How Appealing



Thursday, March 31, 2022

“U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer To Receive Jefferson Medal in Law; Retiring Jurist Has Served on Federal Bench for 42 Years”: Mike Fox of the University of Virginia School of Law has this report.

Posted at 7:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Pelosi says Ginni Thomas texts show need for Supreme Court ethics code”: Felicia Sonmez and Amy B Wang of The Washington Post have this report.

Posted at 5:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Ginni Thomas’s Texts, and the Limits of Chief Justice Roberts’s Power: His title notwithstanding, the chief justice cannot force a colleague’s recusal. If Justice Clarence Thomas is to disqualify himself, it will be his decision.” Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 5:35 PM by Howard Bashman



“Legal ethics experts agree: Justice Thomas must recuse in insurrection cases.” Nina Totenberg had this audio segment on yesterday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition.”

Posted at 12:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“N.J. Supreme Court hands down ruling in qualified immunity case”: Joe Atmonavage and Steve Strunsky of The Newark Star-Ledger have an article that begins, “Police and other public employees sued for on-duty conduct do not have an immediate right to appeal a judge’s denial of qualified immunity, a popular defense that protects them from lawsuits, the New Jersey State Supreme Court ruled in a decision issued Wednesday.”

And Dana DiFilippo of the New Jersey Monitor reports that “Police do not have an automatic right to qualified immunity, court rules; Reformers say the decision is a step toward ending the practice.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of New Jersey at this link.

Posted at 9:42 AM by Howard Bashman



Wednesday, March 30, 2022

“Justice Thomas Shouldn’t Recuse From Elections Cases; If his wife Ginni’s political views are enough to warrant recusal, the Supreme Court might never have a full complement of nine”: This editorial will appear in Thursday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 10:00 PM by Howard Bashman



Who says you can’t sue when a website hurts your feelings? Yesterday, Eleventh Circuit Judge Kevin C. Newsom issued another magnum opus on the subject of standing to sue, in the form of an opinion of the court and an accompanying concurring opinion. The other two judges on the panel also issued concurring opinions.

In news coverage, Bernie Pazanowski of Bloomberg Law reports that “Disabled Tester’s Suit Against Hotel She Won’t Visit May Proceed” (subscription required for full access).

Posted at 9:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court weighs employer’s challenge to California labor law”: David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this report.

Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has an article headlined “Should employees be able to collectively sue over labor violations? Supreme Court considers California law.”

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Justices wary of challenge to law protecting California workers; The high court’s decision could affect how the Golden State enforces its labor laws.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the audio and transcript of today’s oral argument in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, No. 20-1573.

Posted at 9:18 PM by Howard Bashman



“Planned Parenthood files lawsuit to stop Idaho’s restrictive abortion law”: Ryan Suppe of The Idaho Statesman has this report.

And Carson McCullough of Courthouse News Service reports that “Planned Parenthood takes Idaho to court over Texas-styled abortion law; The nonprofit reproductive health care provider called the law an ‘unprecedented power grab’ by the Idaho Legislature and said it bans abortions in the state before most patients even know they are pregnant.”

Posted at 9:08 PM by Howard Bashman



“Are the Rule 3(c) Amendments Retroactive? The Eighth Circuit didn’t apply the recently amended Rule 3(c) to a pending case (or even mention the amendment). Did the court not think it was ‘just and practicable’ to apply the new rule? Or did the court overlook the amendment?” Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog.

Posted at 8:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Glimpse Into a Fearful, Angry, Imaginary World: Ginni Thomas’s texts offer a window into a dark and conspiratorial mindset.” Peter Wehner has this essay online at The Atlantic.

Posted at 1:25 PM by Howard Bashman



“State Supreme Court nominee holds discussion with students”: Amethyst Martinez of The Rider News has a report that begins, “Rachel Wainer Apter, Director of the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and New Jersey Supreme Court nominee, joined Rider students and faculty for an open discussion in the Rue Auditorium on March 24.”

Posted at 9:24 AM by Howard Bashman



“How to Impeach a Supreme Court Justice: It has never been done successfully, but lawmakers should investigate whether Clarence Thomas’ behavior merits an attempt.” Law professor Kimberly Wehle has this essay online at Politico Magazine.

