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Saturday, April 30, 2005 "Supreme Court nullifies sexual conduct law": The Kansas City Star today contains an article that begins, "It soon will be legal for flashers to expose themselves to children in Missouri, unless the state Supreme Court changes a ruling it issued this week." In earlier coverage, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "Court decision could free sexual offenders" and "Beine sex case has officials searching for answer." I previously noted this matter in a post you can access here. "Voice of the Florida Supreme Court to retire; Barnes instituted standards at court": This article appears today in The Tallahassee Democrat. Posted at 11:58 PM by Howard Bashman "Colo. Court Considers Juror Questions": The Associated Press reports here that "The relatively new practice of allowing jurors to submit questions for witnesses during criminal and civil trials, upheld elsewhere in the country in federal courts, is facing a new legal test before Colorado's highest court." Posted at 11:57 PM by Howard Bashman "Laramie men face charges": The Laramie (Wyo.) Boomerang today contains an article that begins, "Two Laramie men are facing obscenity charges for allegedly building a snow sculpture of a phallus in their front yard." Posted at 11:56 PM by Howard Bashman In Sunday's edition of The New York Times: In the Week in Review section, Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen will have an article headlined "The Brawl That May Erupt Over the High Court," while Sheryl Gay Stolberg will have an article headlined "Dr. Frist's Twist." And columnist David Brooks will have an op-ed entitled "Let's Make a Deal" that begins, "Bill Frist should have taken the deal." In the op-ed, Brooks reports that "I've been reliably informed that Reid also vowed to prevent a filibuster on the next Supreme Court nominee." "Girl, 13, argues right to abortion; Judge asked to reverse decision by state guardian": The South Florida Sun-Sentinel contains this article today. The Palm Beach Post reports that "Head of DCF opted to challenge girl's abortion plans." And The Miami Herald reports that "DCF still failing to locate runaways, advocates say; The case of a pregnant 13-year-old raises familiar questions about the state's efforts to locate and protect missing and runaway foster kids." "Cuomo Warns Against Filibuster Changes": The Associated Press provides this report on today's Democratic radio address. And in the May 9, 2005 issue of The Weekly Standard, Law Professor Steven G. Calabresi will have an essay entitled "Minority Rule? How the Democrats decide who to filibuster." "Ted Olson Joins Floyd Abrams In Time-Times Case": The New York Observer contains this article today. And Editor & Publisher on Thursday posted an article headlined "Olson: Cooper Defense to Rely on Precedent, Common Law." "Gillette wins legal fight with Schick; Patent ruling boosts frim's bid to block rival Schick's Quattro": This article appears today in The Boston Globe. And Reuters reports that "Gillette Wins Appeal in Fight Over Energizer Razor." I first noted yesterday's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a post you can access here. "Falwell lays down marker for Warner": The News & Advance of Lynchburg, Virginia today contains an article that begins, "The Rev. Jerry Falwell on Friday drew a political line in the sand and warned U.S. Sen. John Warner not to step to the other side. Warner, a Virginia Republican, could hold a critical vote on a GOP initiative to halt Democratic filibusters of President Bush's judicial candidates." The State of Columbia, South Carolina today contains an editorial entitled "U.S. Senate needs attitude change, not rules change." In The Washington Times, Terence P. Jeffrey has an op-ed entitled "A savvy justice stalled." And at Townhall.com, Mark Alexander has an essay entitled "The Demos' full-o-bluster." "Bush Backs Abortion Measure; He Urges Senate to Enact House Bill on Parental Notification": This article appeared yesterday in The Washington Post. Posted at 07:02 AM by Howard Bashman "Most of teacher's religious claims against district tossed; Judge rules Cupertino educator's rights to free speech weren't trampled": Josh Richman has this article today in The Oakland Tribune. You can access Thursday's ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California at this link. Posted at 07:00 AM by Howard Bashman "Judge in Moussaoui Case Blocks Release of Sept. 11 Report": This article appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 06:50 AM by Howard Bashman Friday, April 29, 2005 It was my great pleasure to speak at this evening's Annual Banquet of the Harvard Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: These two organizations have a wonderfully enthusiastic and intelligent membership. It was also very interesting to get to hear William Kristol's perspective on law-related political battles now underway in Washington, DC. Bloggers were well represented at the event. Both Amber Taylor of "Class Maledictorian" and Will Baude of "Crescat Sententia" were at my table. I had the chance to speak with Law Professor Randy E. Barnett of "The Volokh Conspiracy." Joshua Davey of both "letters from babylon" and Locke v. Davey was present. And many contributors to the "Ex Parte" blog were in attendance. Before I leave town tomorrow morning, I'm scheduled to grab an early breakfast with Jeremy Blachman. "Justice Sunday": You can access here the transcript of the cover story from this evening's broadcast of the PBS program "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly." And available online from CBS News, Sunday Morning producer Brian Healy has an essay entitled "Cheapening Faith." Posted at 11:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Judge Blocks Florida Teen's Abortion": This evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered" included this segment (RealPlayer required). Posted at 11:23 PM by Howard Bashman "Rep. Holt joins student filibuster at Frist Campus Center; Protest continues into 78th hour": The Daily Princetonian provides this news update. You can monitor the ongoing "'Filibuster Frist' @ Princeton University" at this link. In commentary, Sunday's edition of The Atlanta Journal Constitution will contain an op-ed by Jim Wooten entitled "Take a vote, and do it now" and an op-ed by Cynthia Tucker entitled "Must filibuster Justice Brown." Today in The Wisconsin State Journal, Bill Wineke has an op-ed entitled "Think of the future of the endangered filibuster." And today's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show contained a segment entitled "Frist Move Exposes Dingy Harry's Dems." "Break the Filibuster: Democrats are looking to the Constitution to preserve the judicial filibuster; the Constitution isn't on their side." William Kristol, with whom I had the pleasure of visiting this evening at Harvard, has this essay in the May 9, 2005 issue of The Weekly Standard Posted at 11:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Teacher's lawsuit moves forward": The San Jose Mercury News today contains an article that begins, "In a case that put the national spotlight on Cupertino, a federal court ruling Thursday pushed forward a fifth-grade teacher's discrimination lawsuit against the Cupertino Union School District. Stephen J. Williams, a teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School, filed a lawsuit in November, claiming Principal Patricia Vidmar and other district officials violated his constitutional rights when they restricted his use of excerpts from historical documents that contained references to God." Posted at 06:15 PM by Howard Bashman Second Circuit affirms dismissal of lawsuit against the City of New York and Motorola brought by personal representatives of firefighters who lost their lives in responding to the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks: The lawsuit alleged that Motorola "provided the City with radio transmission communication equipment for firefighters that Motorola knew to be ineffective in high-rise structures like the Towers of the WTC." You can access today's ruling at this link. Posted at 05:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Judicial Partisan Warfare Escalates; Tempest Over Brown Nomination Shows Times Have Changed": Peter Blumberg has this very interesting news analysis about D.C. Circuit nominee Janice Rogers Brown today in The Daily Journal. And The Contra Costa Times today contains an editorial entitled "Justice Brown puts foot in mouth again." "Sanding Down Sander: The debunker of affirmative action gets debunked." Emily Bazelon has this jurisprudence essay today online at Slate. Posted at 03:12 PM by Howard Bashman If only he had a PACER account, he might still be a free man today: The Chicago Sun-Times reports today that "Suspect delivers himself to feds." Posted at 03:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Holy war against judges": This editorial appears today in The Toledo Blade. Posted at 03:05 PM by Howard Bashman Divided three-judge Federal Circuit panel resolves appeal in patent dispute between manufacturers of three-blade and four-blade razors: You can access today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at this link. Update: Thanks to the reader who sent along the link to The Onion's parody from February 18, 2004, "F*ck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades." "Senator fires back at attack ads; Filibuster: Murkowski says she's taking a thoughtful approach on the issue." This article appears today in The Anchorage Daily News. And The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner today contains an article headlined "Senator works to keep doors open on ANWR" that begins, "As the Republican-led Congress marches toward opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday worried that the opportunity will disappear in a rancorous fight with Democrats over President Bush's judicial nominations." Programming note: I'll be en route shortly to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where this evening William Kristol and I will be the keynote speakers at the Annual Banquet of the Harvard Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. New posts will appear this afternoon, once I arrive at my hotel. Posted at 10:25 AM by Howard Bashman "Frist Proposes Deal on Judicial Filibusters": This segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition." Today in The New York Times, seven letters to the editor appear under the heading "The Battle Over the Filibuster." Finally for now, you can access online "The Official Frist Filibuster Webcam @ Princeton University" showing the "nuclear option"-related protest underway for several days at the Frist Campus Center at Princeton University. Seals and cross: On Wednesday, The Los Angeles Daily News reported that "Hahn endorses new effort to keep cross on city seal." You can access online a press release entitled "Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn Formally Endorses Petition Drive to Retain the Original LA County Seal; Citing historical reasons and the right of the people to vote on the issue, Mayor Hahn issued the endorsement" that The Committee to Support
the Los Angeles County Seal Ordinance issued on Tuesday. "Politics by Design: Why is L.A.'s liberal mayor attacking the ACLU?" Today in the Wall Street Journal, Jill Stewart has an op-ed that begins, "James Hahn, the mayor of Los Angeles, has a cross to bear--not that he minds. A tiny cross on the seal of Los Angeles County--removed under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union--has become a potential political opportunity for him, not to mention the occasion for filial piety." Posted at 07:24 AM by Howard Bashman "Panel hears Cedarburg native Clement, solicitor general nominee": This article appeared yesterday in The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Posted at 07:02 AM by Howard Bashman "Democrats Reject Deal on Judges; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's offer of 100 hours to debate before a vote may be a final gesture before the GOP changes filibuster rules": The Los Angeles Times contains this article today, along with an article headlined "'Mr. Smith' Gets Caught Up in Ideological Fight; Groups on both sides of the filibuster debate want the film hero on their side, but Columbia Pictures has stopped allowing partisan use." The Houston Chronicle today contains articles headlined "Senate nearing showdown on filibusters; Democrats reject GOP plan to allow votes on nominees" and "Opposition to judge nominees not 'an issue of faith,' Bush says; His comments appear to counter attempts to paint Dems as having a religious bias." The Washington Times contains articles headlined "Democrats scorn Frist offer"; "'Miracle' needed to win back Senate"; and "Salazar's 'Antichrist' flap spotlights judicial battle." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that "Frist makes offer to Democrats on judicial nominees; Democrats react coolly to proposal." The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that "Debate offer gets tepid response." The Daily Princetonian reports that "Filibuster continues at Frist." The Princeton Packet reports that "Sen. Frist target of Princeton University student filibuster." The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that "Whitman fears 'nuclear option'; Republican centrist urges votes on judges without rules changes." The Virginian-Pilot reports that "Plan to end Senate filibuster criticized." In commentary, The Wall Street Journal today contains an editorial entitled "Advise and Consign: The filibuster isn't the only procedure Senators are abusing." The Washington Times contains an editorial entitled "A compromise on the 'nuclear option.'" In addition, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) has an op-ed entitled "Debate and then vote," while Linda Chavez has an op-ed entitled "Confirmation angst." The Austin American-Statesman contains an editorial entitled "When traditions tumble." The Amarillo Globe-News contains an editorial entitled "Nomination process filled up with filibusters." The Daily Press of Hampton Roads, Virginia contains an editorial entitled "The filibuster." The Denver Post contains an editorial entitled "Salazar skids off the high road." And columnist Reggie Rivers has an op-ed entitled "Importance of checks and balances." In The Rocky Mountain News, columnist Mike Rosen has an op-ed entitled "Salazar welshes on deal." In The Athens Banner-Herald, Michael J. Gerhardt and Larry D. Kramer have an op-ed entitled "Filibuster shouldn't be set aside out of impatience, frustration." In The Arizona Republic, columnist Robert Robb has an essay entitled "Rules?! Senate don't need no stinking rules!" In The Orlando Sentinel, columnist Peter A. Brown has an op-ed entitled "How to judge Bush's court picks?" In The Star-Ledger of Newark, New Jersey, columnist John Farmer has an op-ed entitled "The filibuster is too crucial a safeguard to toss away." Finally for now, in The Providence Journal, Julian E. Zelizer has an op-ed entitled "Make Senate more democratic -- Filibuster deserves to be deep-sixed." "Cramton Leads Discussion on Supreme Court Developments": This article appears today in The Cornell Daily Sun. Posted at 06:45 AM by Howard Bashman "Stenberg announces another Senate bid": The Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star today contains an article that begins, "Don Stenberg entered the 2006 Senate race Thursday with a focus on cultural concerns and judicial nominees as well as economic and security issues." Posted at 06:44 AM by Howard Bashman "Third postponement no charm for judge; 14-year veteran waits as 2 other N.C. nominees get nod": The Winston-Salem Journal today contains an article that begins, "Terrence W. Boyle has waited 14 years for a vote on his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and he will have to wait another two weeks because of a technical glitch." The Charlotte Observer reports today that "2 federal judges approved for N.C.; Former U.S. attorney for Charlotte confirmed 2 years after nominated." And The Daily Tar Heel reports that "N.C. judge's future part of national debate." On a personal note, I'd like to congratulate "How Appealing" reader James C. Dever, III for finally attaining U.S. Senate confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. As a result of Dever's voice-vote confirmation yesterday, someone else now holds the distinction of being the longest-waiting federal district court nominee yet to be confirmed. "Pryor vote pushed back once again": The Mobile Register today contains an article that begins, "The Senate Judiciary Committee again delayed a vote Thursday on Mobile native Bill Pryor's nomination for a federal appellate judgeship, but Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., promised to make it the 'number one item' at the panel's next business session, probably May 12." Posted at 06:20 AM by Howard Bashman Thursday, April 28, 2005 "Lining Up for High Court's Hottest Ticket": law.com's Tony Mauro provides this report. Posted at 11:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Will Rehnquist End 33-Year Career?" Hope Yen of The Associated Press has a report that begins, "The Supreme Court has heard its last argument of the session. Now the question is whether ailing Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has heard the last argument of his 33-year career on the high court." Posted at 11:45 PM by Howard Bashman It's a boy! Warm congratulations to Dahlia Lithwick and her husband Aaron on the birth of their second son, who arrived at 3:48 this morning. The new arrival is incredibly cute, and -- watch out young ladies -- he's got a head full of blond hair. Posted at 11:32 PM by Howard Bashman "Transcript Details Moussaoui's Talk with Judge": This segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on this morning's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition." Posted at 11:25 PM by Howard Bashman "It's More than Judges: The filibuster-happy Democrats have a grand scheme." Larry Kudlow has this essay today at National Review Online. Posted at 11:23 PM by Howard Bashman "GOP Offers Trade-Off on Filibusters; Reid Calls Proposal 'Wet Kiss' to Right": The Washington Post on Friday will contain this article. Posted at 11:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Barnes' move to city clears big hurdle; Court denies bid to keep art collection in Merion": This article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Philadelphia Daily News reports today that "All systems go for Barnes move; Pa. Supreme Court sets aside appeal." The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that "Barnes wins legal ruling." The Associated Press reports that "Pa. Supreme Court tosses appeal over renowned art collection." The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that "Pennsylvania's Highest Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Art Collection to Move." And The New York Times provides a newsbrief headlined "A Victory for the Barnes." You can access yesterday's ruling of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at this link. "Limbaugh loses in state's highest court": The Miami Herald provides this news update. And The Palm Beach Post provides a news update headlined "Florida high court refuses to hear Limbaugh appeal." You can access today's order of the Supreme Court of Florida at this link. "Dem judge protests smearing of GOP nominee": Columnist George Weeks has this essay today in The Detroit News. Posted at 11:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Showdown on the Court: Buoyed by his reelection but dismayed by rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, a president overreaches." William E. Leuchtenburg has this article in the May 2005 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. Posted at 11:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist Offers Compromise on Judicial Posts": This article will appear Friday in The New York Times. The Washington Post provides a news update headlined "Frist Offers Deal for Vote on Judges." The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Democrats Reject Frist's Filibuster Deal." Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, reports that "Democrats nix filibuster proposal; But Senate Democratic leader hints at party abstaining from blocking tactics." MSNBC also offers a report headlined "Bush: Judicial filibusters not attack on 'faith'; He rejects theory of conservative Christians." United Press Internationaloffers a report headlined "Bush: Dems filibuster based on philosophy." Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press reports that "Frist Won't Budge on Filibuster Demands." Thomas Ferraro of Reuters reports that "Republican Leader Offers Compromise on Judges." This evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered" contained segments entitled "Senate Republicans Offer Compromise on Judicial Filibusters" and "The Record on Judicial Nominations" (featuring Nina Totenberg). RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. The web site of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) contains a news release entitled "Frist Offers Proposal To End Judicial Nominations Impasse" that provides additional details (see here, here, and here) relating to the proposal. Back home, for now: Until my next trip out-of-town, a blog-related speaking appearance tomorrow evening at Harvard Law School that will have me back on the road midday tomorrow. Posted at 10:22 PM by Howard Bashman "ACLU files petition on behalf of Wiccan witch": The Richmond Times-Dispatch today contains an article that begins, "The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed a petition on behalf of Cynthia Simpson, a witch of the Wiccan faith, seeking to reverse a ruling that upheld Chesterfield County's decision to bar her from giving the invocation at Board of Supervisors meetings." Posted at 07:25 AM by Howard Bashman "Girl, 13, fighting DCF bid to block abortion; The state and child advocates face off in court over the case of a 13-year-old foster child who wants to end her pregnancy": The Miami Herald contains this article today. And The Palm Beach Post today reports that "DCF out to block 13-year-old's abortion." "U.S. lawsuit: Synagogue is bias victim; The U.S. Department of Justice has sued Hollywood, charging the city with discriminating against a synagogue." This article appears today in The Miami Herald. Posted at 07:08 AM by Howard Bashman "Filibuster Vote Will Be Hard to Predict; Undecided Republicans Are Big Unknown": The Washington Post contains this article today. The Los Angeles Times reports that "Gore Criticizes Republicans on Filibuster Issue; Former vice president says senators trying to forbid the practice in judicial nominations are misusing religion and threatening democracy." The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware reports that "Biden warns GOP on 'nuclear option'; Effort to end filibusters on nominees goes too far, senator says." The Rapid City Journal reports that "Senators hope filibuster fight over judges will not derail highway bill." The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that "'Nuclear' fallout could turn against Democrats." The San Francisco Chronicle contains a front page article headlined "Congress sinks into partisan quagmire; Procedural battles take priority over health care, deficit." The Montgomery Advertiser reports that "Panel may debate Pryor nomination." The Daily Princetonian reports that "Frist protest continues for third day." The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that "Court of public opinion focuses on the filibuster; Protesters hope to preserve process for blocking judges." The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that "Santa Feans demonstrate against GOP filibuster ban." The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, California reports that "Rallies protest bid to halt filibusters." The Arizona Republic reports that "Preserving filibuster has support in Arizona." The Rocky Mountain News reports that "Courthouse protesters defend Senate Dems' use of filibuster" and "Salazar regrets 'Antichrist' barb; Senator says he meant only to accuse Dobson of being 'self-serving.'" The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports that "Salazar offers 'regrets' to Focus." The Contra Costa Times reports that "Walnut Creek rally protests GOP changes to filibuster rule." The Ventura County Star reports that "More than 30 show support for filibusters." The Roanoke Times reports that "Rally draws protesters downtown; 'No filibuster means no democracy as far as we're concerned,' one woman said." The Brownsville Herald reports that "Protesters rally for stronger political voice." The Akron Beacon Journal reports that "Protest defends judicial filibuster; Akron rally, others across U.S. object to Bush's court nominees." The Daily Local News of West Chester, Pennsylvania reports that "Democratic coalition holds rally." The Citizens Voice of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania reports that "Local protest hits GOP plan to change voting rules." The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that "Rally brings calls to save filibuster." The Daily Illini reports that "Local residents defend filibuster." The Daily Texan reports that "Protesters target nuclear option." The North Texas Daily reports that "Group protests Republican filibuster changes at Union." In commentary, The Montgomery Advertiser contains an editorial entitled "Numbers could alter filibuster argument." The New York Times contains an editorial entitled "Leading With the Women." The Boston Globe contains an editorial entitled "Frist principles." The Orlando Sentinel contains an editorial entitled "End stalemate: In the fight over Bush's judicial nominees, both parties need to bend." The News-Leader of Springfield, Missouri contains an editorial entitled "Filibuster debate full of hypocrisy; Both parties find ways to derail radical judges." The Nashua Telegraph contains an editorial entitled "Drop attempt to end filibuster maneuvers." In The Charlotte Observer, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) has an op-ed entitled "Nominees deserve a vote: Filibuster prevents U.S. Senate from doing its constitutional duty." The Washington Times today contains op-eds by Thomas Sowell and Donald Lambro. In The Rocky Mountain News, columnist Mike Littwin has an essay entitled "Salazar loses high ground in Dobson fight." Finally for now, at Townhall.com, Ross Mackenzie has an essay entitled "How long will the Senate tolerate the intolerable?" "Justices Question Andersen Conviction; Two Express Doubts About Law Applied In Enron-Related Case": This article appears today in The Washington Post. In USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports that "Supreme Court could reverse Andersen conviction; Timing, intent at issue in shredding of Enron papers." Jan Crawford Greenburg of The Chicago Tribune reports that "Justices' queries tilt to Andersen; File destruction may not have been illegal." Michael McGough of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that "Justices skeptical of U.S. argument on accountants; Arthur Andersen conviction in doubt." Mary Flood of The Houston Chronicle reports that "Some justices are skeptical; Andersen case causes concern on high court." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that "Justices question intent in Andersen appeal." And on yesterday evening's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Jan Crawford Greenburg of The Chicago Tribune had this audio report (RealPlayer required). Access online the agenda for today's executive business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee: The agenda can be viewed at this link. Today the committee is likely to vote on Fourth Circuit nominee Terrence W. Boyle and Eleventh Circuit nominee William H. Pryor, Jr. Posted at 06:10 AM by Howard Bashman Wednesday, April 27, 2005 "Ala. Ten Commandments Monument Finds Home": The Associated Press reports here that "A 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument that forced the chief justice of the state Supreme Court out of office will be put on display at his church." Posted at 11:35 PM by Howard Bashman In news from Georgia: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains an article headlined "Lewd phone calls deemed protected" reporting on this ruling that the Supreme Court of Georgia issued yesterday. And The AJC today also contains an article headlined "Court limits DUI tests" reporting on this ruling that the Supreme Court of Georgia issued yesterday. Georgia will now be the State of choice for lewd phone calling suspected impaired drivers. "Pot Laws Pain Some Elders; Senior citizens who rely on medical marijuana to cope with ailments wonder why the federal government wants to just say no to them": This front page article will appear Thursday in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 11:25 PM by Howard Bashman In Thursday's edition of The New York Times: Linda Greenhouse will report that "Supreme Court Says Farmers May Sue in State Courts." In other news, "House Passes Bill Tightening Parental Rule for Abortions." And an article will report that "Army, in Manual, Limiting Tactics in Interrogation." "Right to ramble splits US Senate": BBC News provides this report. The Washington Times contains articles headlined "Frist stands firm on up-down vote" and "Judicial battle seen as attack on faith." