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Wednesday, September 19, 2007 "The Dissenter: Three decades ago, Justice John Paul Stevens was appointed to the Supreme Court as a judicial conservative and moderate Republican; So how did he come to lead the liberal wing of a fiercely divided court?" As I noted in tihs post earlier today, Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen will have this cover story in this upcoming Sunday's edition of The New York Times Magazine. I have now read the article in full, and it contains much fascinating information. "Judicial Activism": Online at Forbes.com, Emily Schmall has this review of Jeffrey Toobin's new book, "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court." Posted at 10:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Nation's top jurist says independent courts vital to free speech": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 10:35 PM by Howard Bashman "Prominent Lawyer to Be Indicted": The New York Times on Thursday will contain an article that begins, "Melvyn I. Weiss, a leading class-action securities lawyer, is expected to be indicted as early as today in connection with the kickback scheme that has ensnared his firm, Milberg Weiss, and several former lawyers there, the firm said yesterday in a statement." Bloomberg News reports that "Milberg Weiss Co-Founder Weiss Faces Criminal Charges." Reuters provides a report headlined "Attorney Melvyn Weiss to be indicted: law firm." And The Associated Press reports that "Law Firm Says Partner to Be Indicted." "Mukasey's Not the Man: He'll be a weak attorney general." Bruce Fein has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate. Posted at 10:14 PM by Howard Bashman "Daughter of 'Brown' Discusses Case, Civil Rights": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day." Posted at 10:07 PM by Howard Bashman "Judge: Ten Commandments Display Can Stay." The Associated Press provides this report on a decision that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued on Monday. Posted at 10:03 PM by Howard Bashman "Thomas' Memoir - New Revelations Or Mostly Rehash?" Tony Mauro has this "Courtside" column online at Legal Times. Posted at 08:55 PM by Howard Bashman "Telling It Like It Isn't: John Roberts speaks out. A little." Dahlia Lithwick has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate. Posted at 08:38 PM by Howard Bashman "Yale Law to Allow Military Recruiters": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "Yale Law School will end its policy of not working with military recruiters following a court ruling this week that jeopardized about $300 million in federal funding, school officials said Wednesday." And Yale Law School today issued a statement headlined "Statement of Dean Harold Hongju Koh Regarding Burt v. Gates Decision, September 19, 2007." My earlier coverage of Monday's Second Circuit ruling appears at this link. "Roberts stresses independent judges": The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York provides this news update. Posted at 05:54 PM by Howard Bashman In memoriam: I have received reliable reports that Fourth Circuit Judge H. Emory Widener, Jr. passed away this morning at his home. He was born in 1923, joined the Fourth Circuit in 1972 after having served as a federal district judge for a little over three years, and took senior status in July of this year. Details on funeral arrangements are not yet known. Posted at 05:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Top class-action lawyer to be indicted; Melvyn Weiss, the prominent class-action attorney, is expected to be charged Thursday for his role in a kickback scheme tied to more than 150 investor lawsuits": Fortune magazine provides this online report. Posted at 04:33 PM by Howard Bashman Forthcoming in the September 23, 2007 issue of The New York Times: Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen will have the cover story in The New York Times Magazine, headlined "The Dissenter: Three decades ago, Justice John Paul Stevens was appointed to the Supreme Court as a judicial conservative and moderate Republican; So how did he come to lead the liberal wing of a fiercely divided court?" And in the Sunday Book Review, David Margolick will have a lengthy review headlined "Meet the Supremes" of Jeffrey Toobin's new book, "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court." Accompanying the review will be this graphic. "Live from Syracuse: Chief Justice Roberts on the First Amendment." Tony Mauro has this post at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times." Posted at 03:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Senate Rejects Expanding Detainee Rights": The Associated Press provides this report. Posted at 11:52 AM by Howard Bashman "'Ask the Author' with Jeffrey Toobin: Part 2." This post appears today at "SCOTUSblog." Posted at 11:23 AM by Howard Bashman "Senate Debates Restoring Habeas Corpus": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition." Posted at 11:15 AM by Howard Bashman After protracted appellate consideration, Second Circuit holds that man convicted of depraved indifference murder under New York law is not entitled to federal habeas relief based on argument that evidence showed the man intentionally killed his victim: My first coverage of this case appeared on November 15, 2005, in a post