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Monday, March 16, 2009 Programming note: As explained in this post from earlier today linking to the briefs, on Tuesday I'll be delivering an appellate oral argument before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania sitting in Harrisburg. Additional posts will appear here Tuesday afternoon or evening. Update: The oral argument seemed to go very well. Before departing Harrisburg, I stopped into the Pa. Superior Court's Harrisburg filing office to review the trial court record in a newly filed appeal that I'll soon be working on as co-counsel for defendants-appellees. It's a case that's received some news coverage, and once I formally enter my appearance I'll provide more details. "5th Circuit Nixes Manifest Disregard as Ground for Vacatur of Arbitration Awards": law.com provides this report. My earlier coverage of this Fifth Circuit ruling appears at this link. "A New Book on Justice Kennedy": Tony Mauro has this post today at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times." Posted at 08:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Legal Times to Merge With The National Law Journal": Following-up on my post from this morning, this post now appears at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times." And at "Bill's Blog," William L. Pollak -- Incisive Media's Chief Executive Officer for North America -- has a post titled "National Law Journal/Legal Times Merger." "Court affirms Texas' schools moment of silence law": The Associated Press has a report that begins, "A federal appeals court panel has upheld a Texas law that calls for schoolchildren to have a moment of silence during which they can pray, reflect or meditate." Just as soon as an electronic copy of today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit becomes available, I'll link to it here. Update: You can access today's ruling at this link. "Old cases may mean new trials for Gitmo detainees": The Associated Press has a report that begins, "Old terror case files are being dusted off as the Obama administration considers prosecuting high-profile Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian courts, focusing on crimes allegedly committed before Sept. 11, 2001. It's a tactic that could allow the government to limit testimony about harsh, more recent interrogations and to avoid revealing sensitive intelligence about al-Qaida." Posted at 02:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Judicial Nominations Coming Soon": Today at the "Legal Beat" blog of CQ Politics, Seth Stern has a post that begins, "The Senate Judiciary Committee's chairman expects President Obama's first batch of judicial nominations to arrive by early April." Posted at 02:44 PM by Howard Bashman "So Far, Few Ripples From Landmark Ruling on Guns": Adam Liptak will have this new installment of his "Sidebar" column Tuesday in The New York Times. Liptak's essay focuses on, among other things, an article titled "Heller's Catch 22" by law professor Adam Winkler. "Turtle Talk is the blog for the Indigenous Law and Policy Center at Michigan State University College of Law." I blog about American Indian law every now and then, but those who'd like even more blogging on that subject should be sure to visit the "Turtle Talk" blog. Posted at 12:48 PM by Howard Bashman I'll be delivering an appellate oral argument tomorrow before three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania sitting in Harrisburg, Pa. Tomorrow, I'll be delivering an oral argument on behalf of the defendant-appellant in a criminal case. The main question presented on appeal involves whether the defendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause were violated by the trial court's admission of the videotaped testimony of a child who provided incriminating testimony against the defendant on direct examination but who then refused to or was unable to complete her direct examination and thus was entirely unavailable for cross-examination. You can access online both the Brief for Appellant and the Reply Brief for Appellant that I filed in the case. "Fumo guilty 137 times": The Philadelphia Inquirer has a news update that begins, "Former State Sen. Vincent Fumo has been convicted of all 137 counts against him, bringing to a close his marathon federal corruption trial." And The Associated Press reports that "Ex-Pa. senator convicted of 137 corruption counts." "Incisive Media Announces Plans to Merge The National Law Journal and Legal Times; Leading Legal Publications to Offer Combined Print/Online Reporting and Analysis From the Nation's Capital and Six Bureaus Across the Country": So reports a news release from Incisive Media that I've just received by email. The news release begins: NEW YORK (March 16, 2009) -- Incisive Media, a global leader in specialized business news and information, today announced plans to merge two of the nation's most respected legal