Litigation

Some Judicial Candidates Refuse Lawyer Donations

Posted on December 09, 2009
Candidates for local or appeals judgeships in two states–Illinois and Arkansas–say they are limiting or foregoing campaign contributions from lawyers, citing concerns on ethical grounds. Gavel Grab is in the business of watching for news from around the country about protecting fair and impartial courts, but it can’t tell if this development is the start of [...

Editorial: Judicial Elections a ?Ruse??

Posted on December 08, 2009
In the wake of debate in Wisconsin over public financing for state Supreme Court candidates, the Wisconsin State Journal is going further, calling for merit selection of judges–and denouncing the tradition of electing them as an outright “ruse...

States Also Await Ruling in Citizens United

Posted on December 08, 2009
As Supreme Court-watchers await an opinion in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a potential blockbuster of a campaign finance decision, the Wall Street Journal provides a good reminder of the ruling’s importance to the states. The high court is deciding whether the government can continue to bar corporations and labor unions from spending directly from their [...

Mistrial Declared in Hal Turner Case

Posted on December 08, 2009
With jurors deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal for Hal Turner, a radio personality accused of threatening three federal judges, the case was declared a mistrial on Monday. A retrial was scheduled for March 1. The three-day trial of Harold C. Turner (left) was expected to take a week, and was cut short [...

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Merit Selection Urged at Pa. Hearing

Posted on December 08, 2009
In the wake of a costly and sometimes nasty election for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, state legislators are hearing pleas to switch from competitive elections to gubernatorial appointment of appellate court judges. At a state House hearing in Harrisburg, Lynn Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, lamented Pennsylvania’s current system as “broken” and weakening [...

Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on December 08, 2009
GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES/COURTS American Prospect/Tapped: Conservatives Against Fair Trials. Adam Serwer – 12/07/2009 The Public Record: Rights Group Asks High Court To Release Seven Gitmo Prisoners Into U.S 12/07/2009 MERIT SELECTION Philadelphia Inquirer: House urged to end election of Pa...

In Surprise, WI High Court Rescinds Recusal Vote

Posted on December 07, 2009
In an unexpected action, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has voted to rescind a new rule that greatly limits situations when a judge might recuse from cases involving campaign supporters. The rule was withdrawn earlier today when justices were unable to merge two separate petitions seeking to change the old policy,  according to an article by Alex De [...

Mich. Recusal Rule Wins Editorial Applause

Posted on December 07, 2009
A new rule governing disqualification of judges in Michigan has won a resoundingly favorable review from the Detroit Free Press and an enthusiastic, why-not-here response from a newspaper in neighboring Ohio. The new  rule, adopted by Michigan’s Supreme Court on a 4-3 vote, would let a majority of state Supreme Court justices disqualify one of their [...

Appointive Plan ?Worth Another Look? in Ohio

Posted on December 07, 2009
  One of Ohio’s leading newspapers has long been openly skeptical about proposals to appoint judges to the bench. Yet an appointment/retention plan floated by Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer  is clearly “worth another look,” the Columbus Dispatch declares in an editorial bearing that headline...

Detainee Seeks End to Tribunal System

Posted on December 07, 2009
A Guantanamo Bay, Cuba detainee who faces war crime charges before a military commission has asked a civilian court to throw out the new military tribunal system set up by Congress. Mohammed Kamin, an Afghan detainee, made his request to the D.C. Circuit Court, according to an article by SCOTUSBlog...

Database for Detainee Habeas Petitions Launched

Posted on December 07, 2009
The American Bar Association has launched a new database of habeas corpus petitions brought in the D.C. courts by Guantanamo Bay and Bagram detainees since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Boumediene v. Bush. The database is available from the ABA’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security on its ABANet...

Calif., R.I. Make Advances in Judicial Diversity

Posted on December 04, 2009
Two states, California and Rhode Island, have made progress toward a more diverse federal judiciary.  Jaqueline Nguyen, (left)  a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, became the  first Vietnamese American woman to be confirmed to the federal bench,  while O...

Butler Nomination Headed to Senate Floor

Posted on December 04, 2009
President Obama’s nomination  of former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler Jr. for a federal district judgeship is headed to the floor of the U.S. Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed Butler’s nomination by a 12-7 vote, with all of the panel’s Republicans opposing the nomination, according to an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel...

Newspaper: WI Law ?A Significant Stride?

Posted on December 04, 2009
  Wisconsin’s new  law to provide public financing for state Supreme Court campaigns, signed by the governor this week, continues to get attention at home and out of state. “Its enactment marks a significant stride in the right direction,” editorialized the Capital Times in Madison...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on December 04, 2009
GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES/COURTS Washington Post: Resumed military panels face new challenges Peter Finn – 12/04/2009 Miami Herald: Guantánamo judge won’t expand Sudanese captive’s war crimes case CAROL ROSENBERG – 12/04/2009 Huffington Post: Try, Try and Try Again: the Military Commissions that Couldn’t Devon Chaffee, Advocacy Counsel, Human Rights First – 12/03/2009 WISCONSIN RECUSAL Wisconsin State Journal: Justice Roggensack: Rule upheld First Amendment rights of voters JUSTICE PATIENCE [...

