Litigation

Senate Confirms Two of Obama?s Judicial Nominees

Posted on May 21, 2013
On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Sheri Polster Chappell to be U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, and Michael McShane (photo) to be U.S. District Judge for Oregon. Chappell was confirmed on a 90-0 vote, while McShane was confirmed on a voice-vote, according to the Hill’s Floor Action Blog...

Tuesday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on May 21, 2013
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: On Monday, the Texas House of Representatives rejected a measure that would detach pensions for them from the pay of district judges, and prevent them from raising their own pensions. According to the Dallas Morning News, Rep...

Growing Movement to Restrict Islamic Law in Our Courts

Posted on May 21, 2013
In at least 32 states, legislators sponsored measures to restrict consideration of foreign or religious laws in state court decisions between 2010 and 2012, and six states passed such laws. One of the six states, Oklahoma, specifically identified Sharia, or Islamic law, as banned from consideration...

Pennsylvania Chief Justice Castille to Face Anti-Retention Effort

Posted on May 21, 2013
Will Pennsylvania see the next serious push to remove a state Supreme Court justice in a retention (yes-or-no) election? Two reform activists want to make that happen. Eric Epstein and Tim Potts unveiled on Monday a self-funded report critical of Chief Justice Ronald Castille’s management of the state’s judicial system and of his handling of [...

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Blogging U.S. Judge Sounds Off on Budget Cuts

Posted on May 21, 2013
U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska is so ticked off about the across-the-board federal budget cuts that he’s sounding off in his personal blog. Take this: “If a banana republic is what members of Congress want,” Judge Kopf writes on herculesandtheumpire...

New Jersey Judge: Protect Our Courts from Politics

Posted on May 20, 2013
New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Barry Albin delivered a strong speech about the importance of protecting impartial courts from political influence. He called on the public to protect judges from the government’s other two branches. Addressing the annual conference of the New Jersey State Bar Association, Justice Albin appeared to address some controversies involving Gov...

Commentary: Tensions Run High Between KS Judiciary and Legislature

Posted on May 20, 2013
A Kansas legislator has introduced legislation that could develop into the most rigorous campaign so far to rein in the authority of the state Supreme Court, reports the Associated Press. Republican House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lance Kinzer says he wants to shift to a federal-style selection system for Kansas Supreme Court justices...

Monday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on May 20, 2013
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, when examined by statistics, has been more sympathetic to the interests of corporations than any other court since World War II, argues Lincoln Caplan in a New York Times editorial...

Federal Judge Hits ?Below-the-Belt? Attack on Record

Posted on May 20, 2013
After the staff of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a negative review of a federal judge’s record, the judge criticized a “below-the-belt” attack on judicial independence. U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin is hearing a civil rights case challenging the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices, which are alleged by plaintiffs to discriminate [...

Four Newest US Judicial Nominees Would Make History

Posted on May 20, 2013
President Obama has nominated four women for federal judgeships, and the White House blog said each nominee would make history if confirmed. Judge Carolyn McHugh would be the first woman from Utah to serve on the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Pamela Reeves, in the Eastern District of Tennessee,  and Elizabeth Wolford, in the Western [...

Column: PA Chief Justice to be Targeted for Ouster

Posted on May 20, 2013
A grassroots group will be calling for the ouster of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille in a fall retention (up-or-down) election, a Philadelphia Daily News column said. The column by John Baer said a Harrisburg-based group called Rock the Capital was planning release on Monday of a report outlining why it believes voters [...

In Many States, Veil of Secrecy Cloaks Outside Spending

Posted on May 17, 2013
A new 50-state analysis the by the National Institute of Money in State Politics finds that lax rules in many states let outside groups sponsor attack political advertising behind a veil of secrecy. It’s nearly impossible in 30 states to find out how much cash outside groups are pumping into elections, the report said, and [...

Kelly Seen as Bringing Rare Experience to Appeals Bench

Posted on May 17, 2013
As Jane Kelly prepared to take the oath on Friday as an Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge, an Associated Press profile labeled her career as a public defender rare for a judge. Most appeals court judges are former prosecutors or trial judges, the AP reported...

Blog: ?Petty? Judicial Reform Bills Don?t Deserve Consideration

Posted on May 17, 2013
“Hastily introduced” legislation by Kansas Rep. Lance Kinzer is a petty attempt to punish state courts, declares a Wichita Eagle Editorial Blog. Kinzer’s proposed constitutional amendment would allow Gov. Sam Brownback to make lifetime appointments to the state Supreme Court, after being confirmed by the Senate...

Friday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on May 17, 2013
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: When judges are elected, it allows corporations to influence the outcome of the law through campaign contributions, making it difficult for an individual to achieve justice against a powerful company...