publications, The National Law Journal and Legal Times. The combined organization, which will operate under The National Law Journal brand, will offer print and online national legal news and analysis from an award-winning team of journalists in seven bureaus around the country. The new publication will continue to deliver insider coverage of Washington, D.C. news, commentary and legal analysis to readers within the Beltway and across the country, including front-page news from the capital and a weekly Washington section. The first print edition of the expanded National Law Journal will be available in May.I have posted the complete news release at this link. Posted at 11:34 AM by Howard Bashman "'Hillary: The Movie' to Get Supreme Court Screening; At Issue Is Balance Between Political Speech and Free Speech." Robert Barnes had this article yesterday in The Washington Post. Posted at 11:33 AM by Howard Bashman "America's First Constitution Was Big -- Really Big": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on yesterday's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered." A related slide show can be accessed here. Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman "Student bloggers give public a seat at Grace trial": The Associated Press has a report that begins, "A cadre of journalism and law students from the University of Montana is providing a virtual window on what many are calling the most extensive environmental criminal trial in U.S. history." Posted at 11:05 AM by Howard Bashman "Law and Justice with Antonin Scalia: Chapter 1 of 5; Justice Antonin Scalia discusses the premise of his book, Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges." By clicking here, you can view the video interview posted today at National Review Online. The interview is part of the series titled "Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson." Posted at 08:47 AM by Howard Bashman "US Torture: Voices from the Black Sites." Mark Danner will have this review in the April 9, 2009 issue of The New York Review of Books. Update: In yesterday's edition of The New York Times, Danner had an op-ed entitled "Tales From Torture's Dark World." And yesterday's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered" contained an audio segment entitled "Author Sheds Light On CIA's 'Black Sites'" (RealPlayer required). "A Leadership of Cowards? Why is Eric Holder embarrassed about enforcing civil rights in Noxubee County?" Today at National Review Online, Hans A. von Spakovsky has an essay [link fixed] that begins, "Attorney General Eric Holder calls the U.S. 'a nation of cowards' because we 'do not talk enough about race.' I find this ironic, since the Justice Department seems embarrassed about a recent judgment in its favor by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. U.S. v. Ike Brown is a major Voting Rights Act case involving intentional race-based discrimination by local officials in Noxubee County, Miss." You can view the Fifth Circuit's ruling from last month in that case at this link. "A deportation case against a dead man: Nasin Rivera, an illegal immigrant, died in San Bernardino County in August; Seven months later, the federal government is still proceeding with the deportation case against him." The Los Angeles Times contains this article today. Posted at 08:35 AM by Howard Bashman "Cheney, Bush Strongly Disagreed on Libby": This article appears today in The Washington Post. The New York Times reports today that "Cheney Says Obama Has Increased Risks." And The Los Angeles Times contains an article headlined "Cheney: Obama terrorism policies make U.S. vulnerable; The former vice president defends the Bush administration's approach to suspected terrorists as he sharply criticizes Obama on a host of issues." "It Keeps Coming Down To the Man in the Middle: As Justice Kennedy Goes, So Go Many Major Decisions." Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post. Posted at 08:22 AM by Howard Bashman "Red Cross Described 'Torture' at CIA Jails; Secret Report Implies That U.S. Violated International Law": This front page article appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 08:20 AM by Howard Bashman "Calif. fight over inmate care may go to high court": The Associated Press has this report. Posted at 08:14 AM by Howard Bashman "Obama Slow to Repudiate Bush in Race, Terrorism Court Cases": Greg Stohr of Bloomberg News has this report. Posted at 08:03 AM by Howard Bashman "Crying foul over Facebook: Fumo's defense asks judge to suspend deliberations & investigate blogging juror." This article appears today in The Philadelphia Daily News. And The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that "Fumo lawyers target juror, deliberations." My friend attorney Peter Goldberger filed this motion yesterday in the United States v. Fumo case pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 
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