How Appealing



Wednesday, January 31, 2024

“Minority Business Grants: A New Front in the Legal Battle Over Racial Preferences; Appeals court weighs grant program for Black women entrepreneurs.” Erin Mulvaney of The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Mirtha Donastorg of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “Fearless Fund goes to court again in racial discrimination lawsuit; The Atlanta-based firm fielded questions from three circuit court judges in Miami.”

Alexandra Olson and David Fischer of The Associated Press report that “Grant program for Black women comes under tough questioning in key anti-DEI lawsuit.”

And Nicquel Terry Ellis of CNN reports that “Fearless Fund challenges court order blocking a grant program exclusively for Black women entrepreneurs.”

Posted at 9:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“Charlie Adelson, serving life in Dan Markel murder, moved to Wakulla state prison”: Jeff Burlew of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.

Posted at 9:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“As Stakes Escalate, Kline & Specter Begin Stepping in to Defend Phila.’s Largest Verdicts Post-Trial”: Aleeza Furman of The Legal Intelligencer has this report, in which I am mentioned.

Posted at 9:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Asked And Answered: A New Advice Column; To clerk or not to clerk? That is the question.” David Lat has this post at his “Original Jurisdiction” Substack site.

Posted at 4:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Challenge to grant program for Black women entrepreneurs lands at 11th Circuit; The conservative activist who was instrumental in the Supreme Court’s curtailing of affirmative action in colleges last year argues the grant is racially discriminatory”: Megan Butler of Courthouse News Service has this report.

And Chris Marr of Bloomberg Law reports that “Venture Fund’s Defense of Diversity Grant Meets Doubtful Court; Fund seeks to resume grants for Black women entrepreneurs; Case is part of broad anti-DEI backlash using Civil War-era law.”

Update: In other coverage, Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “Venture capital fund defends grants for Black women in US appeals court.”

Posted at 1:46 PM by Howard Bashman



“Elon Musk is suing to stop the government from enforcing labor laws. The Supreme Court might agree with him.” Columnist Michael Hiltzik has this essay online at The Los Angeles Times.

Posted at 1:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Complaint alleges Maine Supreme Judicial Court justice violated ethics code; A Yarmouth attorney’s complaint says Justice Catherine Connors should have recused herself from a recent foreclosure case, which overturned a precedent set in a prior case where she represented a major bank”: Hannah LaClaire of The Portland Press Herald has this report.

Posted at 1:39 PM by Howard Bashman



“As judges mull presidential immunity, Trump reaps the benefits of delay; For over three weeks, the D.C. Circuit has been sitting on a potentially decisive question”: Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein of Politico have this report.

Posted at 1:37 PM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, January 30, 2024

“Texas Supreme Court hears legal challenge to ban on gender-transition care for kids; A fight over allowing transgender children to access puberty blockers and hormone therapies could hinge on justices’ interpretation of parental rights”: William Melhado of The Texas Tribune has this report.

Ryan Autullo of Bloomberg Law reports that “Texas Justices Grill Parents on Child Transgender Treatment Ban; One justice said courts should stay out of the issue; First time all-GOP court questioned lawyers on ban.”

Kirk McDaniel of Courthouse News Service reports that “Texas high court takes on constitutionality of state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors; Texas’ Senate Bill 14, which took effect Sept. 1, prohibits physicians from providing hormone therapies or surgeries for minors.”

And Nicole Chavez of CNN reports that “Texas Supreme Court hears oral arguments in challenge to ban on gender affirming care for youth.”

You can access the video of today’s oral argument before the Supreme Court of Texas on YouTube via this link.

Posted at 9:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“Vague Supreme Court order on border wire sparks debate on defying justices’ ruling; It’s Supreme Court custom not to provide opinions on emergency docket orders; A recent border ruling exposed the perils of that tradition”: Kelsey Reichmann of Courthouse News Service has this report.

