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Friday, January 25, 2008 "The Court's Personal Path to Roe v. Wade": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Jeffrey Toobin appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "The Bryant Park Project." Posted at 11:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court: Taking Care of Business; How the high court caters to corporations and ignores commoners." Stephanie Mencimer has this essay online today at the web site of Mother Jones magazine. Posted at 11:02 PM by Howard Bashman "West Virginia Supreme Court to rehear case of energy firm": This article appears today in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Posted at 11:00 PM by Howard Bashman In bookstores on Tuesday, January 29, 2008, "The Appeal" by John Grisham: You can read an excerpt at this link. You can access some early reviews here, here, and here. It's just another example of art imitates life. "Judge hearing Wal-Mart bias case is named to state appeals court": Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update that begins, "Martin Jenkins, the federal judge presiding over a major sex-discrimination case against Wal-Mart, was nominated by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to a state appeals court today. Jenkins, 54, of Oakland, was a judge in Alameda County for eight years before President Bill Clinton named him to the federal bench in San Francisco in 1997. Schwarzenegger nominated him today to a seat on the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, a vacancy created when Justice Joanne Parrilli retired in July. Jenkins revealed in August that he had asked the governor for the job. His appointment requires confirmation by the state Commission on Judicial Appointments. It's unusual, though not unprecedented, for a judge to give up a lifetime appointment on a federal court for a seat on a state court, where justices must seek retention from the voters every 12 years. On the state Supreme Court, Justice Carlos Moreno is a former federal judge, and former Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas also left the federal bench for the state's high court." Posted at 09:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Police investigate Tenn. Supreme Court burglary": This article appears today in The Jackson Sun. Posted at 09:47 PM by Howard Bashman "Man who isn't dad still has to pay; Appeal is denied despite DNA test": The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger today contains an article that begins, "A Hunterdon County divorcé who claimed he discovered he was not the father of a 10-year-old girl was denied his appeal to lower his child support payments, according to an opinion handed down this week by the state Appellate Division." You can access Wednesday's unpublished ruling of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, at this link. On Tuesday, January 29, 2008, the paperback edition of Jan Crawford Greenburg's book -- "Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court" -- will go on sale: In paperback, the book will feature a new chapter. Details here. Just the other day, a non-lawyer friend was telling me how very much she enjoyed reading Jan's book. Posted at 04:01 PM by Howard Bashman On March 3, 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will begin implementing electronic case filing: You can access the court's announcement at this link. Posted at 03:52 PM by Howard Bashman The smell of marijuana emanating from a tenth-floor apartment in a high-crime area does not provide probable cause for police, while lacking a search warrant, to require the apartment's occupant to open the door: A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued this interesting opinion today. Although today's opinion could be seen as providing lessons for why a suspect should not slap at a police officer's hand or wrestle with police once handcuffed, the suspect may ultimately have the last laugh as a result of this ruling in his favor. "Ore. Court: Boy Has Say in Circumcision." The Associated Press provides this report. You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Oregon at this link. "The Justice and the Baroness": Today at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times," Tony Mauro has a post that begins, "Two female judicial pioneers -- one from the U.S. and the other from the U.K. -- compared notes at Georgetown University Law Center Thursday and found they both had restroom stories to tell." My earlier coverage, including a link to video of the event, appears here. "This is a patent infringement case relating to chimeric genes." How do you alter the DNA of corn so that what results is toxic to certain crop-destroying insects but harmless for humans and most animals? A discussion of the science involved is found in this ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today. Today's ruling in Monsanto Co. v. Bayer Bioscience N.V. affirms a trial court's decision that Bayer's patents at issue in the case are unenforceable due to inequitable conduct. "Court blocks father from circumcising 12-year-old son": The Oregonian provides a news update that begins, "The Oregon Supreme Court on Friday blocked a divorced former Southern Oregon man