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Tuesday, October 02, 2007 "NOW takes Kent complaint to Congress": The Galveston County Daily News today contains a front page article that begins, "The National Organization of Women said Monday it was asking Congress to investigate whether U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent should be impeached and removed from the bench." On Sunday, that newspaper contained an article headlined "Experts: Judges discipline too secretive." In addition, Heber Taylor had an op-ed entitled "Judge story displays arrogance in court." And The Associated Press reports that "Reprimanded federal judge accustomed to attention." "Witness for the Persecution": Today in The Washington Post, columnist Eugene Robinson has an op-ed that begins, "I believe in affirmative action, but I have to acknowledge there are arguments against it. One of the more cogent is the presence of Justice Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court." And at the Pajamas Media web site, Richard Miniter has a post titled "My Dinner With Clarence Thomas." Available online from law.com: Shannon P. Duffy reports that "3rd Circuit to Hear Appeal of Prayer Lawsuit Over High School Coach's Actions; Coach's lawyer had argued that bowing and genuflecting are secular coaching techniques for fostering team unity." And Mike McKee reports that "Lawyers' Notes Become Ethics Test in Case Before Calif. Supreme Court; Justices hear arguments from an attorney who used pretrial notes he inadvertently obtained from the opposing counsel." "State of Washington Defends Its Primaries Before Supreme Court": Robert Barnes has this article today in The Washington Post. The Seattle Times reports today that "Justices question state's 'top two' primary." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that "Supreme Court justices skeptical of state's 'top-two' primary system." Joan Biskupic of USA Today reports that "Court weighs rights of parties and candidates; Organizations fight Wash. law." And Michael Doyle of McClatchy Newspapers reports that "State's primary laws get harsh critique from Supreme Court." "Appeal planned in Garden Grove girl-kissing case; Lawyer for then-student says he’ll appeal ruling against girl punished for kissing other girl at Garden Grove school": The Orange County Register provides this news update. And The Los Angeles Times reports today that "Judge rules against lesbian in O.C. school suit; Garden Grove officials were found not to have violated the student's rights when they disciplined her for kissing her girlfriend on campus." "Supreme Court Turns Down Cases on Religious Separation": Linda Greenhouse has this article today in The New York Times. David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports today that "High court says no to new rights for church groups; Justices rebuff a quest for services in a library, along with a Catholic group's effort to avoid paying for employees' birth control." Joseph Goldstein of The New York Sun reports that "Supreme Court Declines To Hear Church-State Cases." And Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has articles headlined "East Bay church's plea rejected by U.S. Supreme Court" and "Supreme Court denies hearing for fired 'honk for peace' teacher." "Court opens, Thomas center stage; Jurist's new memoir, '60 Minutes' interview grab spotlight before his more assertive colleagues take reins": James Oliphant has this article today in The Chicago Tribune. Posted at 10:30 PM by Howard Bashman "Judicial Pushback: Two rulings curtail the Bush administration's overreaching in national security investigations." This editorial appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 10:25 PM by Howard Bashman "Real Judicial Elections": The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, "The United States Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in a challenge to New York's undemocratic method of electing its Supreme Court judges. A federal appeals court ruled that the process, a relic of the era of clubhouse politics, infringes on the constitutional rights of voters and candidates. The Supreme Court should affirm that well-reasoned decision." Posted at 10:08 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court Preview": This audio segment (available in both RealPlayer and Windows Media Player formats) featuring Jeffrey Toobin and Law Professor Jeffrey Rosen appeared on Monday's broadcast of the public radio program "The Diane Rehm Show." Posted at 08:34 PM by Howard Bashman "The war over unconscious bias: Wal-Mart and others are facing class actions for job discrimination; But the biggest problem isn't their policies, it's their managers' unwitting preferences; Can any company be immune?" In the October 15, 2007 issue of Fortune magazine, Roger Parloff will have an article that begins, "Last February a federal appeals court panel in San Francisco decided, 2-1, to allow the largest class action employment discrimination case ever convened to go forward against Wal-Mart Stores." Posted at 08:20 PM by Howard Bashman On this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered": The broadcast contained audio segments entitled "Court Mulls Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Disparity" (featuring Nina Totenberg); "Disparity Related to Crime History of Crack" (featuring Law Professor Doug Berman); and "Ex-Official Speaks Against Key Bush Strategies" (reporting on Law Professor Jack Goldsmith's congressional testimony today). Posted at 08:17 PM by Howard Bashman "Justice Thomas: I'm not 'bitter', you 'uninformed ... traitor'": Scott Moss has this post today at "PrawfsBlawg." A much more favorable perspective on Justice Clarence Thomas's new book -- "My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir" -- can be found at the "Justice Thomas Appreciation Page." That blog also contains a post providing an email address "to send feedback to Justice Clarence Thomas on his new book." Congratulations to Law Professor Daniel J. Solove of the "Concurring Opinions" blog on the publication of his new book, "The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy": Additional details are available here. Posted at 08:02 PM by Howard Bashman "Run-On Sentencing: The Supreme Court takes another crack at the sentencing mess." Dahlia Lithwick has