“Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack expresses concern over threats, comments aimed at members of her court”: Bill Glauber of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.
And Shanzeh Ahmad of The Wisconsin State Journal reports that “State Supreme Court Chief Justice releases statement expressing concern over recent threats.”
You can access the statement that Chief Justice Patience Drake Roggensack of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin issued today at this link.
“As Biden zeroes in on attorney general pick, some worry one contender is too moderate on criminal justice issues”: Matt Zapotosky and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post have an article that begins, “As President-elect Joe Biden seeks an attorney general who can restore public faith in the Justice Department as an independent law enforcement institution while boosting internal morale, federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland has consistently found himself on the shortlist.”
“Judge delays execution of only woman on US death row”: Michael Balsamo of The Associated Press has this report.
“Disgraced former Springfield cop allowed to work as lawyer with conditions, Oregon Supreme Court rules”: Maxine Bernstein of The Oregonian has an article that begins, “A disgraced former Springfield police officer who had been dishonest about how he used his police job to pursue and have sex with vulnerable women he had met on duty will be allowed to practice law under certain conditions, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday.”
You can access Thursday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Oregon at this link.
“Court refuses to bar woman’s murder prosecution for death of fetus, a loss for Becerra”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this report.
“My elderly dog could be a Supreme Court justice. Technically.” Columnist Gene Weingarten will have this essay in Sunday’s edition of The Washington Post Magazine.
“Trump’s Lasting Legacy: Conservative Supermajority on Supreme Court.” Masood Farivar of Voice of America News has this report.
“Supreme Court in no hurry to hear Trump campaign case, sets response deadline two days after inauguration; Trump campaign previously asked court to decide case by Jan. 6”: Tyler Olson, Shannon Bream, and Bill Mears of Fox News have this report.
“California churches’ last hope for indoor Christmas worship depends on emergency injunction”: Valerie Richardson of The Washington Times has this report.
And tonight, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued this order denying the “Urgent Motion for an Injunction Pending Appeal” filed by the South Bay United Pentecostal Church.
“Biden under pressure to revamp the judiciary”: Harper Neidig of The Hill has this report.
“Federal appeals court turns down Donald Trump push to overturn election results in Wisconsin”: Bill Glauber of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.
And Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “Trump campaign suffers another legal setback in Wisconsin case; Republicans also lost a Georgia court case related to the Jan. 5 runoffs.”
You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit at this link.
“Sidney Powell’s secret intelligence contractor witness is a pro-Trump podcaster”: Jon Swaine of The Washington Post has this report.
“Jeffrey Rosen Takes Reins of a Justice Department Under Pressure; Acting attorney general is expected to face continuing demands from President Trump regarding election”: Rebecca Ballhaus and Byron Tau of The Wall Street Journal have this report.
“Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over courts”: Marc Levy of The Associated Press has a report that begins, “The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day. Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump accused the court of acting illegally or, baselessly, conspiring to steal the election.”
“Effective Storytelling in Appellate Briefs | Jason Steed”: You can access this week’s installment of the “Texas Appellate Law Podcast” via this link.
The podcast this week returns to a Texas-based guest following two weeks featuring officious interlopers (here and here).
“Ninth Circuit rejects California church’s appeal of Christmas shutdown; The church had to seek the emergency order because a district court took more than two weeks to make a decision on a previous court filing”: Dom Calicchio of Fox News has this report on an order that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued late last night.
Also yesterday, a different three-judge Ninth Circuit panel issued this scheduling order in an appeal raising similar issues.
“Sister of woman killed in crash with state police patrol car files suit”: Linda Satter of The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette had an article in May 2018 that began, “The sister of a 26-year-old Hot Springs woman who was killed in 2016 when a car in which she was riding was struck by a speeding state trooper who had his lights and siren turned off has sued the now-retired trooper and the director of the Arkansas State Police.”
Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued this decision, in which each of the three judges issued an opinion, affirming the district court’s dismissal of the lawsuit.