Posted at 9:22 AM by Howard Bashman



“Two-thirds of Americans back Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for Supreme Court, poll shows; After four days of hearings last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Monday on Jackson; Democrats are pushing for a final vote on her confirmation by Easter”: John Fritze of USA Today has this report.

And law professor Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, has a blog post titled “New Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds two-thirds of public support confirming Katanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court justice.” You can access the survey results via this link.

Posted at 9:10 AM by Howard Bashman



“Collins to Back Jackson for Supreme Court, Giving Her a G.O.P. Vote; Senator Susan Collins, a centrist from Maine, said a second meeting with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson alleviated her concerns; It is unclear if other Republicans will join her”: Carl Hulse of The New York Times has this report.

Posted at 9:00 AM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, March 29, 2022

“Gov. Cox appoints Judge Diana Hagen to serve on Utah’s Supreme Court; The state Senate will now decide whether to confirm Gov. Spencer Cox’s proposed replacement for retired Utah Supreme Court Justice Deno Himonas”: Bethany Rodgers of The Salt Lake Tribune has this report.

Posted at 9:51 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court, in Case on Veteran Hurt by Burn Pits, Debates War Powers; The justices seemed split on whether Congress can allow suits against states that discriminate against injured service members returning from conflicts”: Adam Liptak of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes of The Washington Post reports that “Supreme Court examines war powers in reservist’s discrimination case.”

And Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service reports that “Texas faces uphill Supreme Court battle in veteran’s wrongful termination case; In a dispute stemming from a soldier’s exposure to toxic burn pits, the high court pondered how state sovereignty in wrongful termination lawsuits might interfere with the government’s ability to raise an army.”

Posted at 8:37 PM by Howard Bashman



“Klein ISD student wins $90K settlement after being harassed for sitting out the Pledge of Allegiance”: Rebecca Hennes of The Houston Chronicle has this report.

And Cameron Langford of Courthouse News Service reports that “Texas teacher settles in battle with student over Pledge of Allegiance; The Supreme Court established in 1943 no one can be compelled to pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag, but that didn’t stop a Texas teacher from taking issue with a Black student who abstained.”

Posted at 8:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Hypocritical Attack on Justice Clarence Thomas; The left smears him for the opinions of his wife, Ginni, a standard never applied to other judges”: Columnist Jason L. Riley will have this op-ed in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 8:06 PM by Howard Bashman



“What to Expect from Justice Breyer’s Retirement and Judge Jackson’s (Presumptive) Confirmation to the Court”: Adam Feldman has this post at his “Empirical SCOTUS” blog.

Posted at 7:16 PM by Howard Bashman



“Whether, in cases where the compensatory damages award is substantial, a punitive-to-compensatory damages ratio exceeding 9:1 is presumptively unconstitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedent?” The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania today granted a petition for allowance of appeal presenting that question.

Posted at 4:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Colorado Supreme Court strikes down part of state’s cyberbullying law as unconstitutional; State’s harassment laws were amended in 2015 to strengthen protestions against cyberbullying”: Shelly Bradbury of The Denver Post has this report.

And at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Eugene Volokh has a post titled “Colorado Supreme Court Strikes Down Electronic Harassment Ban.”

You can access yesterday’s ruling of the Supreme Court of Colorado at this link.

Posted at 12:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“Governor Newsom Swears in Justice Patricia Guerrero to California Supreme Court, the First Latina to Serve on State’s Highest Court; A first-generation Californian, Justice Guerrero hails from the Imperial Valley”: The Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom issued this news release yesterday.

Posted at 12:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Motion: Man who won Supreme Court case was fired because he was gay.” Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an article that begins, “A former Clayton County court official who won a landmark case before the U.S. Supreme Court was wrongly fired because he was gay, a recently filed court motion contends, citing pretrial testimony and entries in a judge’s diary. In June 2020, Gerald Bostock’s case handed the LGBTQ community a major civil rights victory when the high court ruled federal law prohibits discrimination against gay employees in the workplace.”

Posted at 12:36 PM by Howard Bashman