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Tuesday, July 1, 2008 "California's death penalty process is 'dysfunctional,' panel finds; The time from sentencing to execution is twice the national average; A state commission says delays undermine the system and recommends more sentences of life without parole instead": Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Today in The San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Egelko reports that "Panel condemns state's death penalty system." In The San Jose Mercury News, Howard Mintz has an article headlined "Commission: Abolish or limit death penalty; Commission finds problems galore with 'broken system.'" The Sacramento Bee reports that "Panel finds California death penalty flawed, urges overhaul." And USA Today reports that "Calif. death penalty system 'dysfunctional.'" You can access the report, issued yesterday, at this link. "Judge orders individual 9/11 trial hearings": Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has this news update. Posted at 10:08 PM by Howard Bashman "The Court vs. Voters": Today in The Washington Post, columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. has an op-ed that begins, "If the long conservative era that began with Ronald Reagan's election is over, will the judges appointed during the right's ascendancy be able to block, frustrate and undermine the efforts of a new progressive majority?" Posted at 10:04 PM by Howard Bashman "Gun Bill Provides for Self-Defense; Mendelson Responds to High Court Objection to D.C. Law": The Washington Post contains this article today. Posted at 09:10 PM by Howard Bashman "Judges Cite Need for Reliable Evidence To Hold Detainees": This article appears today in The Washington Post. And The New York Times reports today that "Evidence Faulted in Detainee Case." "Court Dismisses Rendition Suit": The New York Times today conains an article that begins, "A federal appeals court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Syrian-born Canadian man who had accused the United States of violating the law and his civil rights after he was detained at Kennedy Airport and sent to Syria under what he claims was an act of 'extraordinary rendition.'" And today in The New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein reports that "Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Torture Case." "Pennsylvania Senate confirms 4 appeals judges": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 03:35 PM by Howard Bashman "Court tosses $785,000 award over cancer death": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "A federal appeals court has thrown out a $785,000 jury award to a woman who blamed her mother's cancer death on contamination from a wood treatment plant in Mississippi, one of hundreds of such cases against the facility's owner." You can access yesterday's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link. Get your Justice Louis D. Brandeis bobblehead dolls: Subscribers to The Green Bag, on receiving the Spring 2008 issue of that publication, will notice that the journal contains a Justice Louis D. Brandeis bobblehead certificate that can be redeemed for the aforementioned bobblehead doll. What's more, I just received a mailing from The Green Bag inviting me to attend a reception on the evening of Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at a certain law firm's Washington, DC office for tea, cookies, and the chance to turn a Brandeis bobblehead certificate into a Brandeis bobblehead doll. Some careful readers of this blog have emailed in recent days asking me to post photos of the Brandeis bobblehead, because due to some amazing bit of luck I happened to receive that very bobblehead doll from The Green Bag on February 5, 2008. A detailed photograph of the Brandeis bobblehead appears on page 282 of the Spring 2008 issue of The Green Bag, so perhaps that publication's editor will be so kind as to email me a PDF of that page so I can post it here. Two rulings of note that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued yesterday: Don't drive horribly drunk, kill yourself, and then expect your survivors to recover "accidental death" benefits. So holds the majority on a divided three-judge panel in this ERISA ruling issued yesterday. And in a separate ruling issued yesterday, the First Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging fraud and a violation of a consumer protection statute brought by a graduate of the Southern New England School of Law who was not permitted to take the New Jersey bar examination because that law school had failed to achieve American Bar Association accreditation the plaintiff's graduation. Second Circuit affirms a federal district court's order formally reprimanding Cleary Gottleib Steen & Hamilton LLP and ordering that law firm to pay the opposing party $165,000 for the costs of seeking sanctions: Today's Second Circuit ruling issued as a non-precedential decision. Posted at 10:54 AM by Howard Bashman "R.I. high court overturns lead paint verdict": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "The Rhode Island Supreme Court overturned a landmark verdict against three former lead paint companies Tuesday, a major setback for communities that want the companies to decontaminate hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings." And The Providence Journal's breaking news blog offers a post titled "Supreme court overturns judgment in lead paint suit." You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island at this link. American Constitution Society now, Federalist Society later: C-SPAN is today offering live coverage as "[t]wo D.C. think tanks review the recent Supreme Court term and its impact on public policy. First, the American Constitution Society looks at both progressive and conservative perspectives of the Court's decisions. Then, the Federalist Society discusses the emerging trends and the future of the Roberts' Court." You can view the ACS session right now, using either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. The Federalist Society session (hosted by ABC News correspondent Jan Crawford Greenburg, on her way to hitting the campaign trail) is scheduled to get underway at 12:40 p.m. Update: The ACS session has ended, but C-SPAN has promptly posted archived video of the session, so you can watch it online, on-demand by clicking here (RealPlayer required). Second update: The Federalist Society session has ended, but C-SPAN has promptly posted archived video of the session, so you can watch it online, on-demand by clicking here (RealPlayer required). "Supreme Court Gun Ruling and its Impact": You can view this past Saturday's broadcast of C-SPAN's "America and the Courts" program by clicking here (RealPlayer required). And in the Week in Review section of Sunday's edition of The New York Times, Adam Liptak had an article headlined "Gun Laws and Crime: A Complex Relationship." "Earl Warren's Legacy": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg appeared on yesterday evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered." Posted at 08:00 AM by Howard Bashman Available online from law.com: Marcia Coyle has an article headlined "Punitives Take Hit in 'Exxon' Ruling, but How Hard? Supreme Court's decision could have reach beyond sea." And an article reports that "Foster Care, Court Funding Top the Docket for Fla. High Court's New Chief."  
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