this Supreme Court dispatch online at Slate. Posted at 07:54 PM by Howard Bashman Today's links for a certain Philadelphia Phillies fan on the U.S. Supreme Court: Today in The Philadelphia Inquirer, retired columnist Bill Lyon has an essay entitled "Never-say-die Phillies offer reason to believe; A surging, surprising team finds a place in our hearts." And The Rocky Mountain News reports today that "Rockies, Phillies set to rekindle contentious relationship." Update: In addition, the brand new issue of Sports Illustrated contains a cover story headlined "J-Rollin' In Philly: Why Jimmy Rollins Is MVP." "GOP Still Hunting for Southwick Votes": Roll Call today contains an article that begins, "While it appears increasingly likely that the Senate will punt a vote on the controversial appellate court nomination of Leslie Southwick until at least after the October recess, Republican leaders are still eyeing the possibility of a roll call this week and are igniting a wholesale lobbying campaign to try to come up with 60 votes to win his confirmation." And today at Politico.com, Carrie Budoff Brown has an article headlined "Bush stirs sparks on judges" that begins, "President Bush's snub of home-state senators on several recent judicial nominations could doom those candidates in the Senate, setting the stage for a confrontation fueled by election-year politics. Senators from Virginia, New Jersey and Michigan are threatening to withhold support for U.S. Court of Appeals nominees because they say Bush dismissed their recommendations." "Step by step on a path toward conservatism; From 'black radical' to Reagan Republican, Clarence Thomas logs his trip": David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Posted at 05:25 PM by Howard Bashman What we have here is a failure to communicate: A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today issued a very short but interesting decision holding that a criminal defense lawyer who did not hear his client's spoken request to appeal from the client's judgment of conviction and sentence was not ineffective for failing to appeal where no valid basis for appeal was readily apparent. Posted at 04:54 PM by Howard Bashman "Ex-White House Lawyer Targets Spy Tactic": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "A former top lawyer for the Bush administration on Tuesday said that parts of the President Bush's much-criticized eavesdropping program were illegal. There were aspects of the Terrorist Surveillance Program 'that I could not find the legal support for,' Jack Goldsmith, the former head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, told the Senate Judiciary Committee." Earlier, on today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition," Nina Totenberg previewed today's hearing in an audio segment titled "Senate Panel to Hear from Ex-DOJ Official." "State set to enforce ban on sex toys; Supreme Court won't hear store owner's challenge": The Huntsville Times today contains an article that begins, "Within days, police and deputies in Alabama could begin to arrest merchants who sell sex toys. Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the challenge of a state ban on sex toy sales by Sherri Williams, effectively ending a nine-year legal battle over the constitutionality of the law." Posted at 04:15 PM by Howard Bashman "CBS vs. ABC: The Thomas interviews." Mark Obbie has this interesting post today at his "LawBeat" blog. Posted at 04:05 PM by Howard Bashman "The Smear This Time": Today in The New York Times, Anita Hill has an op-ed that begins, "On Oct. 11, 1991, I testified about my experience as an employee of Clarence Thomas's at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I stand by my testimony." Hill also appeared on today's broadcast of the ABC News program "Good Morning America." Via ABCNews.com, you can access both written and video coverage of her appearance. And The Associated Press provides a report headlined "Hill: Thomas Harassment Charge True." "Crack Sentence Gets High Court Review": Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "The Supreme Court wrestled Tuesday with how to give judges discretion to impose shorter prison terms, including for some crack cocaine crimes, without abandoning the long-standing national goal of similar punishments for similar crimes. In a pair of cases involving drug crimes, trial court judges handed down sentences that were shorter than those called for in the federal sentencing guidelines established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission." Robert Barnes of The Washington Post has a news update headlined "Supreme Court Weighs Federal Sentencing Guidelines." And at "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post titled "Analysis: More trouble for Guidelines." From National Public Radio, Nina Totenberg previewed the oral arguments on today's broadcast of "Morning Edition" in a segment titled "Justices to Review Cases on Sentencing Limits" (segment begins 4 minutes and 24 seconds into audio clip). And on today's broadcast of "Day to Day," Dahlia Lithwick had an audio segment titled "Justices Review Disparities in Drug Sentencing." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. The U.S. Supreme Court has posted online the transcript of today's oral arguments in Gall v. United States, No. 06-7949, and Kimbrough v. United States, No. 06-6360. "Judge slams lawyers' delays; The attorneys were sanctioned for stalling in a class-action case": The Philadelphia Inquirer today contains an article that begins, "Delivering a blistering rebuke, a federal judge slammed some of the region's top law firms and lawyers, saying they deliberately dragged their feet in producing evidence in a class-action lawsuit." Last Friday, U.S. District Judge James Knoll Gardner of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued this opinion and order in the case. Update: And at WSJ.com's "Law Blog," Peter Lattman has a post titled "Federal Judge Slams Pennsylvania Lawyers." Programming note: I'll be presenting oral argument today before a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in the appeal that was the subject of this commentary. Additional posts will appear here later today. Update: The oral argument seemed to go quite well from my client's perspective.  
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