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Tuesday, October 30, 2007 "Justices Stay Execution, a Signal to Lower Courts": Linda Greenhouse will have this article Wednesday in The New York Times. And in Wednesday's edition of The Washington Post, Robert Barnes will have an article headlined "Stay of Execution Is Granted For Mississippi Murderer." "Supreme Court hears arguments over child-pornography law": McClatchy Newspapers provide this report. Posted at 10:55 PM by Howard Bashman On this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered": The broadcast contained audio segments entitled "Court Examines Law to Curb Child Porn on Internet" (featuring Nina Totenberg) and "Respected Marine Lawyer Alleges Military Injustices." RealPlayer is required to launch these audio segments. "AG Nominee Unsure About Waterboarding": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "President Bush's nominee for attorney general told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that an interrogation technique called waterboarding is repugnant but that he did not know if it is legal." And Dan Eggen of The Washington Post has a news update headlined "Attorney General Nominee Sends Letter to Dems." You can view the four-page letter at this link. "Supreme Court Halts Halt Miss. Execution": Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides this report. Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times has a news update headlined "Supreme Court Stays Execution in a Sign of a Broader Halt." Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News has a written report headlined "'De Facto Moratorium' on Lethal Injections? With Lethal Injection Case Pending, Supreme Court Blocks Miss. Execution." And at "SCOTUSblog," Lyle Denniston has a post titled "Court delays Mississippi execution." "Convicted killer hoping Supreme Court will grant appeal in 6 o'clock execution": The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi provides this news update. Posted at 06:07 PM by Howard Bashman "Court overturns ban on Statehouse prayer": The Indianapolis Star provides this news update. My earlier coverage of today's Seventh Circuit ruling appears at this link. Access online the transcripts of today's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments: By clicking on the following links, you can access the transcripts of oral argument in United States v. Williams, No. 06-694, and Logan v. United States, No. 06-6911. Posted at 04:00 PM by Howard Bashman "Lethal Injection in Mississippi": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) appeared on today's broadcast of the public radio program "Here & Now." Posted at 03:34 PM by Howard Bashman "Supreme Court Takes Up Child Porn Case": This audio segment (RealPlayer required) featuring Dahlia Lithwick appeared on today's broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day." And at "The Volokh Conspiracy," Orin Kerr has a post titled "Oral Argument in United States v. Williams." "[T]he fact that a litigant is psychotic does not mean that he cannot assist in his case": Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner issued this interesting decision today on behalf of a unanimous three-judge Seventh Circuit panel discussing what level of mental competency a state death row prisoner must possess in order for his federal habeas challenge to proceed. Posted at 02:50 PM by Howard Bashman "An anti-porn law that will survive?" Lyle Denniston has this post at "SCOTUSblog." Posted at 02:44 PM by Howard Bashman Divided three-judge Seventh Circuit panel rejects for lack of standing a taxpayer challenge to the practice of the Indiana House of Representatives' opening each session with a prayer: You can access today's ruling at this link. The effect of today's ruling is to overturn a permanent injunction that a federal district court had issued to prohibit the prayers in question. Both the majority opinion and the dissenting opinion engage in a lengthy discussion of the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc. on the issue of taxpayer standing in an Establishment Clause challenge such as this. In her dissenting opinion, Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood writes: I do not rule out the possibility that some or all of the prayers offered before the Indiana House might similarly pass muster under Marsh. Unfortunately, however, we are never to find out. Under the majority's approach, even if the Speaker decides to start working his way through the Anglican Book of Common Prayer day by day, notwithstanding the presence of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other legislators, staff, and constituents, nothing can be done to enforce the command of the Establishment Clause. As long as a majority of the House is Christian, it is also reasonable to predict that the House itself will never take action to curb such a practice.I previously had this post linking to the briefs filed in the case and the online audio of the appellate oral argument. Posted at 02:23 PM by Howard Bashman The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has begun posting online its decisions on judicial misconduct complaints: If these have been available online previously, they've avoided my notice until now. In any event, you can access the decisions, which date back to November 29, 2006, via this link. Posted at 02:15 PM by Howard Bashman "Court Reviews Child Pornography Law": Mark Sherman of The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "The Bush administration urged the Supreme Court Tuesday to uphold a law against the promotion of child pornography, rejecting First Amendment claims that it limits legitimate creative expression." Posted at 12:24 PM by Howard Bashman Federal Circuit denies en banc rehearing to reconsider its decision declaring the District of Columbia's Prescription Drug Excessive Pricing Act of 2005 preempted by federal patent law: You can access today's order, which is accompanied by both a concurring opinion and a dissenting opinion, at this link. My earlier coverage of the three-judge panel's original ruling appears at this link. A few days later, The Washington Post published this article about the decision. Inactive Senior Judge Wilson Cowen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has died at the age of 101: An announcement appears at that court's internet home page. Biographical information about Judge Cowen can be accessed here and here. Posted at 11:14 AM by Howard Bashman "Executive Power & the War: A panel of Supreme Court experts talk about the Boumediene v. Bush case in a session titled, 'Executive Power and the War on Terror.'" If you missed this past Saturday's broadcast