whose title -- "The result of these habeas corpus proceedings is, of course, disturbing. The defendant is set free because he meant to kill his victim" -- quoted from a ruling that the Second Circuit had issued that day. Next, as I wrote in this post on June 21, 2006, the original panel decided to certify certain questions in the case to the New York State Court of Appeals, that State's highest court. Simultaneously, via dissents from that same order, five Second Circuit judges went on record as dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc as to the panel's original proposed disposition of the case. Next, on November 16, 2006, New York's highest court issued its decision holding that the original Second Circuit panel's ruling had rested on a misunderstanding of New York law. Finally, today, the original three-judge Second Circuit panel has issued a ruling that reaches the opposite result from that panel's earlier ruling. More specifically, today's ruling holds that the man convicted of depraved indifference murder under New York law is not entitled to federal habeas relief based on his argument that the evidence showed he intentionally killed his victim. Interestingly, it appears that today's ruling relies more heavily on the Second Circuit panel's reexamination of the record, which revealed that the evidence of intentional killing is not as convincing as the habeas petitioner had been arguing, than on the New York Court of Appeals' attempted clarification of applicable New York law. "A True Rightward Turn? The Upcoming Term and the 2008 Elections." Tom Goldstein has this interesting post at "SCOTUSblog." Posted at 09:12 AM by Howard Bashman "Md. Ban On Gay Marriage Is Upheld; Law Does Not Deny Basic Rights, Is Not Biased, Court Rules": The Washington Post contains this front page article today. The Baltimore Sun today contains articles headlined "Court upholds marriage law; Divided judges refuse right to same-sex unions"; "Decision stuns plaintiffs; Same-sex marriage advocates shocked, plan to keep fighting"; and "Md. lawmakers begin preparing for 2008 battle; Clash in legislature seems certain." And The Washington Times reports that "Maryland's highest court backs marriage limits." You can access yesterday's ruling of the Court of Appeals of Maryland at this link. "Choice for Attorney General Given Warm Welcome on Capitol Hill": This article appears today in The New York Times, along with an article headlined "An Old Friend Joins Giuliani in a Spotlight." The Washington Post reports today that "Democrats May Tie Confirmation to Gonzales Papers." The Washington Times reports that "Mukasey dealt setback to Justice." In The Wall Street Journal, Law Professor Douglas W. Kmiec has an op-ed entitled "The Attorney General's Job." And The New York Sun contains an editorial entitled "Testing Mukasey." "What about Larry? Compare Chemerinsky's tale with academia's bashing of ex-Harvard chief Summers." Law Professor David E. Bernstein has this op-ed today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 08:52 AM by Howard Bashman "A Voting Test for the High Court": Today in The Washington Post, Law Professor Richard L. Hasen -- author of the "Election Law" blog -- has an op-ed that begins, "At a private conference next Monday, the Supreme Court will consider whether to hear a challenge to Indiana's new law requiring voters to show photographic identification at the polls." Posted at 08:38 AM by Howard Bashman "Kerkorian Loses Appeal of DaimlerChrysler Deal Ruling": Bloomberg News provides this report. The Associated Press reports that "Kerkorian loses in court vs. Chrysler; Lower court rejects billionaire's claim that he was defrauded in 1998 Daimler-Chrysler merger." And Reuters provides a report headlined "U.S. court rejects Kerkorian appeal: Daimler." My earlier coverage of yesterday's Third Circuit ruling appears at this link. "Settlements Do Not Deter 9/11 Plaintiffs Seeking Trials": The New York Times contains this article today. Posted at 08:19 AM by Howard Bashman "Investigation of Milberg Lands a Pivotal Figure; Lerach Agrees to Plea, Could Go to Prison; Gains Forfeited to U.S." This article appears today in The Wall Street Journal, along with an editorial entitled "Lerach-ed." Today's edition of The Washington Post contains a front page article headlined "Guilty Plea to End Crusading Lawyer's Lucrative Run." USA Today reports that "'King of class actions' pleads guilty in payments case; Lerach says he 'crossed a line and pushed too far.'" The New York Times contains an article headlined "Another Notch for U.S. Prosecutors." And in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein reports that "Fortunes Darken for Lawyer Melvyn Weiss." "In Dispute Over Cross, Court Sides With Jewish Veterans": Today in The New York Sun, Josh Gerstein has an article that begins, "Three members of Congress who led efforts to transfer a large outdoor cross in San Diego to the federal government must turn over some of their official records on the subject to a Jewish war veterans group challenging the Mt. Soledad memorial as an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, a federal judge ruled." You can access yesterday's opinion of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia at this link, while the accompanying order is here.  
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