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Wednesday, March 14, 2007 Happy birthday to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: According to The AP's popular "Today in History" feature for March 15th, on Thursday Justice Ginsburg will celebrate her 74th birthday. And to think, only four days earlier, Justice Antonin Scalia turned 71. Posted at 11:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Dying Woman Loses Appeal on Marijuana as Medication": Thursday's edition of The New York Times will contain this article. My earlier coverage of today's Ninth Circuit ruling can be accessed here. "Gonzales's Critics See Lasting, Improper Ties to White House": This article will appear Thursday in The New York Times, along with an article headlined "Bush Criticizes How Dismissals Were Handled." The Washington Post on Thursday will contain an article headlined "Despite 'Mistakes,' Bush Backs Gonzales." And McClatchy Newspapers provides reports headlined "Justice Dept. distances White House from firings of U.S. attorneys" and "Bush defends the firing of U.S. attorneys." "Suspected Leader of Attacks on 9/11 Is Said to Confess": Adam Liptak will have this article Thursday in The New York Times. The Washington Post on Thursday will contain a front page article headlined "Architect of 9/11 Confesses to Role In Many Attacks." The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Sept. 11 mastermind confesses, U.S. says; Khalid Shaikh Mohammed tells a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay that he planned the attacks 'from A to Z.'" And Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald reports that "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed confesses to 9-11, other attacks." In jurisprudence essays available online at Slate: Dahlia Lithwick and Jack Goldsmith have an essay entitled "Politics as Usual: Why the Justice Department will never be apolitical." And Lincoln Caplan has an essay entitled "Hyper Hacks: What's really wrong with the Bush Justice Department." On this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered": The broadcast contained segments entitled "Anatomy of a Scandal: E-Mails Led Up to Dismissal" and "Bush's White House, Built on Partisanship?" (featuring Ted Koppel). RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. In Thursday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor: Gail Russell Chaddock will have an article headlined "Firings furor puts Gonzales on hot seat; Did the attorney general mislead Congress about the firings of eight US attorneys?" And in other news, "Federal court eyes local crackdown of illegal migrants; Under challenge is a Hazleton, Pa., law, copied by many cities, that may go to the US Supreme Court." "Mohammed says responsible for 9/11 attacks": Reuters provides a report that begins, "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the United States, has admitted responsibility for those and other major al Qaeda operations, according to the transcript of a hearing at Guantanamo Bay released on Wednesday." And The Associated Press reports that "9/11 Mastermind Confesses in Guantanamo." The AP has posted the transcript online at this link. "Republican Says Gonzales Should Be Fired": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "Sen. John Sununu of New Hampshire on Wednesday became the first Republican in Congress to call for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' dismissal, hours after President Bush expressed confidence in his embattled Cabinet officer." Posted at 06:02 PM by Howard Bashman "You Asked for it, You Got it…Toy Yoda: Practical Jokes, Prizes, and Contract Law." Law Professor Keith A. Rowley has posted this article (abstract with links for download) online at SSRN (via "Legal Theory Blog"). Unfortunately, he isn't offering 100 Grand to anyone who visits the abstract or downloads the paper. Posted at 05:55 PM by Howard Bashman "A 9/11 sequel: civil cases made more difficult." At "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post that begins, "In a case that seems destined to go to the Supreme Court, because both sides have fought so doggedly over it in lower courts, the Fourth Circuit Court ruled on Wednesday that a federal judge in the terrorism trial of Zacarias Moussaoui had no power to order the government to turn over non-public evidence for use in a civil lawsuit filed by victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on New York City." My earlier coverage of today's Fourth Circuit ruling can be accessed here. "In Mexico, Bush 'not happy' about U.S. attorneys' controversy": McClatchy Newspapers provide this report. Posted at 05:44 PM by Howard Bashman "DOJ Documents Lend Support to Feinstein Charges; E-Mails Indicate Plan Was to Replace U.S. Attorneys Without Senate Confirmation": Lawrence Hurley has this article today in The Daily Journal of California. Posted at 05:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Egypt Names Nation's First Female Judges": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 05:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Bureaucratization and Balkanization: The Origins and Effects of Decision-Making Norms in the Federal Appellate Courts." Law Professor Stefanie Lindquist has this article in the March 2007 issue of the