Litigation

Friday Media Summary

Posted on April 23, 2010
SCOTUS NOMINATION REPORTING NY Times/The Caucus: A Brisk First Round on Supreme Court Search SHERYL GAY STOLBERG – 4/22/2010 CNN/Political Ticker: Judges, politicians on latest list of high-court contenders Bill Mears – 4/22/2010 USA Today: Likely candidates to replace Supreme Court Justice Stevens Joan Biskupic – 4/22/2010 SCOTUS NOMINATION COMMENTARY Politics Daily: Supreme Court Watch: Nine Questions the President Should Ask Nominees Andrew Cohen [...

Citizens United: An Update of News, Analysis

Posted on April 23, 2010
Former Sen. Norm Coleman, a Minnesota Republican, is CEO of a new group that appears poised to take advantage of Citizens United by pumping large sums into congressional contests this year. Coleman (photo at left) heads American Action, a Republican-led group that calls itself an “action tank,” according to a TPMMuckraker article...

Editorial: PA Mix of Money, Justice is Unhealthy

Posted on April 22, 2010
It’s time to put an end to the unhealthy mix of money and justice, a Philadelphia Daily News editorial says in urging support for merit selection in Pennsylvania. A day earlier, Gov. Ed Rendell renewed a push to allow citizens to vote on a constitutional amendment for merit selection of appellate judges...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on April 22, 2010
STEVENS LEGACY CNN: Justice Stevens will be hard act to follow Donna Brazile – 4/21/2010 Washington Post/44: Obama marks Stevens’ 90th birthday with congratulatory letter Bob Barnes – 4/20/2010 SCOTUS NOMINATION REPORTING NY Times: Obama Meets With Senators in Effort to Speed Court Choice Peter baker – 4/22/2010 CNN: Source: Obama having informal talks with Supreme Court candidates Bill Mears – 4/20/2010 Baltimore Sun: Obama [...

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Judge Diane Wood: A Supreme Persuader?

Posted on April 22, 2010
If President Obama is hunting for a Supreme Court nominee who can play the role of intellectual counterweight to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and sometimes persuader of swing vote Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, it helps explain why Judge Diane Wood is under strong consideration...

No ?Litmus Test? for Nominee, Obama Vows

Posted on April 21, 2010
There will be no “litmus test” on abortion for his potential nominees to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, President Obama said Wednesday. He also said it will be important to choose a nominee who will take into account “individual rights, and that includes women’s rights...

PA Governor Renews Push for Merit Selection

Posted on April 21, 2010
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell called on Wednesday for legislators to pass measures allowing for the merit selection of appellate court judges, and his remarks were applauded by Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a partner of the Justice at Stake Campaign...

Participation High in NC Public-Finance Program

Posted on April 21, 2010
North Carolina became the first state, in 2002, to provide full public financing for judicial campaigns. This year, all 12 candidates in state judicial elections have stated their intention to participate in the public financing program, according to an article in Mountain Xpress, based in Asheville, N...

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on April 21, 2010
NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Heritage Foundation: Terrorist on Your Street? Jack Park – 4/20/2010 MINNESOTA SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS Grand Forks Herald/AP: Court to consider election for next chief justice Briana Bierschbach – 4/20/2010 NORTH CAROLINA JUDICIAL ELECTIONS Mountain Xpress: Three judicial races on primary ballot Nelda Holder – 4/21/2010 PENNSYLVANIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS Lancaster Online: Clock runs on judgeship pick Tom Murse – 4/20/2010 MARRIAGE EQUALITY/COURTS Seattle Times: Final preparations underway [...

Mother Jones Magazine Report Cites JAS

Posted on April 20, 2010
The national muckraking magazine Mother Jones has turned a spotlight on a trend toward “astonishingly expensive” judicial elections that get little voter attention, and the magazine cites the Justice at Stake Campaign. The article discusses the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision that removed restrictions on corporations and labor unions spending  for advertising [...

Garland: ?Easily Confirmable? Pick for High Court

Posted on April 20, 2010
Judge Merrick Garland of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., often falls behind two female front-runners when he’s mentioned as a possible pick to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens. But in another way he’s out front: His longtime efforts to make himself a better lawyer may distinguish him as “the most easily confirmable candidate” on [...

Election-Privacy Case Looms Before Supreme Court

Posted on April 20, 2010
An election-privacy case from Washington state, to be argued before the Supreme Court next week, offers a warm-up skirmish for the more distant battle over gay marriage, according to a New York Times article. In the Washington case, a group supporting traditional marriage wants to keep secret the names of signers of a ballot initiative to [...

Scholars? Study: Voter-Shielded Judges Do Better

Posted on April 20, 2010
It’s not the easiest reading. But a new academic paper finds that “Politically Insulated Judges are Better Judges,” according to the headline of a Think Progress blog post by Matthew Yglesias. Here are findings excerpted from the abstract of the paper, which focuses on decisions in criminal cases in various state Supreme Courts and is entitled [...

Judge-Prosecutor Affair no Grounds for Appeal

Posted on April 20, 2010
The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal brought by a Texas death-penalty defendant who protested that the judge in his murder trial had been sleeping with the prosecutor–despite the fact they admitted it. Charles Dean Hood, a former topless club bouncer, was seeking a whole new trial based on the relationship of judge and [...

Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on April 20, 2010
STEVENS LEGACY AP: Justice Stevens turns 90; only Holmes was older MARK SHERMAN – 4/19/2010 LA Times: Justice Stevens will not be easily replaced Christopher L. Eisgruber – 4/20/2010 SCOTUSBlog: Justice Stevens, Guantanamo, and the Rule of Law Erin Miller – 4/19/2010 NOMINATION COMMENTARY Bloomberg: Supreme Court Needs Politicians, Not Ideologues Albert R...

