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Friday, June 08, 2007 "It's Subpoena Time": The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, "For months, senators have listened to a parade of well-coached Justice Department witnesses claiming to know nothing about how nine prosecutors were chosen for firing." Posted at 11:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Hilton release unusual, lawyers say; People remain in custody even with heart problems, AIDs or emotional difficulties, criminal attorneys say": Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 11:14 PM by Howard Bashman Available online from law.com: An article reports that "Assault Launched on High Court's Pay Disparity Ruling; Congress urged to undo decision that bars many unequal pay claims; Ledbetter is scheduled as witness in Tuesday hearing." Shannon P. Duffy reports that "3rd Circuit Overturns Lifetime Computer Ban; Federal appeals court rules sentence too harsh in pornography case." My earlier coverage of Tuesday's Third Circuit ruling appears here. An article reports that "Doctor's Blog Sinks Malpractice Defense." In news from Texas, "Attorney to Seek New Trial After Theft Conviction for Demanding Payment From Wife's Lovers." My most recent earlier coverage appears at this link. And the brand new installment of my "On Appeal" column is headlined "Even the Recused Judge Agreed With This Appeal's Outcome." "Ruling hits 2 media giants; Mexico's high court nullifies parts of a law that would have helped solidify TV Azteca's and Televisa's control": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. And The New York Times reports today that "Mexico's Court Limits Reach of Big Media." "Senate begins push for trials at Gitmo; A panel takes first step to restore habeas corpus; But that won't help resolve how to weed out the dangerous detainees from the rest": David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. In addition, columnist Rosa Brooks has an op-ed entitled "At Gitmo, it all hinges on a word: If military tribunals can only try 'unlawful' enemy combatants, they may have no authority over Guantanamo detainees." And The Washington Post reports today that "Senate Committee Approves Bill for Detainee Hearings." "Artificial Sweetener Rivals Renew a Heated Court Fight": The New York Times contains this article today. And Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer has an article headlined "Is Equal-Splenda Settlement Dissolving?" "Teen's search for justice: Genarlow Wilson's 10-year sentence for consensual sex ought to be thrown out by judge." This editorial appears today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Posted at 09:48 PM by Howard Bashman "Campbell attorney argues for reduced prison time": The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provides a news update that begins, "Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell filled another courtroom Friday, although the erstwhile pol spent the day in the minimum security prison in Florida where he has lived since last August. His appeals attorney, who Campbell found over the Internet after his conviction, argued in federal appeals court that a judge wrongly sidelined one of his attorneys and was 'unreasonable' in sentencing the former mayor to 30 months in prison. Douglas A. Berman contended that U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story disregarded the jury's acquittal of Campbell on corruption charges when determining the sentence." Posted at 09:45 PM by Howard Bashman "Hearing on FEC Pick Could Add Fuel to Debate Over Justice Dept." This article appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 09:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Notification repeal bound for governor; Senate votes against abortion restriction": The Concord (N.H.) Monitor today contains an article that begins, "The state's flawed parental notification law, which has spent its four years tied up in a court battle, is now the governor's call. The state Senate voted 15-9 late last night to repeal the law rather than fix it. The House took the same route months ago. And Gov. John Lynch has already said he'd sign a repeal, thereby ending a costly and long court fight that went to the U.S. Supreme Court and is now pending in the local federal court." And The New York Times reports today that "New Hampshire to Repeal Parental Notification Law." "Protests Rage Against Musharraf; Aides Criticize Justice He Ousted": This article appears today in The New York Times. Posted at 09:17 PM by Howard Bashman "Court Okays Crackdown on Alien IDs": Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, "New York's highest court is weighing in on the national debate on immigration, ruling that the state's Department of Motor Vehicles can act to prevent illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses." My earlier