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Monday, June 23, 2008 "Narrow Minded: John Roberts does Obama a favor." Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen has this essay in the July 9, 2008 issue of The New Republic. Posted at 11:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court Says Right to Counsel Begins With First Appearance Before Judge; Justices begin final week before adjourning for summer": law.com's Tony Mauro has this report. Posted at 11:03 PM by Howard Bashman "Justices Take Case on Navy Use of Sonar": Linda Greenhouse will have this article Tuesday in The New York Times. Posted at 11:02 PM by Howard Bashman Updates pertaining to two of my "On Appeal" columns from early 2007: My column from April 16, 2007 headlined "The N-Word and a Plaintiff's Right to His Day in Court" argued that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit had reached the wrong result in a case captioned Eddy v. Waffle House, Inc. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari, vacated the Fourth Circuit's judgment, and remanded the case for further consideration in light of the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Taylor v. Sturgell. I previously posted online at this link the cert.-stage briefing in Eddy. I am also overdue in updating the subject matter of my column from May 14, 2007, headlined "When Should a Judge Face Discipline for What an Opinion Says?" Two weeks ago, Florida's Judicial Qualifications Commission held a trial in the case. Paul Flemming, chief of the Tallahassee bureau of Gannett Florida newspapers, had articles headlined "Judge denies ethics charges over criticism" and "Fireworks erupt in Allen ethics case." And The St. Petersburg Times covered the trial earlier this month in articles headlined "Case reveals rift on appeals court" and "At JQC trial against appeal judge, one more accusation." Although the trial has concluded, a decision is not expected to issue for weeks or perhaps months. Justice Antonin Scalia criticizes two GVRs that the U.S. Supreme Court issued today: The Chief Justice and Justice Clarence Thomas joined in both of Justice Scalia's dissents, which you can access here and here. Posted at 10:24 PM by Howard Bashman "What's Obscene? Google Could Have an Answer." The New York Times on Tuesday will have an article that begins, "Judges and jurors who must decide whether sexually explicit material is obscene are asked to use a local yardstick: does the material violate community standards? That is often a tricky question because there is no simple, concrete way to gauge a community's tastes and values. The Internet may be changing that. In a novel approach, the defense in an obscenity trial in Florida plans to use publicly accessible Google search data to try to persuade jurors that their neighbors have broader interests than they might have thought." Posted at 10:20 PM by Howard Bashman "In a first, court says military erred in a Guantanamo case": Marisa Taylor of McClatchy Newspapers has this report. The web page containing the article furnishes links to the appellate briefs and the oral argument transcript. Tuesday's edition of The New York Times will contain an article headlined "Court Voids Finding on Guantanamo Detainee." And The Washington Post provides a news update headlined "Court Orders Government to Act on Chinese Detainee; Ruling Invalidates Bush Administration's Finding That Huzaifa Parhat Is an 'Enemy Combatant.'" "Navy v. dolphins: Supreme Court to hear battle over sonar." Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers has this report. Posted at 09:07 PM by Howard Bashman "The Material from Judge Kozinski's Website/Server -- Part Two: Including Videos." This post appears today at the blog "Patterico's Pontifications." Posted at 09:05 PM by Howard Bashman "4th Circuit Backs School District on Political Speech": At "The School Law Blog" of Education Week, Mark Walsh has this post about a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today. Posted at 06:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Court upholds conviction in terrorism-related case": The Associated Press provides this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued today. Posted at 05:54 PM by Howard Bashman "John Roberts and Bob Dylan": Doug Kendall has this post today at the "Text and History" blog of the Constitutional Accountability Center. Posted at 05:20 PM by Howard Bashman "Attorneys say Delaware execution went bad": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 02:48 PM by Howard Bashman James Vicini of Reuters is reporting: He has articles headlined "Supreme Court to decide Navy sonar appeal" and "Court rejects challenge to Arizona border fence." Posted at 02:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court to hear case involving whales and Navy sonar; The justices will take up the Navy's objections to environmental-based restrictions placed on the use of high-frequency sonar; The court also refuses to hear a challenge to the U.S.-Mexico border fence": David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this news update. Posted at 02:35 PM by Howard Bashman Justice Alito's apparently no fan of Kelo: At "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post titled "A new vote for property rights?" Posted at 02:34 PM by Howard Bashman "Walter Dellinger's Big Week Ahead": Tony Mauro has this post at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times." Posted at 02:15 PM by Howard Bashman If a federal district court views the 100:1 crack-powder cocaine ratio as too harsh under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, may the district court instead substitute a 20:1 ratio? Apparently not, the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled today by a 6-5 vote. You can access today's decision at this link. Posted at 12:24 PM by Howard Bashman "Chief Kozinski Lawyers Up As Probe Heats Up; Defense Lawyer Mark Holscher Will Represent Judge": John Roemer has this front page article today in The Daily Journal of California. Posted at 11:47 AM by Howard Bashman "Appeals court rules for Guantanamo detainee": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "A federal appeals court, in the first case it reviewed, has overturned the Pentagon's classification of a Guantanamo detainee as an enemy combatant." And at "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post titled "Victory for detainee in first case." Pending the issuance of a redacted version of its opinion, the D.C. Circuit today issued this order announcing the outcome of its decision. