdraw from the legal proceedings Tuesday — and one quit his job entirely — after the Justice Department signaled it planned to reduce their sentencing recommendation for the president’s friend.”
And Josh Gerstein and Daniel Lippman of Politico report that “Three prosecutors exit Roger Stone case after DOJ shifts to urge lighter sentence; The moves come as Trump has expressed his displeasure with the proposed 7-to-9 year prison term for his longtime adviser.”
“Nathan Deal Judicial Center Dedication Ceremony”: You can view the ceremony on YouTube via this link.
In news coverage, Beau Evans of the Capitol Beat News Service reports that “Clarence Thomas christens new Georgia courts building.” You can directly access the video of Justice Thomas’s remarks via this link.
“The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment could lead to an Article V Constitutional Convention; If states cannot rescind their ratification proposals, then 2/3 of the states may have already voted to call an Article V Constitutional Convention for the Balanced Budget Amendment”: Josh Blackman has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
“NFL Asks Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could Shake Up Live Sports Telecasting; In a cert petition, the league says that broadcasts of games depend on cooperation — and that the Ninth Circuit discounted this when reviving an antitrust lawsuit over ‘Sunday Ticket'”: Eriq Gardner has this post at the “THR, Esq.” blog of The Hollywood Reporter. You can access the cert. petition at this link.
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg probably just dealt a fatal blow to the Equal Rights Amendment; A half-century-long fight for equality is likely at an end”: Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“Justice Ginsburg calls for renewed effort to pass Equal Rights Amendment”: Mark Walsh has this report online at ABA Journal.
“Bernie Sanders’s radical plan to fix the Supreme Court — One possible version: What if the Court had 188 justices?” Ian Millhiser has this essay online at Vox.
“Chief Judge Succession”: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued this news release today.
And yesterday, the U.S. Courts for the District of Columbia issued a news release titled “Chief Judges Announce Adoption of New Employment Dispute Resolution Plans.”
“Judge who sealed documents relating to her home in beach community gets reversed by Appellate Court”: Jon Lender of The Hartford Courant has this report on a matter that may be familiar to readers of “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
“The U.S. Military Is Not Ready for a Constitutional Crisis: When I joined the navy, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution; But not once, in all of my training, did I receive meaningful instruction on the document to which I had pledged my life.” Ken Harbaugh has this essay online at The Atlantic.
“The Supreme Court’s Enduring Bias: Over the past half century, siding with the powerful against the vulnerable has been the rule in almost every area of the law.” Michael O’Donnell has this review of Adam Cohen’s new book, “Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America,” in the March 2020 issue of The Atlantic. The book’s official on-sale date is February 25, 2020.
“Blue States Create Hurdle for Trump’s 2020 Judicial Appointments”: Madison Alder of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“A conversation with Judge Douglas Ginsburg”: William Baude has this post at “Summary, Judgment.”
The National Archives has posted on YouTube at this link Baude’s interview with Senior D.C. Circuit Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg about Ginsburg’s foray into television titled “A More or Less Perfect Union.”
“A Win for Equal Pay: The Third Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds A Law Designed to Address Wage Gap.” Law professor Joanna L. Grossman has this essay online at Justia’s Verdict.
“Why Clerkship Plans Have Failed”: Adam Chilton has this post at “Summary, Judgment.”
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg says deadline to ratify Equal Rights Amendment has expired: ‘I’d like it to start over.'” Ariane de Vogue of CNN has this report.
And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has a post titled “Justice Ginsburg maintains her position that the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment has passed; Litigation concerning the ratification of the ERA is pending in federal court in Alabama, Massachusetts, and D.C.”
You can view the video of Justice Ginsburg’s Georgetown Law appearance yesterday evening via this link.
“In a first, court says a state must provide gender-confirmation surgery to inmate”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.
Peter Hayes of Bloomberg Law reports that “Ruling Recognizing Inmate’s Right to Gender Confirmation Stands.”
And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman has a post titled “Judge Bumatay’s Originalist Eighth Amendment dissent from denial of rehearing en banc.”
You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the statement disagreeing and dissents therefrom, at this link.
“Texas asks U.S. Supreme Court to end California law banning state-funded travel; After Texas passed a law in 2017 allowing foster care agencies to cite sincerely held religious beliefs to deny placements to gay couples, California banned state-funded travel to the Lone Star State”: Emma Platoff of The Texas Tribune has this report.
You can access at this link the filing that the State of Texas has made in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Update: At “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Josh Blackman examines the suit in a post titled “Texas Challenges California’s Interstate ‘Travel Ban’ in the Supreme Court’s Original Jurisdiction; The suit alleges violations of the Dormant Commerce Clause, the Privileges and Immunities Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause.”
“Confirmation likely for Trump pick for U.S. appellate court in Atlanta”: Tia Mitchell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an article that begins, “Despite opposition from a coalition of civil rights groups, U.S. District Judge Andrew Brasher is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate for an appointment to the federal appellate court for three Southern states, including Georgia.”
And Mike Cason of Alabama Media Group reports that “Alabama NAACP, others oppose Trump nominee to federal appeals court.”
“The Role of Originalism in Torres v. Madrid: Some preliminary thoughts on a fascinating case.” Orin S. Kerr has this post at “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
“Trump Administration Makes It Harder To Grant Relief To Torture Victims”: Elizabeth Troval had this audio segment on this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
“Searching for Equality: The 19th Amendment and Beyond.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is speaking with Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown at this Georgetown Law event, streaming live on Facebook.
On the “How Appealing” music rotation: Apropos of nothing, it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned what’s on the music rotation.
Here goes: Absofacto’s “Dissolve” live at SXSW (featuring birds tweeting away in the background); Coldplay’s “Orphans” (the official video is also something to behold); SHAED performing “Trampoline” at Paste Studios in NYC; Meg Myers “Running Up That Hill” behind the scenes video; Highly Suspect’s “16“; and YUNGBLUD, Halsey ft. Travis Barker “11 Minutes.”
“A Proposal for a New Federal Clerkship Hiring Plan (When The Current One Collapses)”: William Baude has this post at “Summary, Judgment.”
“Trump is right. We might have to impeach him again.” George T. Conway III has this essay online at The Washington Post.
“The Supreme Court procrastinates: No decision now on a baseless challenge to the Affordable Care Act.” Henry J. Aaron has this essay online at The Brookings Institution.
