How Appealing



Wednesday, April 19, 2023

“Supreme Court debates when unwanted messages become a stalker’s threats”: Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has this report.

Lawrence Hurley of NBC News reports that “Supreme Court weighs ‘true threats’ in online stalking case; Defendant Billy Counterman, of Colorado, says the jury never considered whether he intended to threaten a musician in multiple Facebook messages he sent her.”

Earlier, Allison Sherry of Colorado Public Radio reported that “One Colorado stalking victim never wanted to become the center of a First Amendment case at the US Supreme Court.”

And in commentary, at “The Volokh Conspiracy,” Paul Cassell has a post titled “Intervening to Stop ‘True Threats’ from Delusional Stalkers and Devious Stalkers; Today’s oral argument in Counterman v. Colorado — the ‘true threats’ case — highlights the importance of protecting stalking victims from objectively threatening communications.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the transcript and the audio of today’s oral argument in Counterman v. Colorado, No. 22-138.

Posted at 10:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“Republicans Can Reset the Abortion Debate; Don’t be afraid to defend the unborn, but be prepared to accept incremental progress”: Ryan T. Anderson has this op-ed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 9:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“Progressives Organize Fresh Nationwide Push for Changes at the Supreme Court; The drive by more than 30 organizations, some new to the effort, comes as ethics questions have engulfed Justice Clarence Thomas”: Carl Hulse of The New York Times has this report.

Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow of The Washington Post report that “Complaints about Justice Thomas’s disclosures sent to judicial committee.”

Sahil Kapur and Liz Brown-Kaiser of NBC News report that “Senate Democrats eye a hearing on Clarence Thomas as Republicans shrug off gift revelations; Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat, called Thomas’ conduct ‘outrageous’; But most Republicans say they’re not troubled by the conservative justice’s ethics controversy.”

In commentary, online at The Washington Post, columnist Eugene Robinson has an essay titled “Clarence Thomas’s explanations fail the laugh test.”

Online at The Los Angeles Times, columnist Robin Abcarian has an essay titled “What Clarence Thomas calls hospitality looks a lot more like corruption.”

Online at Slate, Virginia Canter, Norman L. Eisen, and law professor Richard W. Painter have a jurisprudence essay titled “So, Is Clarence Thomas at Real Risk Here? Absolutely. This scandal is just getting started.”

And at Balls and Strikes, Steve Kennedy has a post titled “The Supreme Court’s Power Made Clarence Thomas’s Corruption Inevitable; The justices understand how unaccountable they are; So do wealthy people who can afford to befriend them.”

Posted at 9:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court Delays Decision on Abortion Pill, Preserving Access for Now; The drug will remain widely available as the justices extended their deadline to Friday on whether to uphold the F.D.A.’s approval of the pill”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report on two orders (here and here) that the U.S. Supreme Court issued today.

Posted at 8:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Constitutional Political Economy of Carcass Disposal; The Slaughter-House Cases reached the right conclusion for the wrong reasons”: Evan Bernick has this post at the “Law & Liberty” blog.

Posted at 1:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Republicans block Senate Democrats’ push to replace Feinstein on Judiciary panel; There’s no timeline for Sen. Dianne Feinstein to return after a lengthy medical absence”: Sahil Kapur of NBC News has this report.

And Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost reports that “Dick Durbin Still Hoping For ‘Common Ground’ With GOP For Moving Biden’s Judges; ‘We’re not at that point yet,’ the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said of being willing to ditch blue slips in response to Republican obstruction.”

Posted at 1:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Democrats bash Justice Clarence Thomas but their plan to investigate ethics allegations is unclear”: Tierney Sneed of CNN has this report.

Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court to Decide Availability of Abortion Pill as Appeal Moves Forward; Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. had issued a stay that was set to expire at midnight, meaning the justices are likely to act before then, although they could extend the deadline or fail to act”: Abbie VanSickle of The New York Times has this report.

Mark Sherman of The Associated Press reports that “Supreme Court poised to rule on abortion pill restrictions.”

Andrew Chung of Reuters reports that “US Supreme Court faces self-imposed deadline to act on abortion pill curbs.”

Tierney Sneed of CNN has a report headlined “What to watch for with the Supreme Court and medication abortion on Wednesday.”

Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico has a report headlined “‘The justices were kidding themselves’: Supreme Court takes up abortion after saying lawmakers should decide; The court is expected to rule by Wednesday on whether to allow an earlier decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take effect, sharply limiting access to a commonly used abortion pill nationwide.”

And at his “Law Dork” Substack site, Chris Geidner has a post titled “DOJ urges SCOTUS to keep mifepristone ruling on hold during appeal to prevent ‘scramble’; Of the ‘significant chaos’ patients and providers would face if lower court rulings go into effect, DOJ argues the anti-abortion challengers ‘do not even acknowledge that reality.’

Posted at 11:14 AM by Howard Bashman