Litigation

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on February 24, 2010
CITIZENS UNITED Wall Street Journal: Repealing the First Amendment (Subscription Required) 2/24/2010 USA Today: States weigh campaign-finance changes Fredreka Schouten – 2/23/2010 Charleston Daily Mail/AP: W.Va. lawmakers reacting to major elections ruling 2/23/2010 Center For Responsive Politics/Capital Eye Blog: Midterm Elections Will Cost at Least $3...

Supreme Court Tackles Anti-Terror Law Challenge

Posted on February 24, 2010
The Supreme Court is wrestling with arguments raised in its first review of a part of the USA Patriot Act, passed by Congress shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In oral arguments, the Obama administration defended a law making it illegal to give support to a foreign terrorist group, while a retired judge and University [...

From Brooklyn to Denver, Terror Plea Reverberates

Posted on February 24, 2010
Najibullah Zazi’s guilty plea in a Brooklyn courtroom, to charges in a New York subway bomb plot (see Gavel Grab), is continuing to reverberate. A New York Times feature article depicted life going normally in Brooklyn before, and after, the accused terrorist’s court appearance and contrasted that tableau with what it called the mushrooming “culture war” [...

?Citizens United:? More States Weigh Legislation

Posted on February 24, 2010
The rush to rewrite campaign finance laws in state legislatures, in order to comply with Citizens United, is the topic of an article in USA Today. It presents a good roundup on these efforts, with special attention paid to bills in Iowa and Maryland for disclosure of corporate political spending and to require shareholder approval...

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Advice for Companies on Ducking ?Public Scrutiny?

Posted on February 23, 2010
Corporations looking for a little shelter from public scrutiny over their political spending can find a friend in a middleman. That’s the bottom line of an advisory issued online by lawyers for a Washington lobbying firm, and brought to light recently by the Talking Points Memo Muckraker blog...

On the Widespread Impact of ?Citizens United?

Posted on February 23, 2010
From Arizona to Washington, D.C., a single day’s dispatches suggest the far-reaching impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The Arizona Republic reported that Arizona’s secretary of state has proposed changes in the law that would bring compliance with Citizens United...

Terror Plea: a Victory for Civilian Courts?

Posted on February 23, 2010
Attorney General Eric Holder has a dual victory to declare. Prosecutors not only won a guilty plea in a New York terrorism plot but they secured it in civilian court. “In this case, as it has in so many other cases, the criminal justice system has proved to be an invaluable weapon for disrupting plots and [...

?Torture Memo? Authors Won?t Be Disciplined

Posted on February 23, 2010
It’s official: there will be no discipline for two former Bush administration lawyers who had  a role in drafting the legal policies that permitted harsh interrogation of detainees. The Justice Department issued a report concluding the two lawyers “exercised poor judgment,” but it did not go so far as to find they had engaged in “professional [...

Appeal Bid: When a Judge Behaves Badly?

Posted on February 23, 2010
How closely will the Supreme Court review the integrity of lower courts? An answer may come in an unusual case where a Texas defendant, who was sentenced to death, has told the high court that the judge in his murder trial had been sleeping with the prosecutor...

Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on February 23, 2010
9/11 Trials CNN: AG won’t rule out New York for 9/11 trial February 23, 2010 Citizen?s United Connecticut Law Tribune: An Attack On Election Laws By EMANUEL MARGOLIS The Arizona Republic: Campaign-influence changes eyed by Alia Beard Rau Torture Memos Raw Story: Group wants courts to play ?keep away? from torture lawyers By Sahil Kapur Washington Post: How to keep future John Yoos under [...

Moyers on Citizens United: A ?Corrosive Flood?

Posted on February 22, 2010
Veteran newsman and commentator Bill Moyers has offered a profoundly  troubling concern about “Justice for Sale” in courtrooms across America in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s recent Citizens United ruling. Ten years ago, the potentially corrupting impact of campaign spending in judicial elections was apparent, he said in a broadcast of Bill Moyers Journal...

Supreme Glimpses: Silent Thomas, ?Justice? Obama?

Posted on February 22, 2010
An intriguing anniversary on the Supreme Court is noted by Tony Mauro in the National Law Journal. It was four years ago that Justice Clarence Thomas last asked a question from the bench during oral arguments. Mauro uses the anniversary to discuss a law review article asserting the justice’s silence harms the high court and its [...

Monday Media Summary

Posted on February 22, 2010
Justice At Stake Huffington Post: What Are We Bid for American Justice? Bill Moyers and Michael Winship Citizen?s United FOXNews.com: Conservative Filmmaker Behind High Court Ruling Gets Rock Star Treatment at CPAC By Kelley Vlahos LA Times: Countering the court Editorial, February 19, 2010 Torture Memos Law...

Federal Recusal Rules Get New Attention

Posted on February 19, 2010
An important protection for ensuring fair and impartial courts continues to draw increasing public attention. It is called recusal, and it refers to a judge stepping aside from a case when he may have a bias or ethics conflict. The Supreme Court’s landmark Caperton v...