“Fifth Circuit Court Rules San Antonio Does Have Unhealthy Levels of Smog”: The Environmental Defense Fund issued this news release about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued yesterday.
“14-Year Delay of Capital Murder Trial Prompts Judge to Dismiss Indictment”: In March 2020, Cameron Langford of Courthouse News Service had a report that begins, “A Houston man accused of beating two immigrants to death with cohorts in his human-smuggling ring had his indictment thrown out Thursday by a federal judge who blasted prosecutors for delaying his trial for 14 years.”
Yesterday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued this decision reversing the district court’s dismissal of the indictment.
“Gun Use in US Suicides Kept Secret With 2nd Circuit Ruling”: Nina Pullano of Courthouse News Service has this report.
My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Second Circuit ruling can be accessed here.
“Justices Staring Down Another Slow Term Despite Head Start”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.
“Inside Trump and Barr’s Last-Minute Killing Spree: Private executioners paid in cash. Middle-of-the-night killings. False or incomplete justifications. ProPublica obtained court records showing how the outgoing administration is using its final days to execute the most federal prisoners since World War II.” Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica has this report.
“Businesses Feared a Flood of Covid-19 Lawsuits. It Hasn’t Happened. Personal-injury claims over infections are either too hard to prove or get funneled into the workers’ compensation system.” Jacob Gershman of The Wall Street Journal has this report.
“In Houston’s Zoom court proceedings, decorum often gets muted”: Gabrielle Banks of The Houston Chronicle has this report.
“Edward Douglass White statue removed from steps of Louisiana Supreme Court; U.S. chief justice targeted because he fought for Confederacy, upheld racial segregation”: Bryn Stole has this front page article in today’s edition of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
And Bryan Anderson of The Associated Press reports that “NC Supreme Court removing portrait of slave owner ex-justice.”
“Episode 3: Parenting is a Mess (with Rep. Mikie Sherrill).” You can access this week’s new installment of the “In Loco Parent(i)s” podcast, featuring Karen and Steve Vladek and their guest, U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), via this link.
“Biden’s influence on federal judiciary may be limited despite liberals’ talk of ‘court-packing'”: Richard Wolf of USA Today has this report.
“Here’s the Pa. election lawsuit over mail ballots that could overturn a race — but not the presidency”: Jonathan Lai of The Philadelphia Inquirer has an article that begins, “A heated court fight over Pennsylvania mail ballots will determine who wins the election. And the decision could well ripple beyond 2020. The fight isn’t over the presidency, of course — Joe Biden is clearly the president-elect — but a state Senate seat in Western Pennsylvania that hinges on just a few dozen votes.”
“Trump lauded, then derided Barr. A look inside the attorney general’s tumultuous term.” Evan Perez, Katelyn Polantz, and Kara Scannell of CNN have this report.
“Abortion, gun control: conservatives steer pet cases towards supreme court with Barrett on bench; State officials are making strategic appeals and lower court judges are tailoring arguments in hopes of gaining a supreme court hearing for controversial cases.” Tom McCarthy of The Guardian (UK) has this report.
“States Square Off Over Taxing Remote Workers’ Income; Ruling by Supreme Court would have budget implications for states that have lost billions of dollars in tax revenue during pandemic”: Jimmy Vielkind of The Wall Street Journal has this report.
“The outlier: Brian Hagedorn explains why he breaks rank with other state Supreme Court conservatives.” Katelyn Ferral of The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin has this report.
“COVID Comes to Federal Death Row — It Is Time to Stop the Madness”: Austin Sarat has this essay online at Justia’s Verdict.
“Defamation Law Can Slow the Plague of Fake News; Challenging falsehoods about voting machines is a good place to start”: Law professor Cass R. Sunstein has this essay online at Bloomberg Opinion.
“A President Unhappy, Unleashed and Unpredictable; President Trump remains the most powerful man in the world, but powerless to achieve what he most wants: to avoid leaving office as a loser.” Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt of The New York Times have this report.
