Litigation

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on January 20, 2010
GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES/COURTS National Review/The Corner: Another Option for Gitmo Detainees Glenn Sulmasy – 1/19/2010 The Enterprise Blog: Will the Haitians at Guantanamo Have Habeas Corpus Rights? Gary Schmitt – 1/19/2010 PUBLIC TRIALS/JURIES Washington Post/AP: Court says jury selection should be open to public 1/19/2010 CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Lewd gifts lead to reprieve for death-row inmate Bill Rankin – 1/20/2010 Washington Post: Supreme Court mandates ‘dignity and [...

YouTube Ruling in Gay Marriage Case Is Blasted

Posted on January 19, 2010
The Supreme Court is getting a thrashing from commentators for its recent 5-4 decision outlawing broadcasting of the San Francisco trial in a lawsuit testing the constitutionality of California’s gay-marriage ban, and denying a unique opportunity for public education...

WI Senate Votes to Close ?Issue Ad? Loophole

Posted on January 19, 2010
Wisconsin’s state Senate voted 26-7 Tuesday for a bill to close what critics called a loophole in state law and regulate “issue ads” more tightly. The measure moves to the state Assembly. The bill would require groups running most types of “issue ads” to disclose their money sources and to comply with fund-raising limits in state [...

Supreme Court Takes Election-Privacy Case

Posted on January 19, 2010
Do people who sign petitions to put an initiative on a statewide ballot have a right to keep their identities secret under the First Amendment? The Supreme Court has decided to tackle that question in a case it will review from Washington state. A decision could have important implications for existing disclosure laws, and like a [...

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Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on January 19, 2010
PROP 8 CHALLENGE San Jose Mercury News: Supreme Court blows it with YouTube ruling in Prop. 8 case Scott Herhold – 1/19/2010 One News Now: Will democracy prevail in Prop. 8 trial? Charlie Butts – 1/18/2010 Seattle Post Intelligencer/AP: Same-sex marriage judge dealt with other gay cases 1/19/2010 NY Times: Justices Better at Precedent Than Prescience Adam Liptak – 1/19/2010 True/Slant: Arch conservative Justice Scalia [...

Hints of Future in Prop. 8 Video Decision?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Does the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision barring cameras in the Proposition 8 trial courtroom shed light on how it might ultimately rule on  the constitutionality of a gay marriage ban? Some analysts think so. The high court has blocked broadcasting of the trial that began this week over a challenge to California’s same-sex marriage ban, which [...

W. Va. Governor: Give Public Financing a Try

Posted on January 15, 2010
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, responding to recommendations of an independent commission on judicial reform, pledged in his State of the State speech to introduce legislation for a public financing pilot project for two state Supreme Court seats that will be up for election in 2012...

O?Connor to Speak on Two Supreme Court Cases

Posted on January 15, 2010
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who has championed an end to state judicial elections, will headline a conference in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 26 and discuss two Supreme Court cases tied to the debate. One of the cases is Caperton v...

Judge Inclined to Overturn AZ Public Financing Law?

Posted on January 15, 2010
Campaign finance rules have come under attack on a number of fronts, and now it appears that a federal judge may be preparing to invalidate a public financing system for statewide and legislative offices in Arizona. U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver said in a preview of a final ruling that she likely would prohibit Arizona’s system of [...

Minnesotans Push for Retention Election System

Posted on January 15, 2010
In an effort to fight special interest spending on judicial elections, the legislature of Minnesota is considering a constitutional amendment that would change the retention process of judges. Under the amendment, which would have be submitted to voters, all judges would face periodic retention elections...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on January 15, 2010
JUSTICE AT STAKE Blog Of Legal Times: O’Connor Will Keynote Forum on Supreme Court Election Cases Tony Mauro – 1/14/2010 PROP 8 CHALLENGE NY Times: Arguments at Court Gery Shih – 1/15/2010 Newsweek: 'David and Goliath' Eve Conant – 1/14/2010 NY Times/Opinionator: Into the Closet Washington Post/AP: Gay marriage judge abandons Web broadcast attempt Washington Post: D...

Supreme Court: ?Judging Procedure,? not Trial Broadcasting

Posted on January 14, 2010
In barring the broadcasting of a nationally watched trial over a challenge to California’s gay marriage ban, a 5-4 Supreme Court majority wrote that it was not judging cameras in the courtroom but rather was narrowly addressing lower courts’ procedure in trying to change the rules...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on January 14, 2010
TERRORISM/COURTS Jurist/Paper Chase: Padilla lawyers urge appeals court to overturn terrorism conviction Brian Jackson – 1/13/2010 GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES/COURTS NY Post: Miranda for jihadists? Editorial – 1/13/2010 CITIZENS UNITED ABC News: Citizens United v...

King Legacy Includes Hope for the ?Bank of Justice?

Posted on January 14, 2010
When he was alive, Martin Luther King, Jr. found America’s justice system closed to him. On Monday, our courts will close to honor him. It is an appropriate tribute to his legacy. From his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in August 1963, most people remember Dr...

More Clamor, Delays in Citizens United

Posted on January 13, 2010
An expectant clamor continues in the news media and among advocates awaiting a major campaign finance regulation decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. As Gavel Grab reported a day ago, the stakes are potentially high–in part because a decision in Citizens United v...

