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Sunday, June 29, 2008 "A less deferential high court: Key decisions of this term show a willingness of some justices to reject political leaders' judgments." Warren Richey will have this article Monday in The Christian Science Monitor. Posted at 11:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Exxon decision may re-emerge in court contest; Shaw-Paseur race again puts focus on contributors": The Huntsville (Ala.) Times today contains an article that begins, "The source of campaign money could turn out to be an issue in the only state Supreme Court race on the ballot this fall." Posted at 05:05 PM by Howard Bashman "Court is ignoring juries: Victims losing 100 percent of appeals? Is the Mississippi Supreme Court a 'rubber stamp' for powerful corporate entities?" Alex A. Alston Jr. has this op-ed today in The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi. Posted at 05:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Florida prepares for 1st execution since foul up": The Associated Press provides this report. And The Palm Beach Post reports that "Execution nears for man who murdered 11-year-old." "The Court's Gay Rights Legacy": Yesterday. Time magazine's web site posted online an article that begins, "Five years ago this week, the United State Supreme Court delivered its most sweeping gay rights decision ever, striking down laws in Texas and other states that had criminalized sex between gays. The court erected a shield of privacy around sexual behavior for all consenting adults, and in doing so paved the way for other milestones in the gay rights legal movement, including judicial victories for gay marriage in Nov. 2003 in Massachusetts and this year in California." Posted at 04:57 PM by Howard Bashman "9-0 ruling modernizes defence of fair comment; Controversial radio host Mair didn't defame Christian-values advocate on book-banning, court says, setting terms for 'honest belief'": On Saturday, The Toronto Globe and Mail contained an article that begins, "The media should not live in constant fear of facing a libel suit every time a provocative commentary is published or broadcast, the Supreme Court of Canada said yesterday in a major ruling won by controversial Vancouver radio broadcaster Rafe Mair. In a 9-0 decision that modernizes the defence of fair comment, the court found that Mr. Mair did not defame Christian-values advocate Kari Simpson when he denounced her stand on a book-banning controversy." Saturday's edition of The Toronto Star reported that "Top court ditches libel case against B.C. 'shock jock'; Decision on boundaries of fair comment will make it easier to engage in freewheeling debate." The Vancouver Sun reported on Saturday that "Rafe Mair wins libel appeal in Supreme Court; Vancouver radio host compared public figure to Ku Klux Klan." And The Canadian Press reports that "Supreme Court of Canada raises bar on libel lawsuits, expands fair comment." You can access Friday's ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada at this link. "The evolving Supreme Court: Despite 5-4 rulings in some key cases, consensus made a comeback this term." The Los Angeles Times contains this editorial today. Posted at 04:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Targeting The Supreme Court: How A Libertarian Who's Never Owned A Gun Brought The Decisive Case On The Second Amendment." This segment (transcript with link to video) appeared on today's broadcast of the CBS News program "Sunday Morning." Today in The Chicago Tribune, columnist Eric Zorn has an op-ed entitled "Court to 2nd Amendment: You clearly need some editing." And in The Houston Chronicle, Ted Cruz has an op-ed entitled "Supreme Court ruling scored a bull's-eye; Court's finding is true to our founding fathers' original intent." "Fairness of law to be judged; Mandatory sentences: Georgia's Supreme Court will consider proportion." Today in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bill Rankin has an article that begins, "The judge had only one option when he sentenced Cedric Bradshaw: life in prison. Bradshaw had not committed murder, rape or armed robbery. His offense was failing to properly register as a convicted sex offender for a second time -- even though he had repeatedly tried to follow the law." Posted at 04:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ziegler won't recover what she lent campaign": The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today contains an article that begins, "State Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler quietly closed her campaign account last year, a move that that will prevent her from recovering nearly $823,000 she personally lent her campaign. That amount equals more than half the pay she will receive for her entire 10-year term on the court." Posted at 04:20 PM by Howard Bashman "In Courts, Afghanistan Air Base May Become Next Guantanamo": This article appears today in The Washington Post. And The Associated Press reports that "Guantanamo's days numbered, tough choices ahead." "Why dirty is funny: Judge Kozinski's raunch collection raises questions about obscenity and humor." Jim Holt has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times. Based on the manner in which the op-ed is displayed online, apparently an absence of paragraph breaks is also quite humorous. [Update: Since the time this post first appeared, paragraph breaks have been added to the online version of this op-ed.] "A Win by McCain Could Push a Split Court to Right": Robert Barnes has this front page article today in The Washington Post. And today in The Los Angeles Times, David G. Savage has an article headlined "Supreme Court blocs rarely wavered; The ideological divide was so evident this term that outcomes in most major cases could be nearly predicted; Once again, Justice Kennedy often cast the deciding vote in 5-4 decisions." Off with their head[s]: At the "Language Log" blog, Linguistics Professor Mark Liberman today has this lengthy, well-supported, and multi-colored post evaluating Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner's use of the word "head" instead of "heads" in the following passage from that court's recent ruling in United States v. Black: The reference of course is to the legend that ostriches when frightened bury their head in the sand.Noting my earlier comment (in an update to this post) that Judge Posner should have used the plural "heads" in the quoted sentence, Professor Liberman writes that "In this case, my own intuitions are on Mr. Bashman's side." Professor Liberman then proceeds to review an impressive amount of empirical data showing how other speakers and writers have used "head" or "heads" in this context. The vast preponderance of this evidence, it seems, confirms Professor Liberman (and my) intuitions. I was planning to allow Judge Posner to have essentially the last word on this matter, but I cannot allow readers of this blog to overlook Professor Liberman's scholarly and lengthy (weighing in at more than 1,600 words) post on the topic.  
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