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit asks Supreme Court of Ohio to provide definitive construction of the meaning of an Ohio statute prohibiting the off-label use of the abortion drug RU-486: You can access today's Sixth Circuit ruling, certifying questions to Ohio's highest court, at this link. I covered the Sixth Circuit's earlier ruling in this case, from February 2006, in a post titled "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit holds that an Ohio statute prohibiting the off-label use of the abortion drug RU-486 may be preliminarily enjoined." And my earlier coverage of the federal district court's permanent injunction from September 2006 -- which is the ruling at issue in today's appeal -- can be accessed here. Access online today's opinions and Order List of the U.S. Supreme Court: The Associated Press provides this preview. And "SCOTUSblog" is live-blogging today's developments at this link. 1. Today's first opinion in an argued case issued in Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc., No. 07-552. Justice Stephen G. Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court in this case, which was decided by a 5-4 vote. The Chief Justice issued a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel A. Alito, Jr. joined. You can access the opinion at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link. Update: A reader in Lawrence, Kansas emails to note that the Chief Justice, on page 4 of his dissenting opinion, quotes a lyric from Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone." 2. Today's second opinion issued in Greenlaw v. United States, No. 07-330. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. You can access the opinion at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link. At issue in this case is whether the rule requiring a cross-appeal to increase the appellee's rights in the judgment under review is jurisdictional or merely a "rule of practice" subject to judicially created exceptions. 3. Today's third and final opinion issued in Rothgery v. Gillespie County, No. 07-440. Justice David H. Souter delivered the opinion of the Court. You can access the opinion at this link and the oral argument transcript at this link. The Court will next announce opinions in argued cases at 10 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday. Seven argued cases remain to be decided. You can access today's Order List at this link. The Court granted review in seven cases. In early news coverage, The Associated Press reports that "Court says right to lawyer begins soon after arrest"; "Court rules against long-distance companies"; "Court rejects case on fast track for border fence"; "Supreme Court to review decision on Navy sonar use"; "Court will hear appeal by Tenn. death row inmate"; "Court will review $2.8 million award to Iranian"; "Court to rule on pension credit for old maternity leaves"; "Court agrees to review suit against AT&T"; "Court won't review NBA Nets arena project"; and "Supreme Court rejects W.R. Grace asbestos appeal." "As Khawaja gears up for day in court, police put Ottawa on high alert": The Toronto Globe and Mail today contains an article that begins, "In Ottawa today, all eyes - including those of police armed with assault rifles - will be on 29-year-old Mohammed Momin Khawaja. The first man ever charged under Canada's Anti-terrorism Act will be escorted from the confines of a secure jail cell to begin his trial downtown. The case in the third-floor Courtroom No. 37 will be the most secure ever held in the nation's capital, and the tensions are running so high the judge has been given a code to evacuate his courtroom. Even civil servants in the next building will be on high alert." And The Canadian Press reports that "Terror trial to test use of new law; Crown faces challenge of implementing post-9/11 legislation in Momin Khawaja case." "Judges angry at Ottawa for mining personal tax information in labour dispute": The Canadian Press provides a report that begins, "The Conservative government is facing criticism for using the personal income-tax information of more than 500 sitting federal judges during salary negotiations." Posted at 08:50 AM by Howard Bashman "Court to revisit ruling on homeschooling": Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko has an article that begins, "Parents and religious groups favoring homeschooling will have Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California's schools chief on their side today when a state appeals court meets to reconsider its ruling that required in-home instructors to have teaching credentials." Posted at 08:47 AM by Howard Bashman "A compromise on surveillance: Though the House-approved bill on warrantless wiretaps has flaws, it's a move in the right direction." The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today. Posted at 08:42 AM by Howard Bashman "Appeal From Abroad: The Supreme Court rules that a federal court cannot prevent two U.S. citizens from being prosecuted in Iraq." This editorial appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 08:15 AM by Howard Bashman "Smearing Judge Kozinski": Today in The Wall Street Journal, "Information Age" columnist L. Gordon Crovitz has this op-ed. Online at the web site of The Los Angeles Times, Lara A. Bazelon has an essay entitled "Disagreeing on judicial discipline: A back-and-forth on Judge Alex Kozinski's stash." And online at the "New Statesman," Debra Saunders has a post entitled "Porn, privacy and the US judge." "Court's Gay Marriage Ruling Will Test Paterson's Policy": Today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein has an article that begins, "The issue of gay marriage in New York is returning to court today, with a panel of appellate judges in Brooklyn scheduled to hear arguments on whether the state must recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere." Posted at 07:48 AM by Howard Bashman "Court continues trend of protecting business free speech": Tony Mauro has this news analysis online at the First Amendment Center. Posted at 07:40 AM by Howard Bashman  
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