Commentary: Secret Campaign Cash Undermines Judicial Races

Posted on May 16, 2013
When public defender Ed Sheehy (photo right) was running for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court in 2012, an organization listed as the Montana Growth Network sent out mailers accusing him of being “soft on crime.” Sheehy had won the primary race, but went on to lose the general election in November, reports the [...

Editorial: Don?t Politicize Kansas Supreme Court Selection Too

Posted on May 16, 2013
Kansas legislators must resist a proposed constitutional amendment that would politicize selection of state Supreme Court justices, a Wichita Eagle editorial warned. Legislators voted earlier this year to change the way state Court of Appeals judges are selected, dismantling a merit selection system in the process...

JAS Partners: Injunction Bill Puts Citizens at Risk

Posted on May 16, 2013
A Republican-sponsored bill that would restrict the ability of Wisconsin circuit court judges to block state laws has the effect of “putting citizens at risk of irreparable harm from constitutional violations,” according to two critics of the measure...

Nominee for Appeals Court Approved by Senate Panel

Posted on May 16, 2013
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of President Obama’s nomination of Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan to the nation’s second most influential appeals court. Obama has not previously been able to overcome Republican resistance and successfully place a nominee on the U...

JAS: States? ?Dangerous Overreach? Would Undermine Judges

Posted on May 16, 2013
Justice at Stake raised concerns on Thursday about legislation under consideration in some states to prosecute officials, including judges, who enforce federal firearms laws. ?It would be wrong to lock up judges for applying the rule of law, and legislation advancing in some states proposes to permit exactly that,” said JAS Deputy Executive Director Liz [...

Commentary Focuses on Judicial Advisory Panels for Senators

Posted on May 16, 2013
Many U.S. senators make use of state-based advisory commissions to help them pick candidates for federal judgeships to recommend to the White House. President Obama might have better success in getting judges confirmed if he takes a new approach that involves these panels, associate professor David Fontana of George Washington University suggests...

In Late Hours of KS Legislature, Another Assault on Merit

Posted on May 15, 2013
Kansas state Rep. Lance Kinzer, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced late-hour proposals to shift to a federal-style  selection system for Kansas Supreme Court justices and to take away some of the authority of the state Supreme Court...

U.S. Courts Seek Emergency $73 Million Budget Infusion

Posted on May 15, 2013
In the wake of across-the-board budget cuts, the federal courts are asking the White House for an emergency infusion of $73 million, including $41 million for federal public defenders. “The judiciary is confronting an unprecedented financial crisis that could seriously compromise the Constitutional mission of the United States courts,” stated the letter by Circuit Judge [...

Some Senators Criticize Boston Bombing Case Judge

Posted on May 15, 2013
Federal Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler, who read the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect his rights at his hospital bedside, is catching fire from some Republican members of Congress for her role. The judge advised Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of his Miranda rights three days after he was taken into custody, and after he had answered questions from [...

Wednesday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on May 15, 2013
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: The Wisconsin State Assembly was scheduled to vote on a bill Tuesday that would allow attorneys to nullify rulings by state courts blocking laws. According to the Associated Press, an attorney could stay a judge’s order by filing an appeal within 10 days of the ruling...

Pa. Justice Orie Melvin Resentenced in Hearing Tuesday

Posted on May 15, 2013
After she was sentenced last week to serve three years’ house arrest, former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin went to a resentencing hearing this week so the judge could fix a potential technical error. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Allegheny County Judge Lester Nauhaus made sure to state that Melvin is ordered to [...

Kansas Bar Association Rejects Plan to Revise Judicial Selection

Posted on May 15, 2013
The Kansas Bar Association’s board voted unanimously against a proposal floated by key legislators wanting to revamp the state’s merit selection plan for choosing top judges and add state Senate confirmation as a requirement. Not only did the vote deal a potentially fatal setback to the proposal in the legislature’s closing days, but at the [...

Lack of Diversity Apparent in Lawyers Arguing at the Supreme Court

Posted on May 14, 2013
Since October, the majority of the lawyers who appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court were white males. Just 17 percent were women, four were Hispanic and only one was African American, according to an Associated Press article. At a time when the Supreme Court justices are more diverse than ever before, women and minority lawyers [...

Writer Blasts Senators for Inability to Confirm Judicial Nominees

Posted on May 14, 2013
Lawmakers seem increasingly unable to fill one of their basic constitutional duties, filling judicial vacancies across the country. Instead, senators continue to obstruct President Obama’s judicial nominees, leading to a vacancy crisis in our courts, says Wall Street Journal Washington Bureau Chief Gerald F...

Tuesday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on May 14, 2013
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: In an Ohio Plain Dealer guest column, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor urges changing the state’s method of electing judges by removing partisan primaries in order to strengthen the process...

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