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Thursday, April 03, 2008 "Bush Officials Oppose Media Shield Bill": Pete Yost of The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 10:37 PM by Howard Bashman "Appeals Court Upholds Court's Word Ban": The AP provides a report that begins, "An appeals court on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against a judge who banned 'rape' and other words in a sexual assault trial." You can access today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link. "Appeals court: Fla. can enforce anti-voter fraud law for now." The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "Florida can temporarily enforce a law that disqualifies any voter registration where the Social Security or driver license number on the application can't be matched with government databases, an appeals court ruled Thursday." You can access today's ruling of a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit at this link. Does the rule requiring that a federal district court's subject-matter jurisdiction be evaluated as of the time the lawsuit was filed prohibit the plaintiff from relying on an amended complaint filed as of right that asserts a valid jurisdictional basis lacking from the original complaint? Senior Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya issued this ruling today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in a contentious dispute over who invented the idea behind the Facebook web site. Today's ruling holds that where an amended complaint filed as of right supplies a viable jurisdictional basis, the lawsuit cannot be dismissed merely because the district court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction over the original complaint. Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman The Supreme Court of California unanimously adopts the "sophisticated user" defense to negate a manufacturer's duty to warn of a product's potential danger when the plaintiff has (or should have) advance knowledge of the product's inherent hazards: You can access at this link today's ruling from California's highest court. Posted at 02:52 PM by Howard Bashman "Jurors in Wecht case tell judge they're deadlocked": The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides a news update that begins, "The jury in the Dr. Cyril H. Wecht trial told U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab they were deadlocked, but the judge told them to keep deliberating anyway. The jury sent a note at 1:40 p.m. to Judge Schwab that read, in part, 'We agree that additional deliberations would not be helpful.' The judge then polled jurors individually, and all agreed they would be unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the 41 charges the former county coroner faces." And Jason Cato of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review provides a news update headlined "Wecht jurors say they are deadlocked." "Justices Kennedy & Thomas on the SCOTUS 2009 Budget": You can view this past Saturday's broadcast of C-SPAN's "America & the Courts" by clicking here (RealPlayer required). Posted at 02:38 PM by Howard Bashman "Judge in DUI case buoyed by support; Letter-writing effort shows perspective shift": This article appears today in The Boston Globe. Posted at 02:32 PM by Howard Bashman "Suit on Light Cigarettes Is Thrown Out": The New York Times provides a news update that begins, "The tobacco industry scored a legal victory on Thursday when a federal appeals court threw out an $800 billion class-action lawsuit on behalf of smokers of light cigarettes who said they were misled to believe the cigarettes were safer than regular ones." Reuters reports that "Appeals court tosses $800 billion tobacco suit." Dow Jones Newswires report that "Appeals Court Rejects Class Action In 'Light' Cigarettes Marketing Case." And The Associated Press reports that "Court Overturns Tobacco Suit Ruling." My earlier coverage of today's Second Circuit ruling appears at this link. Eleven-judge en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issues its ruling in Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com: You can access today's 8-3 ruling at this link. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, who had written the majority opinion on behalf of a divided three-judge panel in this case, wrote today's en banc majority opinion. Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote a spirited dissent from today's ruling, and Circuit Judges Pamela Ann Rymer and Carlos T. Bea joined in the dissent. My extensive earlier coverage of the three-judge panel's ruling in this case can be accessed via posts that appear here and here. And the May 21, 2007 installment of my "On Appeal" column for law.com was headlined "When Should a Commercial Web Site Be Held Liable for User-Generated Content?" U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reverses U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein's class action certification of an action brought by cigarette smokers allegedly deceived into believing that "light" cigarettes were healthier than "full-flavored" cigarettes: You can access today's ruling, by a unanimous three-judge panel, at this link. Today's Second Circuit decision overturns a 540-page ruling issued on September 25, 2006. My earlier coverage of that ruling appeared here and here. Update: Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that "$800 Billion Tobacco Lawsuit Is Thrown Out." "Prosecutor says cyclist hampered BALCO case": Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Lance Williams has an article that begins, "Authorities were unable to close the deal and indict a chemist who played a key role in the BALCO steroids scandal, because a former cycling champion lied about the drugs she obtained from him, a federal prosecutor declared Wednesday. But a lawyer for perjury defendant Tammy Thomas, a former high-profile bicycle racer, retorted that his client's only offense was to refuse to 'confess her sins' to government investigators whom the attorney characterized as being bent on driving steroids from elite sports rather than prosecuting real crime." Posted at 09:55 AM by Howard Bashman "Behind the Scenes of Secret Surveillance and