University of Richmond Law Review. Posted at 05:15 PM by Howard Bashman "The 'Bong' Show: Viewing Frederick's Publicity Stunt Through Kuhlmeier's Lens." Murad Hussain has this essay online at The Pocket Part of The Yale Law Journal. Posted at 05:12 PM by Howard Bashman "Bush v. Gore and the Uses of 'Limiting'": Chad Flanders has this comment in the March 2007 issue of The Yale Law Journal. Posted at 05:10 PM by Howard Bashman "'Witch' hits a glitch; Loses school suit": The New York Post contains this article today. And Newsday reports today that "Teacher's suit lacks powers." "Rescinded suspensions in 'Monologues' case draw mixed reaction": This article appears today in The Journal News of Westchester, New York. And Louis J. Slovinsky has an op-ed entitled "'Vagina' fuss is about fetishizing property." Yesterday's newspaper, meanwhile, contained an article headlined "Faculty backs students in 'Vagina Monologues' controversy." "Embattled Gonzales": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today's broadcast of the public radio program "Here & Now." Posted at 04:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Bush 'not happy' with handling of fired attorneys": The Los Angeles Times provides this news update. And The Washington Post provides a news update headlined "Bush Defends Gonzales's Decision." "Call for Abramoff probe renewed": Thursday's edition of The Pacific Daily News of Guam contains an article that begins, "Two House committee chairmen yesterday asked that the congressional probe into the firing of eight U.S. Attorneys be widened to include the case of acting U.S. Attorney Fred Black who was replaced in 2002 after he began investigating the now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands." The article also provides online access to related PDF documents. Posted at 04:22 PM by Howard Bashman On today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition": The broadcast contained audio segments entitled "Attorney General Resists Calls for Resignation"; "Context: How U.S. Attorneys Are Hired and Fired"; and "Fired U.S. Attorney Links Job Loss to Abramoff" (RealPlayer required). Posted at 04:18 PM by Howard Bashman "3rd Circuit Rules 'Gross Negligence' Of VA Led to Four Murders, Suicide": Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer provides a news update (free access) that begins, "The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a $7.4 million verdict against the Department of Veteran Affairs stemming from its decision to expel a Delaware County man who suffered from 'rage disorder' and just one day later murdered two of his children and two of their friends." You can access today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at this link. Civil plaintiff victims of 9/11 attacks suffer setback from Fourth Circuit in United States v. Moussaoui: What would a ruling in USA v. Moussaoui consist of if Zacarias Moussaoui himself were not even an actual party to the appeal? The answer can be found in today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Posted at 04:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Offensive posts inundate law school Web site; As message board gets continual criticism, student creator resigns": The Daily Pennsylvanian today contains an article that begins, "A message board for law students has recently been gathering attention from a variety of sources for its creators' decision to keep sexist, racist and homophobic messages posted on the Web site. And Penn Law student Anthony Ciolli, one of the directors of that Web site, AutoAdmit.com, wrote Monday night that he has resigned from the site. Ciolli would not return requests for comment, though his resignation was confirmed by co-director Jarret Cohen, an insurance agent." Posted at 02:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Dying Woman Loses Marijuana Appeal": David Kravets of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "A California woman whose doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive is not immune from federal prosecution on drug charges, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday." My earlier coverage appears immediately below. Posted at 02:10 PM by Howard Bashman Ninth Circuit decides Raich v. Gonzales on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court: Today's majority opinion concludes: We conclude that Raich has not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of her action for injunctive relief. First, we hold that Raich's common law necessity defense is not foreclosed by Oakland Cannabis or the Controlled Substances Act, but that the necessity defense does not provide a proper basis for injunctive relief. Second, although changes in state law reveal a clear trend towards the protection of medical marijuana use, we hold that the asserted right has not yet gained the traction on a national scale to be deemed fundamental. Third, we hold that the Controlled Substances Act, a valid exercise of Congress's commerce power, does not violate the Tenth Amendment. Finally, we decline to reach Raich's argument that the Controlled Substances Act, by its terms, does not prohibit her possession and use of marijuana because this argument was not raised below.You can access the complete ruling at this link. The U.S. Supreme Court's