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that "Judicial nominees still divide Senate; Democrats' offer doesn't budge Frist." The Daily Princetonian reports that "Students protest Frist at Frist." The Portland Press Herald reports that "Collins gets heat over filibuster vote." FOXNews.com reports that "Filibuster Fight Extends Beyond Senate." The Scripps Howard News Service provides a report headlined "Gore: 'Poison pill' for democracy in filibuster fight." The Times-Picayune reports that "GOP turns down deal on judicial nominees; Filibuster rule change gaining momentum." The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that "Reid reaches for compromise on judicial filibuster; But Frist demands votes on all nominees." The Montgomery Advertiser reports that "Sessions takes stand for judicial nominee." The Rocky Mountain News reports that "Colorado senators split on filibuster; Salazar supports current rule; Allard calls for change." The Denver Post reports that "Dobson seen as driven, divisive; As respect rises, worries surface; The evangelical leader's resounding plunge into politics has stirred both Democrats and the GOP." The Orange County Register yesterday contained an article headlined "Long-winded lawmakers." In commentary, The Birmingham News today contains an editorial entitled "Nothing sacred about filibuster." The Mobile Register contains an editorial entitled "Democrats search mud to try to slime Pryor." The Dallas Morning News contains an editorial entitled "Filibuster Wars: Democrats and GOP must avert a showdown." The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle contains an editorial entitled "Courting disaster: The public should get a Senate deal on judicial nominees." The Winston-Salem Journal contains an editorial entitled "Going 'Nuclear.'" The Denver Post contains an editorial entitled "Senate showdown no need to go nuclear: Sen. Ken Salazar is abandoning his campaign-year position on judicial nominees as Republican leaders weigh effort to change Senate rules." In The Dallas Morning News, Carl Leubsdorf has an essay entitled "Moving Target: Democrats and Republicans have switched sides over time on filibusters and Senate rules; But what's really on the line here is the Constitution's checks on presidential power." Online at OpinionJournal, Pete du Pont has an essay entitled "Sen. Strangelove: Or How Democrats stopped winning and learned to love the filibuster." In The Los Angeles Times, Jack Miles has an op-ed entitled "The Unholy Alliance Against the Filibuster." Columnist Molly Ivins has an essay entitled "By any name, the nuclear option stinks." In The San Antonio Express-News, Cary Clack has an op-ed entitled "Holier-than-thou attitude has no place in judicial filibuster debate." In The Providence Journal, Jackson Barlow has an essay entitled "The filibuster -- Republicans aping the dread Europeans." In The Los Angeles Daily News, Gary Galles has an op-ed entitled "Judicial critics opposing Constitution supporter." In The Pasadena Star-News, Gerald Plessner has an op-ed entitled "Right-wing vision of America anything but 'conservative.'" In The Washington Times, Cal Thomas has an op-ed entitled "A time for choosing II." Ann Coulter has an essay entitled "Drag liberals into the light." And today's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show contained judicial filibuster segments entitled "Democrats Line Up to Praise Dingy Harry's Utter Failure on Filibustering Judges" and "Durbin Puts Rush in Congressional Record -- Again." Court TV reports that "Court TV asks New York's high court to overturn camera ban": You can access the report online at this link. In other coverage, law.com reports that "Boies Challenges Judges to Take Stand on Court Camera Ban." And The Associated Press reports that "Court TV Argues for Cameras in the Court." "Supreme Court Rules on Cases Across Borders": Jess Bravin has this article today in The Wall Street Journal. Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate Panel Support for Asbestos Bill Unclear": Reuters provides this report. Posted at 10:15 PM by Howard Bashman Today's U.S. Supreme Court opinions in argued cases: The Court today issued two opinions in argued cases. 1. Justice John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court in Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC, No. 03-388. You can access the oral argument transcript here. 2. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court in Pace v. DiGuglielmo, No. 03-9627, a decision on which the Court divided by a 5-4 margin along traditional lines. You can access the oral argument transcript here. In news coverage, David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has a news update headlined "High Court Rules Farmers Can Sue Pesticide Makers." Tony Mauro of law.com has an article headlined "Reversing 5th Circuit, High Court Rules Against Pesticide Makers." Hope Yen of The Associated Press has a report headlined "Court: Farmers Can Sue Pesticide Makers." And at "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post titled "Wide opening for pesticide damage claims." "Justices Dubious of U.S. Case on Andersen": Linda Greenhouse will have this article Thursday in The New York Times. Charles Lane of The Washington Post provides a news update headlined "Justices Wary of Accounting Firm's Enron Conviction." Stephen Henderson of Knight Ridder Newspapers reports that "U.S. defends case against accounting firm officials before high court." Tony Mauro of law.com reports that "Justices Skeptical of DOJ's Claims About Andersen Document Retention." The Associated Press reports that "High Court Probes Arthur Anderson Trial." Reuters reports that "U.S. Supreme Court judges question Andersen verdict." Michael Kirkland, UPI legal affairs correspondent, reports that "Court may rule for Andersen." And at "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post titled "A victory for Andersen?" Video available online from C-SPAN: Today's broadcast of "Washington Journal" contained segments described as "Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Judiciary Committee Member, discusses the Judicial nominations" and "Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member, discusses Judicial nominations." And from Monday, "The Center for American Progress hosts a panel discussion on the Senate Republican leadership's possible plan to change the filibuster rules for judicial nominations." RealPlayer is required to launch these video segments. "Nuclear Brinksmanship: Republicans should stand down from the filibuster crisis, and stand up for their principles." Gene Healy has this essay online today at Reason. At The American Prospect, Sam Rosenfeld has an essay entitled "Majority Bleeder: The inept Dr. Frist has incited a nuclear exchange his caucus can't win." And online at The Nation, Max Blumenthal has an essay entitled "Justice Sunday Preachers." "The veep is heading to disclosed location": Thursday's edition of The Hill will contain an article that begins, "If and when Republicans take the historic step of ending the Democratic filibuster of judicial nominees, the most visible figure in the parliamentary maneuver will not be a senator. Rather, Vice President Dick Cheney -- who has the constitutional role of presiding over the Senate -- almost certainly will oversee any deployment of the so-called 'nuclear option' on judges." Posted at 09:25 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from National Public Radio: Today's broadcast of "Talk of the Nation" contained a segment entitled "The Senate and Filibuster Changes." On this evening's broadcast of "All Things Considered," Nina Totenberg had a report entitled "Supreme Court Reviews Accounting Firm's Enron Conviction." And on today's broadcast of "Morning Edition," Totenberg had a report entitled "High Court Reviews Arthur Andersen's Enron Conviction." The program also contained a segment entitled "House Vote Set on Abortion-Notification Measure." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. Programming note: My day job will have me on the road in Columbia, South Carolina today and tomorrow. New posts will appear online later today. Posted at 06:20 AM by Howard Bashman "Republicans Reject Democrats' Offer to Settle Judicial Dispute; The deal would allow votes on three nominees; But the GOP says it's focusing on future picks": The Los Angeles Times contains this article today. And in today's edition of The New York Times, Bob Dole has an op-ed entitled "Up, Down or Out." "Mother urged to learn English gains full custody of child; Judge's order in similar case raised advocates' concerns": This article appears today in The Tennessean. Posted at 05:50 AM by Howard Bashman Tuesday, April 26, 2005 "Court: Foreign conviction can't strip gun rights." Joan Biskupic will have this article Wednesday in USA Today. Posted at 11:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Going Nuclear in the Senate": Today's broadcast of the public radio program "The Connection" included this very interesting segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Gail Chaddock, congressional reporter for The Christian Science Monitor; Law Professor Jonathan Turley; and former U.S. Senators John Breaux (D-LA) and Alan Simpson (R-WY). Wednesday's edition of USA Today will contain an editorial entitled "Founders' intentions may be casualty in fight over judges" and an op-ed by C. Boyden Gray entitled "End abuse of filibuster." The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina today contains an editorial entitled "Judicious deal: North Carolina's Terrence Boyle is one of several judicial picks who should be approved by senators in a compromise." The Charlotte Observer contains an editorial entitled "Independent judges: Sunday's rally a reminder of Founding Fathers' wisdom." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch contains an editorial entitled "Judicial appointments: Faithless filibuster?" The Duluth News Tribune contains an editorial entitled "Bid to ditch filibuster about a century too late; Senate 'supermajority' has place in forging bipartisan OK of presidential power." The Bangor Daily News contains an editorial entitled "The Filibuster Box." The Daily Free Press of Boston University contains an editorial entitled "Dismantling the U.S. Senate." Today's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show contained judicial filibuster-related segments entitled "Democrats on the Run, Fear Backlash" and "Washington Post 'Push Up' Poll." The Chicago Tribune yesterday contained an editorial entitled "Democracy and the filibuster." The Oregonian yesterday contained an editorial entitled "Preventing one-party rule: The filibuster is a quaint and sometimes-abused tactic, but it plays a valuable role, even on judicial nominations." And The Herald News of Northern New Jersey yesterday contained an editorial entitled "Dr. Frist: Or how I learned to love the filibuster." "Ex-Priest's Sex Conviction Overturned": The Associated Press reports here that "The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the sexual misconduct conviction of a former priest and elementary school counselor accused of exposing himself in front of three boys in a school bathroom. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled Missouri's sexual misconduct statute was unconstitutional and too broad." You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Missouri at this link. Posted at 11:24 PM by Howard Bashman "Republicans Reject Offer On Judges; Democratic Plan Sought Withdrawal of Some": This article will appear Wednesday in The Washington Post. Posted at 10:33 PM by Howard Bashman In Wednesday's issue of The New York Times: Linda Greenhouse will report that "Justices Limit Gun Law That Bars Possession by Felons." An article will report that "Rove and Frist Reject Democrats' Compromise Over Bush's Judicial Nominees." In other news, "Muslim Cleric Found Guilty In the 'Virginia Jihad' Case." An article will report that "Florida Expands Right to Use Deadly Force in Self-Defense." And in news from Illinois, "Student Is Charged With a Hate Crime." In Wednesday's edition of The Hill: Tomorrow's newspaper will contain articles headlined "On judges, conservatives and liberals agree: No deal" and "Frist finds it's tough to lead Senate while he's aiming at the presidency." Posted at 10:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Bush, GOP reject compromise on judicial nominations": James Kuhnhenn of Knight Ridder Newspapers has this report. Posted at 08:28 PM by Howard Bashman "High Court Sticks to Letter of Law on Overseas Convictions": David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times provides this news update. Posted at 06:52 PM by Howard Bashman On this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered": The broadcast contained segments entitled "Stances Shift in Fight over Judicial Nominees" and "High Court Won't Outlaw Guns for Convicts from Abroad" (featuring Nina Totenberg). The MoveOn PAC television ad mentioned in the first of those two audio segments can be viewed at this link (QuickTime Player required). "Filibuster Flip-Flops": David Boaz has this essay at the Cato Institute's web site. Posted at 05:43 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from The Christian Science Monitor: In Wednesday's newspaper, Linda Feldmann will have an article headlined "A new federal move to limit teen abortions: The House considers new out-of-state restrictions." The bill, H.R. 748, can be accessed here. In today's edition of that newspaper, meanwhile, Dante Chinni has an op-ed entitled "'Nuclear option' and bipartisan hypocrisy." The wire services are reporting: The Associated Press reports that "Supreme Court considers Michigan truck fees" and "Media Struggles to Protect Sources." And Reuters reports that "U.S Marshals Short Staff Exposes Judges to Violence" and "Ruling expected in NYC Argentine debtholder appeal." In good company: First Vice President Dick Cheney refers to Fifth Circuit nominee Priscilla R. Owen as "Patricia" (see here and here). Now People For the American Way is on board, too. Who says agreement cannot be reached between liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans on controversial judicial nominees? Update: PFAW has corrected its error, just as the Vice President did. "Nuclear Inventory: Taking stock of GOP senators and the filibuster." Duncan Currie has this very interesting essay online this afternoon at The Weekly Standard. Posted at 04:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Americans United Criticizes Judicial Nominee's Claim That America Is Engaged In A Religious War; Watchdog Group Calls On Senate To Oppose Confirmation Of Janice Rogers Brown": The organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State issued this press release today. Posted at 04:18 PM by Howard Bashman "Security Levels and Manpower Faulted by Federal Judiciary": The Administrative Office of the United States Courts issued this press release today. Also today, Third Circuit Judge Jane R. Roth, chair of the the Security and Facilities Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. You can access online the text of Judge Roth's prepared remarks at this link. Posted at 04:15 PM by Howard Bashman "Going Nuclear: The Threat to Our System of Checks and Balances." That's the title, as I first noted here, of an event which The Center for American Progress hosted yesterday in Washington, DC. You can now access online the transcript of the event, and video clips from the event can be accessed via this link. Posted at 04:12 PM by Howard Bashman On today's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day": Today's broadcast contained segments entitled "Slate's Jurisprudence: A 'Nuclear Option' Senate Deal?" (featuring Emily Bazelon); "Opposition Grows to Federal Teen Abortion Bill"; and "Legal War Brews in Oregon over Land Use Rights." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. Posted at 04:04 PM by Howard Bashman "RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman Memo: Public Opinion On Judicial Appointments." The Republican National Committee has issued this news release today. Posted at 03:02 PM by Howard Bashman A clash between the First Amendment and a Pennsylvania statute prohibiting the disclosure of juvenile law enforcement records: Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued an opinion that begins: This case arises from Appellant James L. Bowley's arrest for allegedly raping a minor while a minor himself, and the subsequent truthful publication of the fact of that arrest by Appellee Uniontown Herald Standard. As a result of the publication, Bowley sued the Herald Standard for a violation of the Pennsylvania statute prohibiting the disclosure of juvenile law enforcement records and for the tort of invasion of privacy. We must now decide whether imposition of civil liability upon the Herald Standard for its actions with regard to Bowley would be consistent with the First Amendment. The District Court held that it would not and granted the Herald Standard's motion to dismiss. Because we agree that under these facts, the First Amendment provides the Herald Standard with a shield from liability, we will affirm.You can access the complete ruling at this link. Posted at 02:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Suspended Lawyer Wins Right To Open Federal-Only Office": Today in The Legal Intelligencer, Shannon P. Duffy has an article (subscription required) that begins: If you want to find attorney Robert B. Surrick's new law office, you'd better be sure of the address because he's not allowed to hang any signs outside.You can access the recent ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania at this link. Some may recall that not too long ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit appointed me to argue in support of affirmance of the en banc ruling of a sharply divided U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania imposing a reciprocal disciplinary suspension on Surrick, the brother of a currently-serving E.D. Pa. federal district judge, based on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's earlier suspension of Surrick from the practice of law. My Third Circuit brief and that court's ruling in favor of the position I was asked to advocate are both available online. "Frist Stands Firm on Vote for All Judicial Nominees": Thomas Ferraro of Reuters provides this report. Posted at 02:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist chills talk of judges deal; Senate Leader says he'll insist on up-or-down votes on Bush nominees to the bench": Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides this report. Posted at 12:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Fla. Gun Law to Expand Leeway for Self-Defense; NRA to Promote Idea in Other States": The Washington Post contains this front page article today. Posted at 12:08 PM by Howard Bashman "'Suit goes on' over write-in votes for Frye": This article appears today in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Posted at 12:04 PM by Howard Bashman "How to Get a Job at the Justice Department: A narrow path leads to the DOJ, as the department seeks only a certain kind of applicant at the highest levels." law.com provides this report. Posted at 11:10 AM by Howard Bashman "Frist Says He's Not Interested in Deals": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press has a report that begins, "Reacting to a Democratic offer in the fight over filibusters, Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn't interested in any deal that fails to ensure Senate confirmation for all of President Bush's judicial nominees." Posted at 11:06 AM by Howard Bashman "Detroit judge in pointed spat over parking spot": This article appears today in The Detroit Free Press. Posted at 10:42 AM by Howard Bashman "Manufacturers Praise Asbestos Bill": Reuters provides this report. Posted at 10:28 AM by Howard Bashman "Lott, Nelson Try for Judges Deal": Roll Call today contains an article (subscription required) that begins, "Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) are racing to round up support for an emerging bipartisan compromise that could avoid a meltdown over judicial filibusters. The plan would pave the way for votes on four nominees in exchange for Republicans' withdrawing their threat to eliminate the filibuster on judicial nominations, sources said. Republicans would also agree not to pursue votes on the three remaining nominees being filibustered by Democrats -- though it is unclear which nominees would be affected." Posted at 10:20 AM by Howard Bashman Today's U.S. Supreme Court opinions in argued cases: The Court issued two opinions in argued cases today. 1. Justice Stephen G. Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court in Small v. United States, No. 03-750. You can access the syllabus here; Justice Breyer's majority opinion here; Justice Clarence Thomas's dissent here; and the oral argument transcript here. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist did not participate in this 5-3 ruling in a case argued during the Court's November oral argument session. 2. Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court in Pasquantino v. United States, No. 03-725. You can access the syllabus here; Justice Thomas's majority opinion here; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's dissenting opinion here; and the oral argument transcript here. Chief Justice Rehnquist did take part in this 5-4 ruling in a case argued during the Court's November oral argument session. The Justices' division in this case was a bit unusual. Joining Justice Thomas's majority opinion were Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Anthony M. Kennedy. Joining Justice Ginsburg's dissent in full was Justice Breyer and joining Justice Ginsburg's dissent in part were Justices Antonin Scalia and David H. Souter. In early news coverage, Hope Yen of The Associated Press has reports headlined "Court Rules on Convict Gun Ownership" and "Court: Foreign Tax Cheaters Can Be Tried." James Vicini of Reuters has reports headlined "US Court: Gun Law Doesn't Count Foreign Convictions" and "US Top Court: Fraud Law Covers Smuggling Scheme." And Lyle Denniston at "SCOTUSblog" has a post titled "Two criminal law rulings." Transcripts from yesterday's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show: Segments entitled "Democrats Looking for Judge Compromise?"; "How Democrats Attack a Black Woman Judge"; and "Former California Supreme Court Justice Backs Brown" can now be accessed online. Posted at 09:58 AM by Howard Bashman Available online from The American Prospect: Matthew Yglesias has an essay entitled "False Gospel: Faith can't disqualify judicial nominees; The way they use faith can." And Rob Garver has an essay entitled "Frist Plays It Cool: The Family Research Council kept things polite at Justice Sunday, but they still didn't make sense." "Now, More than Ever: What someone in the GOP Senate caucus needs to tell Republicans about the filibuster vote." Hugh Hewitt has this essay today online at The Weekly Standard. Posted at 09:54 AM by Howard Bashman "Filibuster on the Cross: Why the Christian right would be nuts to eliminate the filibuster." Timothy Noah has this chatterbox essay online at Slate. Posted at 09:50 AM by Howard Bashman Available today from National Review Online: Edward Whelan has an essay entitled "Alien Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg vs. the Declaration of Independence." And Rich Lowry has an essay entitled "Sacred Obstruction: The refuge of losers." "Lawmakers Near Showdown on Judicial Filibusters": Today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition" included this segment (RealPlayer required). Posted at 09:40 AM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court gets Oregon death case; The justices will rule on whether alibi evidence can be introduced in the penalty phase of a Deschutes County murder trial": This article appears today in The Oregonian. In The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage reports that "Justices to Decide if Social Security Can Be Seized; A Washington state man with $80,000 in unpaid student loans seeks to shield his benefits" and "High Court Dismisses POWs' Torture Claim Against Iraq; The White House had argued against a $1-billion verdict won after the 1991 Gulf War." In The Washington Post, Charles Lane reports that "Justices to Review Loan Offsets; Court to Decide Whether a 10-Year Limit Shields Student Debts." The Washington Times reports that "POW appeal rejected by court." The Chicago Tribune reports that "Andersen's appeal has rapt audience." And Michael Kirkland, UPI legal affairs correspondent, reports that "Court explores Iran liability." "Ex-wife of Diaz makes plea deal, may testify": The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi today contains an article that begins, "Jennifer Diaz, indicted with ex-husband state Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz on federal corruption charges, pleaded guilty Monday to income tax evasion in exchange for having the other charges against her dismissed." And The Biloxi Sun Herald reports that "Jennifer Diaz pleads guilty to tax evasion." "Can Bloggers Invoke the Journalist's Privilege to Protect Confidential Sources Who Leak Trade Secrets? A Suit Filed by Apple Computer Raises the Question." FindLaw commentator Julie Hilden has this essay today. Posted at 07:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Scalia visit still igniting controversy": Washington Square News contains this article today. Posted at 07:45 AM by Howard Bashman "Senators May Compromise to End Impasse on Judges": This article appears today in The New York Times. The Washington Post contains articles headlined "Democrats Hint At Filibuster Deal; Some Judges Might Be Confirmed" and "Poll: Filibuster Rule Change Opposed." The Los Angeles Times contains articles headlined "Democrats May Compromise on Judicial Fight; Leaders say they would consider a deal with the GOP on appointees if filibuster rules are kept" and "Clashes Growing Between Bush and GOP Moderates." The Washington Times reports that "Undecided Specter could doom GOP" and "Frist angers conservatives by distancing from DeLay." Financial Times reports that "Democrat turns up the heat on Frist." The Guardian (UK) reports that "Democrats rally to protect power of the filibuster." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette contains articles headlined "Senate comity fades as once-friendly leaders duel" and "Filibustering an ancient art; Romans did it, and so did Huey P. Long -- for 15 1/2 hours." The Telegraph (UK) reports that "Congress clash over politics and religion." The Hill contains an article headlined "No nuclear disarmament, Sen. Frist warns K Street." USA Today contains an article headlined "Rove: Bolton will be confirmed; judges deserve vote." CNN.com reports that "Reid seeks compromise with Frist on judges; Says he is working on ways to avoid 'nuclear option.'" The Denver Post reports that "Salazar wins points in filibuster tussle." The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that "Chandler, McConnell reflect split over Justice Sunday; Others in Congress are mum on issue." In commentary, The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial entitled "Nuke the Filibuster." The New York Times contains an editorial entitled "The Disappearing Wall," while letters to the editor appear under the heading "Senator Frist Takes to the Pulpit." Newsday contains an editorial entitled "Girding for filibuster war: Frist makes nice; Cheney talks tough." The San Jose Mercury News contains an editorial entitled "Frist's idea to curb filibusters could stir up war in Senate." The Arizona Republic contains an editorial entitled "Filibuster fuss: Find a middle ground on judges, fellas." The Berkshire Eagle contains an editorial entitled "Playing filibuster politics." The Roanoke Times contains an editorial entitled "Republican hypocrisy on the 'nuclear option.'" The Harvard Crimson contains an editorial entitled "Filibustering the Nuclear Option: Eliminating the minority from judicial nominations is extremely dangerous." The Washington Times contains an editorial entitled "The Democrats' intimidation tactics." The Louisville Courier-Journal contains an editorial entitled "Faith-based courts." