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Tuesday, May 22, 2007 "Senators accuse Gonzales of 'stonewalling' about wiretap program": McClatchy Newspapers provide this report. The Los Angeles Times reports today that "Bush defends Gonzales, calling attacks 'pure political theater'; Senate Democrats press ahead on a vote of no-confidence in the attorney general over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys." And The Washington Post today contains articles headlined "President Stands by Gonzales" and "The Next Best Path: Warming to Limelight, Dismissed U.S. Attorney David Iglesias Forges a New Future." "Naked truth: Two Lancaster homeowners may have been embarrassed during a mistaken search by L.A. County sheriff's deputies, but their 4th Amendment rights weren't violated, the Supreme Court says." This editorial appears today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 11:20 PM by Howard Bashman David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times is reporting: In today's newspaper, he has articles headlined "High court rules in favor of special-ed parents; They may go to court without a lawyer to fight a school district's programs for their children, justices say" and "Rights not violated in home search, justices rule; A Southern California couple had been rousted from bed and held naked at gunpoint by deputies." Posted at 11:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Ruling Favors Poor Convicts; Court Expands Right To Counsel": Today in The Hartford Courant, Lynne Tuohy has an article that begins, "The state Supreme Court has said that impoverished convicts have a right to counsel to determine whether they have a legitimate reason to claim their sentence was illegal and, if so, to represent them throughout any subsequent proceedings. In its unanimous ruling released Monday, the court further expanded its interpretation of a state law granting indigent defendants and convicts a court-appointed lawyer in 'any criminal action.'" You can access yesterday's ruling of the Supreme Court of Connecticut at this link. In reader mail: A reader emails, "The memorial service for Seventh Circuit Judge Thomas E. Fairchild was held today before the Seventh Circuit's en banc rehearing of Pruitt v. Mote. It was a beautiful memorial for a true titan of the legal world, especially in this area of the country where he touched so many people. The tributes by former clerks, including the Honorable Reena Raggi and the Honorable Joan Lefkow, were particularly touching." Posted at 05:48 PM by Howard Bashman "La. Supreme Court upholds death sentence for child rapist": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "Louisiana may execute a man convicted of raping an 8-year-old girl, the state Supreme Court said Tuesday -- the first time it has upheld such a death sentence under a 1995 law allowing execution of child rapists." The article goes on to report that "The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence for a man convicted of raping an adult, but Tuesday's opinion said it is not clear whether that ruling would apply to a child's rape as well." You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Louisiana at this link. "Former Gonzales Staffer Prepares to Testify": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day." Posted at 05:11 PM by Howard Bashman In news from the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: If you've been clamoring for more coverage of this Article I federal appellate court, The Associated Press has granted your wish. Hope Yen reports that "Judge Warns of Disability Appeal Backlog." According to its web site, this court has "exclusive jurisdiction to provide judicial review of final decisions by the Board of Veterans' Appeals," an adjudicative body that proudly retains its apostrophe. "Imagine, for example, www.harrassthem.com with the slogan 'Don't Get Mad, Get Even.'" So wrote Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski last week in his opinion for the court in Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com. Thanks to Joe Gratz, you no longer need to use your imagination. Now if only that domain name were worth millions. Posted at 04:15 PM by Howard Bashman Arizona death penalty volunteer Robert Charles Comer achieves his wish: The Associated Press reports that "Ariz. Executes Inmate Who Fought Appeals." And today's edition of The Arizona Republic reports that "Execution 1st in Ariz. in years; 112 inmates linger on state's death row as cases wade through court system." My earlier coverage of the Ninth Circuit's rulings in this case appeared in posts titled "Death penalty volunteer complains about the Ninth Circuit's delay in announcing its apparent refusal of the inmate's request to dismiss his appeal, as does a dissenting judge on the three-judge panel"; "Death penalty volunteers not wanted, divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel holds"; "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ends 2006 by granting rehearing en banc in four separate cases"; and "En banc Ninth Circuit holds that death row inmate can indeed 'volunteer' for death." And the September 18, 2006 installment of my "On Appeal" column for law.com was headlined "When Can an Inmate 'Volunteer' for Death? 9th Circuit rejects a competent inmate's decision to abandon legal challenge to his capital sentence." Seventh Circuit Judge Daniel A. Manion announces intention to take senior status on confirmation of successor: That's how I construe this listing of future vacancies from the U.S. Courts web site. The Seventh Circuit is, if I have my facts correct, one of only three U.S. Courts of Appeals that thus far has only one George W. Bush appointee. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit are the others. Posted at 03:52 PM by Howard Bashman Perhaps you, too, have lost your ability to smell meth labs: The Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail yesterday published an article headlined "Officer sues cold remedy maker, saying he can't smell meth labs anymore" that begins, "A deputy U.S. marshal based in Charleston is suing the makers of the popular cold remedy Zicam over his lost sense of smell, which he says has put him in danger of being unknowingly exposed to methamphetamine labs." Of course, this raises the question "What exactly do meth labs smell like?" (Via "Obscure Store"). News you can use -- The plural of moose is moose: A trademark dispute over images of moose produced this ruling today from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Abercrombie & Fitch Co. v. Moose Creek, Inc. Posted at 01:44 PM by Howard Bashman Federal Circuit's ruling that claims 1 through 3 of Pfizer's patent for the high blood pressure drug Norvasc are invalid for obviousness fails to raise the blood pressure of the requisite number of that court's judges needed to obtain rehearing en banc: Over the dissenting opinions of three judges, the Federal Circuit yesterday issued this order denying rehearing en banc in Pfizer, Inc. v. Apotex, Inc. The dissents contain an interesting discussion of whether the Federal Circuit should be more willing to grant rehearing en banc in patent-related appeals. My earlier coverage of the three-judge panel's ruling in this case can be accessed here. Programming note: Today, I'll be arguing an appeal before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania from a ruling reported on here. Additional posts will appear this afternoon. Update: This morning's oral argument seemed to go quite well. "Supreme Court to Address State Tax Breaks for Bonds": Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times. The Louisville Courier-Journal reports today that "High court will hear Ky. bond case; Implications reach beyond the state." And The Wall Street Journal reports that "Justices to Hear Muni-Bond Case; Kentucky Tax Fight Over Exemptions Affects Many States." "Becker is remembered as 'a judge's judge'": This article appears today in The Philadelphia Daily News. Posted at 06:08 AM by Howard Bashman  
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