How Appealing



Wednesday, December 16, 2020

“Pa. Supreme Court dismisses petition seeking to remove DA’s Office from handling Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeals”: Julie Shaw of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

And Matt Miller of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania reports that “Pa. Supreme Court rejects plea by murdered cop’s widow to oust Philly DA’s office from Mumia Abu-Jamal case.”

Today’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania consists of a per curiam order, two concurring statements (here and here), and a dissenting statement.

Posted at 8:57 PM by Howard Bashman



“Despite recent federal flurry, number of U.S. executions is lowest since 1991; The number of death sentences imposed in 2020 reaches all-time low”: Tom Jackman and Mark Berman of The Washington Post have this report.

Posted at 8:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“Covid restrictions on religious institutions were discriminatory. The Supreme Court did its job. Churches, synagogues and mosques didn’t ask to receive special treatment, only that they not be dismissed as less essential, and treated worse, than liquor stores.” Rabbi Avi Shafran has this essay online at NBC News.

Posted at 7:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“University of San Diego appoints prominent Emory scholar dean of its law school; Robert Schapiro, an expert on the Supreme Court and federalism, will begin work in January”: Gary Robbins of The San Diego Union-Tribune has this report.

Posted at 6:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Patterson Belknap Launches New Podcast Exploring Legal Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg”: Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP issued this news release yesterday. You can access the audio of the first three episodes of the podcast — titled “Notorious: The Legal Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg” — via this link.

Posted at 5:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Progressive Groups Urge Biden to Move Quickly on Diverse Slate of Judges; The president-elect faces pressure to install a diverse group of progressives in the courts, but the prospect of a Republican-controlled Senate looms as an obstacle”: Carl Hulse had this article in Saturday’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 2:05 PM by Howard Bashman



“Campaign check: Loeffler says Warnock will ‘pack’ Supreme Court.” Henri Hollis of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this report.

Posted at 1:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“New Supreme Court filing includes blatantly wrong information about Michigan”: Dave Boucher of The Detroit Free Press has a report that begins, “A longshot legal effort relying on conspiracy theories and inaccurate analyses to argue President Donald Trump actually won Michigan included additional blatantly false information in a new filing with the U.S. Supreme Court this week.”

Posted at 1:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Wisconsin Supreme Court Was One Vote Away From Flipping the State to Trump”: Ed Kilgore has this post at the “Intelligencer” blog of New York Magazine.

Posted at 1:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court reverses order on pandemic restrictions at Nevada churches”: David Ferrara has this front page article in today’s edition of The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Scott Sonner of The Associated Press reports that “Appeals court rules against Nevada cap on church attendance.”

And Nicholas Iovino of Courthouse News Service reports that “Ninth Circuit Blocks Covid Capacity Limits on Nevada Churches.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

Posted at 10:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Trump’s election lawyers must be investigated; Licensing authorities within each state have the authority to examine attorney misconduct”: Scott Harsbarger, Lauren Stiller Rikleen, and Dennis Aftergut have this op-ed in today’s edition of The Boston Globe.

Posted at 9:46 AM by Howard Bashman



“Mass. Court Weighs Ban on Secret Recordings of Public Officials; Free speech groups argue that the Bay State’s law is out of step with national norms in an era where most people have a recording device in their pocket”: Philip Marcelo of NBC 10 in Boston had this report back in January 2020.

Yesterday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued this 72-page decision in the matter.

In news coverage, Law360 reports that “1st Circ. Says Mass. Recording Ban Doesn’t Apply To Police” (subscription required for access).

Posted at 9:44 AM by Howard Bashman