Sides Scoping out Battles on Supreme Court Picks

Posted on April 19, 2010
You can bet  that both the White House and political activists on the other side are zeroing in on the potential vulnerabilities of the leading candidates to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens. That’s because opponents can be certain to seize on any vulnerabilities to brand a nominee as a supposed liberal judicial activist, the New York [...

Will Mine Blast Probe Pinpoint Blankenship?

Posted on April 19, 2010
Can blame be assigned personally to Massey Energy Chairman and CEO Don Blankenship in the deadly explosion at Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia? That’s the question that writer Michael Shnayerson frames in a Vanity Fair article headlined, “The Truth About Don Blankenship...

Editorial: Seeking Sunlight in Michigan

Posted on April 19, 2010
As Michigan and other states grapple with shaping responses to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, a Michigan newspaper is making an impassioned plea for disclosure. An editorial in the Grand Rapids Press asks Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land to provide rules for transparency and accountability when she delivers a response to the Michigan Chamber [...

Bar Group Head Urges NC Merit Selection

Posted on April 19, 2010
North Carolina’s public-financing plan for appellate judges doesn’t go far enough to ensure judicial independence, the president of the N.C. Bar Association argues in a commentary urging adoption of merit selection. John R. Wester says in the Charlotte Observer commentary that the public funding program does not apply to elections for District and Superior Court, “where [...

Judge Dissolves Restraining Order in MO Dispute

Posted on April 19, 2010
A judge has dissolved a temporary restraining order issued earlier against a group defending Missouri’s nationally recognized merit selection system for choosing judges. A heated battle is unfolding over  a ballot measure campaign that is seeking to scrap Missouri?s judicial appointment system and replace it with competitive partisan elections...

Monday Media Summary

Posted on April 19, 2010
JUSTICE AT STAKE American Courthouse: Legal Elites Try to Bully People of Missouri Dan Pero – 4/16/2010 STEVENS LEGACY Big Government: The Emperor’s Old Robe: Justice John Paul Stevens Josie Wales – 4/17/2010 NOMINATION REPORTING Newsweek/The Gaggle: Expect Supreme Court Nominee to Be Announced Between May 1 and 15 Daniel Klaidman – 4/18/2010 Reuters: Obama seen making quick Supreme Court pick Patricia Zengerle – 4/16/2010 Washington [...

Inside the Liu Hearing

Posted on April 18, 2010
A Gavel Grab post on Friday gave news accounts of a confirmation hearing of Goodwin Liu, a University of Califoria law professor who has been nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Caitlin Russi, a federal assistant for Justice at Stake who provided a running Twitter update of the hearing, wrote this additional account: Friday?s nomination hearing of [...

Obama and Roberts: a Supreme Rivalry?

Posted on April 18, 2010
Have President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts, both magna cum laude graduates of Harvard Law School, become the nation’s leading intellectual rivals over the proper role of government? That is the intriguing thesis of “Obama v. Roberts: the Struggle to Come,” a story in Saturday’s New York Times...

WI Court Hears Complaint Against Justice Gableman

Posted on April 17, 2010
An unusual ethics complaint accusing a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice of dishonesty in a 2008 election campaign ad was argued before his court colleagues. The six justices did not immediately reach a decision on the complaint against Justice Michael J...

A Different Perspective on Our Supreme Court Saga

Posted on April 16, 2010
After a week of feverish speculation about the Supreme Court’s future direction, President Obama’s pick to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, and whether a fierce confirmation battle will erupt in Washington, it’s time to take stock...

Political Fight Erupts over Liu Nomination

Posted on April 16, 2010
Sharp partisan squabbling erupted Friday in a Senate hearing over the nomination of Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu for a seat on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. An Associated Press article called it “a likely test of President Barack Obama’s ability to win confirmation for a liberal court pick...

Accusations Fly in Challenge to MO Merit Selection

Posted on April 16, 2010
Angry accusations are being hurled over a  ballot measure campaign that is seeking to scrap Missouri’s judicial appointment system and replace it with competitive partisan elections. A judge has granted a temporary restraining order against  the Missourians for Fair and Impartial Courts Action Fund, a group defending the state’s merit selection system...

Holder Backs Dual Options for Terror Trials

Posted on April 16, 2010
Attorney General Eric Holder has expressed a preference for keeping an option to use civilian courts, as well as military commissions, for trials of foreign terrorism suspects. Addressing an awards dinner at the Constitution Project, a partner of Justice at Stake, Holder alluded to a proposal in Congress to bar such prosecutions in civilian courts, according [...

Editorials Urge Obama to Fill Privacy Board

Posted on April 16, 2010
Editorial pages are calling on President Obama  to make a priority of nominating members to the defunct Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Obama’s slowness in picking members is sparking new criticism. The board first was constituted under the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, and its members were terminated by January 2008 under legislation passed by [...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on April 16, 2010
STEVENS LEGACY Philadelphia Bulletin: Justice Stephens Leaves Behind Legacy Of Judicial Activism Gregory Sullivan – 4/15/2010 Houston Chronicle/Houston Belief: Faith leaders weigh in on Stevens’ legacy Adelle Banks – 4/15/2010 Oakland Tribune: Justice John Paul Stevens did nation great disservice Thomas Sowell – 4/16/2010 NOMINATION REPORTING KLIV: Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren could be in the running for Supreme Court Justice 4/15/2010 NOMINATION COMMENTARY The Economist: The next [...

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