Report: Cash, Incumbency Help Decide Judicial Elections

Posted on January 13, 2010
A new report by a national watchdog group highlights the critical importance of money and incumbency in determining judicial elections, and the high-spending role of lawyers and lobbyists. The report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a partner of Justice at Stake, is entitled “Diversity in State Judicial Campaigns, 2007-2008″ and reports trends [...

Supreme Court Blocks Video in Prop. 8 Trial

Posted on January 13, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, pulled the plug indefinitely Wednesday on the idea of broadcasting the trial  of a lawsuit challenging California’s gay marriage ban. According to SCOTUSblog, the high court issued a 17-page opinion and criticized lower courts for attempting ?to change its rules at the eleventh hour...

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on January 13, 2010
CITIZENS UNITED Cato Institute: Campaign Finance after Citizens United: What Now? Capitol Hill Briefing – 2/2/2010 FOX News: Supreme Court Poised to Shake Up Campaign Finance Restrictions 1/12/2010 First Amendment Center: On campaign finance, there’s no doubting Thomas David L...

?People?s Duty? to Defend Courts from Budget Axe

Posted on January 12, 2010
In Georgia, a former state legislator delivers an eloquent appeal about the threat to justice posed by possible budget cuts–and the role of citizens in speaking out. In a commentary published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, E. Wycliffe Orr, a Gainesville attorney, quotes from a white paper of the Conference of State Court Administrators that discusses the [...

NY Times Urges ?Better Job? in Protecting Judges

Posted on January 12, 2010
On the same day recently, a gunman–angered by the outcome of litigation over his Social Security benefits–shot and killed a courthouse security officer and wounded a deputy marshal in Las Vegas; and a government report highlighted increasing threats against federal judges and prosecutors...

Anxious Predictions on Citizens United

Posted on January 12, 2010
A widely anticipated campaign finance regulation decision still sits somewhere behind closed doors at the U.S. Supreme Court, but the case has prompted torrents of speculation about its impact and how it could change the 2010 political landscape. A decision could be issued this week...

Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on January 12, 2010
PROP 8 CHALLENGE LA Times/L.A. Now: Proposition 8 opponent testifies about importance of marriage Maura Dolan – 1/11/2010 Wall Street Journal/Law Blog: A Chat With David Boies, Lawyer for Plaintiffs Challenging Prop. 8 Ashby Jones – 1/11/2010 Jurist/ Paper Chase: California federal court begins Proposition 8 trial Steve Dotterer – 1/11/2010 Newsweek: Accidental Activists Eve Conant – 1/11/2010 NY Times: Justices to Review Plan [...

Supreme Court Blocks CA Trial Video Coverage

Posted on January 11, 2010
The trial of a lawsuit challenging California’s ban on same-sex marriages opened in a San Francisco federal courtroom today, drawing national attention. But plans for video coverage through YouTube were halted at least temporarily by the U.S. Supreme Court...

GOP Senators Ask Military Trial for Terror Suspect

Posted on January 11, 2010
Twenty-two Republican U.S. senators wrote President Barack Obama contending that a military tribunal, not a civilian court in Michigan, is the appropriate place to try  Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (photo at right)...

CO Fair Courts Program Wins National Award

Posted on January 11, 2010
A joint series of programs aimed at educating the public about state and federal courts in Colorado, conducted by the Colorado Bar Association and Colorado Judicial Institute, has won a national award. The American Bar Association announced the program, entitled “Our Courts,” captured the national group’s 2010 Burnham “Hod” Greeley Award, according to a news release [...

Retention Elections Sought for MD Circuit Judges

Posted on January 11, 2010
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is urging the state’s legislature to adopt retention elections for circuit judges, to replace contested elections, in order to “remove the taint of money from the process.” In a commentary published by the Baltimore Sun, Gansler maintains that Maryland’s current scheme–a governor’s appointment of circuit judges, followed by contested elections [...

National Precedent from Proposition 8 Trial?

Posted on January 08, 2010
The national debate over same-sex marriage that will unfold in a California courtroom beginning next week could lead to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case deciding whether it is legal for gay people to marry nationwide. Kristin Perry, a lesbian who has four sons with her partner, Sandra Stier, is the title plaintiff in the case [...

Court Hears Pleas for Bagram Detainee Rights

Posted on January 08, 2010
A federal appeals court heard arguments it should permit prisoners at Bagram Air Base prison in Afghanistan to challenge their detention in U.S. courts, and the judges were “wary” of granting that right, according to a Washington Post article...

NCSC Issues New ?Gavel to Gavel? Report

Posted on January 08, 2010
Gavel to Gavel, National Center for State Court’s weekly summary of legislation affecting the courts, has released its latest edition, according to William Raftery, researcher for NCSC. Stories in this week’s edition include: Mississippi considers nonpartisan elections for Justice Court judges, currently the only jurists in the state that have to run in a partisan election...

Obama ?Likely? to Renominate Judges

Posted on January 07, 2010
President Barack Obama is expected to re-nominate two controversial picks for judgeships whose names the Senate returned to the White House in December. The Huffington Post reported that those individuals likely to be re-nominated soon by the White House  include U...

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