WI Justice Replies on Recusal

Posted on December 04, 2009
A Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, Patience Drake Roggensack, has written a public defense of a recently adopted rule that rejected public calls for state judges to recuse themselves in cases involving major donors and supporters. Justice Roggensack, writing in the Wisconsin State Journal, contended that some media reports have failed to give “the full story of the concerns [...

Gitmo Military Panels Restart, Amid Debate

Posted on December 04, 2009
A military court at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba held a hearing this week in the case of Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi, accused of serving as a bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden. It was a prelude, the Washington Post reported, to what may become an “ongoing debate about the legitimacy” of military commissions under [...

JAS Submits Pa. Testimony on Merit Selection

Posted on December 04, 2009
 Justice at Stake has submitted written testimony to a Pennsylvania legislative committee studying a proposal to adopt merit selection appointment of appellate judges. The testimony, which can be read here, was sent to a House Judiciary subcommittee that is holding a hearing Dec...

Trial Opens for Blogger Accused of Threatening Judges

Posted on December 03, 2009
The trial for New Jersey radio personality and blogger, Hal Turner, (left) opened Wednesday. Turner faces up to 10 years of prison time for posts that prosecutors say threatened the lives of three federal judges based in Illinois. According to an article in the New York Law Journal, Prosecutor William R...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on December 03, 2009
GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES/COURTS The Weekly Standard Blog: Napolitano: DHS Not Consulted on KSM Trial Michael Goldfarb – 12/02/2009 AP: Military seeks to expand case against detainee 12/02/2009 WISCONSIN PUBLIC FINANCING Wisconsin Law Journal: Public funding available for Supreme Court races 12/02/2009 FactCheck...

Debating ?Hypocrisy? on Judicial Filibusters

Posted on December 02, 2009
Charges of hypocrisy were flying when Republican senators, some of whom had vigorously opposed judicial filibusters in the past, unsuccessfully filibustered  President Obama’s nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month...

Detainee Cites ?Torture,? Seeks Dismissal of Case

Posted on December 02, 2009
Amid the furor over U.S. Justice Department planning to try five 9/11 co-defendants in federal court in New York, the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to face prosecution in the United States is seeking dismissal of all criminal charges lodged against him...

Mixed Reaction to WI Public Financing Law

Posted on December 02, 2009
Gov.  Jim Doyle’s signing of a law to provide public financing for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates won decidedly mixed reaction in segments of the legal community. A report online from the State Bar of Wisconsin called Doyle’s action “the finishing touches on the most significant judicial election reform in several decades...

Ohio Candidate Cool to Judicial Appointment Plan

Posted on December 02, 2009
An appellate judge who is running as a Democrat for the Ohio Supreme Court has declined to endorse a  judicial appointment and retention election plan, aimed at reducing the influence of big campaign cash and partisan politics. According to The Columbus Dispatch, Judge Mary Jane Trapp said “Ohio voters have overwhelmingly rejected the idea, most recently [...

links for 2009-07-10

Posted on July 10, 2009
Proposal to appoint judges seen as hot issue – Las Vegas Sun Court survey shows cuts to services go well beyond Washington state – The Politics Blog – The Olympian – Olympia, Washington Conboy sworn in as NH Supreme Court justice – WCAX...

Massey Adds Twist to Recusal Debate

Posted on July 09, 2009
Massey Energy Co., which was on the losing end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Caperton v. Massey decision, is now pursuing its own potentially far-reaching constitional challenge to ruless governing when a judge must recuse himself from a  case...

Not Ready to Import Judicial Elections

Posted on July 09, 2009
Australia’s chief justice said that  although his country can improve its process of judicial appointments, America should not be its role model,  according to an article in an Australian publication. Robert French,  high court chief justice, said that judicial elections, the model used in many U...

New Call for Bybee Impeachment

Posted on July 09, 2009
A group called Velvet Revolution has urged Michigan Congressman John Conyers to initiate impeachment proceedings against federal  judge Jay Bybee, according to a blurb in the Michigan Messenger. Citing Bybee’s role, while a member of the Bush administration, in drafting the legal policies that permitted harsh interrogation of detainees, the  group said that “several Senators have stated publicly that Mr...

Sotomayor Hearings: Check Here for Updates

Posted on July 09, 2009
Senate hearings begin Monday for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. You can get all-day Justice at Stake updates on Twitter, as well as periodic commentaries on Gavel Grab, Justice at Stake?s daily online journal. If you?re new to Twitter, this is an amazingly easy way to get brief hearing updates (all 140 characters or less)...

links for 2009-07-03

Posted on July 03, 2009
Judge Puts Boies and Olson?s Prop. 8 Challenge on Fast Track to Trial – Law Blog – WSJ The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : Holder Appoints Chief Immigration Judge Missourinet: Chief Justics is chief defender of the Missouri Plan Nine are candidates for state Supreme Court vacancy | ajc...

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