Posted at 8:33 PM by Howard Bashman



“Bayer’s Billions in Roundup Verdicts Increase Pressure for New Legal Strategy; Billion-dollar awards have taken toll on investor confidence; Experts say company may need new game plan for cancer suits”: Jef Feeley and Tim Loh of Bloomberg News have this report.

Posted at 8:27 PM by Howard Bashman



“US Senate confirms 40th appellate judge under Biden”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has a report that begins, “The U.S. Senate on Tuesday gave President Joe Biden his 40th confirmed appointment to a federal appeals court as it voted in favor of elevating U.S. Magistrate Judge Joshua Kolar to a position on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Posted at 8:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Conservative Activists Are Taking All the Supreme Court’s Hints; On the rare occasion that the right doesn’t get everything it wants, the conservative justices provide a helpful roadmap for the next time”: Madiba K. Dennie has this post at Balls and Strikes.

Posted at 5:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“We separately address the conduct of Park’s counsel, Attorney Jae S. Lee. Lee’s reply brief in this case includes a citation to a non-existent case, which she admits she generated using the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT.” So states a per curiam published opinion that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

In early news coverage, Sam Skolnik of Bloomberg Law reports that “NY Lawyer Faces Possible Sanctions for Citing Phony ChatGPT Case.”

Posted at 3:14 PM by Howard Bashman



“UNC pays anti-affirmative action group $4.8 million after US Supreme Court loss”: Nate Raymond of Reuters has this report.

Posted at 3:00 PM by Howard Bashman



“A Product Should Be Judged on the Consumer’s Expectation, Not on Whether It Is Unreasonably Dangerous; Pennsylvania has steadfastly held to the principle that in strict products liability cases, evidence of a manufacturer’s due care is both irrelevant and inadmissible”: Larry E. Coben has this essay online at The Legal Intelligencer.

Posted at 2:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“Texas border city on edge as Gov. Abbott dials up battle with Biden; The border crisis has been reduced to a 2.5-mile stretch named after a Confederate general”: Arelis R. Hernández of The Washington Post has this report.

Posted at 11:24 AM by Howard Bashman



Monday, January 29, 2024

“The Supreme Court’s Mixed Record on Adhering to Precedent; The current court is not out of step with earlier ones in how often it overturns decisions; But it is more apt to do so to reach conservative results”: Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his “Sidebar” column in Tuesday’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 8:44 PM by Howard Bashman



“The NetChoice Cases Aren’t About Discrimination; Texas and Florida are telling the Supreme Court that their social media laws are like civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination against minority groups; They’re wrong”: Daphne Keller has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

Posted at 8:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Politics of Judicial Elections, 2021–2022; 2022 ushered in a new era of record-high spending in state judicial elections”: Douglas Keith of the Brennan Center for Justice has this report.

Posted at 8:32 PM by Howard Bashman



“Governor Abbott’s Perilous Effort at Constitutional Realignment; Texas’s arguments have dangerous federalism implications”: Steve Vladeck has this post at the “Lawfare” blog.

Posted at 8:26 PM by Howard Bashman



“Abortion Pills, Social Media Cases Top High Court March Calendar”: Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson of Bloomberg Law has this report.

Posted at 3:48 PM by Howard Bashman



“Record $183 million medical malpractice verdict against HUP upheld by Philadelphia judge; Penn says it will appeal the malpractice verdict against the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Superior Court”: Harold Brubaker of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report.

Posted at 3:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“West Point Affirmative Action Policy Can Continue During Appeal; Second Circuit judges deem emergency injunction not warranted; Another bid for an injunction is also pending in Supreme Court”: Ben Miller of Bloomberg Law has this report.

And Nate Raymond of Reuters reports that “US appeals court won’t block West Point’s race-conscious admissions policy.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit at this link.

Posted at 3:30 PM by Howard Bashman



“‘Very clear’ or ‘narrow and confusing’? Abortion lawsuits highlight confusion over emergency exceptions.” N’dea Yancey-Bragg of USA Today has this report.

Posted at 1:54 PM by Howard Bashman