coverage of yesterday's New York State Court of Appeals ruling appears at this link. "Bork v. Yale Club: Jurist Seeks Redress Over a Fall." This article appears today in The New York Times. And The New York Post today contains an article headlined "$1 Mil Bork Chop: Judge Sues Yale Club." Via WSJ.com's "Law Blog," you can access the complaint initiating suit at this link. "Embryos at the center of bitter custody battle; Texas high court may look at case of woman who wants a family, and her ex, who does not": The Houston Chronicle published this article last week. And The Associated Press reports that "Top Texas Court Gets Embryo Custody Case." "For 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' Split on Party Lines": This article appears today in The New York Times. And Stephen Benjamin has an op-ed entitled "Don't Ask, Don't Translate." "Supreme Court justices: Well-off, well-traveled; Only two justices reported assets under $1M, while a number of them spent time traveling to far-flung locales." Bill Mears of CNN.com provides this report. Posted at 08:27 PM by Howard Bashman "Justices Report Their 2006 Finances": Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 05:15 PM by Howard Bashman "The Supreme Court's Step Back for Women": Reynolds Holding will have this article in the June 18, 2007 issue of Time magazine. Posted at 04:15 PM by Howard Bashman Who will protect the First Amendment right of bail bondsmen to solicit potential customers? The Fifth Circuit, that's who, although not to exactly the same degree as did a federal district judge whose decision the Fifth Circuit reviews in an opinion issued today. Moreover, today's ruling apparently applies to Texas-based bail bondspeople of whatever gender. Posted at 03:57 PM by Howard Bashman U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton grants permission for law professors to file amicus brief in support of "Scooter" Libby's motion for bail pending appeal: Don't miss what appears to be a disparaging footnote found in today's order. Posted at 03:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Hanford zoning decision reversed; State's top court sides with the city in a ruling some say could hurt big-box retailers": The Fresno Bee today contains an article that begins, "The state's highest court sided with the city of Hanford on Thursday in a land-use case that some hail as a victory for local government -- but others say could be used against big-box retailers." Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that "Court backs local control over big-box sites; Cities, counties can decide type of stores they prefer." And Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports that "S.C. Approves Ordinance Designed to Protect Downtown Businesses; Court Unanimously Rejects Merchants’ Argument That Law Unconstitutionally Stifled Competition." You can access yesterday's ruling of the Supreme Court of California at this link. "Gay Lawyers Come Out as Clients Demand More Diversity": Bloomberg News provides this report. Posted at 03:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Screaming Paris Hilton Sent Back to Jail": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 03:15 PM by Howard Bashman "Law and Orders: How should the president's lawyers advise a reluctant White House?" Law Professor Dawn Johnsen has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate. Posted at 03:12 PM by Howard Bashman "In this appeal we consider whether a statutory scheme compelling California pistachio growers to fund generic advertising through the California Pistachio Commission violates the First Amendment." So begins a decision that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today. The Ninth Circuit's ruling vacates a preliminary injunction forbidding the California Pistachio Commission from collecting and using the challenged assessments until the litigation is resolved on the merits. Posted at 02:24 PM by Howard Bashman "Death leads to dismissal of key Supreme Court case": The St. Louis Post-Dispatch yesterday contained an article (via "Sentencing Law and Policy") that begins, "Investigators are still sorting out why Mario Claiborne was following a stolen pickup last week and just how the pursuit led to gunfire and Claiborne's death. But the killing has created other legal twists, as it forced the dismissal of Claiborne's closely watched case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which was expected to rule within the next few weeks. Justices were to clarify how much discretion federal judges have when applying sentencing guidelines." Posted at 02:11 PM by Howard Bashman The Associated Press is reporting: Now available online are articles headlined "Pentagon to Appeal Guantanamo Decisions"; "Former Atlanta Mayor Appeals Sentence"; and "White House Expands Its Legal Team." Posted at 02:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Professors