Its Public Unmasking": Today in The New York Times, Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen has this review of Eric Lichtblau's new book, "Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice." Posted at 09:44 AM by Howard Bashman "Legal Bondage: Why we like restrictions on sex." Online at The New Republic, Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen has an essay that begins, "The day of Eliot Spitzer's ignominious resignation, I reread one of the most splenetic dissents in the recent history of the Supreme Court: the jeremiad Antonin Scalia wrote in response to the Lawrence v. Texas ruling that legalized sodomy." Posted at 09:40 AM by Howard Bashman "How To Write An Effective Torture Memo; After Years Of Legal Wrangling, An Infamous Document Is Finally Made Public": CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen has this "CourtWatch" column. Posted at 09:38 AM by Howard Bashman "Focus on 'honest services'; Pros, cons of argument take center stage in Skilling's appeal": The Houston Chronicle contains this article today. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans reports today that "Enron appeal is argued in N.O.; U.S. jurists weigh former CEO's case." And Texas Lawyer reports that "Skilling's Lawyer Stresses Honest-Services Issue at 5th Circuit." "A warrant for William Jefferson: Members of Congress should be subject to warrants, just like any other American citizen." This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 09:32 AM by Howard Bashman "Weiss of Milberg Weiss Enters Guilty Plea in Deal": Josh Gerstein has this article today in The New York Sun. The Associated Press reports that "Weiss Pleads Guilty in Kickback Case." Reuters reports that "Class action king pleads guilty to racketeering." And Bloomberg News reports that "Mel Weiss Pleads Guilty to Paying Clients Kickbacks." "Quilt Show Bumps Ex-Soldier's Trial": In news from Paducah, Kentucky (which I once had to visit for work, many years ago), The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "The trial of a former Fort Campbell soldier charged with raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdering her and her family has been delayed by two weeks because of a quilt show." Posted at 09:23 AM by Howard Bashman "Freedom eludes many crack inmates; Though new rules have reduced sentences for some, others remain behind bars because of bureaucratic delays and Justice Department opposition": The Los Angeles Times contains this article today. Posted at 09:17 AM by Howard Bashman "Memo Sheds New Light on Torture Issue": This article appears today in The New York Times. Posted at 09:15 AM by Howard Bashman "Gitmo tribunal rules limit evidence disclosures; As the Guantanamo war court edges toward full-blown trials, closures, censorship and document delays cloud transparency": Today in The Miami Herald, Carol Rosenberg has an article that begins, "A defense lawyer lets slip at the war court convening here that a battlefield commander changed an Afghanistan firefight report in a way that seemed to help a U.S. government murder case. Reporters hear the field commander's name but are forbidden to report it. In another case, a judge approves the release of a captive's interrogation video showing the blurred face of an American agent. But a federal prosecutor on loan to the Pentagon withholds it 'out of an abundance of caution.'" The newspaper has also posted online a 12-page document entitled "Media Policy and Ground Rules for Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." I guess this would be useful reading material for anyone hoping to be included in a possible law bloggers' tour of Guantanamo. "Florida abortions may require ultrasound; The House passed a bill to mandate ultrasounds for all abortions while critics called it a barrier to abortion access": The Miami Herald contains this article today. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports today that "Florida House votes to require ultrasound before all abortions." The Tampa Tribune reports that "House Votes To Require 1st Trimester Ultrasound." The St. Petersburg Times reports that "House votes to add abortion rule." The Tallahassee Democrat reports that "Florida House debates, OKs abortion bill." And The Ledger of Lakeland, Florida reports that "Abortion Bill Would Require Ultrasound; State House OKs plan; Senate may hear the proposal next week." "Lawyers Fight DNA Samples Gained on Sly": This article appears today in The New York Times. Posted at 08:50 AM by Howard Bashman "After bitter race, calls for reform; Election's tone hurt high court's standing, some say": The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today contains an article that begins, "The bitter race between Louis Butler and Michael Gableman for the state Supreme Court turned what was supposed to be a nonpartisan contest into a partisan battle that former justices and others said tattered the court's reputation." Relatedly, The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial entitled "The Wisconsin 'Tragedy': A state Supreme Court justice is ousted by referendum; Too bad more states can't hold their judges to account." And in other news from Wisconsin, The New York Times today contains an article headlined "Wisconsin Voters Excise Editing From Governor's Veto Powers" that begins, "Wisconsin governors have long been allowed to sign off on budget bills but do some tricky erasing first. They could delete words, numbers, sentences, paragraphs or some combination of all of those, to create entirely new meanings never intended by the original authors -- a legislative twist on the game of Mad Libs." Those interested in this issue won't want to miss the "VetoMatic" web site. "Wecht lawyer objects to ill juror's dismissal; Ex-coroner's attorney wants judge to halt deliberations in case": The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contains this article today. And today in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Jason Cato has an article headlined "Defense moves to halt jury deliberations" in which I am quoted. "Kelo and Us": This editorial appears today in The New York Sun. Posted at 07:58 AM by Howard Bashman  
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