earlier ruling in the case, from June 6, 2005, can be accessed here. "Bush Upset Over Flawed Attorney Firings": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "President Bush said Wednesday he is troubled by the Justice Department's misleading explanations to Congress of why it fired eight U.S. attorneys and expected his attorney general to fix them." Posted at 01:12 PM by Howard Bashman "Second Wind for the Second Amendment: A federal appeals court revives the right to keep and bear arms." Jacob Sullum has this essay online today at Reason. Posted at 09:33 AM by Howard Bashman "Top General Explains Remarks on Gays": The New York Times contains this article today. The Washington Post reports today that "Sharp Drop in Gays Discharged From Military Tied to War Need." The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled "The Right to Serve: Gen. Peter Pace denounces gays and lesbians who are busy defending their country." And Alan K. Simpson has an op-ed entitled "Bigotry That Hurts Our Military." The Los Angeles Times reports that "General says he regrets remarks on gays; But the chairman of the Joint Chiefs doesn't apologize for calling homosexual acts 'immoral.'" The Chicago Tribune reports that "Pace takes fire on gays remark; General: Policy is what matters, not my opinion." The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled "Morality and the military." USA Today contains an article headlined "Gates: Personal views on gays in service out of line." And The Washington Times reports that "Pace clarifies gay comment as his 'personal moral views.'" "Gonzales: 'Mistakes Were Made'; But Attorney General Defends Firings of Eight U.S. Attorneys." This front page article appears today in The Washington Post, along with a front page news analysis headlined "White House Finds Trouble Harder to Shrug Off" and an article headlined "White House Cites Lax Voter-Fraud Investigations in U.S. Attorneys' Firings." An editorial is entitled "A Story Unravels: A hollow promise of 'accountability' in the firing of U.S. attorneys." Dana Milbank's "Washington Sketch" column is headlined "The Grand Elusion," and it begins, "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced the cameras for all of nine minutes yesterday, but he managed to contradict himself at least four times as he fought off calls to resign over the firing of U.S. attorneys." And columnist Ruth Marcus has an op-ed entitled "Time to Go, Mr. Gonzales." The Los Angeles Times today contains articles headlined "E-mails detail White House tactics behind firings; The documents reveal criteria and plans that led to the ouster of eight U.S. attorneys" and "Gonzales says 'mistakes were made'; But the attorney general says he has no plans to step down over firings at the Justice Department." David G. Savage has an article headlined "A primer on U.S. attorneys." An editorial is entitled "Blame Bush, not Gonzales: Rather than a principled attorney general, Gonzales continues to serve as a White House enabler." And Harry Litman has an op-ed entitled "Guilty of politics." The Wall Street Journal reports that "Gonzales Testimony Is Undercut; Emails Show White House, Justice Aides Orchestrated Effort to Fire Prosecutors" (free access). The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled "The Hubbell Standard: Hillary Clinton knows all about sacking U.S. Attorneys" (free access). The Chicago Tribune contains articles headlined "Gonzales admits 'mistakes made'; But attorney general vows he won't resign" and "Fitzgerald: Rove tried to limit choice." The newspaper also contains an editorial entitled "Gonzales on the griddle." USA Today reports that "Gonzales admits errors in firings of U.S. attorneys; E-mails show idea first raised in 2005." The Washington Times reports that "False testimony called 'mistake.'" And The New York Times contains an editorial entitled "Politics, Pure and Cynical." "Judges Say E.P.A. Ignored Order in Setting Emission Standards": The New York Times today contains this article reporting on a decision that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued yesterday. Posted at 07:44 AM by Howard Bashman "Scalia defends strict meaning of Constitution; Justice returns to UT audience": This article appears today in The Toledo Blade. Posted at 07:40 AM by Howard Bashman "The Right to Ban Arms": The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, "A federal appeals court panel in Washington has marched blithely past a longstanding Supreme Court precedent, the language of the Constitution and the pressing needs of public safety to strike down Washington's law barring residents from keeping handguns in their homes." Today in The Washington Post, Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky has an op-ed entitled "A Well-Regulated Right to Bear Arms." And today in The Wall Street Journal, Ted Cruz has an op-ed entitled "Second Amendment Showdown" (free access). "Gay Marriage Gains May Not Yet Produce Law": This article appears today in The New York Sun. Posted at 07:35 AM by Howard Bashman "The FBI's Misuse of National Security Letters Reveals the Often-False Dichotomy Between Security and Privacy": Michael C. Dorf has this essay online today at FindLaw. Posted at 06:48 AM by Howard Bashman  
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