of C-SPAN's "America & the Courts" or, more likely, you can't wait to watch it again, you can access the broadcast online, on-demand by clicking here (RealPlayer required). On this occasion, Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times allowed C-SPAN to record her remarks. Among her co-panelists were Lyle Denniston, Walter Dellinger, and John Yoo. Posted at 10:27 AM by Howard Bashman "When Punitive Damages Make No Sense": Stuart Taylor Jr. has this essay about the Exxon Valdez case in this week's issue of National Journal. Posted at 10:22 AM by Howard Bashman "Happy Birthday To Us!" Two days after I declared myself forty-three years old, the blog "Drug and Device Law" today declares itself one year old. I first noted that blog's existence in this post from December 18, 2006. Update: In other blog birthday news, the blog "LawBeat" also declares itself to be one year old today. "Wilson on 'Today' show, says his release was unexpected": The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contains this article today. In addition, Law Professor Donald E. Wilkes Jr. has an op-ed entitled "Justice gets new lease on life; Wilson didn't deserve cruel punishment." USA Today reports today that "Man in teen sex case considers his future." The Associated Press reports that "Many Teens Don't Know the Law About Sex." And The Los Angeles Times contains an editorial entitled "Judgment call: The ruling that freed a Georgia man in a sex case wasn't judicial activism, it was righting a wrong." "Class-action lawyer pleads guilty; Former Milberg Weiss partner William Lerach faces up to two years in prison for conspiracy in a scheme to bribe plaintiffs": This article appears today in The Los Angeles Times. The Washington Post reports today that "Lerach Enters Guilty Plea In Class-Action Conspiracy." And The New York Times reports that "Leading Class-Action Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy." "Opening Halls of Justice": The Dallas Morning News today contains an editorial that begins, "It may be impossible to remove the stain that Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, has placed on the state's judiciary. But two lawyer-driven actions might keep it from spreading. More than 300 members of the Texas bar joined a petition last week asking Judge Keller's court to adopt modern procedures and allow e-mailed filings in death penalty cases. Of course it should. Electronic filing in life-or-death cases might have avoided Judge Keller's disgraceful decision Sept. 25 in which she refused a condemned man's plea for a 20-minute extension beyond the court's usual 5 p.m. closing." Posted at 08:50 AM by Howard Bashman "On Torture, 2 Messages and a High Political Cost": This news analysis appears today in The New York Times. And Adam Cohen has an Editorial Observer essay entitled "Honey, They Shrunk the Congress." Today's edition of USA Today contains an editorial entitled "Is Mukasey willing to be a 'no' man in the White House? Bush's pick for attorney general must clarify views on executive authority." And Bradford A. Berenson has an op-ed entitled "President has inherent powers; Mukasey, a fine nominee, is simply pointing out constitutional reality." And The Washington Post contains an editorial entitled "The Waterboarding Dodge: Who's really to blame for Mr. Mukasey's evasions on torture?" "Elizabeth Taylor to Keep Van Gogh": Linda Greenhouse has this newsbrief today in The New York Times. Posted at 08:30 AM by Howard Bashman "Killer down to final appeal; Justices have one last chance to halt execution": The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi today contains an article that begins, "Convicted killer Earl Wesley Berry's final request to halt his execution remained unanswered by the nation's high court Monday as Mississippi continued preparations to put him to death tonight. Attorneys for Berry and the state expected a ruling on his appeal before his 6 p.m. execution at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman." Posted at 08:25 AM by Howard Bashman "Exxon Valdez on radar of high court; Justices agree to reconsider whether Exxon can be forced to pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages for allowing a heavy drinker to take the helm of the ship": David G. Savage has this article today in The Los Angeles Times. Today in USA Today, Joan Biskupic reports that "Court to weigh $2.5B award in Valdez spill." And The Anchorage Daily News contains articles headlined "Exxon appeal granted; high court to hear case" and "Exxon case may turn on 1818 court ruling; Shipowner was not liable for a captain's recklessness." "Thomas J. Meskill Dies at 79; Ex-Congressman, Connecticut Governor and Federal Judge": This obituary appears today in The New York Times. And The Hartford Courant today contains an obituary headlined "A Public Life: Governor, Congressman And Federal Appellate Judge, He Was A Principled 'Man Of The Old School.'" "Va. group's $ behind high court candidate; Maureen Lally-Green is beneficiary": The Philadelphia Daily News today contains an article that begins, "A mysterious non-profit group based in Virginia is throwing tens of thousands of dollars into Pennsylvania's state Supreme Court campaign, without disclosing the sources of the money." And The Philadelphia Inquirer today contains an article headlined "Plugging tirelessly toward high court" that begins, "He's been a biker, a Philly police officer, a lawyer, the Eagles Court judge, a Marine, an Air Force colonel, and an appellate judge. And now, Seamus P. McCaffery wants more than anything to be a justice on Pennsylvania's highest court." "U.S. Supreme Court rejects ex-convict's legal argument; Austin company argued most inmates must be freed on technicality": Chuck Lindell has this article today in The Austin American-Statesman. Posted at 07:52 AM by Howard Bashman "Child porn law at center of free-speech case; Opponents argue statute is too broad": Joan Biskupic has this article today in USA Today. The Deseret Morning News reports today that "Child-porn law focus of appeal." And on today's broadcast of NPR's "Morning Edition," Nina Totenberg had an audio segment entitled "Supreme Court Considers Range of Child Porn Law" (RealPlayer required). "The Supreme Court Considers a Procedural Roadblock to Recovery Under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act": Joanna Grossman has this essay online today at FindLaw. Posted at 07:40 AM by Howard Bashman Available online from law.com: An article reports that "High Court Finds High-Tech Persuasive." And in other news, "Major Publishers Back National Geographic in Copyright Fight."  
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