Date Set for S.C. Judicial Screening Arguments

Posted on February 19, 2010
South Carolina’s Supreme Court has set the date of March 2 to hear oral arguments in a case that began with an attempt to oust a family law judge, and that also challenges the way state judges are screened. Family Court Judge F.P. “Charlie” Segars-Andrews brought the lawsuit after the S...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on February 19, 2010
Judicial Bias Rules AP: States, Congress wrestle with judicial bias rules By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer Prop 8/Same-Sex Marriage OneNewsNow : Prop. 8 judge encouraged to step down Charlie Butts On Top Magazine: Huckabee To Support Iowa Anti-Gay Marriage Group By Carlos Santoscoy Judicial Evaluation Las Vegas Sun: Supreme Court panel will conduct hearing on evaluation of judges By Steve Kanigher [...

?Justice for Sale? on ?Bill Moyers Journal?

Posted on February 19, 2010
“Justice for Sale” is the topic of tonight’s “Bill Moyers Journal,” which revisits a topic first explored on the show in 1999. The show’s web site discusses the program, citing data from the Justice at Stake web site...

Lone Justice Supports UT Governor Naming Chief

Posted on February 18, 2010
Four of Utah’s five state Supreme Court justices oppose a bill that would let the governor select the chief justice. But one justice, Michael Wilkins, spoke out in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune that he supports the bill and believes it is within the legislature’s authority to enact...

Special Prosecutors Ask Punishment for Judge Keller

Posted on February 18, 2010
The Texas judge charged with misconduct in her handling of a last-minute death row appeal ought to be punished, special prosecutors in the judge’s case have told the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The panel ought to ignore the recommendation of a special master in the case who found that Texas Judge Sharon Keller deserves no [...

Tracking the States? Response to ?Caperton?

Posted on February 18, 2010
What’s the fallout for states so far from the Supreme Court’s landmark Caperton v. Massey decision? More jaw flapping than real action, concludes the National Law Journal in a comprehensive, but subscription-only article. Here’s a scorecard from the states that boils down some of the best data from the article, headlined, “Judges slow to toughen up [...

Voluntary Disclosure by Judges is Urged

Posted on February 18, 2010
In a state where  controversy flared over rules barring judges from personally soliciting campaign donation, a lawyer with a ready platform is urging that judges disclose voluntarily any campaign donations from parties in cases before them. John David Dyche, a Louisville lawyer, writes in his occasional political column in the Louisville Courier-Journal that judicial election season [...

?Citizens United? Poll: A Public Dissent

Posted on February 18, 2010
“The public dissents.” That’s the apt headline for a commentary by ABC News polling director Gary Langer on the eye-popping numbers documenting public dismay or opposition over the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on February 18, 2010
Ciitzens United Ohio Impact: In the interest of justice, judges should disclose Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 John David Dyche, COURIER-JOURNAL, 2/16/10. ABC News:In Supreme Court Ruling on Campaign Finance, the Public Dissents February 17, 2010 7:00 AM THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN:Buescher looking to state court ruling on campaign finance limits Bernie Buescher By PETER ROPER, 2/18/10 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Regulate campaign spending Posted: Feb...

?Citizens United? Spurs Legal Action, Protest

Posted on February 17, 2010
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is asking a federal judge to clarify the rights of corporations to play an active role in state elections, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Citizens United decision. In contrast, activists unhappy with the Supreme Court ruling held a protest outside the state capitol in neighboring Wisconsin...

Obama Judicial Nominees Facing ?Stealth War?

Posted on February 17, 2010
The National Law Journal dissects arcane U.S. Senate procedure in an article that exposes the current strategy to frustrate President Obama’s judicial nominations: a “stealth war” carried out through typically secret Republican “holds” placed on a nominee, delaying his advance...

Missouri Merit Selection is Debated

Posted on February 17, 2010
Defenders and critics of Missouri’s nationally recognized merit selection system for judges square off in a point-counterpoint published by the St. Louis Beacon. Critics want to replace Missouri’s plan  (for more background, see these earlier Gavel Grab posts)...

Apocalyptic Future for Texas Judicial Elections?

Posted on February 17, 2010
Will the Lone Star State do away with judicial elections? The recent Citizens United Supreme Court opinion has raised that question for some in Texas.  ?Standing alone, Citizens United does not necessarily condemn states judicial elections, but it hardly stands alone,? according to an commentary in the online Texas Tribune  by writer David Schenck...

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on February 17, 2010
Citizens United Marquette Law Faculty Blog: Fair Judges or Judge Shopping? February 16, 2010 | Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg St. Paul Pioneer Press: U.S. District Court / Businesses sue over campaign decision Chamber of Commerce seeks clarification of corporation rights By Jason Hoppin , 2/16/10 Channel 3000: Activists Protest Supreme Court Decision On Campaign Ad Spending Groups Want Ruling Overturned, [...

Coming Soon: ?Ultimate? Obama-Era Detainee Policy?

Posted on February 16, 2010
Amid the heated debate over military prosecution of terrorists versus civilian prosecution, a trial in New York City or elsewhere for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and the Obama administration’s handling of the Christmas day airliner bombing attempt suspect, sometimes the endpoint gets overlooked...

IA Chief Justice Defends Merit Selection

Posted on February 16, 2010
The chief justice of Iowa’s state Supreme Court, Marsha Ternus, has issued a dual warning: about the threat to fair and impartial courts if Iowa’s merit selection system were replaced with judicial elections, and about the danger of transforming retention votes for judges into popular referenda on specific rulings...

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