How Appealing



Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court opinion in an argued case: The Court today issued its opinion in Puckett v. United States, No. 07-9712. Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court, in which the Chief Justice and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, and Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined. Justice David H. Souter issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice John Paul Stevens joined. You can access the ruling at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link.

Update: The Associated Press reports that “Court rules for government in plea deal dispute.”

Posted at 10:08 AM by Howard Bashman



“Supreme Court hears free-speech case on ‘Hillary: The Movie’; A majority of justices appear to agree that limits on corporate campaign spending violate free speech; The question is whether they will strike down some or all such restrictions.” David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. In addition, the newspaper contains an editorial entitled “Looking at ‘Hillary: The Movie’; Should 1st Amendment protections apply to a documentary critical of Hillary Clinton?

Today in USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports that “High court hears arguments over anti-Clinton film.”

Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has an article headlined “Political ad or free speech? Anti-Hillary film gets court screening.”

The Washington Times reports that “Justices view ‘Hillary’ movie; Group argues election film not campaign advocacy.”

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that “‘Hillary: The Movie’ gets high court attention.”

And Josh Gerstein of Politico.com reports that “SCOTUS argues anti-Clinton film.”

Posted at 9:40 AM by Howard Bashman



“Security Worries in the Suburbs; Possible Move of Terrorist Suspects To Alexandria for Trial Raises Outcry”: Jerry Markon has this article today in The Washington Post.

Posted at 9:30 AM by Howard Bashman



“Ex-judge fights to have his pension reinstated; A former Creek County judge who was convicted of indecent exposure is asking an Oklahoma County judge to reinstate his judicial retirement pay”: The Tulsa World contains this article today.

Posted at 9:17 AM by Howard Bashman



“Judges for sale”: Today’s edition of The Boston Globe contains an editorial that begins, “How would you like to go into an appeals court if your opponent in the case spent $3 million to help elect one of the judges?”

Posted at 8:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“What Constitutional Rights Should Schoolchildren Have? Two Recent Cases Underscore the Ways in Which Children Are Not Simply Miniature Adults.” Michael C. Dorf has this essay online at FindLaw.

Posted at 8:34 AM by Howard Bashman



Tuesday, March 24, 2009

“Appeals court rehears Wal-Mart sex-bias case”: Josh Richman of The Oakland Tribune has this news update.

law.com reports that “Wal-Mart En Banc Session Packs House.”

And Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal will contain an editorial entitled “How Not to Fight Discrimination: The EEOC joins a class-action effort against Wal-Mart.”

You can access the audio of today’s rehearing en banc oral argument before an eleven-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores via this link (9.16MB Windows Media audio file)

Posted at 10:47 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justices Consider Interplay Between First Amendment and Campaign Finance Laws”: Adam Liptak will have this article Wednesday in The New York Times.

Wednesday in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined “Justices May Soften Campaign Ad Law; Arguments Over Anti-Clinton Movie Peppered With Free-Speech Issues.”

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined “‘Hillary: The Movie’: Supreme Court hears film’s challenge to campaign finance laws.”

law.com’s Tony Mauro reports that “Supreme Court Appears Divided Over Hillary Clinton Movie in Campaign Finance Case.”

And this evening’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered” contained an audio segment entitled “Court Weighs Anti-Clinton Movie” (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg.

Posted at 10:22 PM by Howard Bashman



“Judge Keller files response to charges”: At the “Austin Legal” blog of The Austin American-Statesman, Chuck Lindell has a post that begins, “Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, this afternoon filed her response to charges that she violated her judicial duty when she refused to accept an after-hours appeal in 2007.”

You can access the response by clicking here.

Posted at 9:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“Riverboat Robbery: When does a tax become an illegal ‘taking’?” Today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal contains an editorial that begins, “Illinois politics seems to be everywhere this year — and now it may be headed to the Supreme Court in the form of a lawsuit brought against the state. The case, which has ties to impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, could have an important impact on the definition of a ‘taking’ under the Fifth Amendment — as well as implications for the state’s power of taxation.”

You can access the petition for writ of certiorari at this link.

Posted at 5:50 PM by Howard Bashman



Access online today’s U.S. Supreme Court opinion in an argued case: The Court today issued its ruling in Knowles v. Mirzayance, No. 07-1315.

Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court. The Chief Justice and Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer, and Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined in all of Justice Thomas’s opinion. And Justices Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined in all of Justice Thomas’s opinion except for Part II.

You can access the ruling at this link, and you can access the oral argument transcript at this link.

In early news coverage, The Associated Press has a report headlined “Court: No new trial for Calif. convicted killer.”

Posted at 10:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“Justices hear case on sex offenders; Housing restriction brings challenges”: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger contains this article today.

Posted at 8:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“Exxon Valdez oil-spill recovery still is work in progress, 20 years later”: This article appears today in The Seattle Times, along with articles headlined “One pod of whales recovers after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, other near extinction” and “Some oil that remains from the Exxon Valdez still as fresh as in ’89.”

MSNBC.com reports that “Oil plagues Sound 20 years after Exxon Valdez; Future risk assessments must look at longer impacts, recovery council says.”

Bloomberg News reports that “Exxon Valdez Ghost Lives On With Spill-Prone Ships.”

And today in The Boston Globe, Christopher Reddy has an op-ed entitled “Let’s not forget Exxon Valdez.”

Posted at 8:27 AM by Howard Bashman



“Same-sex marriage bills gain in N.E.; Vt. Senate passes plan; votes set in N.H., Maine”: This article appears today in The Boston Globe.

Posted at 8:15 AM by Howard Bashman



“Ex-border agents’ bid for appeal fails”: The Houston Chronicle today contains an article that begins, “The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear an appeal from two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a fleeing drug smuggler and trying to cover it up.”

And last Saturday, The El Paso Times reported that “Ex-agent Ignacio Ramos celebrates freedom, plans future.”

Posted at 8:14 AM by Howard Bashman