from circumcising his 12-year-old son against the wishes of the boy's mother. The court ruled that the trial judge failed to determine whether the boy wanted to have the procedure. The child's mother, Lia Boldt, claims that circumcision is dangerous and that her son is afraid to say he doesn't want the procedure. The court ordered the case back to the trial judge to determine the boy's wishes." You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Oregon at this link. "Resegregation of U.S. schools deepening; Districts in big cities of the Midwest and Northeast undergo the most change": This article appears today in The Christian Science Monitor. Posted at 10:15 AM by Howard Bashman "OSJCL Amici launches with four district judges on Gall and Kimbrough": In this post at his "Sentencing Law and Policy" blog, Doug Berman notes the availability online of "original commentaries by four district judges discussing federal sentencing after last month's Gall and Kimbrough rulings." Posted at 10:14 AM by Howard Bashman "Court ruling clouds naming of Major League players who used steroids": In today's edition of The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz has an article that begins, "A federal appeals court has for the second time generally sided with Justice Department efforts to use the names and urine samples of about 100 Major League baseball players who tested positive for steroids four years ago. But the convoluted 119-page ruling likely means federal investigators will still be unable use the controversial test results for the foreseeable future because the issue is expected to be tied up in the courts for some time." My earlier coverage of yesterday's revised Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link. "Workers can be fired for using medical pot off duty, court rules; Patients under doctor's care can be dismissed, even if marijuana use occurs during off hours, high court rules": Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that "Company can fire medical pot user, court rules." The Sacramento Bee reports that "Medical pot rights don't apply at work, court says; Despite 1996 state law, employers can fire those who flunk drug test." The New York Times reports that "California Justices Put Limits on Medical Marijuana Law." The Washington Post reports that "Calif. Firms Can Fire Medical Marijuana Users; State's High Court Finds Compassionate Use Act Does Not Affect Employers' Rights." And law.com reports that "Calif. Supreme Court Gives Bosses Leeway to Fire Medical Pot Users; Plaintiff was upfront about medical pot use, and it didn't affect his job performance, but court majority OK'd his firing." You can access yesterday's ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link. "Judge Demands a Report on Destroyed C.I.A. Tapes": Today's edition of The New York Times contains an article that begins, "A judge on Thursday gave the Justice Department three weeks to report in writing whether the destruction of C.I.A. videotapes in November 2005 violated an order he issued four months earlier to preserve evidence." Posted at 09:37 AM by Howard Bashman "A Nominee Withdraws: President Bush has another chance to fill vacancies on a federal appeals court." The Washington Post today contains an editorial that begins, "President Bush owes E. Duncan Getchell Jr. a debt of gratitude. Mr. Getchell recently asked that his nomination be withdrawn for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, the federal court that hears appeals from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the Carolinas." Posted at 09:33 AM by Howard Bashman "In Senate, a White House Victory on Eavesdropping": The New York Times contains this article today. The Washington Post reports today that "Phone Firms' Bid for Immunity in Wiretaps Gains Ground." The Los Angeles Times reports that "Senate spy bill still shields telecoms; A revision is blocked; it omitted retroactive immunity for firms sued for cooperating with the government." And The Providence (R.I.) Journal contains an article headlined "ACLU: Lynch caves in to feds on phone privacy." "Bush Seeks More Violent Crime Funds; Possible Early Release for Crack Cocaine Offenders Is Cited as Rationale": This article appears today in The Washington Post. And The Los Angeles Times reports today that "Mukasey sees risk in early release; Clemency for crack inmates could boost crime, the attorney general says." "Turkey to Alter Speech Law": The New York Times today contains an article reporting that "Turkey's government has taken on the issue of free speech and is expected as early as Friday to announce a weakening of a law against insulting Turkishness, an amendment that is considered a key measure of the democratic maturity of this Muslim country as it tries to gain acceptance to the European Union." Posted at 09:15 AM by Howard Bashman "Swedes Ponder Whether Killer Can Be a Doctor": This article appears today in The New York Times. Posted at 09:12 AM by Howard Bashman "Stoneridge and the Rule of Law": Paul S. Atkins has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal. Posted at 09:10 AM by Howard Bashman "Constitutional Law Professor Klarman Joins HLS; Winner of 2005 Bancroft Prize, Klarman studies race relations and the role of the