Litigation

Bar Head Defends MO Merit Selection Success

Posted on April 30, 2010
In Missouri, where the debate over the best way to select judges has gotten heated (see Gavel Grab,) the president of the Missouri Bar has laid out a staunch defense of merit selection. Skip Walther (photo at left) said Missouri’s nationally recognized merit system for choosing judges has worked effectively for 70 years and was adopted [...

Bills Seek Sunlight on Corporate Political Spending

Posted on April 30, 2010
To soften the impact of Citizens United, leading Democrats introduced bills in Congress requiring corporations to identify themselves in political ads they pay for, and to disclose their expenditures to shareholders and the public. The legislation would “shine a light on the flood of spending unleashed by the Citizens United decision,” Sen...

What Do We Want in a Justice? ?Judicial Experience?

Posted on April 30, 2010
A national poll shows strong support among Americans for selecting a Supreme Court justice who has worn the judicial robes. Some activists and Democrats have urged President Obama, in deciding upon a nominee to replace Justice John Paul Stevens, to look beyond candidates who have spent time on the bench...

Senate Panel OK?s Bill for Televising Supreme Court

Posted on April 30, 2010
The Senate Judiciary Committee has taken a first step toward requiring that oral arguments before the Supreme Court be televised. On a 13-6 vote, the panel approved legislation Thursday to require televising of the formal arguments, unless a majority finds that doing so would violate due process rights, according to a Politics Daily article...

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Obama?s Surprise High Court Interview: Judge Sidney Thomas

Posted on April 30, 2010
President Obama held the first publicly known formal interview in his Supreme Court search process with federal appeals court Judge Sidney Thomas of Montana (photo at left). This step suggested Obama is giving Judge Thomas greater consideration than some observers had thought as a potential nominee to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens...

Prop 8 Trial Conclusion Set for Mid-June

Posted on April 30, 2010
Federal Judge Vaughn Walker has tentatively set June 16 for closing arguments in the historic California trial about same-sex marriage, according to a KCBS News report. California voters in 2008 approved Proposition 8, with a ban on same-sex marriage...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on April 30, 2010
SCOTUS NOMINATION REPORTING AP source: Obama talks to judge about high court Ben Feller – 4/30/2010 CNN/Political Ticker: White House begins finalizing list of high court candidates Bill Mears – 4/29/2010 ABC News/Political Punch: President Obama Interviews Judge Sidney Thomas for Supreme Court Slot Jake Tapper – 4/29/2010 National Review Online/Bench Memos: SCOTUSReport...

JAS to Obama: Remember Judiciary?s ?Unique Role?

Posted on April 29, 2010
The Justice at Stake Campaign has urged President Barack Obama to choose a Supreme Court nominee who shares retiring Justice John Paul Stevens’ commitment to protecting courts from partisan and special-interest politics. ?Throughout his 34-year tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens stood up for the principle that courts should be fair, impartial, and [...

High Court Lags Behind Many States on Gender Diversity

Posted on April 29, 2010
Many states are ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court for gender diversity, according to a new backgrounder by the National Center for State Courts, a partner of Justice at Stake. The Supreme Court now has two justices, out of nine. Even if President Obama were to pick–and win confirmation for–a third, nearly half of state courts [...

Obama Hits ?Conservative? Judicial Activism

Posted on April 29, 2010
President Obama has a beef about some courts: They are not giving the right deference to lawmakers’ decisions. The president, who is deciding upon a successor to Justice John Paul Stevens, shared some of his thinking with reporters aboard Air Force One this week, according to an Associated Press article...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on April 29, 2010
JUSTICE AT STAKE JAS: Nominee Should Share Stevens? Commitment to Fair Courts Press Release – 4/28/2010 STEVENS LEGACY Washington Post/AP: Stevens hears last argument as justice Jesse J. Holland – 4/28/2010 SCOTUS NOMINATION COMMENTARY Washington Post/AP: Obama warns of a `conservative’ judicial activism BEN FELLER – 4/28/2010 Wall Street Journal: Judge Has Record on Abortion Issue Nathan Koppel – 4/29/2010 NY Times/Room For Debate: Who Should [...

TX Editorial: Enhanced Disclosure ?is a Must?

Posted on April 28, 2010
To live with an expected flood of corporate political spending, enhanced disclosure rules are imperative, a Texas newspaper has editorialized. The Houston Chronicle editorial responded to two developments: the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in January and more recently, the Texas Ethics Commission’s approval of an advisory opinion about the decision’s impact on state law...

Justices Voice Skepticism on Election-Privacy Plea

Posted on April 28, 2010
Supreme Court justices voiced skepticism when foes of gay rights asked to shield the names of people who signed a ballot petition seeking repeal of Washington state’s domestic partnership law. The case, argued on Wednesday, is seen as a potential blockbuster for the ways a decision  could influence existing disclosure requirements and campaign finance law, and [...

Supreme Court Keeps Mojave Cross Case Alive

Posted on April 28, 2010
A fractured Supreme Court revived on Wednesday efforts by supporters to keep displaying a Christian cross intended as a war memorial in a remote part of the Mojave National Preserve in California. In a 5-4 ruling, the high court effectively upheld a federal law aimed at protecting the display, according to a Bloomberg article...