Back Libby on Appeal; Group Includes Dershowitz, Bork": Josh Gerstein of The New York Sun provides a news update that begins, "A dozen legal scholars, including a noted civil libertarian, Alan Dershowitz, are coming to the aid of a convicted White House aide facing a 2 1/2-year prison sentence. The scholars submitted an amicus brief Thursday to Judge Reggie Walton arguing that that there are serious constitutional questions about the legal authority of the special prosecutor who pursued Libby on obstruction of justice, perjury and false statement charges, Patrick Fitzgerald." And The Associated Press reports that "Leak Prosecutor's Authority Questioned." You can access the law professors' amicus brief at this link. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has issued its eagerly awaited ruling in Ehrenfeld v. Bin Mahfouz: You can access today's ruling at this link. [Update: The Second Circuit originally posted the opinion at that link, but then took the decision off-line. I'm told that the ruling should be back online soon. Second update at 11:58 a.m.: The opinion is once again available from the Second Circuit's web site. I've posted a back-up copy of today's ruling at this link.] Today's ruling certifies a jurisdictional question to New York State's highest court for resolution, thereby vacating the trial court's dismissal of one of the plaintiff's two claims. The dismissal of the other claim is affirmed. The trial court's ruling that is the subject of today's Second Circuit decision can be accessed here. The New York Sun on November 9, 2006 published Joseph Goldstein's coverage of the Second Circuit's oral argument in an article headlined "A British Court's Libel Judgment Is Reviewed by American Judges; Saudi Sued Ehrenfeld Over Allegations." Back in April 2005, The New York Times reported on the author's initiation of litigation in the United States in an article headlined "Seeking U.S. Turf for a Free-Speech Fight." In August 2005, Jeffrey Toobin had this Talk of the Town essay in The New Yorker about the dispute. On November 7, 2006, The Boston Globe published an op-ed by Samuel A. Abady and Harvey Silverglate entitled "'Libel tourism' and the war on terror." That op-ed begins, "An important question will be argued tomorrow before the federal Court of Appeals in Manhattan: should American journalists who write about controversial issues be subjected to legal intimidation from abroad? More precisely, will American courts halt the growing practice of 'libel tourism' whereby wealthy foreigners sue American writers and publishers in England, despite little chance of enforcing the judgment in this country?" On May 19, 2005, The Times of London published an article headlined "Libel and money - why British courts are choice of the world; The £30,000 damages won by a Saudi billionaire over 23 copies of an American book but imported to Britain is being contested by the author." The article begins, "US publishers might have to stop contentious books being sold on the internet in case they reach the 'claimant-friendly' English courts. The author Rachel Ehrenfeld is countersuing Khalid bin Mahfouz in New York, claiming that her rights to free speech under the American Constitution have been breached. Sheikh bin Mahfouz has sued four times in London for statements concerning his alleged role in terrorism financing. He has never lost." Finally for now, FrontPageMagazine.com has published an essay by American plaintiff-British defendant Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld entitled "The Saudi Buck Stops Here." And Alyssa A. Lappen had a related essay entitled "Libel Wars." A web site operated on behalf of bin Mahfouz offers these views on the litigation. "Cox Sides With Democrats on Court Case, People Say": Bloomberg News provides a report that begins, "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox broke ranks with the agency's Republican members to back investors in a Supreme Court case, three people familiar with the matter said." Posted at 07:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Tribes Invoke Gods to Block Wastewater Snowmaking": This article (free access) appears today in The Wall Street Journal. My earlier coverage of the Ninth Circuit's ruling from March 2007 can be accessed here and here. "GOP eyes 'shutdown' of Senate over judges": The Washington Times today contains an article that begins, "Republican leaders yesterday threatened a 'total shutdown' of Senate business if Democrats keep holding up President Bush's appointments to the federal bench." Posted at 06:40 AM by Howard Bashman Lyle Denniston is reporting: At "SCOTUSblog," he has posts titled "Broad new challenge to military panels" and "South Carolina sues in Supreme Court over water." Posted at 06:35 AM by Howard Bashman  
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