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Wednesday, January 20, 2010 "Senate panel to vote on Rhode Islander nominated to federal bench": Thursday's edition of The Providence Journal will contain an article that begins, "Rhode Island Superior Court Judge O. Rogeriee Thompson's nomination to the federal appeals court in Boston is slated for what Democrats hope will be a favorable bipartisan vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, despite a less-than-stellar rating from the American Bar Association." Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court Announces Special Sitting, Issues 3 Rulings": Tony Mauro of The National Law Journal has this report. Posted at 10:25 PM by Howard Bashman En banc Eleventh Circuit decides lewd language in workplace case: You can access today's unanimous ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link. The original three-judge panel's ruling, from April 2008, can be accessed here. Alyson M. Palmer of the Fulton County Daily Report has previously covered this case in articles headlined "11th Circuit OKs Suit Based on Sexual Language in Office; Panel allows suit for language derogatory to women -- but not aimed at the plaintiff -- to go forward"; "A Second Blush for Dirty Words in Workplace; 11th Circuit to rehear Ala. woman's bias victory over men's salty language"; and "In Code and in Specifics, Judges Debate Lewd Office Talk; Plaintiff argues that workplace use of gender-based slurs is discrimination." "Are Class Actions Unconstitutional?" Daniel Fisher has this article in the February 8, 2010 issue of Forbes Magazine. Posted at 08:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Campaign-Finance Ruling May Be Ready at High Court": Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report. Posted at 07:58 PM by Howard Bashman "Too Terrible To Be True? Why aren't we talking about the new accusations of murder at Gitmo?" Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate. Posted at 07:35 PM by Howard Bashman "Ruling: Justice Keller should stay." The San Antonio Express-News has an update that begins, "Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Sharon Keller shouldn't lose her job or be punished 'beyond the public humiliation she has surely suffered' for refusing to accept a last-minute appeal from a death-row inmate, a special master presiding over her ethics trial concluded Wednesday." Chuck Lindell of The Austin American-Statesman has a blog post titled "Keller should not be removed from office, special judge says." And Mary Alice Robbins of Texas Lawyer reports that "Special Master Finds CCA Presiding Judge Sharon Keller Should Not Be Punished." You can access the special master's findings of fact, dated yesterday and made public today, at this link. "Lambda Legal Sues U.S. Office of Personnel Management on Behalf of Lesbian Federal Court Employee Whose Wife Was Denied Insurance": The organization Lambda Legal issued this news release today. In this post at his "Law Dork" blog, Chris Geidner provides a link to the complaint initiating suit. "High court excludes Charlotte from water suit": The Charlotte Observer has this news update. And The Associated Press reports that "SC loses round in high court water fight with NC." "Ruth Bader Ginsburg '59: Over the course of five decades, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has cracked long-solid glass ceilings as a civil rights advocate, a tenured Law School professor, and the second woman to serve on the country's highest court." This interview appears online at the web site of the Columbia Law School Magazine. The magazine also has an article headlined "In session: Thanks to a rich tradition of faculty and alumni serving in the judiciary, Columbia Law School students have an opportunity to learn from some of the nation's most distinguished judges." "Three Californians Up for Federal Bench": John Roemer and Rebecca Beyer have this article today in The Daily Journal of California. According to the article, "Goodwin H. Liu, a UC Berkeley School of Law associate dean and constitutional scholar, is said to be an Obama pick for one of the two vacant seats on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals." Also today, Jeffrey Toobin has a blog post titled "One Year: Where Are the Judges?" at the web site of The New Yorker. And in The Des Moines Register, law professor Carl Tobias has an op-ed entitled "Obama, Senate must move quickly to fill judicial vacancies." "Well, isn't that special!" Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a blog post titled "Supreme Court schedules special Thursday session." And Adam Liptak of The New York Times has a blog post titled "Court Sets Unusual Special Session for Thursday." "Anonymous Supreme Court Opinions": Guest bloggers Craig Lerner and Nelson Lund have this post today at "The Volokh Conspiracy." Posted at 03:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate confirms Martin as federal appeals court judge in Atlanta": Bill Rankin of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a news update that begins, "The Senate on Wednesday unanimously confirmed President Barack Obama's nominee, Beverly Martin, for a seat on the federal appeals court in Atlanta." And at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times," David Ingram has a post titled "Senate Confirms Circuit Judge, Obama's Fourth." "Allegations: Kline lied, misled; Former state attorney general to appear before disciplinary board." This article appears today in The Topeka Capital-Journal. The Wichita Eagle reports today that "Ethics panel summons Phill Kline." The Kansas City Star reports that "Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline faces ethics complaint." And The Associated Press reports that "Ex-AG Phill Kline faces complaint over investigations of abortion providers." "Scotus open-jury-selection ruling causes mistrial": Josh Gerstein has this post at his "Under the Radar" blog at Politico.com. And the "Crime Blog" of The Dallas Morning News has a related post titled "Judge grants a mistrial in the Jibreel Rashad case, re-starts jury selection." "Court schedules unusual Thursday session": The Associated Press has a report that begins, "The Supreme Court will meet in an unusual session on Thursday to issue opinions, raising the possibility that a closely watched campaign finance case could be handed down." At "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, "Special sitting tomorrow, opinion(s) due; Chance for Citizens United ruling." And at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times," Tony Mauro has a post titled "Supreme Court Announces Special Sitting Thursday." "Don't Try It, Banks! Big banks are considering challenging Obama's proposed tax as unconstitutional; This is a bad idea." Daniel Gross has this moneybox essay online at Slate. Posted at 10:23 AM by Howard Bashman Access online today's opinions in argued cases from the U.S. Supreme Court: First up today, the Court issued its ruling in Wood v. Allen, No. 08-9156. Justice Sonia Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court. Justice John Paul Stevens issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Anthony M. Kennedy joined. You can access the oral argument transcript at this link. In the second decision announced today, the Court issued its ruling in South Carolina v. North Carolina, No. 138 Orig. The decision does not compel these States to combine into a single State to be known as Carolina. Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. issued the opinion of the Court. The Chief Justice issued an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part, in which Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sotomayor joined. You can access the oral argument transcript at this link. For its third and final decision announced today, the Court issued its ruling in Kucana v. Holder. No. 08-911. Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all Justices joined except for Justice Alito, who issued an opinion concurring in the judgment. You can access the oral argument transcript at this link. In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that "Court upholds death sentence for Ala. man." Finally, "SCOTUSblog" confirms that the much anticipated election law-campaign finance decision in the Citizens United case will not be announced today. The Court could issue additional opinions in argued cases on Monday of next week. "No Supreme Court hearing for mom who asked to read Bible to son's class; The US Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear the appeal of a Pennsylvania mom who sought to read five verses of Psalms from the Bible as part of her son's 'All About Me' classroom assignment": Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has this report. And at the "School Law" blog of Education Week, Mark Walsh has a post titled "Justices Refuse Appeal on Mother's Bible-Reading in Class." "Legal Terrain Unchanged In Obama's First Year": Jan Crawford has this post at her "Crossroads" blog at CBSNews.com. Posted at 08:27 AM by Howard Bashman "How Great Judges Think: Judges Richard Posner, Henry Friendly, and Roger Traynor on Judicial Lawmaking." Law professor Edmund Ursin has posted this article online at SSRN (via "Legal Theory Blog"). Posted at 08:24 AM by Howard Bashman "Torture Memo Author On Only Regret": Yesterday's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered" contained this audio segment featuring law professor John Yoo. Posted at 08:22 AM by Howard Bashman "Sanders says bias behind gay-marriage ban; S.D. mayor testifies about own past prejudice at trial": This article appears today in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article headlined "How San Diego mayor shifted on gay marriage." And in The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz has an article headlined "Prop. 8 trial: San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders says lesbian daughter should have right to wed." "High Court rejects state's prisons edict appeal": Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle. And today in The Sacramento Bee, Denny Walsh reports that "Supreme Court denies prison appeal; Order stands that state slash its inmate population." "Questions raised about anti-abortion groups getting Va. license plate fee": This article appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 08:12 AM by Howard Bashman "McCollum threatens suit to halt healthcare mandate; Attorney General Bill McCollum was accused of playing politics after he announced a plan to sue to block a provision in Congress' health reform package": Today's edition of The Miami Herald contains an article that begins, "Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said Tuesday that Congress has no constitutional right to force people to buy health insurance -- and he'll sue to stop the proposal if it becomes law." And today in The Los Angeles Times, law professor Akhil Reed Amar has an op-ed entitled "Constitutional objections to Obamacare don't hold up; The federal government has clear authority to regulate interstate commerce, levy taxes and protect human rights, all part of the proposed healthcare overhaul." "Family's legal fight adds to grief; U.S. opposes parents' $13-million claim against Iran awarded for a terrorist bomb that killed their daughter": This article appeared yesterday in The Los Angeles Times. The case, which was argued last Friday before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, was the subject of a post that day titled "DOJ: Iranian Property Protected from Civil Judgment Enforcement" by Mike Scarcella at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times." "Supreme Court mandates 'dignity and respect' in death sentencing": Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post. David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports today that "Court ordered to look into 'unusual events' of murder trial; The Supreme Court rules that a judge's socializing with jurors during a 1993 murder trial and their sexually themed gifts to her and a bailiff may merit a hearing." In The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bill Rankin has articles headlined "Lewd gifts lead to reprieve for death-row inmate" and "Supreme Court says DeKalb judge should have kept court open; Ruling called dramatic step forward for open courtrooms." In USA Today, Joan Biskupic has an article headlined "Supreme Court: Jury selection should be open; Justices rule it is part of a defendant's right to a public trial." At law.com, Tony Mauro of The National Law Journal reports that "High Court Justices Underscore Importance of Open Criminal Trials," while Alyson M. Palmer of the Fulton County Daily Report has an article headlined "Jurors' Risque Gifts to Judge Help Scuttle 11th Circuit Ruling Before High Court." And Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor reports that "Supreme Court rules jury selection must be open to the public; The Supreme Court justices ruled Tuesday, 7 to 2, that jury selection is included in a defendant's right to a public trial." "High court ruling in Mumia case": Today's edition of The Philadelphia Daily News contains an article that begins, "The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday tossed out a 2008 ruling by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals that death-row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal deserved a new sentencing hearing." The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that "Ruling could be a small setback for Abu-Jamal." And Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor has a report headlined "A Supreme Court blow to anti-death penalty icon Mumia Abu-Jamal; The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed an appeals court ruling that would have given Mumia Abu-Jamal a chance to avoid the dealth penalty; Some opponents of capital punishment have championed Abu-Jamal's case." "Judges Trim Jail Time for Child Porn; Data Show Trend Toward Leniency for People Who View Images but Aren't Molesters": Amir Efrati has this article today in The Wall Street Journal. Posted at 07:34 AM by Howard Bashman "Commentary: Court's future in flux; Aftermath of Massachusetts." At "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, "The stunning upset victory for Republicans in Tuesday's U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts markedly changes the political dynamic for President Obama, and in the process raises serious questions about his options in selecting judicial nominees, including those who might be chosen for the Supreme Court." Posted at 07:28 AM by Howard Bashman  
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