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on April 28, 2010
SCOTUS NOMINATION COMMENTARY LA Times: Top court candidates differ on use of presidential power David G. Savage – 4/28/2010 U.S. News & World Report: How to Prepare Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee Jessica Rettig – 4/27/2010 Huffington Post: Experience Is the Life of the Law – and Right Now We Need Harold Koh’s Experience David Perez – 4/27/2010 SCOTUS NOMINATION/DIVERSITY Christian Post: Faith of [...

High Court to Hear ?Blockbuster? Speech Case

Posted on April 27, 2010
It hasn’t gotten anywhere near the attention of Citizens United, but another free-speech case with significant ramifications–this time involving privacy for signers of a ballot petition–will be heard by the Supreme Court this week. Doe v...

Politics Taking a Back Seat in Supreme Court Search?

Posted on April 27, 2010
In the realm of Supreme Court nominations, here’s an unconventional story: An expert Supreme Court watcher now suggests that the Obama administration seems intent on choosing a successor to retiring Justice John Paul Stevens based on factors other than the politics of the Senate or of midterm elections...

Judge Locked up After Ruling Irks Venezuelan President

Posted on April 27, 2010
Only 15 minutes after Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni freed a banker who the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (photo below) wanted locked up, intelligence agents arrested Judge Afiuni. The judge was accused of abuse of authority and of corruption...

New Campaign Finance Rules Sought in PA

Posted on April 26, 2010
Some state legislators are proposing changes to Pennsylvania’s campaign finance rules, and last year’s high-dollar state Supreme Court race is one of the recent elections getting attention in the debate. There are ways that a judicial contest differs greatly from election of a statewide or local official, and Lynn Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern [...

Landmark Term for Free-Speech Decisions?

Posted on April 26, 2010
Its Citizens United decision already is regarded as one of the Supreme Court?s most important this term. Is the campaign finance ruling also part of a potentially landmark term dealing with freedom of expression cases? A New York Times editorial makes that argument, saying ?this could be one of the most important terms in years for [...

CA Lawyer: No Place for Partisanship in Judicial Election

Posted on April 26, 2010
In many tributes, retiring Justice John Paul Steven’s appointment by Republican President Gerald Ford has been noted, as well as Justice Stevens’ leftward movement over the years. Now a veteran California lawyer asks whether an upcoming local judicial primary will be so partisan as to preclude election of someone like Justice Stevens to the bench...

?Empathy? Gone from Obama?s Supreme Court Search?

Posted on April 26, 2010
President Barack Obama is choosing not to talk about “empathy” as he selects his second nominee for the Supreme Court.  Instead, he now seeks someone with “a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people...

Temporary Restraining Order Denied in MO Battle

Posted on April 24, 2010
Two groups with sharply opposing views about the best way to choose Missouri judges sparred again in a courtroom Friday. A judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order against the group that is defending Missouri’s nationally acclaimed merit system for choosing judges...

High Court Search: ?Slim? Odds for Elected Officials

Posted on April 23, 2010
In President Obama’s search for a successor to Justice John Paul Stevens, don’t expect him to pick someone for the Supreme Court who has served as an elected official–even as an elected judge. CBS News’ Jan Crawford reports on Obama’s latest “short list” of potential nominees, and she says that ethics allegations could be exploited [...

Calls Grow for Blankenship Resignation

Posted on April 23, 2010
A group of large pension funds has joined critics calling on Don Blankenship, chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, to resign following a disaster at a mine operated by the company. They include the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, according to a Wall Street Journal article...

Funding Crisis Shuts Some Los Angeles Courtrooms

Posted on April 23, 2010
Nowhere is the impact of the economic crunch on our courts more vivid than in California: 17 courtrooms in the Los Angeles system have been shuttered, and an additional 50 may be closed in September unless there is an infusion of money, Huffington Post reports...

Tough Recusal Rule Urged in NY State

Posted on April 23, 2010
The Fund for Modern Courts, a New York State court reform group, has issued a report urging a new automatic disqualification rule for judges, in order to help ensure fair and impartial courts. The group is a partner of Justice at Stake. Victor A. Kovner, the group’s chair, discussed the recommendation for a tough recusal rule [...

More PA Editorials Back Merit Selection

Posted on April 23, 2010
Two Pennsylvania newspapers joined a growing editorial chorus in support of a proposal to move toward merit selection of appellate judges. An editorial in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice lamented the “rising influence of special interest cash” in judicial elections and allegations of scandal tied to a state Supreme Court campaign last year: “There is no way to [...

Several Tributes Sought to Honor Moyer

Posted on April 23, 2010
Some Republican state senators are urging the renaming of the Ohio Judicial Center  in honor of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, and they also are proposing that a commission be set up to recommend judicial appointees to the governor. Gov. Ted Strickland earlier had recommended renaming of the building, which houses the state Supreme Court...

Senate Unanimously Confirms Appeals Court Judge

Posted on April 23, 2010
The Senate voted 98-0 to confirm President Obama’s nomination of federal district Judge Denny Chin (photo at right) to the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as it proceeded to reduce a backlog of nominees. Chin, a native of Hong Kong, will hold a distinction as the only active Asian-American judge sitting on a federal appeals [...

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