Supreme Court": The Harvard Crimson provides this news update. And yesterday, the Harvard Law School issued a news release entitled "Michael Klarman to join HLS faculty." "Lynne Stewart Case Returning to Court": Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, "The disbarred attorney Lynne Stewart next week will seek to have overturned her conviction of acting as middleman between a terrorist she represented and his followers in Egypt. The Justice Department isn't pleased with the outcome of the case, either: It will be arguing that Stewart's sentence of 28 months, which prompted celebration among her supporters outside the courthouse in 2006, was much too lenient. Prosecutors are aiming for a sentence of several more decades. Stewart's case, along with those of two co-defendants, her translator and law clerk, will be argued Tuesday afternoon before the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals." Posted at 08:52 AM by Howard Bashman "Complaints filed against Medina, Hecht; Advocacy group raises a red flag over justices' reimbursements for travel expenses": The Houston Chronicle today contains an article that begins, "Ethics complaints were filed Thursday against Texas Supreme Court Justices David Medina and Nathan Hecht questioning charges they made to their campaign accounts for travel." Texas Lawyer provides reports headlined "Watchdog Group Files Ethics Complaint Against Three Texas Justices" and "Foreman: Grand Jury Wants to Make Presentation on Medina Investigation to Incoming Panel; 'You've got 12 angry jurors,' says foreman." And today's edition of The San Antonio Express-News contains an editorial entitled "Repay travel expenses, follow the ethics rules." "Supreme Court is border guard, lightning rod, Breyer says": This article appears today in The Norman (Okla.) Transcript. And The Associated Press reports that "Supreme Court justice discusses terrorism, civil liberties." As noted in an article headlined "OU alumnus will be sworn in as chief judge this week at OU" that The Norman Transcript published on Wednesday, today "Robert Henry will be sworn in as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit" at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. "New Chief Judge beginning February 11, 2008": The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit yesterday issued a press release that begins, "Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg announced that he will relinquish his position as Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on February 10, 2008." The press release goes on to report that "Judge Ginsburg will continue as an active member of the Court of Appeals." Chief Judge Ginsburg's seven-year term as the D.C. Circuit's leader was scheduled to expire in July 2008. By stepping down a few months early, Chief Judge Ginsburg allows Circuit Judge David B. Sentelle to succeed him as chief judge. Judge Sentelle turns 65 years of age later this year, and upon reaching that age would become statutorily ineligible to serve as chief judge of a U.S. Court of Appeals. By becoming chief judge before reaching age 65, Judge Sentelle can serve in that post until he reaches the age of 70. Update: In describing several of Chief Judge Ginsburg's more notable accomplishments, yesterday's press release notes: "On the national front, Chief Judge Ginsburg fostered the move to allow the citation of unpublished opinions, a practice now codified in the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure." That is a praiseworthy accomplishment, indeed. And I can't help but remember the time when "How Appealing" published an email from Chief Judge Ginsburg announcing that the D.C. Circuit had decided to make freely available over its web site orders granting rehearing en banc in response to a suggestion that I had made here a few months earlier. "Female Jurists Hold Court at GU; Ginsberg, Hale Discuss Judicial Systems": This article (whose headline misspells Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's last name) appears today in The Hoya of Georgetown University. You can view online a webcast of yesterday's event via this link. "Gun-rights arguments": Yesterday's edition of The Washington Times contained an editorial that begins, "Last week, the Bush administration put troubling distance between itself and principled Second Amendment defenders. We refer to the amicus brief that Solicitor General Paul Clement filed Friday in support of the plaintiffs in District of Columbia v. Heller -- the D.C. gun-ban challenge, widely expected to be the court's most significant gun-rights case in 60 years when a decision is reached." Posted at 08:07 AM by Howard Bashman "Birmingham lawyer retires to pursue passion: sculpting." Yesterday's edition of The Birmingham News contained an article that begins, "Birmingham lawyer Warren Lightfoot was finally ready last year to show colleagues at his law office his latest sculpted work- a commissioned bust of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor." Posted at 08:04 AM by Howard Bashman "Scalia: Morality not job of judges." This article appears today in The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Posted at 08:00 AM by Howard Bashman  
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