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer contains an editorial entitled "Justice Today: Respect, not retaliation." In The Boston Globe, Steven Lubet has an op-ed entitled "Misplaying the filibuster." In The Washington Times, Bruce Fein has an op-ed entitled "Filibuster benchmarks." In The Chicago Sun-Times, Jesse Jackson has an op-ed entitled "Right-wing assault threatens independence of judiciary." In The Los Angeles Daily News, Noel Sheppard has an op-ed entitled "Republicans shouldn't bust up the filibuster." At Townhall.com, Bill Murchison has an essay entitled "God and the Supreme Court." UPI's senior political analyst Peter Roff has an essay entitled "A constitutional crisis." In The Denver Post, Ed Quillen has an op-ed entitled "Justice Sunday belies its name." The Rocky Mountain News contains an op-ed by Mike Littwin entitled "Key issue for Dobson goes beyond the filibuster" and an op-ed by Vincent Carroll entitled "Two who cry 'Wolf!'" In The Louisville Courier-Journal, Bob Hill has an op-ed entitled "We need more talk and fewer media events." In The Harvard Crimson, John W. Hastrup has an op-ed entitled "Hypocrisy in the 'Nuclear' War: Democrats share the blame in the filibuster fiasco." In The Daily Vanguard of Portland State University, Chaelan MacTavish has an op-ed entitled "Blowing the government to hell: Republican bullies should give up on proposed 'nuclear option' to end filibusters." In The Ball State Daily News, Steve Nawara has an op-ed entitled "Democrats right to block nominees." And in The Daily Iowan, Beau Elliot has an op-ed entitled "Going nuclear." "Faith 'War' Rages in U.S., Judge Says; A Bush nominee central to the Senate's judicial controversy criticizes secular humanists": The Los Angeles Times today contains an article that begins, "Just days after a bitterly divided Senate committee voted along party lines to approve her nomination as a federal appellate court judge, California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown told an audience Sunday that people of faith were embroiled in a 'war' against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from its religious roots, according to a newspaper account of the speech." The LATimes article reports on an article headlined "Red Mass breakfast visited by filibuster controversy" published yesterday in The Stamford (Conn.) Advocate. I first linked to that article yesterday in a post you can access here. Monday, April 25, 2005 "Wife of Supreme Court justice pleas, agrees to cooperate in judicial bribery trial": From Mississippi, The Associated Press reports here that "The ex-wife of Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to attempted tax evasion and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in the bribery case against the justice, U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton confirmed." Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Review Set for Evidence in Murder Trial's Penalty Phase": Linda Greenhouse will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times. And in Tuesday's edition of USA Today, Joan Biskupic will report that "Court declines to revive POWs' suit against Iraq." "Judicial Wars": This segment (transcript with link to audio) appeared on tonight's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." Posted at 10:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist, Reid Work on Judge-Approval Deal": The Associated Press provides this report. Thomas Ferraro of Reuters reports that "Top Senate Democrat Has Plan to Stop Filibuster Ban." And Bloomberg News reports that "Senate Democrats Seek Compromise on Judicial Nominees." The Knight Ridder Newspapers are reporting: You can now access online articles headlined "Religious conservatives' demands on government may spark backlash" and "Democrats sense opportunity in Congress, announce agenda." Posted at 08:42 PM by Howard Bashman On this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered": The broadcast contained segments entitled "Schumer, Cornyn on Senate Filibuster" and "Republicans Find Themselves on the Defensive." Posted at 08:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Democrats Move Some Bills to Senate Floor": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this "nuclear option"-related report. Posted at 06:10 PM by Howard Bashman David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times is reporting: He has news updates headlined "Age May Catch Up to College Loan Scofflaws" and "POW's Claims Against New Iraq Government Rejected." Posted at 06:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Americans Oppose Senate Rule Changes, Poll Shows": The Washington Post provides this news update reporting on the results of a recently-conducted Washington Post-ABC News Poll. Posted at 06:00 PM by Howard Bashman "State: Plate no place for religion." The Rutland Herald contains this article today. An application for a "JOHN316" vanity license plate is at the center of this controversy. Posted at 05:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Justices argue international law": This article appears today in The Washington Times. Posted at 05:40 PM by Howard Bashman The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "High Court Hears Indigent-Defendants Case"; "Andersen Prepares to Appeal Conviction"; and "Judge Gives Lawyers Moussaoui Deadline." Posted at 05:10 PM by Howard Bashman No matter what your age or intent, sneaking a gun into court is never a good idea: The Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger today contains an article headlined "She's armed but hardly dangerous." Posted at 05:05 PM by Howard Bashman "The Filibuster, the Constitution Outside the Courts, and the Press's Failure": Paul Horwitz has this post today at "PrawfsBlawg." Posted at 05:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Murphy resigns: San Diego mayor announces departure mere months into second term." The San Diego Union-Tribune provides this news update and reprints this press release. Posted at 04:58 PM by Howard Bashman "If Senate shuts down, who's to blame? Facing Bush judicial nominees, eager interest groups, and the 'nuclear option,' a divided Senate keeps raising the stakes." This article will appear Tuesday in The Christian Science Monitor. Tuesday's edition of Financial Times will contain an article headlined "Reid increases attack on Frist over US court nominees." The public radio program "Here & Now" today contained a segment entitled "Faith and the Filibuster" (RealPlayer required). Online at Salon.com, Michelle Goldberg has an essay entitled "The right to impose Christianity: The religious right worked itself into a righteous fury at 'Justice Sunday,' using the stalemate over judges to tar Democrats as enemies of God." And online at The Village Voice, James Ridgeway's "Mondo Washington" column today is entitled "Democrats Go Nuclear on Values: Republicans May Spend Political Capital to Blow Up the Senate Filibuster, But Dems Will Implode for Free." "Meet The People For The American Way: Out Of The Mainstream Organization Providing Democrats With Resources To Block President Bush's Judicial Nominee." The Republican National Committee has issued this research briefing today. Posted at 04:38 PM by Howard Bashman Access online the transcript of William H. Pryor, Jr.'s Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing transcript: "Southern Appeal" has posted the transcript at this link. Posted at 04:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Virtuoso role reversals mark filibuster struggle; Five years ago Republican used delaying tactics to stymie Clinton's judicial picks; now Democrats do likewise to Bush nominees": Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides this report. Posted at 03:52 PM by Howard Bashman "House GOP Doesn't Plan Probe of Judges": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 03:35 PM by Howard Bashman "Moussaoui's Mom Urges France to Save Son": The Associated Press provides this report. As I noted here back on February 8, 2003, Zacarias Moussaoui's mother has previously been in the news. Posted at 02:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Law School Faculty Issues Statement on Solomon Amendment": This article appeared Friday in The Cornell Daily Sun. Posted at 12:05 PM by Howard Bashman "The Becker-Posner Blog" on plagiarism: This week's new posts can be accessed here and here. Posted at 12:02 PM by Howard Bashman "The Constitutional Option: The Senate's Power to Make Procedural Rules by Majority Vote." The U.S. Senate's Republican Policy Committee has issued this report today. Posted at 11:30 AM by Howard Bashman "Hate the Filibuster? You Might Want to Nuke the Entire Senate." That's the title of Law Professor Rick Hasen's op-ed today in Roll Call. You can access the op-ed via this post at Rick's "Election Law" blog. Posted at 11:22 AM by Howard Bashman "How the Republicans Lost Their Majority: Triggering the 'nuclear option' resulted in a Supreme Court that scared the public and hurt Republicans." Stuart Taylor Jr. has this essay in today's edition of National Journal. Posted at 10:20 AM by Howard Bashman "Christian Conservatives Take Aim at Filibusters": Reuters provides this report. Posted at 10:11 AM by Howard Bashman Today's U.S. Supreme Court Order List: The Court today granted certiorari in five cases. And the Court asked for the views of the Solicitor General in an additional case. You can access today's Order List at this link. In early press coverage, Hope Yen of The Associated Press reports that "Court to Hear Dispute Over Student Loans" and "Supreme Court Declines to Hear POWs' Case." The AP also reports that "Supreme Court Takes Up Death Penalty Issue" and "Court Takes Case of Fallen Postal Customer." James Vicini of Reuters reports that "Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by 1991 POWs in Iraq." Reuters also reports that "US Court to Decide on Guilt Evidence at Sentencing." And at "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston provides this coverage. "Preserving the Right to a Lawyer": This editorial appears today in The New York Times. Posted at 09:58 AM by Howard Bashman "DeLay's Banana Republic": The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today. Posted at 09:55 AM by Howard Bashman On today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition": The broadcast contained segments entitled "Frist Takes Judicial Filibuster Fight to Churches" and "Wal-Mart Faces New Public Image Battle." Posted at 09:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Going Nuclear: The Threat to Our System of Checks and Balances." The Center for American Progress will host this event this morning. C-SPAN2 is scheduled to televise the program live, and a live webcast is promised at the Center for American Progress's web site. The program is scheduled to begin at 9:30a.m. eastern daylight time. Posted at 09:00 AM by Howard Bashman "Raped by statute: Eighteen-year-old Matthew Limon is serving 17 years for having consensual oral sex with another boy; His case reveals our society's bigotry -- and our inability to think straight about teenage sexuality." Ayelet Waldman has this article online today at Salon.com. Posted at 07:28 AM by Howard Bashman "A loaded box of stereotypes: Despite 'Batson,' race, gender play big roles in jury selection." This article appears in today's issue of The National Law Journal. Posted at 07:24 AM by Howard Bashman Commentary available online from FindLaw: Matthew Segal has an essay entitled "Violence Against Judges: Why it Occurs and What We Can Learn from it." And John W. Dean has an essay entitled "An Update on the Investigation Into the Leak Of CIA Agent Plame's Identity:
Will The Supreme Court Take The Miller And Cooper Cases?" "Battle Over Benches Spills Across Pews; Evangelical leaders use a simulcast to churches around the country to support conservative judges; Other groups fear a 'religious war'": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Tribune reports that "Christians square off over battle for judiciary." The Boston Globe reports that "Partisan showdown looms on filibusters; Frist calls GOP justified in changing Senate rules." The Washington Times contains articles headlined "Frist takes filibuster fight to Christians" and "GOP has votes for 'nuclear option,' McConnell says." Newsday contains a lengthy article headlined "fil-i-bus-ter n: The use of extremem dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action, especially in a legislative assembly." The St. Petersburg Times reports that "Senate's change isn't just one rule; If Republicans make it easier to end filibusters over judicial nominees, they may affect all of politics." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that "Frist hangs tough on judges." In The New York Sun, Luiza Ch. Savage has an article headlined "Frist to Conservatives: Respect Independence of Judiciary." The Louisville Courier-Journal contains articles headlined "Judicial filibusters under fire; Speakers urge action on confirmation of U.S. judges"; "Pickering says judicial confirmation process 'badly needs to be fixed'"; "Few will comment following the event; Some say they were asked not to speak"; and "Foes attack event as intolerant; Rallies' speakers see threats to freedom." The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that "Religion, politics intersect in 'Justice Sunday'; Louisville church hosts rally against filibuster." The Stamford Advocate reports that "Red Mass breakfast visited by filibuster controversy." The San Antonio Express-News reports that "Christians step into filibuster fray." The Rocky Mountain News reports that "Pulpit, politics mix; Conservatives rally to back elimination of Senate filibusters." The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that "'Justice Sunday' raises pressure on the GOP." And CNN.com reports that "Frist speaks to Christian anti-filibuster rally; Other religious leaders call rally a false union of faith, politics." In commentary, The Portland (Me.) Press Herald contains an editorial entitled "GOP has the right to do business with 51 votes" and an op-ed by Scott Sehon entitled "Filibuster tactic smacks of hypocrisy." The Intelligencer of Wheeling, West Virginia contains an editorial entitled "Call Liberals' Bluff On Use of Filibuster." In The Boston Globe, Cathy Young has an op-ed entitled "An ugly new chapter in the religious wars." And in The Daily Herald of Provo, Utah, Steven Hall has an op-ed entitled "Beware acts of injustice masked as religion." Sunday, April 24, 2005 "In Telecast, Frist Defends His Effort to Stop Filibusters": Monday's edition of The New York Times will contain this article. In Monday's edition of The Washington Post, Charles Babington will have articles headlined "Frist Urges End to Nominee Filibusters; Democrats Decry Speech at Church Rally" and "Unexpectedly, Capitol Hill Democrats Stand Firm." In commentary, The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi today contains an editorial entitled "Filibuster follies: What goes around comes around." The Anchorage Daily News contains an editorial entitled "Religion and politics: When compromise doesn't have a prayer, it's time to say one." The Register-Guard of Eugene, Oregon contains an editorial entitled "Avoid the nuclear option: Senate headed for mutually assured destruction." In The Tampa Tribune, columnist Daniel Ruth has an op-ed entitled "Stay Tuned For Next Week's Witch Burning." In The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Law Professor Bruce Ledewitz has an op-ed entitled "The end of American democracy? The Republican majority threatens to alter vital mechanisms of our government." Finally for now, the organization People For the American Way has today issued a press release titled "Truth Sacrificed by 'Justice Sunday' Speakers; PFAW's Neas Criticizes Continued Religious McCarthyism." "Showdown looms over Bush’s court nominees": This article appears in Monday's edition of The Times of London. Posted at 08:54 PM by Howard Bashman Access online the statement of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) at this evening's "Justice Sunday" event: You can access the text online at this link and the video online at this link (RealPlayer required). Also available online, a transcript of the remarks Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) delivered Friday on the floor of the U.S. Senate, available via Senator Leahy's web site under the heading "Leahy Denounces Religious Smear Campaign On Judicial Nominations; Urges Republican Senators, White House To Condemn Demagoguery." And Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT) delivered these quite interesting remarks on the subject of judicial filibusters and the so-called "nuclear option" on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Friday. "Ex-judge urges Americans to 'rise up'": The Louisville Courier-Journal provides a news update that begins: Hours before appearing as part of "Justice Sunday," one of President Bush's former nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals encouraged Americans today to "rise up and take action" against filibusters in judicial confirmations -- a tactic that prevented a Senate vote on his nomination.And The Associated Press reports that "Judge blocked by filibuster calls it unconstituional tactic." The Courier-Journal also offers a news update headlined "Rally rebuts GOP stance on filibusters; Ecumenical crowd of 600 says dissenters can be people of faith." Available online from National Public Radio: This evening's broadcast of "All Things Considered" contained a segment entitled "Frist Takes Filibuster Fight to Church-Backed TV Event." And today's broadcast of "Weekend Edition - Sunday" contained segments entitled "Dead Marine's Case Sparks Debate over E-Mail Privacy" and "E-Mail Case Raises Questions About Digital Privacy." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. "Frist Hardens Effort to Stop Filibusters": The Associated Press provides this updated report. Posted at 08:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Changing Senate Rules: The 'Constitutional' or 'Nuclear' Option." This recently-updated Congressional Research Service report, which I previously mentioned here, can now be accessed online in PDF format at this link. (Via "Confirm Them.") Posted at 08:15 PM by Howard Bashman "The Senate, judges, and the filibuster: As a showdown looms over judicial nominees, both sides of the aisle turn to the Constitution." Warren Richey will have this article in Monday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor. Posted at 08:11 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist Says Judges May Be Criticized, Not Threatened": Thomas Ferraro of Reuters provides this report. Posted at 01:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Did Martha break house arrest? U.S. Probation Dept. looking into attendance at dinner, New York Post reports": CNN/Money provides this report. The article from today's issue of The New York Post can be accessed here. Posted at 01:12 PM by Howard Bashman "Family want Moussaoui to change Sept 11 guilty plea": Reuters provides this report. And The Associated Press reports that "Moussaoui Case May Spark Execution Fight," one involving international law, no less. Posted at 01:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist Defends Effort to End Filibusters": The Associated Press provides this report. Newsday reports today that "GOP hopes to strip Democrats of filibuster." The Baltimore Sun reports that "Filibuster fight may imperil agenda; Fallout in Senate may prove too much for Bush to ignore; 'It will stand in the way of all legislation'; Leaders scrambling to finish what they can ahead of clash." The Los Angeles Times reports that "Frist Initiative Creates Rift in GOP Base." The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that "Justice Sunday to air tonight; Filibuster fight cast as an issue of faith." The San Antonio Express-News contains an article headlined "Passing judgment on activist judges." The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that "Pryor lauded as gutsy in Senate judicial row; Have right to speak up, evangelicals say." The State of Columbia, South Carolina (a city I'll be visiting later this week) reports today that "DeMint, Republicans target filibusters; Senator from S.C., others want to stop Democrats from holding up judicial nominations." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today that "GOP says Democrats have flip-flopped on filibuster; Feingold voted to curb it 10 years ago; now he says it's essential." And The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina reports that "Boyle's record stirs ruckus; The North Carolina judicial nominee is at the center of a Senate brouhaha." In commentary, The Salt Lake Tribune contains an editorial entitled "Whither the filibuster: Republicans should not change Senate rules lightly." The Philadelphia Inquirer contains an editorial entitled "The Filibuster Rule: Don't drop the bomb." The Seattle Times contains an editorial entitled "Frist's frisky filibuster." The Grand Rapids Press contains an editorial entitled "Yes or no on judge nominees." The Louisville Courier-Journal contains an editorial entitled "Holy war Sunday." The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contains an editorial entitled "Mark Pryor's sermon: The war on religion heats up in the U.S. Senate." In The Maine Sunday Telegram, John W. Porter has an op-ed entitled "Once the filibuster is breached, it's gone." In The State, Steven Millies has an op-ed entitled "Conservatives for radical change." In The New York Daily News, John Leo has an op-ed entitled "Rally has me losing faith in pols." In The Denver Post, columnist Diane Carman has an op-ed entitled "Salazar is the one keeping faith." In The Oregonian, Garrett Epps has an op-ed entitled "Conservatives in conflict: The Republican far right charges ahead with limits on individual freedoms, trampling the record of the party's libertarians." In The San Antonio Express-News, David A. Crockett has an op-ed entitled "Nominations no place for filibuster." Finally for now, in News & Record of Greensboro, North Carolina, Edward Cone has an op-ed entitled "Passing judgment on the nation's judiciary." Saturday, April 23, 2005 Sites offering a bit more advocacy in their coverage of judicial nominations and filibusters: Be sure to check out both "Confirm Them" and "Judging the Future" for two quite different points of view on these issues. Posted at 11:45 PM by Howard Bashman "The filibuster fight will be disastrous for the GOP": Dick Morris had this op-ed Wednesday in The Hill. Posted at 11:44 PM by Howard Bashman "'Justice Sunday' May Weigh on GOP": This article will appear Sunday in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 11:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Moussaoui Tells Court He's Guilty of a Terror Plot": Neil A. Lewis has this article today in The New York Times, and in Sunday's newspaper he will have an article headlined "Surprise Terror Plea Leaves Unresolved Issues." The Washington Post today contains articles headlined "Moussaoui Pleads Guilty in Terror Plot; Defendant Says Bin Laden Ordered Post-Sept. 11 Attack on White House"; "Questions Linger on Moussaoui's Role in 9/11"; and "A Mix of Ordinary, Drama at Courthouse; Judge, Moussaoui Are Cordial, Combative." The Los Angeles Times reports that "Moussaoui Pleads Guilty to Terror Plot; The conspirator denies being involved in the 9/11 attacks, saying Bin Laden chose him for a separate airplane strike on the White House." The Chicago Tribune contains an article headlined "Moussaoui: 'I am guilty'; 1st conviction in U.S. for Sept. 11 hijacking attacks." The Boston Globe reports that "Moussaoui pleads guilty to conspiracy; But denies role in 9/11 attacks." In The Baltimore Sun, Gail Gibson reports that "Moussaoui pleads guilty; French citizen admits al-Qaida link, role in plot to carry out 9/11 attacks." The Washington Times reports that "Moussaoui pleads guilty." The Sacramento Bee reports that "Moussaoui admits plotting terror; Frenchman pleads guilty in post-Sept. 11 plan to crash jet into the White House." Newsday contains an article headlined "Guilty in terror case: Moussaoui admits to conspiracy charges that could get him the death penalty but he denies role in 9/11 plot." The New York Daily News contains an article headlined "Target: White House." The Toronto Globe and Mail contains an article headlined "Moussaoui pleads guilty to terror charges; His plan was to crash a Boeing 747 jetliner into the White House, he tells a U.S. court." Sunday's edition of The Minneapolis Star Tribune will contain an article headlined "How 2 men helped FBI bring down Moussaoui." And Friday's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" contained a segment entitled "Moussaoui Pleads Guilty to Conspiring with 9/11 Attackers" (transcript with link to audio). "Va. Court Upholds Muhammad Sentences; Sniper Could Be Sent To Another State": The Washington Post contains this article today. And The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports today that "Muhammad death sentence upheld; Va. justices unanimous on terrorism-act conviction but split on homicide issue." "Nuking the filibuster: GOP arguments fail smell test." This editorial will appear Sunday in The Minneapolis Star Tribune. In Sunday's edition of The New York Times, columnist Frank Rich will have an op-ed entitled "A High-Tech Lynching in Prime Time," while Todd S. Purdum will have a Week in Review essay entitled "The Masters of the Maybe." The Anchorage Daily News today contains an article headlined "Stevens says Cheney would settle tie on filibuster vote; Alaska senator originally thought he would play key role." Yesterday in The San Diego Union-Tribune, columnist Ruben Navarrette Jr. had an op-ed entitled "Republican majority as victims." The Bowdoin Orient yesterday contained an essay by Matt Spooner entitled "The fight for filibusters." And on yesterday evening's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Mark Shields and David Brooks discussed (transcript with link to audio) the Republicans' proposal to change Senate rules by banning judicial filibusters. "Court: Give birth certificates to gay parents." The Richmond Times-Dispatch today contains this article reporting on a decision that the Supreme Court of Virginia issued yesterday. Posted at 02:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Don't Bogart that marijuana case": Michael Kirkland, UPI legal affairs correspondent, has this essay. Posted at 01:54 PM by Howard Bashman As of yet, Michael A. Newdow has no comment: Yesterday's edition of The Rocky Mountain News reported that "'Fix' in pledge raises concern; Jeffco school's counselor alters phrase 'under God.'" Yesterday's issue of The Denver Post reported that "'God'-less Pledge stirs Jeffco school backlash." And The Washington Times reports today that "Altered Pledge of Allegiance stuns students." "Cheney Yanks White House Into Filibuster Fray; Democrat accuses Bush of breaking his word that the administration would not intervene": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Tribune reports today that "Cheney puts filibuster in cross hairs; VP vows to help end deadlock in Senate; Frist in tough spot." The Washington Times reports that "Cheney pledges filibuster override." The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi reports that "Pickering will speak against filibusters at Ky. rally." The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that "Ministers urge cancellation of 'Justice Sunday'; Group says event mixes faith, politics." The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that "Ministers protest 'Justice Sunday'; Say Louisville church's anti-filibuster rally based on wrong ideas." The Kentucky Post reports that "Church telecast challenges filibuster." The San Antonio Express-News reports that "Senate filibuster fight taking on religious zeal." The Rocky Mountain News contains an article headlined "Getting an earful of opinions; Thousands voice views to Salazar after Focus attack." The Lowell Sun reports that "Approval of judicial nominees threatens to stall the Senate." Investor's Business Daily reports that "GOP Poised To End Judicial Filibusters Soon Despite Risks." The Denver Post contains an editorial entitled "Senate dispute turns unsettling." The Detroit Free Press contains an editorial entitled "Church and State: Frist oversteps bounds, ushering religion into filibuster fight." Today in The Washington Post, columnist Colbert I. King has an op-ed entitled "Hijacking Christianity," while Paul Gaston has an op-ed entitled "Smearing Christian Judges." In The Houston Chronicle, Marianne Means has an op-ed entitled "Frist is taking the Senate down a path he will regret." In The Rocky Mountain News, columnist Mike Littwin has an essay entitled "Angry Salazar focuses his wrath on Dobson." And in The Decatur (Ala.) Daily, James L. Evans has an essay entitled "On judges, filibusters and faith." Available online from National Public Radio: Today's broadcast of "Weekend Edition - Saturday" contained a segment entitled "Judge Accepts Moussaoui Guilty Plea." And yesterday's broadcast of "All Things Considered" contained segments entitled "Sept. 11 Suspect Moussaoui Changes Plea to Guilty"; "Army Clears Four Officers in Abu Ghraib Abuse"; and "Woman Who Claimed to Find Finger in Chili Arrested." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. "A Judicious Compromise: Democrats Should Take the First Step to End the Filibuster Fracas." Columnist David S. Broder will have this op-ed Sunday in The Washington Post. Posted at 08:58 AM by Howard Bashman "Man sues over flesh in sandwich; Tipp City restaurant's owner named defendant in legal action": This article appears today in The Dayton Daily News. Posted at 08:55 AM by Howard Bashman Friday, April 22, 2005 "For Some, Thumb Pain Is BlackBerry's Stain": Saturday's edition of The Washington Post will contain this front page article. Posted at 11:44 PM by Howard Bashman "Cheney Backs End of Filibustering": This article will appear Saturday in The New York Times. Saturday's edition of The Chicago Tribune will report that "Filibuster fight continues in Senate, Cheney voices opinion." Financial Times will report on Saturday that "Business urges Republicans to avoid move to block filibusters." The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that "Baptist preachers ask church not to host anti-Democrat rally." And The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Saturday will contain an editorial entitled "Frist can calm the waters." "Moussaoui pleads guilty, plea accepted": Lyle Denniston has this post online at "SCOTUSblog." Lyle's post also includes the text of the admission of guilt that Zacarias Moussaoui signed today and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' statement issued after Moussaoui's guilty pleas were accepted. Posted at 10:45 PM by Howard Bashman The Knight Ridder Newspapers are reporting: James Kuhnhenn has articles headlined "Cheney vows to unlock Senate Democrats' filibusters on federal judgeships" and "Filibuster: the Democratic minority's maneuver." In somewhat related news, "Troubles mount in White House, Bush agenda bogged down." And an article reports that "Moussaoui pleads guilty to role in 9-11 attacks." Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro has an article headlined "Andersen's Paper Jam: Did Arthur Andersen take a bad rap for tossing documents, or is it Exhibit A for corporate corruption?" In other news, "Judges, Officials Hold D.C. Summit on Courthouse Security." And an article reports that "Bid to End Ban on Cameras in Courts Reaches New York High Court; Session includes FOIL requests for state highway records." "Top Gun LA Lawyer Moonlights as Porn Star": Celebrity Justice provides this report, including a photograph of the attorney/porn star and a link to his adult web site, which features enough disclaimers to make most any California lawyer proud. And in other coverage, The Associated Press reports that "Lawyer/porn star must have interesting business card." Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Virginia Justices Set Death Sentence in Washington Sniper Case": Adam Liptak will have this article Saturday in The New York Times. Posted at 10:12 PM by Howard Bashman "Cheney Enters Fray on Judicial Nominees; Vice President Vows to Ban Filibusters on Judges If His Vote Is Needed to Break a Tie": This article will appear Saturday in The Washington Post. The New York Times provides a news update headlined "Cheney Enters Filibuster Fight, Backing Change in Senate Rules." And The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Cheney Says He'd Vote to End Judge Filibusters; Cheney's decision to take a public stance -- and Reid's vociferous response -- illustrated the heightened emotions on both sides as they gear up for a serious confrontation." Authorities say finger fraudulently found in food: The San Jose Mercury News provides news updates headlined "SJ chief says 'CSI' type of investigation cracked finger case; Police still trying to determine finger's origin"; "Prosecutors must prove finger suspect planned to falsely accuse Wendy's; Attempted grand theft is common charge"; and "Wendy's suspect accused of bilking Sunnyvale janitor." The San Francisco Chronicle provides a news update headlined "Ayala charged with attempted grand theft in Wendy's finger case." The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Police Arrest Chili Finger Finder." And Saturday's edition of The New York Times will report that "Finger in Chili Is Called Hoax; Las Vegas Woman Is Charged." Justice Sundae: Is it a religious event opposing judicial filibusters or is it an ice cream treat available for purchase at the U.S. Supreme Court's cafeteria? Supposedly C-SPAN will be broadcasting some or all of this Sunday's "Justice Sunday" event, and you can learn much more about the event via this link. Posted at 05:50 PM by Howard Bashman "AEI Lochner Event on Video": At "The Volokh Conspiracy," David Bernstein notes here that you can access online via this link the video of an event he participated in today. Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen's video segment is rather funny when he discusses Bernstein's blogging at "The Volokh Conspiracy." Posted at 05:44 PM by Howard Bashman "Reid: Bush Lied About White House Role in Nuclear Option." Roll Call offers this news update (subscription required) reporting on the statement entitled "Bush Goes Back on Word and Encourages Irresponsible Abuse of Power" that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) issued today in response to Vice President Dick Cheney's "Remarks to the Republican National Lawyers Association." Posted at 05:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Accused 9/11 Figure Moussaoui Pleads Guilty": James Vicini of Reuters provides this report. Posted at 04:48 PM by Howard Bashman BREAKING NEWS -- "Moussaoui Pleads Guilty to Terror Charges": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 04:05 PM by Howard Bashman In news from Connecticut: Lynne Tuohy of The Hartford Courant has a news update headlined "Ross Ruled Competent" that begins, "Serial killer Michael Ross is mentally competent to forgo further appeals and proceed to his execution May 11, Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford has ruled." You can access today's ruling at this link. Posted at 04:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Retrial of German Cannibal Case Ordered": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 03:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Ruling Saves Part of D.C. Gun Liability Law; Appeals Court Says Victims May Sue Makers, Sellers of Automatic Weapons": The Washington Post today contains this article reporting on yesterday's en banc ruling of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. For even more evidence that this court's name is capable of causing confusion, Jurist's "Paper Chase" offers a post titled "Federal appeals court reinstates suit against gun manufacturers" that begins, "The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has revived part of 2000 lawsuit against gun manufacturers seeking to hold the companies liable for shootings carried out with automatic weapons." Mr. Vice President, her name is Priscilla Owen, not Patricia Owen: Jesse J. Holland reports that "Cheney Weighs in on Judicial Filibusters." And Reuters reports that "Cheney Vows to Vote to End Judicial Filibusters." Via C-SPAN, you can view online by clicking here (RealPlayer required) the speech that Vice President Dick Cheney delivered today at the Republican National Lawyers Association 2005 Conference. The Vice President's discussion of judicial nominations and filibusters begins at nine minutes into the video segment. "US business worried by Republicans' filibuster plan": Financial Times provides this report. The Denver Post reports that "Salazar, Focus escalating salvos; Colo. senator urges Dobson to quit assailing faith of Dems." The Rocky Mountain News reports that "Salazar lets fly; Focus on Family aims to create theocracy in U.S., senator says." The newspaper has also posted online "Sen. Ken Salazar's letter to Dr. James Dobson." The Oregonian reports that "Smith urges give, take on nominees." The written transcript of yesterday evening's segment entitled "Judicial Wars" from PBS's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" can now be accessed here. The Union Leader of Manchester, New Hampshire today contains an editorial entitled "Filibuster fibs: Both sides are telling them." And Human Events Online offers an essay by David Limbaugh entitled "The Constitutional Option: What's Really at Stake" and an essay by Oliver North entitled "The GOP Confirmation Train Wreck." "Matt Cooper, Facing Jail, Awaits Appeal to Supreme Court": This article is available online from Editor & Publisher. Posted at 02:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Rehnquist Retirement Talk Heats Up as Court's Term Winds Down": Bloomberg News provides this report. Posted at 02:22 PM by Howard Bashman "On the Elitism of Blawgs": Lincoln Caplan has this essay in the May | June 2005 issue of Legal Affairs magazine. Posted at 01:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Lawyers: Moussaoui Unfit to Plead Guilty." The Associated Press offers this report. Zacarias Moussaoui is scheduled to plead guilty at 3p.m. today, and many members of the press are scheduled to be present. You can access the trial court's docket entries in the case at this link. Stay tuned for continuing coverage. Posted at 01:38 PM by Howard Bashman "U.S. asks court to reconsider Schering ruling": Reuters provides this report. Posted at 01:33 PM by Howard Bashman "Split Decision: On courts, liberals are more divided than you think." David Fontana has this essay today online at The New Republic. Posted at 01:28 PM by Howard Bashman "Tea Break: Should drug laws make exceptions for spiritual highs?" Jacob Sullum today has this essay online at Reason. Posted at 12:24 PM by Howard Bashman "Family gets GI's e-mail; They win right to see late son's messages": This article appears today in The Detroit News. c|net News.Com reports that "Yahoo releases e-mail of deceased Marine; Complying with a court order, Yahoo agreed to give the family of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq access to the soldier's e-mail." And The Associated Press reports that "Dead Marine's E-Mail Raises Legal Issues." "Judge Ed Carnes: Judicial Iconoclast." Paul Horwitz has this post online at "PrawfsBlawg" about one of the federal appellate judiciary's best thinkers and writers. Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman Employees' attempts to flee from World Trade Center following 9/11 terrorist attack don't qualify as "business trip," British court decides: This article appears today in The New York Post. Posted at 10:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Judicial Wars": You can access here and here (Windows Media Player required) two interesting segments from yesterday evening's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." The second of those two segments contains a detailed discussion of how and when the so-called "nuclear option" could be implemented. Posted at 10:44 AM by Howard Bashman "2 Evangelicals Want to Strip Courts' Funds; Taped at a private conference, the leaders outline ways to punish jurists they oppose": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. And today in The Washington Post, columnist Charles Krauthammer has an op-ed entitled "Judicial Insanity." "Va. Court Affirms Sniper's Death Penalty": The Associated Press provides this report on today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Virginia rejecting the appeal of DC-area sniper John Allen Muhammad. Posted at 10:20 AM by Howard Bashman "High Court Justice Scalia and Criticism of the Judiciary": Nina Totenberg had this report (RealPlayer required) on today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition." Last night, I linked here to C-SPAN's archived online video of the event that is the subject of Totenberg's report. Posted at 10:10 AM by Howard Bashman "3 Justices Respond Personally to Criticism of U.S. Judiciary": This article appears today in The New York Times. Last night, I linked here to C-SPAN's online video of the event. Posted at 07:22 AM by Howard Bashman Police investigation points finger at woman who claims to have found finger in Wendy's chili: The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports today that "LV woman arrested in finger case; Ayala held on fugitive warrant in chili incident at Wendy's restaurant." The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that "Woman in finger case arrested; She claimed she found digit in bowl of Wendy's chili." And The San Jose Mercury News reports that "Woman who said she found finger arrested; She is booked on grand larceny charges linked to S.J. incident." "Senate showdown looms on filibusters; Vote on judges may set off constitutional crisis on Capitol Hill": This article appears today in The San Francisco Chronicle. The Los Angeles Times reports today that "Votes on Judgeships Move Senate Closer to Going 'Nuclear.'" The Chicago Tribune reports that "Filibuster fight boils in Senate; Parties intensify war of words on court nominees." The Washington Times reports that "Senate panel approves two judicial nominees." In The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Michael McGough has an article headlined "Follow your conscience, Specter says; Tells both parties to avoid 'mutual assured destruction' on judge votes." The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that "Panel backs 2 for court, but nastier battle looms." The Dallas Morning News reports that "Texas judge reigniting Senate fight; Panel OKs Owen; GOP may alter rules if Dems use filibuster." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that "Senate faces battle over Bush's court nominees." The San Antonio Express-News reports that "Senate showdown looms on judges." The San Jose Mercury News reports that "Round 2 on judge nominee begins; Vote launches new battle over California jurist." The Mobile Register reports that "Panel delays Pryor vote; no hint of compromise." The Tennessean reports that "Judicial battle tactic crucial to Frist presidential strategy; Filibuster change could boost or bust candidacy." The Raleigh News & Observer reports that "Senate near showdown on judges." The Arizona Republic reports that "Dem video casts McCain as ally." And The Associated Press reports that "GOP poll finds lack of public support." Thursday, April 21, 2005 Access online this evening's "Constitutional Conversation with Justices Breyer, O'Connor and Scalia, moderated by 'Meet the Press' host Tim Russert": Via C-SPAN, you can now access online by clicking here the video of this evening's event, which I first noted in this post earlier today. Posted at 11:45 PM by Howard Bashman "3 justices offer inside look at how they approach their work": Stephen Henderson of Knight Ridder Newspapers provides this report. Posted at 11:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Bangor lawyer nominated for high court": The Bangor Daily News contains this article today. Posted at 11:33 PM by Howard Bashman "U.S. deports Somali man; Supreme Court ruling finally settled case": This article appears today in The St. Paul Pioneer Press. And The Minneapolis Star Tribune today contains an article headlined "Minnesota Somali being deported today." The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in this case earlier this year can be accessed here. "Officials prepared for long hazmat suit": The Washington Times today contains an article that begins, "D.C. officials said yesterday that they are prepared to go to the U.S. Supreme Court with their legal fight to ban trains carrying hazardous materials through the city." Posted at 11:22 PM by Howard Bashman "Top court wants more on Lambert appeal; At least one justice is seeking more information from prosecution about convicted killer's case": The Lancaster New Era today contains an article that begins, "Someone at the nation's highest court is curious about Lisa Michelle Lambert. At least one U.S. Supreme Court justice recently asked prosecutors to spell out exactly why the court should not hear Lambert's appeal of her conviction for the 1991 murder of 16-year-old Laurie Show." Posted at 11:20 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from law.com: An article reports that "Senate Moves Closer to 'Nuclear Option' on Judicial Nominees; Controversial Bush nominees Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown get thumbs up from judiciary committee." And in other news, "Courts Urged to Accept Videoconferencing; Two-way TV videconferencing may be boon for international cases." "Religion at Issue in Judicial Fight": This article will appear Friday in The New York Times. Posted at 11:15 PM by Howard Bashman Seems like it was only yesterday that this case was being argued at the U.S. Supreme Court: "Patently-O: Patent Law Blog" has posted here the transcript of yesterday's oral argument in Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd. Posted at 11:11 PM by Howard Bashman "O'Connor Dismisses Ado Over Int'l Law": Hope Yen of The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 11:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate GOP Sets Up Filibuster Showdown; Two Bush Nominees, Both Women, Sent to Floor for Test Between Republicans and Democrats": This front page article will appear Friday in The Washington Post. And The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Senate Moves Closer to Showdown Over Judicial Nominees." "With Party-Line Vote, Committee Sends Two Judicial Nominees to Senate": Neil A. Lewis will have this article Friday in The New York Times. Posted at 10:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate panel approves controversial judges in tense session": This article will appear Friday in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram will report on Friday that "Committee vote pushes Senate closer to 'constitutional crisis.'" The McClatchy Newspapers report that "Controversial judges get Senate committee approval." The San Antonio Express-News provides a news update headlined "Republicans move closer to judicial selections." And you can access online a transcript from today's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show entitled "GOP Just Cannot Act Like the Majority." "Constitutional Conversation with Justices Breyer, O'Connor and Scalia, moderated by 'Meet the Press' host Tim Russert": This program, which I described here earlier today, is now being televised live on C-SPAN2. Posted at 07:14 PM by Howard Bashman On this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered": The broadcast contained segments entitled "Senate Panel Clears Two Judicial Nominees" and "Analysis: History of the Filibuster." Posted at 07:10 PM by Howard Bashman In Friday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor: Tomorrow's newspaper will contain articles headlined "Moussaoui: a window on terror trials; Suspect is scheduled to plead guilty Friday in a bizarre case raising questions about how justice system handles terrorism" and "For Senate, jostling for position in 2006; Surprise retirement of Jeffords and trouble around Santorum lead both parties to eye new strategies." Posted at 05:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Lay Off Our Judiciary": Former Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson has this op-ed today in The Wall Street Journal. And no, despite the op-ed's title, Olson is not suggesting that members of the judiciary be furloughed. Posted at 05:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate committee sidelines hearing for N.C. federal judge": The Associated Press reports here that "The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved two of President Bush's most controversial appeals court nominees while allowing a third, a North Carolina federal judge, to remain sidelined." Posted at 05:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Coburn to the Rescue! Stopping a Specter-backed asbestos trust fund." Matt Kibbe has this essay today at National Review Online. Posted at 05:10 PM by Howard Bashman Reuters is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "Merck to appeal to US high court over drug patent"; "US judge-could order tobacco education spending"; and "U.S. Senator Plans Hearing on Asbestos Fund Bill." Posted at 05:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Warner Bros. Wins Lawsuit Over 'Perfect Storm'": Reuters provides this report on a ruling that the Supreme Court of Florida issued today. The case came before Florida's highest state court on certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Anonymous receives good news as intermediate New York State appellate court affirms dismissal of libel claim involving "Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics." You can access today's ruling of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, at this link. Posted at 04:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Why Congress Should Pre-Empt Most Lawsuits Against Gun Manufacturers": Eugene Volokh has this interesting post about today's en banc ruling of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Posted at 04:15 PM by Howard Bashman On today's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day": Today's broadcast contained segments entitled "GOP Eyes 'Nuclear Option' on Filibusters" (featuring Nina Totenberg); "Should the Filibuster Stay or Go?"; and "Crips Founder Seeks 'Redemption' on Death Row." You can hear more from NPR's interview of Stanley "Tookie" Williams by clicking here. Posted at 03:40 PM by Howard Bashman The rationale behind the Seventh Circuit's change in the manner in which it makes its opinions available over its web site: As I first noted here yesterday and "The Indiana Law Blog" noted here soon thereafter, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has changed the way it posts its decisions online. Today an email arrived from someone in the know at the Seventh Circuit explaining that "the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts is discouraging static links [to opinions] on the ground that they are too easily exploited by mischief-makers." Interesting. "Judiciary Panel Approves Owen, Brown": FOXNews.com provides this report. Bloomberg News reports that "U.S. Senate Panel Sends Bush Judicial Nominees to Full Senate." Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press reports that "Showdown Nears Over Bush Judicial Nominees." At National Review Online, Sean Rushton has an essay entitled "Filibuster Rules: Then & Now; In 1995, 19 Democrats voted to eliminate all filibusters." People For the American Way has issued a press release entitled "Nuclear Countdown: Committee Vote on Previously Rejected Nominees Brings Senate One Step Closer to Frist's Fiasco." And Alliance for Justice has two press releases today: "Alliance for Justice Opposes Nominations of Brown and Owen; Activist Judges Determined to Remake the Law" and "Alliance for Justice Applauds Legal Community's Steadfast Resolve to Preserve Checks and Balances." In connection with the second of those two press releases, you can access online three letters released today addressed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN): "Law Professors' Letter"; "Law Students' Letter"; and "Legal Luminaries' Letter." At "The Volokh Conspiracy," "Juan Non-Volokh" comments here on the law professors' letter. "US court declines to reconsider Merck drug patent": Reuters provides this report on an order denying rehearing en banc that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued today. A dissent accompanies today's order. Posted at 12:37 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate Panel OKs Bush Judicial Nominees": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press reports here that today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8, along party lines, to recommend to the full U.S. Senate the approval of D.C. Circuit nominee Janice Rogers Brown and Fifth Circuit nominee Priscilla R. Owen. The article also notes that "North Carolina judge Terrence W. Boyle, a former aide to retired Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who expected a committee vote as well, was held over after Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., requested extra time to review some of his rulings as a U.S. District judge." "Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Brown, Owen": Robert B. Bluey provides this report at Human Events Online. Posted at 12:17 PM by Howard Bashman "In Defense of 'Judicial Tyranny': The religious right's court-unpacking scheme." Julian Sanchez has this essay online at Reason. Posted at 12:15 PM by Howard Bashman En banc District of Columbia Court of Appeals reinstates strict liability claim against manufacturers and distributors of firearms in lawsuit seeking to hold those defendants liable for deaths and injuries sustained in gun-related crimes: You can access today's en banc ruling at this link. Posted at 12:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate Panel OKs Bush Judicial Nominee": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this updated report. Posted at 11:20 AM by Howard Bashman In today's edition of The Sacramento Bee: Claire Cooper, legal affairs writer for The SacBee, has an article headlined "Bull or not, cow ads OK; State high court steers clear of cheese marketing credibility" that begins: The state Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt the death blow to an animal-rights case that raised the age-old question: How now brown cow? The world may never know the answer.In other news, "Bill aims to settle claims on asbestos." And an article reports that "Inmate wields blog in deportation fight." You can access the blog in question at this link. "Senate tempest over judges drawing closer; California Justice among divisive nominees expected to win committee's approval today": This article appears today in The San Jose Mercury News. And The Sacramento Bee reports today that "Panel's vote on judgeships could spark Senate slugfest; GOP maneuver could squash Democrats' threatened filibuster." "Constitutional Conversation with Justices Breyer, O'Connor and Scalia, moderated by 'Meet the Press' host Tim Russert": This program -- sponsored by the National Constitution Center, The Aspen Institute, and the National Archives and Records Administration -- is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. this evening at the National Archives in Washington, DC. For those unable to attend in person, C-SPAN3 is scheduled to broadcast the event live online. And once C-SPAN makes the video available online, on demand, I'll be sure to post a link here. Posted at 10:25 AM by Howard Bashman "Senate Panel Set to OK 2 Bush Nominees": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 10:11 AM by Howard Bashman On today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition": The broadcast contained segments entitled "Judicial Nominations Could Trigger Filibuster Fight" (featuring Nina Totenberg) and "Jeffords Decides Not to Seek Fourth Term." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. Posted at 10:04 AM by Howard Bashman "Senator Frist and Representative DeLay's Claims of Supreme Court Judicial Activism and Anti-Religion Bias: Why They Aren't Persuasive." FindLaw commentator Marci Hamilton has this essay today. Posted at 08:42 AM by Howard Bashman Bob Egelko is reporting: Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, he has an article headlined "State justices refuse PETA a hearing on the life of cows" that begins, "Whether the cows in a state milk board's ads are really happy is apparently none of the California courts' business." And in other news, "Cough syrup no defense; Supreme Court upholds loss of license of girl, 16." Posted at 08:40 AM by Howard Bashman The agenda for this morning's executive business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee can be accessed here: Four nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals are on the agenda, and three are likely to be voted out of committee today. Posted at 08:30 AM by Howard Bashman "Schumer Blasts Proposed Hearings On Judges' Conduct": Luiza Ch. Savage has this article today in The New York Sun. Posted at 07:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Senate Scrap Over Judges Is Frist's Fight; The majority leader's presidential aspirations may influence action on a filibuster rule change": The Los Angeles Times contains this article today. The Boston Globe reports today that "Ad wars mount as Republicans ready ban on Senate filibusters." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that "Obama is reluctant to defend filibuster in judicial battle." The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that "Pryor sees rash use of religion by groups; Swats at filibusters disappoint, he says." The Times-Picayune reports that "GOP Senate freshmen push to end judicial filibusters; Democratic minority blocked Bush's picks." The Denver Post reports that "Sen. Salazar, Focus spar over judicial nominations." The Rocky Mountain News reports that "Salazar slams Focus; Senator calls group's political tactics over judges 'un-Christian.'" The Island Packet contains an article headlined "DeMint: GOP close to filibuster change." In commentary, The Philadelphia Daily News today contains an editorial entitled "Will Specter save the GOP from itself? Senator can keep the party from blowing itself up over the filibuster." The Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call contains an editorial entitled "Spirit of Senate bipartisanship would be obliterated with filibuster rule change." In The Washington Post, columnist David S. Broder has an op-ed entitled "The Appeal of A Court Fight." In The New York Times, columnist David Brooks has an op-ed entitled "Roe's Birth, and Death." In The Chicago Tribune, columnist Steve Chapman has an op-ed entitled "The Republicans' new perspective on the filibuster." In The Houston Chronicle, columnist Cragg Hines has an op-ed entitled "For Owen rerun, Specter takes up role of Bush shill." In The Denver Post, columnist David Harsanyi has an op-ed entitled "Sen. Salazar takes judicial turn." In The Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Robert Novak has an op-ed enititled "Liberals once sang different tune on filibusters." In The Louisville Courier-Journal, Joseph Phelps has an op-ed entitled "A tale of two churches." At Townhall.com, columnist Cal Thomas has an essay entitled "Religious 'intolerance' cuts both ways." And today in The Daily Texan, Kevin Jones has an op-ed entitled "Far right alienates moderate Christians." Finally for now, yesterday the organization People For the American Way issued both a news release entitled "Boyle Testimony Confirms Opponents' Fears; PFAW Analysis of Judiciary Committee Hearing Shows Severe Lack of Credibility and Radical Record Make Boyle Unfit to Serve on Fourth Circuit" and a related report entitled "Committee Hearing Reinforces Case that Terrence Boyle is Unfit for Promotion to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals." "Biotech patents an issue for court; Justices hear arguments involving S.D. entities": This article appears today in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Posted at 07:20 AM by Howard Bashman Wednesday, April 20, 2005 Lyle Denniston is reporting online at "SCOTUSblog": Today, he has posts titled "Judge: Moussaoui competent to plead guilty"; "Huge tobacco case seems Court-bound"; and "Analysis: Reversal coming in patent case?" Posted at 11:55 PM by Howard Bashman "Santorum reads nuke polls, applies the brakes": Thursday's edition of The Hill will contain an article that begins, "Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the 'nuclear option' to end the Democrats' filibuster of judicial nominees, is privately arguing for a delay in the face of adverse internal party polls." The McClatchy Newspapers report that "Congressional showdown over judicial nominees could begin Thursday." Thursday's edition of The Dallas Morning News will report that "Filibuster issue leads to rallies; Right, left aim to seize moral ground in dispute on judicial nominations." Thursday's edition of Financial Times contains an article headlined "Republican politicking muddies fight on judicial posts" and an editorial entitled "Trouble on the Hill." From South Dakota, The Associated Press reports that "U.S. Senate battle over rules could risk state highway money." The Jewish Week reports that "Judicial Wars Turning Uglier: With showdown over nominees nearing, conservatives' message that 'religion is under attack' is rankling Jewish leaders and Democrats." The Scripps Howard News Service reports that "Salazar calls tactics of Focus on the Family 'un-Christian.'" Washington Square News reports that "Filibusters topic of debate at law school." Participating in the debate were Nan Aron and Bruce Fein, while Adam Cohen of The New York Times Editorial Board served as moderator. In commentary, The Montgomery Advertiser today contains an editorial entitled "Playing 'religion card' misguided tactic." The Pitt News today contains an editorial entitled "Faith-based anti-filibuster campaign a bust." The Chattanooga Times Free Press contains an editorial entitled "Bill Frist's demagoguery." The Tennessean yesterday contained an editorial entitled "Dangerous mix of faith into filibuster debate." The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington yesterday contained an editorial entitled "GOP’s Frist should shun dirty attack on judiciary." Last Friday, The Peoria Journal Star contained an editorial entitled "Wrong to discard Senate filibuster." Today in The New York Observer, columnist Joe Conason has an essay entitled "Frist and allies use piety for profit; Republicans morph opposition of judicial nominees into 'war on people of faith.'" Columnist James Lileks has an essay entitled "This Time, McCain Doesn't Get a Pass." Today in The Christian Science Monitor, Jonathan Zimmerman has an op-ed entitled "Losing our religion." In the current issue of The Forward, Rabbi Arthur Waskow has an essay entitled "Thou Shalt Not Revile the Judges." Yesterday in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, columnist Tony Norman had an op-ed entitled "Christians in lion's clothing." Finally for now, James Ridgeway's current "Mondo Washington" column online at The Village Voice is entitled "The GOP's Fright Wing: DeLay and Frist light the torches for a crusade against 'activist' judges." "Finally, Miller and Cooper Turn to the Supreme Court": Editor & Publisher offers this report today. Posted at 11:08 PM by Howard Bashman "GOP Frets Over Public's Economic Worries": Thursday's edition of The Washington Post will contain a front page news analysis piece that begins, "Inflation and interest rates are rising, stock values have plunged, a tank of gas induces sticker shock, and for nearly a year, wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living. Yet in Washington, the political class has been consumed with the death of a brain-damaged woman in Florida, the ethics of the House majority leader, and the fate of the Senate filibuster." Posted at 11:05 PM by Howard Bashman "2 Winona High students at center of hot-button issue": Thursday's edition of The Minneapolis Star Tribune will contain an article that begins, "Two Winona High School students have found themselves in hot water with school officials. Why? Because after Carrie Rethlefsen attended a performance of the play 'The Vagina Monologues' last month, she and Emily Nixon wore buttons to school that read: 'I [heart] My Vagina.'" Posted at 11:00 PM by Howard Bashman In Thursday's edition of The New York Times: Neil A. Lewis will have an article headlined "For Republicans, 2 Women Are Exhibits A and B in Battle on Judicial Appointments." In other news, "Pentagon Considers Changing The Legal Definition of Sodomy." An article will report that "Judge Rules 9/11 Defendant Is Competent to Plead Guilty." And finally for now, "Jeffords to Leave the Senate, Setting Off Vermont Scramble." Also available online from law.com: In addition to Tony Mauro's article noted in the post immediately below this one, the following law.com articles are also available online tonight. An article reports that "Ex-Gulf War POWs Plead Their Case to Supreme Court; Former hostages say they should have right to sue Iraq for torture sustained during Persian Gulf War." Jonathan Ringel has a very interesting article headlined "11th Circuit Judge Stands Ground on Sentencing Rules; Judge Edward E. Carnes fights criticism from colleagues, 7th Circuit." Jeff Chorney reports that "Deputy AG Comey to Step Down." And in news from California, "Ex-Partners Sue Townsend for Cut of Fees." "Two High Court Justices Un-Recuse From Key Patent Case": Tony Mauro has this interesting essay online at law.com. Posted at 10:05 PM by Howard Bashman Someone identified as "a judge" uses the internet to defend Tom DeLay's comments condemning judges for using the internet: Something about this anonymous email posted at "The Corner" strikes me as fishy. Maybe it's the anonymous emailer's use of "appellant judges" where he or she clearly means "appellate judges"? Posted at 10:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Republicans pushing swift confirmation for Pryor": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 09:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Man arrested for alleged threats against B'klyn federal judge": This article appears today in New York Newsday. Posted at 08:50 PM by Howard Bashman News updates available online from The Los Angeles Times: An article reports that "Moussaoui Guilty Plea to Be OKd." In other news, "Jeffords Won't Seek Re-Election to Senate." And in local news, "L.A. Gang Member Sentenced to Die; Defendant tells judge they would meet 'in hell'; Judge says he killed 'for sport.'" "7th Circuit makes linking difficult! And worse!" Marcia Oddi has this post today at "The Indiana Law Blog." Posted at 06:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Judge Brotman looks back on decades of serving V.I. through storm and change": This article appeared last Thursday in The Virgin Islands Daily News. Posted at 05:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Sen. Kennedy reaches out to the netroots": The blog "Blue Mass. Group" offers this "nuclear option"-related post. Posted at 05:10 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from The Associated Press: Hope Yen reports that "High Court Skeptical on Drug Patent Ruling." In other news, "Court Closes Arguments in FBI Case." And an article reports that "Moussaoui Could Face the Death Penalty." "Supreme Court Reins In Suits By Shareholders": Jess Bravin has this article (pass-through link) today in The Wall Street Journal. Posted at 04:44 PM by Howard Bashman Access online the agenda for tomorrow morning's executive business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee: The agenda can be accessed here. You will note that Eleventh Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. appears on this week's agenda, meaning that if he is not voted out of committee tomorrow, he will be due to be voted out of committee at the next executive business meeting after tomorrow's. Posted at 04:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Nuclear option meltdown": T. Bevan has this post today at the RealClearPolitics.com "Commentary" blog. Posted at 04:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist's Folly: The Senate filibuster is inherently conservative; That's why we need it." Jacob Weisberg today has this essay online at Slate. Posted at 03:55 PM by Howard Bashman Access online the Solicitor General's reply brief in the Solomon Amendment case: The reply brief is now available at this link. The other materials filed with the U.S. Supreme Court can be accessed via this post of mine from yesterday. The case is scheduled to be conferenced on April 29, 2005, and thus we may learn whether review has been granted as early as Monday, May 2, 2005. I continue to believe that the Supreme Court is very likely to accept this case for review. Posted at 03:24 PM by Howard Bashman "Canada Approves Cannabis Spray; The drug will be used to treat pain from multiple sclerosis; Medicinal marijuana advocates see decision as furthering their cause in the U.S." This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 03:18 PM by Howard Bashman "Sen. Jeffords Won't Seek Re-Election": The Associated Press reports here that "Sen. Jim Jeffords, an independent who triggered one of the most dramatic upheavals in U.S. Senate history when he quit the GOP four years ago, announced Wednesday he would retire at the end of his term next year, citing his and his wife's health." Posted at 02:32 PM by Howard Bashman An international law ruling that Tom DeLay might applaud: Reuters has a report headlined "Italian Court Rules Woman's Feeding Tube Must Stay" that begins, "Italy's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a man's appeal to remove a feeding tube keeping his daughter alive, weeks after a bitter row over brain-damaged Terri Schiavo divided the United States." Posted at 02:22 PM by Howard Bashman Hear Tom DeLay on the internet discussing international law: You can listen to his interview yesterday on Tony Snow's Fox News Radio program by clicking here (Windows Media Player). Congressman DeLay begins discussing the judiciary at approximately 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the broadcast. Delay's discussion of Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy runs from 11:40 to 12:00. (Thanks to "Qroncy" for the direct link to the audio.) Posted at 02:15 PM by Howard Bashman "The case is a symphony of frivolousness." So writes Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel, in a must-read attorney sanction opinion issued today. On a somewhat unrelated note, the Seventh Circuit recently changed the way that its opinions are made available over the internet. Compare the link that I have provided to the opinion in the preceding paragraph of this post to the link that appears in your web browser's window once the file opens. I'd be curious to hear from any readers who can explain why a court would have its opinions open at what appear to be "temporary" link addresses that will prove useless to anyone who later wants to revisit the decisions. Or am I simply ignorant about what's going on here? "Accused 9/11 Conspirator to Plead Guilty Friday": Reuters provides this report. This will be Moussaoui's second attempt at pleading guilty, and according to Reuters the hearing is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. eastern daylight time this Friday. A copy of the federal district court's docket entries in this case can be accessed here. Zacarias Moussaoui's first attempt to plead guilty occurred on July 25, 2002, and it concluded with the trial court's rejection of the guilty plea, as I reported here that afternoon. Later that day, I linked here to a transcript of that day's guilty plea proceedings. The Associated Press is reporting: An article reports that "Judge to Accept Moussaoui's Guilty Plea." And Hope Yen reports that "Supreme Court Reviewing Drug Patents." Posted at 12:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Placer deputies face trial linked to pot raids in '90s": Claire Cooper, legal affairs writer for The Sacramento Bee, today has this article reporting on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued yesterday. Posted at 12:15 PM by Howard Bashman "Court Won't Rehear Tobacco Penalty Ruling": Reuters provides this report. And The Associated Press reports that "Court Nixes U.S. Request in Tobacco Trial." Posted at 11:48 AM by Howard Bashman In news from Washington State: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer today contains articles headlined "Court agrees Arco biased against Sikh-owned contractor; But $5 million damage award found too high" and "GOP analysis gives Rossi 100-vote win; But Democrats say state law doesn't allow counting like that." And The Seattle Times today contains an article headlined "Snohomish district lifts suspension over T-shirt" that begins, "The Snohomish High School student who was suspended for wearing a 'SNOHOS' T-shirt to school in February will be allowed to wear the shirt to school after all." "Court Blocks Ban on Risky Trains in D.C.": The Associated Press provides this report about an order that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued yesterday. Posted at 10:40 AM by Howard Bashman "Slate's Jurisprudence: A Public Balancing Act for Judges." This interesting segment (featuring Emily Bazelon) about judges who speak out in public appeared on yesterday's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day." RealPlayer is required to launch the audio segment. Posted at 10:35 AM by Howard Bashman "Sleepy Juror Gets Rude Awakening": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 10:30 AM by Howard Bashman DeLay disclaimer -- this post discusses foreign law that I learned about by using the internet: In appellate news from the Supreme Court of Cambodia, The Associated Press offers a report headlined "Brewery Claims Victory Over Anheuser-Busch" that begins, "Czech brewery Budejovicky Budvar said Wednesday it won the latest round of its global legal battle against U.S. beer giant Anheuser-Busch Ltd., gaining the right to sell its beer under its original brand names in Cambodia. The company said Cambodia's Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Czech brewery earlier this month in a case dating back to 2000." The web site of Budejovicky Budvar can be accessed here. The web site of the Supreme Court of Cambodia does not appear to exist. And in other news from Cambodia, Reuters reports that "30 Years After 'Year Zero,' Cambodia Seeks Justice." "Bush nominee imperils disabled citizens' gains": Today in The Baltimore Sun, Jim Ward has this op-ed about Fourth Circuit nominee Terrence W. Boyle. Thanks to the "Disability Law" blog for the pointer. Posted at 09:58 AM by Howard Bashman Happy anniversary! I can't let the day pass by without noting that today is the one-year anniversary of the date on which legalaffairs.org began hosting this blog. Posted at 09:54 AM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court to discuss MHSAA case on April 29": The Detroit Free Press today contains an article that begins, "The Michigan High School Athletic Association should know by May 2 if the U.S. Supreme Court will hear its appeal of a gender-equity lawsuit, which could force the association to change the seasons in which several sports are played." Posted at 08:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Court hears Ohio death-row case": Michael McGough has this article today in The Toledo Blade. Posted at 08:48 AM by Howard Bashman "Piercing case review sought": The Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts today contains an article that begins, "A woman who was fired by Costco Wholesale Corp. in West Springfield in 2001 for refusing to remove her eyebrow ring is seeking a review of her case by the U.S. Supreme Court." Posted at 08:45 AM by Howard Bashman "DeLay amplifies knocks on judges; International law and Web shouldn't sway Kennedy's decisions, he says": This article appears today in The Houston Chronicle. Posted at 07:24 AM by Howard Bashman "Lobby urges Specter to keep filibuster intact": The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today contains an article that begins, "As the Senate's Republican leaders draw closer to calling a vote on the controversial rule change that would essentially strip minority Democrats of their ability to block controversial judicial nominees, a liberal group today will begin targeting Pennsylvania's Republican Sen. Arlen Specter through TV ads running in the Keystone State." I, for one, will be shocked if Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) votes in favor of the so-called "nuclear option." Online at Slate, Chris Cillizza has an essay entitled "The Rules of the Senate: What they are, why they matter, and how they'll figure in the filibuster fight." Yesterday, The Virginian-Pilot contained an editorial entitled "The high road on filibusters." In The Denver Post, columnist Al Knight has an op-ed entitled "Common ground elusive in U.S. Senate." In The Oregonian, columnist David Sarasohn has an essay entitled "Right wing to the judiciary: Judge Not." In The Dallas Morning News, Mark Davis has an essay entitled "Politics can have a place at the pulpit, too." In The Boston Herald, Guy Darst has an essay entitled "Courts still need restraint." And in The Orion of California State University Chico, Gregory Leben has an op-ed entitled "Filibuster debate goes on and on." "Justices Raise the Bar on Stock Fraud Cases; A plunge in share price is not grounds for a suit even if investors were lured by a company's inflated claims, the Supreme Court rules": David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. In USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports that "Supreme Court overturns investor-friendly ruling on securities fraud." In Financial Times, Patti Waldmeir reports that "Court refuses to make securities fraud suits easier." The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that "Drugmaker wins in stock fraud lawsuit; Supreme Court declines to ease standard on claims." And The San Francisco Examiner reports that "High court keeps securities fraud standard." "High Court Is Set to Hear Case of Research vs. Patents": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The Boston Globe reports today that "Drug makers see high stakes in patent fight; Case could affect future of industry." The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina reports that "Patent case arrives at top; High court may affect drug companies." And Hope Yen of The Associated Press reports that "Supreme Court Reviews Drug Patents." Tuesday, April 19, 2005 "When You Can't Beat 'Em: Since everyone wants to kill Moussaoui, he'd be nuts not to agree." Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online today at Slate. Posted at 11:58 PM by Howard Bashman In Wednesday's edition of The Washington Post: An article will report that "Reporters Lose In Appeals Court; Leak Case May Lead to Jail." And in other news, "DeLay Takes Fight to Talk Radio." You can access the audio from this interview via this link. In news from Colorado: The Denver Post reports today that "Justices say shop owner not liable for sex assault." And The Rocky Mountain News reports today that "Colorado high court tosses award in sex-assault suit; 6-1 ruling says business not liable in 1997 attack." You can access yesterday's ruling of the Supreme Court of Colorado at this link. In other news, The Denver Post reports today that "2 killers spared in high court's ruling on '02 sentencing law." You can access yesterday's rulings of the Supreme Court of Colorado here and here. In news pertaining to the denial of reconsideration, The Denver Post reports today that "High court won't reconsider Auman decision." And The Rocky Mountain News reports that "Court upholds Auman decision; DA must decide on retrial, plea bargain or further appeal." Finally, Colorado's Supreme Court has also refused to reconsider its recent decision setting aside a death sentence due to jurors' use of a Bible during sentencing deliberations. The Rocky Mountain News reports today that "Justices stand by Harlan ruling." "Supreme Court back on gender equity case": This article about alleged gender discrimination in high school sports appears today in The Grand Rapids Press. Posted at 11:28 PM by Howard Bashman Yes, no, maybe so? Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted review in a search warrant case from Georgia. The question presented involves whether police can enter a home to conduct a warrantless search if one spouse consents but the other does not. I first reported on the Supreme Court of Georgia's ruling in the case last November in a post that you can access here. In local coverage of that ruling, The Americus Times-Recorder reported last November that "State Supreme Court rules drug search illegal." Also in Wednesday's edition of The New York Times: Tomorrow's newspaper will also contain articles headlined "As Vote on Filibuster Nears, G.O.P. Senators Face Mounting Pressure" and "DeLay Outlines Strategy Against Federal Judges." Posted at 11:15 PM by Howard Bashman "High Court Limits Stock Fraud Lawsuits; A plunge in a stock's price does not demonstrate fraud, justices say, even if investors were lured by inflated claims": David G. Savage has this news update online at The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 10:22 PM by Howard Bashman In Wednesday's edition of The New York Times: Adam Liptak will report that "2 Reporters Suffer Another Court Setback." John Kifner will have an article headlined "10 Years After Bombing, Oklahoma City Remembers." And in other news, "Sept. 11 Suspect May Be Set to Admit Guilt." Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that "Supreme Court Rejects Looser Standard for Stock Fraud Suits." And in news from New York City, "Threats Against Federal Judge, Courthouse Lead to Arrest." "Weighing property rights": This past Sunday, Nancie G. Marzulla, president of the Defenders of Property Rights, had this op-ed in The Washington Times. In the op-ed, Marzulla writes, "Now the U.S. District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals is considering a full court, or en banc, review of a case (Stearns v. the United States) that could prove as pivotal as any before the highest court." If true, the quoted sentence contains remarkable news, because Stearns Co. v. United States was recently decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Thanks much to a reader for the pointer. Tenth Circuit Judge Michael W. McConnell issues decision rejecting Commerce Clause challenge to homemade child pornography conviction: You can access today's ruling, on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel, at this link. The discussion of this issue, as to which other circuits have divided, begins on page 22 of the decision. Posted at 08:55 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from The Associated Press: Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press has a report headlined "DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice" that begins, "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay intensified his criticism of the federal courts on Tuesday, singling out Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's work from the bench as 'incredibly outrageous' because he has relied on international law and done research on the Internet." And in other news, "Judge Weighs Moussaoui's 9/11 Guilty Plea." "Court Declines Case of Reporters in Leak Case": Adam Liptak of The New York Times provides this news update. Posted at 07:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Who Are the Top 20 Legal Thinkers in America?" legalaffairs.org posts the results of its online poll. Posted at 07:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Let the Filibuster Die: Why Bill Frist's 'nuclear option' doesn't go far enough." Timothy Noah has this chatterbox essay online at Slate. Posted at 07:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Court Reviews Rights in Death Penalty Case": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 06:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Lawsuit targets Williams for ouster; It is unconstitutional to serve both as Rhode Island chief justice and as a member of a military review panel, a lawyer asserts": Two Saturdays ago, The Providence Journal published an article that begins, "A lawsuit filed Thursday claims that Frank J. Williams is no longer chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court because he is on the military review panel that will hear appeals from suspected terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The suit cites a section of the Rhode Island Constitution that says that 'if any general officer, senator, representative or judge shall, after election and engagement, accept any appointment under any other government, the office under this shall be immediately vacated.'" Posted at 05:08 PM by Howard Bashman U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denies rehearing en banc on Booker plain error standard: So why, then, is the document containing the order ninety-two pages long? Because Circuit Judges Gerald Bard Tjoflat and Rosemary Barkett have appended dissents from the denial of rehearing en banc, and Circuit Judge Ed Carnes has appended a concurrence in which he responds to those dissents. Posted at 05:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Case embroiled in controversy after Wilson judge had ordered her to learn English": The Tennessean contains this article today. Posted at 04:42 PM by Howard Bashman "Three judges are flash points in Senate clash; A vote on their nominations Thursday could lead to long-awaited showdown over the federal courts": This article will appear Wednesday in The Christian Science Monitor. People For the American Way today issued a press release titled "With Frist's Finger on the 'Nuclear' Button, PFAWF Launches New Ad; Republican Firefighter Returns to Washington to Save the Filibuster." You can access the new ad via this link. Focus on the Family today issued a press release titled "Focus on the Family Action Launches Judical Filibuster Ad Campaign." The press release provides links to the ads. The Committee for Justice yesterday issued a press release titled "Gonzales Never Accused Priscilla Owen of Judicial Activism." The Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary today issued a press release titled "Law Students, Law Professors, Legal Luminaries Rally Nationwide to Protect the Filibuster; Legal Professionals Will Present Thousands of Letters to Senate Leadership." And Project 21 today issued a press release titled "Black Activists Criticize NAACP for Filibuster Flip-Flop; Group Now Supports Senate Tactic That Hobbled Civil Rights Legislation." "Insurers Want to Change Asbestos Bill": Reuters provides this report. Posted at 04:12 PM by Howard Bashman "Garrow on Blackmun and law clerks": Mark Tushnet has this post at "Balkinization." At "The Volokh Conspiracy," Jim Lindgren has a post titled "Blackmun a Clerk to His Clerks." At Reason's "Hit and Run" blog, Jesse Walker has a post titled "Pay No Attention to Those Clerks Behind the Curtain." The article to which they are responding is available here. "Police arrest porn star who ran for governor": This article appears today in The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington. Posted at 03:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Bills target abortion clinics": The St. Petersburg Times contains this editorial today. Posted at 03:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Five years later, Elian, now 11, is living a 'normal' life": This article appeared Sunday in The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Posted at 03:48 PM by Howard Bashman "Center Court: There really are vast differences among the Supreme Court's five conservatives; And that's exactly what Bush hopes he can eliminate." Simon Lazarus has this essay in the May 2005 issue of The American Prospect. Posted at 02:28 PM by Howard Bashman The Solititor General's Office files its reply brief in support of its petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the Third Circuit's ruling in the Solomon Amendment case: Once I receive a copy of (or a link to) the reply brief in PDF format, I will post it online. For now, you can access online the cert. petition, the appendix thereto, an amicus brief filed by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the brief in opposition, and the Third Circuit's ruling. Posted at 02:25 PM by Howard Bashman "New York Man Arrested for Threatening U.S. Judge": Reuters provides a report that begins, "A New York man was arrested on Tuesday for threatening to kill a Brooklyn federal judge and bomb his courthouse amid growing concern about the safety of the nation's judiciary and their courtrooms." The April 18, 2005 issue of New York Magazine contained an item headlined "Furor in the Court: 'It's like we're in Fallujah'; Brooklyn judges say they're not as safe as their Manhattan counterparts." "Once Bitten, Twice Shy": CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen has this essay about Zacarias Moussaoui's decision, once again, to plead guilty. Posted at 02:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist: Filibuster Ban Won't Include Bills." Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report on a statement that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) issued today. Posted at 01:04 PM by Howard Bashman U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holds that $5 million punitive damage award was unconstitutionally excessive in racial discrimination case where the actual harm to plaintiff was valued at $50,000: You can access today's ruling at this link. The Ninth Circuit has ruled that the maximum lawful punitive damages award would be in the range of $300,000 to $450,000. The opinion's conclusion leaves me unsure concerning whether the plaintiff, on remand, will have the option to reject the reduction and instead opt for a new trial. Posted at 12:44 PM by Howard Bashman "The Brains Behind Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's papers reveal that, more than any justice in memory, he gave his law clerks control over his thinking and writing when he was on the Supreme Court." David J. Garrow has this article in the May | June 2005 issue of Legal Affairs magazine. Seth P. Waxman, who now serves as chairman of Legal Affairs, offers this response to Garrow's article. And at "The Volokh Conspiracy," David Bernstein reacts here to Tony Mauro's coverage of Garrow's article. I'll be happy to consider for posting any comments about Garrow's article that readers forward to me via email. Please let me know whether you are commenting anonymously or for attribution. And I'll also be pleased to receive via email links to posts from others who are blogging about this article. "Bill Would End Gag Clauses That Stifle Victims Who Sue": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 12:11 PM by Howard Bashman "Witch Trial: Some Faiths Aren't Good Enough for Chesterfield Supervisors." Columnist A. Barton Hinkle has this essay today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Hinkle's essay begins, "Any lawyer who represents himself in court has a fool for a client. Anyone without a law degree who takes issue with J. Harvie Wilkinson is an idiot. To the latter charge, your servant enters a plea of no contest, and plows ahead anyway." Posted at 11:33 AM by Howard Bashman "Murkowski's position vague in Senate strife; Judicial nominees: Republicans would be able to block filibusters." This article appears today in The Anchorage Daily News. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette today contains an editorial entitled "Uphold the filibuster." The Kansas City Star contains an editorial entitled "Keep religion out of judge nominations." The Oregon Daily Emerald contains an editorial entitled "Jeopardizing the filibuster could muffle minorities." The UCLA Daily Bruin yesterday contained an editorial entitled "GOP efforts to gain power threaten courts, system." And in The San Francisco Chronicle, columnist Debra J. Saunders today has an essay entitled "Going nuclear." "Top court to rule on swing clubs": Broadcast News of Canada provides this report. Posted at 11:05 AM by Howard Bashman U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denies rehearing en banc of decision holding that two subpoenaed reporters can be compelled to give grand jury testimony: Today's order, accompanied by an opinion concurring in the denial of rehearing en banc, can be accessed here. In early press coverage, Reuters reports that "Appeals Court Refuses to Rehear CIA Leak Case." "Drug Makers Prepare to Argue Against a Patent": This article appears today in The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal reports that "Court looks at role of patents in research; Drugmakers, including Lilly, are keeping a close watch on long-running case." And The Economist offers a related article headlined "Seeking a cure for legal headaches." "High court to hear Md. 'Miranda' case; Teen implicated self in Annapolis murder": The Baltimore Sun contains this article today. And The Capital of Annapolis, Maryland reports that "High court takes city murder case." "San Pablo man's murder case, racially tinged, goes to justices": This article appears today in The Contra Costa Times. And today in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Michael McGough reports that "Court signals strict juror-exclusion view." In newz from New Zealand: The New Zealand Herald today contains an article headlined "'Extraordinary' challenge to Pitcairn rape verdicts." The Dominion Post reports today that "Pitcairners plead rape law ignorance." And The Herald Sun contains an article headlined "We didn't know rape was illegal: Pitcairners." "Delta liable for drunken driver?" Bill Rankin has this article today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Posted at 10:40 AM by Howard Bashman Also ten years ago today: The U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Celotex Corp. v. Edwards, a case in which I was the principal author of the merits briefs for petitioner. Posted at 10:20 AM by Howard Bashman "Psst...Justice Scalia...You Know, You're an Activist Judge, Too": That's the title of Adam Cohen's "Editorial Observer" essay today in The New York Times. Posted at 10:18 AM by Howard Bashman Today's lone U.S. Supreme Court opinion in an argued case: At "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston reports that the Court only decision today came in the case of Dura Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Broudo, No. 03-932. Justice Stephen G. Breyer delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court, reversing a ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can access the syllabus here; Justice Breyer's opinion for the Court here; and the oral argument transcript here. In early press coverage, Hope Yen of The Associated Press reports that "High Court Keeps Securities Fraud Standard." And Reuters reports that "Court Makes Securities Fraud Suits Harder." "What Liberals Want: A progressive conference on the Constitution sheds light on the real stakes involved with the judiciary." John Hinderaker has this essay today online at The Weekly Standard. Posted at 09:18 AM by Howard Bashman "A Disappointing Double Standard: Tribe's rebuke amounts to little more than a slap on the wrist." This editorial appears today in The Harvard Crimson. Posted at 09:17 AM by Howard Bashman "'War on Judges' or War on the Right: Newsweek isn't concerned about criticism of the judiciary, just conservative criticism of the judiciary." Andrew C. McCarthy has this essay today at National Review Online. Posted at 09:15 AM by Howard Bashman "The Supreme Court's New Age Discrimination Ruling: Good News and Bad News for Both Employers and Older Workers." FindLaw columnist Joanna Grossman has this essay today. Posted at 09:10 AM by Howard Bashman "Closing down the Senate won't help the Democrats; Threat would replay a Republican's folly": The Boston Globe contains this news analysis today. The Rocky Mountain News reports today that "Focus faction attacks Salazar; Springs group pushes for Bush court picks." Newsday today contains an editorial entitled "GOPers already pervade courts; Right-wingers protest too much." The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky contains an editorial entitled "Frist's bad faith." The Day of New London, Connecticut contains an editorial entitled "Sen. Frist Goes Too Far; Presidential candidacy won't allow him to take narrow ideological views." The Boulder Daily Camera contains an editorial entitled "Flaming rhetoric: Judiciary bashing about 'energizing the base.'" The Free Lance-Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia contains an editorial entitled "A nuke, not a T-bolt; Sen. John Warner shouldn't flinch from 'the nuclear option.'" The Palm Beach Post contains an editorial entitled "Place no faith in Frist as a responsible leader." In The Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Jesse Jackson has an essay entitled "GOP grandstanding on judges." In The New York Post, John Podhoretz has an essay entitled "Dems' Suicide Plot." Tom Teepen of Cox News Service has an essay entitled "An old trick the Senate might try: compromise." In The Naples Daily News, Dan K. Thomasson has an essay entitled "Incendiary mix: religion and politics." And in The Washington Post, Richard Cohen has an op-ed entitled "Faith-Based Pandering." "Inside Bush's Supreme Team: In the fight for the courts, three behind-the-scenes players are uniting the Right." This article appears in the April 25, 2005 issue of BusinessWeek. Posted at 07:18 AM by Howard Bashman "Court revives suit against Vatican Bank; Claim alleges church held money looted by Croatian Nazis": Bob Egelko has this article today in The San Francisco Chronicle. Claire Cooper, legal affairs writer for The Sacramento Bee, reports today that "9th Circuit allows partial suit against Vatican Bank." David Kravets of The Associated Press reports that "Holocaust Case Against Vatican Bank Revived." And Reuters reports that "U.S. Appeals Court Reinstates Vatican Holocaust Suit." Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro has articles headlined "High Court Agrees to Sit Down to Religious Tea Case"; "Supreme Court Agrees to Consider When Police May Search Home; Case involves Georgia attorney charged with cocaine possession"; and "Blackmun Clerks Had Too Much Power, Says Historian." Jeff Chorney reports that "9th Circuit OKs Suit Against Vatican Over Holocaust; Claims could exceed $100 million, say lawyers." An article is headlined "Fire Fight: The Art of the Asbestos Deal; New Senate legislation placates conservative Republicans, grabs key Democrat." Jonathan Ringel reports that "Rudolph Defenders Read Feds' Signals to Make Plea Deal; DOJ's surprise suggestion led to explosives disclosure." And in other news, "Judge Rules Public Entities Too Slow in Microsoft Case." "Moussaoui Tries to Plead Guilty Again; The Sept. 11 suspect writes to a judge that he will accept the death penalty; His lawyers say it is a naive bid to get a Supreme Court hearing": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 07:02 AM by Howard Bashman "No probe of Schiavo memo": The Hill today contains an article that begins, "The Senate Rules Committee has decided not to take any action dealing with a leaked Republican memo that cast the congressional effort to pass legislation dealing with Terri Schiavo in political terms." Posted at 07:00 AM by Howard Bashman "Mass. abortion clinic law allowed to stand; US Supreme Court declines an appeal": This article appears today in The Boston Globe. The Boston Herald today reports that "High court won't touch Mass. law on abortion buffers." And The Washington Times reports that "Court won't rule on clinic buffer zones." "Justices Weigh State's Jury Selection Law; A lawyer argues before the U.S. Supreme Court that California allows prosecutors to exclude potential jurors on the basis of race": David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 06:44 AM by Howard Bashman Monday, April 18, 2005 Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City: The Oklahoman has this web page devoted to the anniversary. And links to that newspaper's recent news coverage can be accessed via this link. Today in The New York Times, John Kifner has an article headlined "In Oklahoma, a Week of Remembrance." The Knight Ridder Newspapers report that "Domestic terrorism still a threat." Tuesday's edition of Financial Times contains an article headlined "Terror threat from within keeps America on high alert." Newsday on Tuesday will contain an article headlined "The new face of militance: After 9/11, domestic anti-government and racist groups find the means to reorganize." Tuesday's edition of The Kansas City Star will report that "Nichols hints at more detail." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Tuesday will contain an article headlined "Youngest survivor carrying on with hope despite limitations." The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday will report that "10 years later, family mourns loss of unborn baby." The Dallas Morning News offers articles headlined "They never forget; Fence continues to attract remembrances of bombing"; "Smallest survivors share scars"; and "City's survivors beaten, but not broken." FOXNews.com reports that "Bomb Material Still Goes Largely Unchecked." And The Arizona Republic on Tuesday will contain an editorial entitled "An echo of hate: 10 years after, Oklahoma City remains a call for vigilance." Available online from The Washington Post: Tuesday's newspaper will contain a front page article headlined "Moussaoui Planning To Admit 9/11 Role; Judge Will Weigh Mental Capacity." Charles Lane will report that "Supreme Court to Decide Whether Church Can Import Drug." And in other news, "Domestic Extremist Groups Weaker but Still Worrisome; Militias Waned After '95 Bombing." Today's newspaper, meanwhile, contains an article headlined "Father First, Senator Second; For Rick Santorum, Politics Could Hardly Get More Personal." Available online from The New York Times: In Tuesday's newspaper, Linda Greenhouse will have an article headlined "Supreme Court to Hear Case of Dispute Over Religious Group's Use of Banned Drug." And in other news, "Pharmacies Balk on After-Sex Pill and Widen Fight in Many States." Today's newspaper, meanwhile, contains an article headlined "When the Blogger Blogs, Can the Employer Intervene?" In Tuesday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor: Warren Richey will have an article headlined "Supreme Court will revisit issue of free exercise of religion." And an editorial will be entitled "Overreaching on Judges." "Republicans Rally to End Judicial Filibuster": This segment (transcript with link to audio) appeared on tonight's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." Posted at 09:10 PM by Howard Bashman The Advisory Committee on Rules of Appellate Procedure once again approves proposed Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1, which would allow citation to non-precedential rulings in all U.S. Courts of Appeals: The vote at today's Appellate Rules advisory committee meeting was 7-2 in favor of the proposed new rule. Of course, the same result, with the exact same margin of support, was achieved just over one year ago, as I reported here on April 14, 2004. Last June, however, the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure unanimously agreed to postpone action on the rule to give the Federal Judicial Center time to research some of the concerns raised by the rule's opponents. The details of what was to have occurred in the interim can be accessed in this post. The results of the additional research do not appear to have changed anyone's mind about the wisdom of the proposed rule, which still has the Appellate Rules committee's overwhelming support. "When Blogs Bite Back": That's the title of today's installment of Howard Kurtz's "Media Notes" column. Posted at 04:54 PM by Howard Bashman Even as amended, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's ruling in Juicy Whip v. Orange Bang isn't as salacious as the case's name suggests: You can access today's amended conclusion to that ruling at this link. Posted at 04:50 PM by Howard Bashman "OKC 10 Years Later": CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen has this essay today. Posted at 04:24 PM by Howard Bashman An additional four Second Circuit judges explain why they voted against rehearing en banc in the Vermont campaign finance case: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today issued a further amended set of concurring and dissenting opinions. In a passage that begins on page 39 of the PDF file, today's opinion concurring in the denial of rehearing en banc states: We think that some disputes, because of their highly partisan and political caste, should be addressed by the federal judiciary only when and insofar as is necessary. And we think that this is such a dispute. The resolution of this sort of campaign financing issue is bound to have, or at least to be seen to have, an impact favoring one political side or another depending on the result. We would prefer not to enter into a process that would likely result in a decision of our full Court that would therefore be vulnerable to accusations that it is driven by result rather than by legal analysis. We should avoid it if we can do so responsibly.Footnote six to the quoted passage, found at the bottom of page 40 of the PDF file, also should not be missed. Posted at 04:22 PM by Howard Bashman "Nominees Brown and Owen Pushed toward Senate Vote despite Records of Putting Political Agenda before Law; Frist may use previously rejected nominees as excuse to deploy 'nuclear option'": The organization People For the American Way has issued this press release today and has sent this letter to the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Posted at 03:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Before Firing 'Nukes,' Senate Should Debate Bush's Judicial Picks": Mort Kondracke has this essay today in Roll Call. Roll Call today also contains an article headlined "Heat on Seven in Judicial Fight" that begins, "With the fate of judicial filibusters hanging in the balance, just seven Senate Republicans remain publicly undecided on changing the rules to eliminate the parliamentary move." And RJ Matson has this "nuclear option"-related editorial cartoon. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rules that criminal defendant tried as an adult for armed robberies committed as a juvenile must receive mandatory minimum sentence of 182 years in federal prison: You can access today's ruling at this link. The federal district court had sentenced the defendant to a term of imprisonment of 32 years. Posted at 02:50 PM by Howard Bashman Divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel reinstates Holocaust survivors' claims against Vatican Bank for damages resulting from lost and looted property: Today's ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit contains a detailed analysis of the political question doctrine involving foreign relations. The majority opinion begins, "We are faced here with the question whether claims for losses allegedly suffered at the hands of a Nazi puppet regime during World War II are cognizable in our courts today." Posted at 02:24 PM by Howard Bashman Reuters is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "Court Permits DC to Block Hazardous Rail Shipments" and "U.S. Lawyers Have Little Stomach for Obesity Cases." You can access online today's hazardous rail shipments ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link. "Rudolph faces hours of isolation at 'Alcatraz of the Rockies'": This article appeared last week in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Posted at 12:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Judiciary -- The Harm In Waiting": The blog "Captains Quarters" offers this post, which even features the proverbial secret source whose identity will never be revealed. Posted at 11:45 AM by Howard Bashman "For art's sake, redress fight goes on; Court victories bolster Holocaust survivor": This article appeared yesterday in The Chicago Tribune. Posted at 11:35 AM by Howard Bashman In the Spring 2005 issue of Prologue, a publication of the National Archives and Records Administration: Jill Norgren has an article titled "Belva Lockwood: Blazing the Trail for Women in Law." Among other notable achievements, Ms. Lockwood was the first woman admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. And, just in time for warm weather, Jefferson M. Moak has an article titled "The Frozen Sucker War: Good Humor v. Popsicle." "Is Justice O'Connor Chilling Protected Speech to Insulate Judges?" Jan LaRue has this essay today at Human Events Online. Posted at 11:22 AM by Howard Bashman "GOP sheds federalism favored by forefathers; New legislation trumping state authority veers from conservatism's roots": This article appears today in The St. Petersburg Times. Posted at 10:30 AM by Howard Bashman "Blackmun Clerks Had Too Much Power, Says Historian": law.com's Tony Mauro has this report on an article by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David J. Garrow that will appear in the May | June 2005 issue of Legal Affairs magazine. Posted at 10:15 AM by Howard Bashman Today's U.S. Supreme Court Order List: You can access today's Order List at this link. The Court today granted review in three cases, including the hallucinogenic tea case. The Court also requested the views of the Solicitor General in one case. In early coverage, Hope Yen of The Associated Press reports that "Supreme Court to Hear Tea Case" and "High Court Considering Police Searches." The AP also reports that "High Court Won't Hear Abortion Clinic Case." Meanwhile, from Reuters, James Vicini reports that "Supreme Court to Hear Appeal on Hallucinogenic Tea" and "Supreme Court to Decide Police Search Case." "Pushing for Polygamy: Multiple marriage isn't such a distant step away from gay marriage as many pretend." Megan Basham has this essay today at National Review Online. Posted at 09:50 AM by Howard Bashman "London groping case dogs governor; British libel law seen as benefit to TV host's suit": Bob Egelko had this article yesterday in The San Francisco Chronicle. Posted at 09:00 AM by Howard Bashman The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "GOP Chips Away at Dems' Filibuster Efforts" and "Analysis: GOP Filibuster Plan Poses Risks." Posted at 08:58 AM by Howard Bashman In newz from New Zealand: The New Zealand Press Association reports that "Pitcairn sex abuse appeal begins." Posted at 08:55 AM by Howard Bashman "Rules on innovation come under a legal microscope": In today's edition of Financial Times, Patti Waldmeir has an article that begins, "The US Supreme Court could be about to rewrite therules of innovation in America. A patent case this week could profoundly affect not only those who take or make American drugs but also the innovation economy." Posted at 07:30 AM by Howard Bashman "What a show": Yesterday in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, columnist Paul Greenberg had an op-ed that begins, "So this is what the law has come to." Posted at 07:25 AM by Howard Bashman "King fights on behalf of display": Saturday's edition of The Daily Nonpareil of Council Bluffs, Iowa contained an article that begins, "The Ten Commandments may soon be displayed in the U.S. House of Representatives through the efforts of an Iowa Congressman." Posted at 07:24 AM by Howard Bashman The New York Times reviews Floyd Abrams's new book, "Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment," twice: In Saturday's newspaper, Law Professor Geoffrey R. Stone had a review headlined "Supreme Court Tales From the Pleading Side of the Bench." And yesterday, in the Sunday Book Review, Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen had a review headlined "'Speaking Freely': Your Right to Say It." "Defendants, don't try this in court: One judge says acting as your own criminal defense attorney is 'such a profoundly bad idea'; In this opinion, he isn't alone." This article appeared yesterday in The St. Petersburg Times, along with a related article headlined "First an offense, then bad defense; Accused of punching his pregnant girlfriend, Teddy Roberts represents himself in court." Posted at 07:14 AM by Howard Bashman "Dems' filibusters cast as attack on 'people of faith'": This article appears today in USA Today. Today in The New York Sun, Luiza Ch. Savage reports that "Schumer Calls a Conservative 'Un-American.'" The Boston Globe reports that "Balancing act key for GOP's Frist." The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that "More challenges ahead for soft-spoken Reid." The Mobile Register today contains an editorial entitled "Senate ought to end all judicial filibusters." The Contra Costa Times contains an editorial entitled "Filibuster blustering." The East Valley (Ariz.) Tribune contains an editorial entitled "Frustrations at filibuster shouldn't goad GOP into Senate war." The Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette contains an editorial entitled "Senate mess: Filibuster battle." The Troy (N.Y.) Record contains an editorial entitled "Ending filibusters could disrupt power balance." The St. Petersburg Times contains an editorial entitled "Frist shows no shame." Today in The Los Angeles Times, Law Professor Jonathan Turley has an op-ed entitled "The Not So Dirty Dozen: They're the undercard to the fight over a high court nomination." In The ASU Web Devil, Vic Vela has an op-ed entitled "Frist's religious usage immoral." In The Colorado State Collegian, Ben Bleckley has an op-ed entitled "Filibuster for the Minority." And in The Independent Florida Alligator, Matt Sanchez has an op-ed entitled "Time to set a ridiculous rule straight." "Lethal injection faces fight from condemned; 2 convicted killers in Kentucky are latest to challenge practice in court": Richard Willing has this article today in USA Today. Posted at 06:55 AM by Howard Bashman "Limbaugh Spars With ACS Over Conference on Constitution; Accuses Group of Trying To Upend America's Founding Document": Josh Gerstein has this article today in The New York Sun. Posted at 06:42 AM by Howard Bashman "J. Warner mum on rule vote": The Richmond Times-Dispatch today contains this nuclear option-related article. Posted at 12:18 AM by Howard Bashman Philadelphia Phillies 2, Atlanta Braves 1, in 10 innings: I had the pleasure of attending an excellent baseball game Sunday evening, although the outcome wasn't exactly what I had been hoping for. Wrap-ups available here and here. Posted at 12:07 AM by Howard Bashman Sunday, April 17, 2005 Today marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lochner v. New York: You can access the court's ruling here and here. Although Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen's cover story today in The New York Times Magazine makes mention of the Lochner case, the article doesn't note that today is the decision's 100th birthday. Tuesday will mark the tenth anniversary of the bomb blast that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch today contains articles headlined "When terror hit the heartland" and "City found renewal in aftermath of disaster." The web site of the Oklahoma City National Memorial can be accessed at this link. Posted at 05:33 PM by Howard Bashman "Court considers whether Delta can be sued as in-flight bar": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 05:32 PM by Howard Bashman "Grandparents' visits: not always a right": This article will appear Monday in The Christian Science Monitor. This earlier post of mine provides links to the briefs filed in the challenge to Pennsylvania's grandparent visitation law that I'll be arguing next month before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Posted at 05:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Rules on innovation come under a legal microscope": In Monday's edition of Financial Times, Patti Waldmeir will have an article that begins, "The US Supreme Court could be about to rewrite the rules of innovation in America. A drug patent case this week could profoundly affect not only those who take or make American drugs but also the vitality of the innovation economy." Posted at 03:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court averse to risk, professor says": The Toronto Globe and Mail yesterday contained an article that begins, "The Supreme Court of Canada has become a 'play-it-safe' court whose colourless judgments reflect very little spirited debate, a leading constitutional scholar told a Toronto legal conference yesterday." Posted at 03:18 PM by Howard Bashman "No-contest plea will get dentist out of jail": Yesterday's edition of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch contained an article that begins, "After being behind bars for nearly eight years without a trial, Creve Coeur dentist Charles 'Tom' Sell on Friday ended his battle and pleaded no contest to federal charges of fraud and conspiracy to kill a witness and an FBI agent. Sell's case achieved national attention when his refusal to be forcibly medicated went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. His case resulted in tougher standards being established for federal prosecutors who want to medicate defendants to make them mentally fit for trial." Posted at 03:15 PM by Howard Bashman "Humble beginning, supreme end; Judge's journey started in Flint, led to chief seat on high court": This article appears today in The Flint Journal. Posted at 03:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Comparing church and state": On Friday, Michael Kirkland, UPI legal affairs correspondent, had this essay. Posted at 03:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Kos makes the most of blogging, daily": This article appears today in The Contra Costa Times. Posted at 02:58 PM by Howard Bashman "Judges deserve praise, gratitude, not angry threats": The Gainesville (Ga.) Times contains this editorial today. Posted at 02:44 PM by Howard Bashman "Campaign against Specter helped GOP, Toomey claims": This article appears today in The Harrisburg Patriot-News. Posted at 02:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Prayer tradition safe, for now; Finally, a voice of reason regarding separation of church and state; What a welcome relief": The Progress-Index of Petersburg, Virginia today contains an editorial that begins, "On Thursday, three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. District Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that would have allowed a Wiccan priest to pray the invocation at Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors meetings." And today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch, columnist Mark Holmberg has an essay entitled "Bewitched by inside tale of case." A related editorial cartoon by Gary Brookins, also published today, can be accessed here. "Case Tests Military Abortion Insurance Policy": This segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Weekend Edition - Sunday." Previously, in a post that you can access here, I linked to the audio of the recent oral argument in this case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In the April 25, 2005 issue of Newsweek: Debra Rosenberg will have an article headlined "The War On Judges: The rhetoric is heated; The political will is strong; Inside the right's campaign to rein in judicial clout." And Howard Fineman will have an article headlined "Torn Between Faith & Science: He's a doctor and a pol, the Senate leader and a White House wanna-be; It's not always easy being Bill Frist." "Judges Battle Transcends Numbers; Republicans already rule most federal courts; The issue is how far right the GOP can take them": David G. Savage has this front page article today in The Los Angeles Times. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports today that "Senators picking sides for filibuster war; Tactic of endless debate to prevent vote wearing thin among Bush supporters." The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi reports that "Cochran targets judicial filibusters." The Washington Post contains an article headlined "It's in the Formers' Almanac: Rules Change Brings Deluge." An editorial is entitled "Beyond the Pale." Wade Henderson and Stephen Moore have an op-ed entitled "Don't Alter The Filibuster." And U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) has an op-ed entitled "Majority Vote Should Trump Minority Rule." "Even the power brokers seek appointed judges; Pa.'s judicial elections take cash and cachet; Two lawmakers want change": This front page article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Posted at 08:40 AM by Howard Bashman Saturday, April 16, 2005 "'01 Mayoral Candidate Partisan; Appeals Court Upholds Ruling": The Albuquerque Journal today contains this article reporting on yesterday's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Posted at 10:15 PM by Howard Bashman "The Unregulated Offensive: Imagine that the interpretation of the Constitution was frozen in 1937; Imagine a country in which Social Security, job-safety laws and environmental protections were unconstitutional; Imagine judges longing for that; Imagine one of them as the next Supreme Court nominee." Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen has this lengthy cover story about the so-called "Constitution in Exile" in tomorrow's issue of The New York Times Magazine. To see the magazine's cover image, depicting the U.S. Constitution frozen in time (or at least in a block of ice), click here. This is not the first time that Rosen has written about this topic. See, for example, his essay entitled "Supreme Mistake: Activists say this election will determine the future of the Supreme Court; And it will; But not in the way they think" in the November 8, 2004 issue of The New Republic. The "Constitution in Exile" was also the subject of Adam Cohen's Editorial Observer column entitled "What's New in the Legal World? A Growing Campaign to Undo the New Deal" published in The New York Times on December 14, 2004. And the topic also received multiple mentions in Law Professor Bruce Ackerman's essay entitled "The Art of Stealth" published in the February 17, 2005 issue of the London Review of Books. The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "GOP's Filibuster Strategy Could Backfire"; "Senators Acting Alone Can Block Nominees"; and "Dean: Schiavo Case to Be Used Against GOP." Posted at 05:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Cheney says he'd break tie to curtail use of filibusters; Democrats denounced for blocking judicial picks": The Baltimore Sun contains this article today. The Washington Times reports today that "McCain irks Republicans over anti-filibuster option." The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that "Judicial fight heads to church; Event at Highview to target filibusters." The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that "Church to be TV forum for Bush backers; Prominent speakers' aim is to avert filibusters over judicial nominees." The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports that "Focus ads target 'judicial tyranny' of senators." The Cox News Service reports that "Filibuster fight getting personal." The New York Times today contains an editorial entitled "Bill Frist's Religious War." The Boston Globe contains an editorial entitled "Frist's intolerance." The Berkshire Eagle contains an editorial entitled "Faith and justice." And The Ventura County Star contains an editorial entitled "The Senate talk show." "Justice Scalia shares views in W&L talk; Embrace the Constitution as it was written, he said; Don't expect it to conform to today's changing society": This article appears today in The Roanoke Times. And The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports today that "Scalia gives lecture at W&L; As an 'originalist' he backs interpreting the Constitution according to writers' intent." Friday, April 15, 2005 Fictitious indeed: A law.com essay by Natasha Kohne criticizes fictitious web logs, such as the "Anonymous Lawyer" blog, which according to Natasha is written by "Jeremy Blanchman." Well, at least she has his first name right. Posted at 11:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist to Participate in Anti-Filibuster Telecast; Democrats Say He Is Mixing Religion, Politics": This article will appear Saturday in The Washington Post. Saturday's edition of The New York Times reports that "Frist Accused of Exploiting Religion Issue." Financial Times reports that "Frist steps up campaign over Bush judges." Saturday's edition of The Independent (UK) contains an article headlined "Religious right plan Democrat-bashing 'Justice Sunday.'" This evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered" contained a semgent entitled "Frist to Appear in Anti-Judicial Filibuster Church Simulcast" (RealPlayer required). Reuters reports that "Senate Leader Urged to Withdraw from Telecast." The Associated Press reports that "Reid Calls Frist's GOP Politics 'Radical'" and "Conservatives to broadcast filibuster event from Kentucky church." More information about the "Justice Sunday" event is available at this link. FOXNews.com provides a report headlined "Republicans On the Judicial Attack." And the transcript of part two of Law Professor Jonathan Turley's interview about filibustered federal appellate court nominees can be accessed here. Part one remains available here. And from today's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh show, you can access online transcripts from segments entitled "The Left's Church of the Judiciary" and "Leahy Supported Constitutional Option 30 Years Ago." Atlanta Braves 11, Philadelphia Phillies 4: Coverage available here and here. Posted at 11:15 PM by Howard Bashman "The Fairness Option: Listening to Democrats and reading editorial commentary, some Americans might think that the three-fifths Senate vote required to end debate was dictated by James Madison on his deathbed. Hardly." This editorial will appear in the April 25, 2005 issue of The Weekly Standard. Posted at 03:45 PM by Howard Bashman In news from Detroit: The Detroit News today contains articles headlined "Parks settles OutKast lawsuit; The civil rights icon to receive undisclosed amount of cash after battle with rap group" and "Petition may have duped its signers; Group: Detroiters thought they were backing affirmative action initiative." Meanwhile, The Detroit Free Press reports today that "Rosa Parks settles lawsuit over song; OutKast will pay tribute to rights icon." And a news update headlined "Bully loses appeal in Eminem case" reports on this ruling that the Michigan Court of Appeals issued yesterday. "Rift in GOP over Immigration, Court Nominees": This segment appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day." And yesterday's broadcast of "News & Notes with Ed Gordon" contained a segment entitled "Political Corner: Immigration and Employment, the 'Nuclear Option.'" RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. "Kill Phil: The filibuster lets Democrats win political battles while skirting the culture wars--which is why we should abolish it." Jonathan Cohn has this essay in the April 25, 2005 issue of The New Republic. Posted at 03:10 PM by Howard Bashman U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decides case involving election campaign for Mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico: In today's ruling, on appeal from a decision of Merit Systems Protection Board, the Federal Circuit considers the constitutionality of the Hatch Act, a federal statute that prohibits covered government employees from engaging in certain partisan political activities. Posted at 03:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Republicans to Go on Offensive Over Judges": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 02:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate filibuster clash will reverberate across America; Crucial vote coming on Frist's move to end Democratic blockade of judicial nominees": Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, provides this report. The article quotes Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) as saying, "We've circulated Judge Pryor's five opinions in support of the district judge in (the) Schiavo (case), so we're working on it." I bet Eleventh Circuit Judge William H. Pryor, Jr. will be surprised to learn that he wrote even a single opinion in support of the federal district court's ruling in the Terri Schiavo case. Available online from The New Republic: Michael Crowley has an essay entitled "The Day After: Can Democrats survive a nuclear winter?" And Keelin McDonell has an essay entitled "Judge Dread: How conservatives who oppose judicial activism may have weakened their own cause." "CIA Says Sen. Frist Lacks Nuclear Capability": "ScrappleFace" provides this report. Posted at 01:08 PM by Howard Bashman One license plate, under bumper: The Ohio News Network reports here that "The Ohio Senate has unanimously passed and sent the House a bill that would authorize the state to sell license plates featuring the American flag and the 'One Nation Under God' motto." Posted at 01:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Commentary: gay marriage in Oregon." Lyle Denniston of "SCOTUSblog" provides this analysis of yesterday's ruling by the Supreme Court of Oregon. In other coverage, The New York Times reports today that "Oregon Supreme Court Invalidates Same-Sex Marriages." The Los Angeles Times reports that "Court Nullifies Oregon's Gay Marriages; Advocates of same-sex unions promise to keep trying; Conservative groups say the ruling, which voids about 3,000 licenses, settles the issue." The Oregonian contains articles headlined "Court annuls gay marriages"; "Sense of rejection pains couples but doesn't deter them; Sadness mixes with anger as partners learn their marriages in Multnomah County have been nullified"; and "Court decision affirms couples' religious convictions; Some opponents of same-sex marriage stress the importance of gender roles in parenting and society." The Salem Statesman Journal today contains articles headlined "Court voids vows"; "Justices show the reasoning behind their conclusions; They say Measure 36 is an operational law, not a principle"; "Gay couples disappointed but not deterred; Some say they will direct attention to civil unions and state legislation"; "Gay marriage debate shifts to civil-union bill; Other bills would broaden protections from discrimination"; and "Religious officials react swiftly to court's decision; Bible provides different interpretations for community members." The Portland Tribune reports that "3,022 gay unions end in a moment; Supreme Court says county was wrong to grant marriage licenses." The Mail Tribune of Medford, Oregon reports that "Local gay couples express disappointment, not surprise, at court ruling." The Daily Vanguard of Portland State University reports that "Same-sex couples saddened by court decision; Couples married last year say Oregon Supreme Court ruling is a blow, but fight for marriage continues." The Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that "Court dashes marriage hopes; Supporters of traditional values hail ruling to void same-sex unions." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that "Same-sex marriages voided in Oregon; Washington couples who rushed to Portland are disheartened by ruling." The Seattle Times reports that "Some feel jilted by Oregon ruling on gay marriage." The Bellingham Herald reports that "Birch Bay couple unruffled by ruling." Finally, The Washington Times, whose coverage of this issue exemplifies why the term "scare quotes" was invented, reports that "Oregon court voids same-sex 'marriages.'" "80 California bloggers weigh-in on Apple subpoena case": "The Southern California Law Blog" reports here on an amicus brief filed yesterday in the California Court of Appeal for the Sixth Appellate District. Posted at 12:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Scalia Subjected to Probing Question, the Aftermath": "Wonkette" provides this riposte from the questioner in question. Posted at 12:04 PM by Howard Bashman Baseball and taxes: This evening, I will have the pleasure of spending my second consecutive Jackie Robinson Day at the ballpark watching my hometown Philadelphia Phillies. Unlike last year, when the Phillies played a day game, I'll be attending tonight's game with my son, the region's second biggest Atlanta Braves fan, as the Phillies host the Braves. Tax Day also provides an opportunity to measure objectively how the first year at my appellate boutique fared. I think the proverbial tax man will be quite pleased, as he received a far greater amount of money from me than ever before. If there's any bright side, at least I was able to avoid the dreaded AMT. "Justice Scalia defends textualism": This article appeared Wednesday in The Vanderbilt Hustler. Posted at 11:24 AM by Howard Bashman "Latest Assault on Judges Threatens Rule of Law": Law Professor Cass R. Sunstein has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 11:20 AM by Howard Bashman "Peggy Quince Tries To Pull A Full Scalia": Columnist Daniel Ruth has this essay today in The Tampa Tribune. I previously linked here to news coverage of this matter. Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman "House Hearing on Budget for Supreme Court of the U.S.": C-SPAN has made available online the video of this noteworthy hearing from earlier in the week, at which Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas appeared. To launch the video, click here (RealPlayer required). I previously linked to news coverage of the hearing here and here. "Strife-Cycles: Judge-bashing is hardly new." Law Professor Rodger Citron has this jurisprudence essay online today at Slate. Posted at 10:02 AM by Howard Bashman "Court rules against Wiccan; It says Chesterfield meets requirements for legislative prayer": This article appears today in The Richmond Times-Dispatch. And The Washington Post reports that "Wiccan Bias Suit Against Va. County Dismissed." "Guardsman who challenged 'stop-loss' policy leaving for Afghanistan": The Seattle Times contains this article today. Posted at 09:02 AM by Howard Bashman "Bill allows divorce for pregnant women": The Associated Press provides this report from Washington State, where now it is also permissible to impugne a lady's chaste reputation. Posted at 08:10 AM by Howard Bashman "Next stop for the peripatetic Barnes Foundation: the Pennsylvania Supreme Court." This article, in which I am mentioned, appeared yesterday in The Main Line (Pa.) Life. And in somewhat related news, The Philadelphia Daily News today contains an article headlined "Union: Moving Barnes to Parkway to cost $7M." Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) has launched a web page devoted to judicial filibusters and the nuclear option: You can access the page by clicking here. Posted at 07:18 AM by Howard Bashman "Senate on brink of 'nuclear' filibuster war; GOP, Democrats ramp up to fight over debate limits": This article appears today in USA Today. The Times Argus reports today that "Leahy's stance on filibuster challenged." The Knoxville News-Sentinel contains an editorial entitled "U.S. Senate doesn't need to go nuclear." In The Los Angeles Times, columnist Jonathan Chait has an op-ed entitled "On Filibuster, Hypocrisy Rules." In The Washington Times, Wendy E. Long has an op-ed entitled "Filibuster myth-busters." In The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, columnist Joel Connelly has an essay entitled "Religious rightists using scary tactics to pad courts." And USA Today offers letters to the editor under the heading "Rhetoric about judges raises deep concerns." In today's edition of The New York Sun: Luiza Ch. Savage has an article headlined "Buffalo Native Is Seen as a Confirmable Conservative" that begins: If President Bush is looking for a potential Supreme Court nominee with conservative credentials who would inspire a minimum of fuss at a confirmation hearing, he may turn to Judge John Roberts Jr., say fans of the Buffalo native, who sits on the U.S Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.And in other news, Josh Gerstein reports that "Judge Approves $40M Settlement Against Abercrombie & Fitch Chain." Posted at 07:00 AM by Howard Bashman "Harvard finds 'significant lapse' in phrasing in Tribe book; 'Inadvertent' is Harvard verdict": The Boston Globe contains this article today. And The Harvard Crimson reports today that "School Won't Punish Tribe; Summers, Kagan will not discipline professor whose book lifted text verbatim." "Griffith's nomination to Court of Appeals advances; BYU counsel: But some Democrats are still questioning his law license credentials." This article appears today in The Salt Lake Tribune. The Deseret Morning News today contains an article headlined "BYU attorney bench bound? Democrats won't filibuster controversial judicial nomination." And in USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports that "Prominent nominee has bipartisan support." Meanwhile, The Charlotte Observer reports today that "N.C. judicial nominees will move on to full Senate vote; Conrad, Dever bids had been blocked by then-Sen. Edwards." Thursday, April 14, 2005 On this date in "How Appealing" history: Two years ago today, on April 14, 2003, I had a post titled "Sealed for your protection" reporting on the Fourth Circuit's decision that day in the case captioned Under Seal v. Under Seal. I also had a rather amusing post titled "Strange cases call for strange measures" reporting on the Ninth Circuit's ruling that day in a case involving Area 51. The decision that I quoted in my post suggests that appellate judges should perhaps not watch History Channel documentaries about subjects closely related to pending cases. Meanwhile, one year ago today, I had posts reporting that "Sex toys no longer for sale in Mississippi" and that "The Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules of the U.S. Courts approves proposed Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 32.1, which would allow unpublished and non-precedential opinions to be cited to all U.S. Courts of Appeals." The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "Appeals Court Rules Against Wiccan in Va."; "Rosa Parks, Rap Duo OutKast Settle Lawsuit"; and "Authorities: Finger Unlikely Nev. Woman's." Posted at 11:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Oregon Court Nullifies Gay Marriages": This segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered." This evening's broadcast of the PBS program "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" had a segment (transcript with link to audio) on today's ruling from Oregon. The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Oregon Justices Void Gay Marriage Licenses." And The Salem Statesman Journal provides a news update headlined "Oregon Supreme Court denies gay marriage; Basic Rights Oregon to file new lawsuit." "Lethal Injections Called Flawed; Inmates May Feel Pain, Study Finds": This article will appear Friday in The Washington Post. The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "Lethal Injection Executions May Cause Suffering." And in related news from Kentucky, The Associated Press reports that "Trial to decide if lethal injection constitutional." "Bench Pressed: A pair of high court justices offer advocates advice about the proliferation of amicus briefs." law.com's Tony Mauro provides this report. Posted at 11:12 PM by Howard Bashman "Frist Likely to Push for Ban on Filibusters; Failure Risks Conservatives' Ire; Success May Prompt Legislative Stalemate": This article will appear Friday in The Washington Post. And Friday's edition of The New York Times will report that "Frist Set to Join Religious Effort on Judicial Issue." "Harvard Reprimands Law Professor Over Book": The AP reports here that "Harvard University reproached law professor Laurence H. Tribe for failing to properly credit another author's work in a book published two decades ago." Posted at 09:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Appeals court hears Nebraska abortion case": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 09:10 PM by Howard Bashman "What may be behind long nominee battles: In one theory, a stellar resume actually causes delay in Senate confirmation of judicial picks": Warren Richey will have this article in Friday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor. The study in question -- "The Judicial Confirmation Process: The Difficulty in Being Smart" -- can be accessed at this link. "Fight over abortion continues; Parental consent: Law passed but mired in court for eight years." This article appears today in The Anchorage Daily News. Posted at 04:30 PM by Howard Bashman He was suspended from high school for wearing makeup but not for hair style: And now the ACLU is getting involved in what may become a battle over free speech and religious expression. The San Bernardino County Sun yesterday published an article headlined "Boy won't gloss over suspension" which includes a photo of the student in question. Posted at 04:24 PM by Howard Bashman "Rudolph Admits Bombing '96 Olympic Park, Clinics; The defiant ex-fugitive cites hatred of abortion, government sanctions; A U.S. plea agreement lets 'cold, callous' killer avoid death penalty": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The New York Times reports today that "Bomber Offers Guilty Pleas, and Defiance." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today contains articles headlined "Rudolph: 'I make no apologies'; Bomber defends his war against feds, abortion"; "Olympic attack aimed to shame U.S. government"; and "Victims find closure on own terms." And The Birmingham News today contains articles headlined "Abortion drove bomber to kill"; "UAB student, lawyer credited with crucial tip"; and "Rudolph's demeanor irks victims." The statement that Eric Robert Rudolph issued yesterday can be accessed online both here and here. This headline has potential for humor: The Associated Press is reporting that "France Wants U.S.-Style Class Actions." Posted at 03:52 PM by Howard Bashman "Law Trumps Life: How the Right went wrong in the Schiavo case." Reason has today posted online Jonathan Rauch's essay, originally published in National Journal. Posted at 03:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Study: Inmates suffer during lethal injections; Inadequate anesthesia may cause 4 in 10 to stay conscious." The Houston Chronicle provides this news update. Posted at 03:30 PM by Howard Bashman Links to the oral argument audiotapes in the three abortion cases argued today before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit: To access the oral argument audio in the federal partial birth abortion case, click here. To access the oral argument audio in the Missouri partial birth abortion case, click here. Finally, to access the oral argument audio in the Missouri twenty-four-hour abortion waiting period case, click here. RealPlayer is required to access the audiotapes online. My earlier preview of these oral arguments can be accessed here. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rejects establishment clause challenge to a Virginia county's policy pursuant to which public meetings of the county's Board of Supervisors include a non-sectarian religious invocation: You can access today's ruling at this link. Posted at 02:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Bush Nominee Gets Bipartisan Support": Jesse J. Holland of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "The Senate's former top lawyer got bipartisan support Thursday for a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, putting him in line to become the first of President Bush's second-term appellate nominees to be confirmed." Posted at 12:54 PM by Howard Bashman If the denial of meals and showers to this prisoner violated the Eighth Amendment, he has no one to blame other than himself: So a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled today. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner's opinion observes: Suppose [the prisoner] announced that he would skip dinner every day unless he were served champagne and caviar at least once a month. He, not the prison, would be the author of his being denied dinner. A prisoner cannot force the prison to change its rules by going on a hunger strike and blaming the prison for his resulting loss of weight. He cannot, in short, be permitted to engineer an Eighth Amendment violation.You can access the complete three-page ruling at this link. Posted at 12:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate Insider Griffith Gets Judiciary Committee OK; Committee advances nominee who practices law without a license": People For the American Way has issued this news release, which states that D.C. Circuit nominee Thomas B. Griffith today had his nomination favorably recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 14-4. Because four Democrats on the committee appear to support the nomination, it is quite doubtful that Democrats have the ability to filibuster this nomination. As noted here by The Deseret Morning News, Griffith would fill the D.C. Circuit vacancy that Miguel A. Estrada had previously been nominated to fill. Posted at 12:20 PM by Howard Bashman She'd recognize that finger anywhere: The Associated Press reports that "Woman Thinks Fingertip in Chili Is Hers." Photographs of the fingertip or fingertips in question accompany an article headlined "Finger saga shifts to Pahrump; Police check woman who lost digit to leopard's bite" in today's edition of The Las Vegas Review-Journal. No word yet concerning whether the leopard thought that the finger tasted like chicken. In other coverage, The San Francisco Chronicle reports today that "Chili-finger woman drops legal claims, fires lawyer; Police investigating if digit's DNA same as leopard victim's." The San Jose Mercury News contains an article headlined "New twist in finger fiasco; Woman thinks digit found at Wendy's is one lost to leopard." And The Los Angeles Times reports that "Finger Finder Decides Not to File Suit; The woman said she found a severed digit in fast-food chili in San Jose; A Nevada leopard-attack victim thinks it may be hers." BREAKING NEWS -- "Oregon Court Tosses Gay Marriage Licenses": The Associated Press provides this report. Today's unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of Oregon concludes: In summary, we conclude as follows. First, since the effective date of Measure 36, marriage in Oregon has been limited under the Oregon Constitution to opposite-sex couples. Second, Oregon statutory law in existence before the effective date of Measure 36 also limited, and continues to limit, the right to obtain marriage licenses to opposite-sex couples. Third, marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in Multnomah County before that date were issued without authority and were void at the time that they were issued, and we therefore need not consider the independent effect, if any, of Measure 36 on those marriage licenses. In short, none of plaintiffs' claims properly before the court is well taken. Finally, the abstract question whether ORS chapter 106 confers marriage benefits in violation of Article I, section 20, of the Oregon Constitution is not properly before the court.You can access the complete ruling here. And other documents filed in the case can be accessed via this link. Posted at 11:32 AM by Howard Bashman "Parliamentarian would oppose 'nuclear option'": The Hill today provides an article that begins, "If Republicans seek to break the Democratic filibuster of judicial nominees, they would have to do so over the objections of the Senate parliamentarian, according to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)." Posted at 11:22 AM by Howard Bashman "President Bush Braces for a Judicial Fight": Law Professor Jonathan Turley, appearing Tuesday on Fox News, spoke quite favorably about several of President Bush's more controversial federal appellate court nominees. You can access the transcript at this link. Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman "Judicial Confirmation Network Launches National Ad Campaign; JCN TV Ad Decries Activist Judges, Calls on Senators to Vote on Qualified Judicial Nominees": You can access that organization's press release at this link. The ad itself can be viewed by clicking here. Posted at 10:58 AM by Howard Bashman "The Supreme Court and Foreign Sources of Law: Two Hundred Years of Practice and the Juvenile Death Penalty Decision." Just posted at SSRN is this article by Law Professor Steven G. Calabresi and law student Stephanie Dotson Zimdahl. Relatedly, Orin Kerr over at "The Volokh Conspiracy" had a post yesterday titled "Foreign Law and the Culture Wars." Forthcoming blog-related speaking appearances: On the evening of Friday, April 29, 2005, I'll be one of two speakers addressing the Annual Banquet of the Harvard Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies and the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. The other speaker will either be this guy or this guy. In case of the latter, attendees are advised against bringing pies. On Saturday, October 29, 2005, I'll be participating in a panel discussion about legal blogs at the 2005 Conference for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. But I won't actually be setting foot within the Eastern District of California; the conference is taking place in Monterey, California. Sometime in May or June, I'll be heading down to Washington, DC to participate in the D.C. Circuit clerkship speaker's series. And I'm in the midst of determining whether my schedule can accommodate a trip to Houston, Texas in late June or late July to speak to the Houston Bar Association's Appellate Practice Section. Coincidentally, the Philadelphia Phillies will be visiting Houston during the date in July that's under consideration. "DeLay Seeks Congressional Review of Schiavo Case": Reuters provides this report. Posted at 10:10 AM by Howard Bashman "Rancher's attorney challenges report": The Casper Star-Tribune today contains this article, in which Ninth Circuit nominee William Gerry Myers III is mentioned multiple times. Posted at 10:02 AM by Howard Bashman "Tax for strip clubs draws challenge; ACLU says plan unconstitutional": This article appeared yesterday in The Las Vegas Review-Journal. As best as I can tell, the strip club tax is separate from the brothel tax also under consideration in Nevada, as reported here and here. "Oregon Court to Rule on Same-Sex Marriage": The Associated Press provides this report. The Salem Statesman Journal reports today that "Oregon Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage." And The Oregonian reports today that "Leaders push for civil unions; A bill backed by the governor and senators on both sides comes as Oregon justices prepare to rule on same-sex marriage." The Supreme Court of Oregon's ruling is expected to be released online today at noon eastern daylight time. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upholds constitutionality of Tennessee statute that prohibits optical companies from leasing space to optometrists to perform eye exams in retail eyewear stores: Today's ruling, which rejects challenges asserted under the commerce, equal protection, and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution, can be accessed at this link. Posted at 09:44 AM by Howard Bashman "House votes to name courthouse for Matsui": The Sacramento Bee today contains an article that begins, "The House voted without dissent Wednesday to name the federal courthouse in downtown Sacramento in memory of former Rep. Robert Matsui, who died on New Year's Day." Posted at 09:33 AM by Howard Bashman "Supreme-Court Transcript Shows Legal Reasoning In Grokster Case": Internet Week provides this report. You can access the official transcript online at this link. Posted at 09:22 AM by Howard Bashman "'Choose Life' tag challenge halted; Federal judges say case is for state courts": This article appears today in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. And The Advocate of Baton Rouge reports today that "La. license plate lawsuit rejected; Court: State can offer 'Choose life' tags." On the agenda: The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold an executive business meeting at 9:30 a.m. today. On the agenda are four nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals and two nominees to the U.S. District Courts. Also today, as I previously detailed here, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear oral arguments in three important abortion-related appeals. Because the Eighth Circuit provides online access to oral argument audiotapes, I will supply links to the oral argument audio just as soon the tapes are posted. "Bloggers count on cybertips; Virtual support": This front page article appears today in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Posted at 08:04 AM by Howard Bashman "Lead the Way: Senate Republicans may not understand the true stakes in the coming judicial showdown." Hugh Hewitt has this essay online today at The Weekly Standard. The transcript from a segment titled "Let's Just Be the Minority, GOP" from yesterday's broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh show is available online. The Hill today contains an article headlined "GOP fears it's losing Frist v. Reid." The St. Petersburg Times today contains an editorial entitled "30-second civics lesson." The News Leader of Staunton, Virginia contains an editorial entitled "Hate it now, love it later." In The New York Daily News, columnist Richard Schwartz has an essay entitled "Bench bad judges, not filibuster." And in The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, Thomas Naughton has an essay entitled "'R' is for 'Rule-breakers.'" "DeLay regrets remarks about Schiavo judges; House leader says he's still pursuing a congressional review of rulings": This article appears today in The Houston Chronicle. The Dallas Morning News reports today that "DeLay backs off judge remarks; He apologizes for 'inartful' comment about Schiavo case." The Los Angeles Times reports that "DeLay Tempers His Statements; The beleaguered House majority leader issues an apology for his comments criticizing federal judges after Terri Schiavo's death." The Chicago Tribune reports that "Embattled DeLay says he's sorry; Comment on Schiavo judges called 'inartful.'" The Boston Globe reports that "DeLay apologizes for blaming federal judges in Schiavo case; But House leader calls for probe of 'judicial activism.'" Newsday reports that "DeLay sorry for comment on judges." The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that "DeLay mum on ethics; Says charges part of 'Democratic agenda'; GOP leader still seeks probe of Schiavo judges." USA Today reports that "DeLay apologizes for judges remark." In commentary, The Detroit Free Press today contains an editorial entitled "Judge Attack: Vitriol must stop; the president should lead defense." Cox Newspapers columnist Tom Teepen today has an essay entitled "Demands That Judges Toe The Line On Ideology Is A Slippery Slope" in The Day of New London, Connecticut. And FindLaw commentator Edward Lazarus has an essay entitled "The Schiavo Case's Fallout Must Not Make Us Lose Sight of a Key Truth: Our Imperial Judiciary's Problems Transcend Partisanship." Wednesday, April 13, 2005 "Supreme Confidence: The jurisprudence of Justice Antonin Scalia." Margaret Talbot's quite interesting profile of Justice Scalia, published in the March 28, 2005 issue of The New Yorker, is now available online at this link. Thanks to Gene Vorobyov for the pointer. Posted at 11:45 PM by Howard Bashman On this date in "How Appealing" history: Two years ago today, the word "desuetude" brought a favorite quote from "Twin Peaks" to mind in a post you can access here. And one year ago today, I had a post titled "The trademark 'freebies' turns out not to have been worth anything" reporting on this appellate court ruling issued that day. "U.S. District Court Rejects Federal Government's Attempt to Bypass Ruling on Mojave Cross; Federal Land Transfer to Private Party is Unconstitutional, Court Rules": The ACLU issued this press release yesterday. In news coverage, The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, California reports today that "Judge's ruling calls for removal of cross; An ACLU official calls the proposal to swap land a 'sham' to keep the war memorial." And The Desert Dispatch of Victorville, California reports today that "Judge puts kibosh on land swap; Exchange to save Mojave Cross has been declared unconstitutional." "Majority Leader Asks House Panel to Review Judges": This article will appear Thursday in The New York Times. Thursday's edition of The Washington Post will report that "DeLay Apologizes for Comments; Leader Wouldn't Say Whether He Wants Schiavo Judges Impeached." And The Los Angeles Times provides a news update headlined "DeLay Apologizes for 'Inartful' Remarks About Judges." Available online from law.com: An article reports that "D.C. Circuit Renomination Sets Stage for 'Nuclear' Option; California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown gets a second chance at seat on federal bench." Tony Mauro has an article headlined "When the Supreme Court Met Congress." In other news, "High Court Asked to End Religious Teatime; Government says New Mexico Christian group's ceremonial drink violates federal controlled substance laws." And an article reports that "11th Circuit Upholds Fla. Law Barring Ex-Felons From Voting." "Appeals Court Rejects Car Tag Challenge": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 08:45 PM by Howard Bashman "DeLay apologizes for remarks about judges, pushes for inquiry": James Kuhnhenn of Knight Ridder Newspapers has an article that begins: Rep. Tom DeLay, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, apologized Wednesday for his "inartful" criticism of federal judges, but said he wants the House Judiciary Committee to examine judges' decisions in the Terri Schiavo case as part of an inquiry into "judicial activism."And The Associated Press reports that "DeLay Apologizes for Schiavo Case Rhetoric." Posted at 08:30 PM by Howard Bashman The Supreme Court of Oregon is scheduled to issue a ruling regarding same-sex marriage tomorrow: Reuters offers a report headlined "Oregon legislators, governor back gay civil unions" that begins, "Gay and lesbian couples in Oregon would have marriage-like rights in the form of civil unions under a bipartisan bill introduced in the Legislature on Wednesday. The move, backed by Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski, came one day before the Oregon Supreme Court was expected to rule on the legality of gay marriage." The court's notice that a ruling will issue tomorrow in Li v. State of Oregon can be viewed at this link. Links to documents filed in that case can be accessed here. "Out of Exile: Will libertarians influence the next Supreme Court appointment?" Slate provides this teaser for an article that Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen will have next Sunday in the forthcoming issue of The New York Times Magazine. Once Professor Rosen's article becomes available online, I will of course provide a link. Posted at 06:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Justice Sunday: The Family Research Council says anticlerical judges pose a greater danger than al-Qaeda." The American Prospect today has posted online an essay by Rob Garver that begins, "The fight over the Senate confirmation of President George W. Bush's most conservative judicial nominees is about to take an ugly turn, as the administration's supporters in the religious right prepare an organized campaign to accuse Democrats of being biased against Christians." Posted at 06:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Martyrs and Pestles: Should pharmacists be allowed to refuse to dispense birth control?" Slate has just posted online this jurisprudence essay by Dahlia Lithwick. Posted at 06:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Edwin Vieira Responds ... And Dissembles": Law Professor Eric Muller has a new post at his "Is That Legal?" blog that begins, "I asserted recently that Edwin Vieira's invocation of Josef Stalin's paean to murder in calling for Justice Kennedy's 'removal' warranted investigation as a threat against a federal judge." Posted at 05:55 PM by Howard Bashman In today's edition of The New York Daily News: An article headlined "Pulpit won't pay" begins: A Brooklyn judge wants a deadbeat dad to choose the law over God - telling him to use his legal degree to make money to support his kids, and postpone plans to become a minister. The bizarre intersection of church and state was revealed yesterday in a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Sunshine.And in other news, "Porn star, publisher bear claws in lawsuits." Posted at 04:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Make-or-break weeks for DeLay and Frist; Leaders face decisions with far-reaching electoral reverberations": Tom Curry, national affairs writer for MSNBC, mentions the subject of judicial filibusters in this report. Posted at 04:15 PM by Howard Bashman "Daily Kos Swings for the Fences": Wired News provides this report. Posted at 03:55 PM by Howard Bashman "Judgment on Judges": National Review Online has posted this editorial today. Posted at 03:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Conservatives near lock on US courts; Senators will consider new judicial nominees Thursday; GOP-appointed judges already control 10 of 13 appeals courts": Warren Richey will have this article in Thursday's edition of The Christian Science Monitor. Posted at 03:30 PM by Howard Bashman Questions that Justice Antonin Scalia is unlikely to answer: This morning, I linked here to an article headlined "Ralliers: Scalia unwelcome" published today in Washington Square News, the student newspaper of New York University. According to the article: The Q-and-A [between students and Justice Scalia] opened with hostility as audience members expressed frustration with many of Scalia's opinions.The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported yesterday that "Scalia to address students at W&L" this Friday, where a more cordial reception is anticipated. Update: The blog "Underneath Their Robes" offers these additional thoughts. Choose litigation (but not in federal court): The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today announced its ruling in a case in which a federal district court in Louisiana declared unconstitutional that State's law authorizing the adoption of a "Choose Life" license plate. Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones delivered the opinion on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel. The opinion begins: This appeal concerns whether Louisiana's prestige license plate program facially discriminates against pro-choice views in contravention of the First Amendment. The program diverts excess charges over handling and ordinary registration fees for the plates to organizations endorsed by the legislature. Because of this feature of the program, we conclude that we lack jurisdiction over the case because of the Tax Injunction Act, 28 U.S.C. sec. 1341.You can access the complete ruling at this link. The effect of today's ruling would seem to allow Louisiana once again to begin offering "Choose Life" licence plates to those who wish to purchase them, and the challengers would be able to raise their constitutional objections in the state court system. Posted at 02:50 PM by Howard Bashman "Schumer v. Reality on Bush Judges": The Committee for Justice issued this press release today. On Monday, Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued a news release titled "As Senate Prepares To Confirm 205th Judge, Reid And Leahy Urge Bush, To Protect Checks And Balances Of Democracy." Yesterday, both the Senate Majority Leader and the Senate Democratic Leader spoke before the cameras on the subject of judicial filibusters. Via C-SPAN, you can access online video of both sets of remarks: Senator Bill Frist, M.D. (R-TN) here; and Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) here. Senator Reid, during his remarks, referred to a recently updated Congressional Research Service report entitled "Changing Senate Rules: The 'Constitutional' or 'Nuclear' Option." A reader has kindly sent along a copy of that report, but in HTLM rather than PDF format, which is why I'm not posting the entire report online. If I do receive the report in PDF format, I will post it online here. The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "Florida Ban on Felon Voting Is Upheld" and "Court: Tenn. Medicaid Can Drop 323,000." Posted at 02:32 PM by Howard Bashman "Floridians disapprove of Schiavo case handling, poll says": The Miami Herald offers a news update that begins: With the nation's highest court as the only exception, Florida voters disapproved of the way the governor, his presidential brother, the state Legislature, Congress, the courts and the news media handled the Terri Schiavo case, according to a poll released today.Quinnipiac University, whose polling center conducted the survey, has today issued a press release entitled "Supreme Court only winner in Schiavo case, Florida voters tell Quinnipiac University Poll; most have living will, health care proxy." Complete results of the poll can be accessed at this link. Posted at 02:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Republicans Clash Over Filibuster; Critics Say Ending Tactic Against Judicial Nominees Could Someday Backfire on Party": This very interesting article (pass-through link) appeared yesterday in The Wall Street Journal. Posted at 02:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Anti–Filibuster Yet Anti–'Nuclear Option'": The text of my April 2005 monthly appellate column is now available online at this link. Posted at 10:30 AM by Howard Bashman "Finger-finder decides not to sue; Nevada leopard bit off digit; Link investigated": The San Jose Mercury News contains this article today. And The Sacramento Bee today contains an article headlined "Wendy's chili probe: Reward to point way? Authorities hope to figure out where the finger came from." "Supreme Court, Congress Clash on Rulings": This segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition." Posted at 10:05 AM by Howard Bashman "Dr. Phill: We'd like to examine Phill Kline the same way he wants to probe Kansas women." This article appears in this week's issue of The Pitch, based in Kansas City, Missouri. Posted at 10:02 AM by Howard Bashman On the agenda for tomorrow: The Senate Judiciary Committee has an executive business meeting scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. On the agenda are four nominees to the U.S. Courts of Appeals and two nominees to the U.S. District Courts. Posted at 08:52 AM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Confusion: The New Yorker doesn't understand originalism." Edward Whelan has this essay today at National Review Online. Posted at 08:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Standing For Justice: The artful balance." This editorial appears today in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Today in The Dallas Morning News, Mark Davis has an op-ed entitled "Furor over recent rulings ignores point of judiciary." And today in The Detroit Free Press, U.S. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) has an op-ed entitled "Halt assault on judges; Congressional push for judiciary control remains out of line." "Court unseals Passaro papers; Tenet, Gonzales on witness list": The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina today contains an article that begins, "A former CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan prisoner plans to call former agency Director George Tenet and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as witnesses to aid his defense that he was acting under government authority." And in other coverage, The Washington Post reports today that "Interrogator Says U.S. Approved Handling of Detainee Who Died." "A wake-up call for the Sane Majority": Today in The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Gene Lyons has an op-ed that begins, "Does it strike you as odd that persons calling themselves Christians are furious that the U.S. Supreme Court found executing juveniles unconstitutional?" Posted at 07:30 AM by Howard Bashman "Justices defend court's independence; Supreme Court budget hearing evolves into larger Q&A": Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today. Posted at 07:28 AM by Howard Bashman "Ralliers: Scalia unwelcome." Washington Square News contains this article today, along with an editorial entitled "Scalia award a mistake." Posted at 07:25 AM by Howard Bashman "Justice O'Connor Entertains Students With Life Story": This article appears today in The Columbia Spectator. Posted at 07:22 AM by Howard Bashman "Religion under a secular assault": The Washington Times today contains this article, the first in a three-part series. Posted at 07:20 AM by Howard Bashman "Lefkow killer finally buried; Funeral director provides a coffin": This article appears today in The Chicago Tribune. Posted at 07:15 AM by Howard Bashman "Duke grad may get seat on bench": The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina today contains an article that begins, "After enduring a nearly three-year wait, James C. Dever may be one step closer to pounding the gavel in North Carolina's Eastern District Federal Court." Posted at 07:10 AM by Howard Bashman Impeach Justice Antonin Scalia: Law Professor Orin Kerr leads the charge on behalf of this Nation's true conservatives. Posted at 07:04 AM by Howard Bashman "Judicial Nominee Under Scrutiny; A senator wants a probe into whether William G. Myers, an ex-Interior solicitor, lied about his role in a disputed deal": Henry Weinstein has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 07:02 AM by Howard Bashman "6 Votes of Separation Over Filibuster; Democrats need to sway several of the 55 GOP senators to win a fight over changing the rules for judicial picks; Many say they're getting close": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The Knoxville News Sentinel today contains an article headlined "Alexander: OK votes on nominees; Move over Bush's judicial picks would avoid rule change." The Charlotte Observer reports that "Senate panel to vote on judicial nominees." The Hill contains an article headlined "Nelson: Let's make a deal." The Detroit Free Press contains an editorial entitled "Senate Bullies: Changing filibuster rules would set bad precedent." The Lincoln Journal Star contains an editorial entitled "GOP should rethink plan to go 'nuclear.'" And at National Review Online, Jonah Goldberg has an essay entitled "Disrobing Our Masters; The judicial days of decorum are past." Tuesday, April 12, 2005 On this date in "How Appealing" history: On this date in 2004, it became publicly known that Justice Antonin Scalia had apologized to reporters for the seizure of their audiotape recordings following a speech that he had delivered the week before in Mississippi. I offered posts linking to the apology itself and to press coverage of the apology. Posted at 11:44 PM by Howard Bashman "Hail of criticism batters judges, imperils justice; Threats and attacks endanger bench's independence": This editorial appears today in USA Today, along with an op-ed by Rick Scarborough entitled "Judges step out of bounds; Reforms are needed to halt rulings that exceed constitutional powers." Posted at 11:32 PM by Howard Bashman "Republicans May Hasten Showdown on Judicial-Nomination Filibusters": This article will appear Wednesday in The New York Times. Posted at 11:12 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro reports that "Justices Kennedy, Thomas Respond to Criticism From Congress." Marcia Coyle reports that "Supreme Court to Review Patent Safe Harbor; Ruling could have big impact on drugs, biotech." In other news, "Admonition and Apology Over Federal Judge's 'Bush v. Gore' Remarks Found Sufficient." And an article reports that "Bid to Upset Sentence Under 'Booker' Rejected; 2nd Circuit says no retroactivity for case on collateral review." "Specter endorses Owen; Texan's abortion-related rulings neutral, senator says as vote nears": This article will appear Wednesday in The Dallas Morning News. Posted at 09:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Filibuster Fight Isn't Lost for Democrats Yet": The Los Angeles Times has just posted online this news update. Posted at 09:00 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from The Los Angeles Times: A news update headlined "Lawmakers Consider Widening School Mascot Prohibition" begins, "Almost a decade after American Indian mascots were banned from Los Angeles public schools, California lawmakers this week are again considering a statewide prohibition on 'Redskins.'" Yesterday, I had a related post here. Today's newspaper contains an article headlined "Testing Copyright Limits: Grouper's creators say it's not like other file-sharing programs; The entertainment industry isn't so sure." Also in today's newspaper, David Kaczynski has an op-ed entitled "Death Penalty Turnaround." David Kaczynski is the brother of the Unabomber and was instrumental in enabling the authorities to determine who was responsible for those crimes. |
