Litigation

Monday Media Summary

Posted on April 12, 2010
JUSTICE AT STAKE: National Law Journal: Big Money Already Flowing Into Judicial Elections Eliza Newlin Carney – 4/12/2010 Jackson Clarion-Ledger: Judicial elections should be reformed David Hampton – 4/11/2010 NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Washington Post: Federal judge orders release of Guantanamo Bay detainee Peter Finn – 4/10/2010 ACLU: Guantánamo Prisoner Successfully Challenges Unlawful Detention Press Release – 4/9/2010 Times Online: George W...

JAS: Justice Stevens ?One of Best Friends America?s Courts Ever Had?

Posted on April 09, 2010
Bert Brandenburg, executive director of Justice at Stake, has issued the following statement on Justice John Paul Stevens’ retirement, as well as a biography of his life in the courts. A running summary of media reports, including speculation on the new Supreme Court vacancy, is in a separate Gavel Grab post below...

Justice Stevens: Media Reports

Posted on April 09, 2010
Gavel Grab will update this posting as new media reports on Justice John Paul Stevens’ retirement come in (click here to read Justice at Stake’s official statement). There already have been many articles speculating on his decision, and on likely nominees to fill the new vacancy on the court...

Honoring Justice Moyer

Posted on April 09, 2010
The flags flew at half-mast in Columbus today to honor Thomas Moyer, who died last week in the final months of his final term, after 23 years as chief justice. The line of mourners spilled out of the Ohio Judicial Center on to the sidewalk, waiting in the cold?38 degrees and gusty?to pay [...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Editorial: High Court Nominee Deserves a Vote

Posted on April 09, 2010
Even before Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announced his plans to retire, a Texas newspaper called 0n the U.S. Senate to give the person nominated to succeed him a fair hearing and a vote. “Already there’s talk about Senate Republicans filibustering President Barack Obama’s next Supreme Court nominee,” a Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial protested Thursday, [...

Three Lead Speculation for High Court Seat

Posted on April 09, 2010
Two appeals court judges and the U.S. solicitor general are in the forefront of  news media speculation about leading candidates whom President Obama might select to succeed Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Solicitor General Elena Kagan (left), 49, is the first woman to hold that job...

IA Governor Signs Disclosure Bill into Law

Posted on April 09, 2010
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver signed into law a bill requiring new disclosure requirements for corporate spending on political advertising, making his state one of the first to respond to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The new law mandates that corporations and unions must disclose their political spending to state regulators, and they must identify themselves [...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on April 09, 2010
NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Huffington Post: Guantánamo Hearings: A Military Bureaucratic Conundrum Daphne Eviatar – 4/8/2010 Jurist/Paper Chase: Former Guantanamo detainee sues US government for torture Matt Glenn – 4/8/2010 CITIZENS UNITED/CAMPAIGN FINANCE HUffington Post: Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision will liberate Pro Publica, Texas Tribune, Bay Area News Project & other “dot-org” news sites from IRS rules curbing advocacy...

Sisters of PA Justice Face Charges over Campaign

Posted on April 08, 2010
Two sisters of a Pennsylvania state Supreme Court justice–including one who is a powerful state senator–are accused of using staff on the public payroll to help run the campaign of the sister who is a justice. Republican Joan Orie Melvin was elected to the state Supreme Court in a high-spending contest last year...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on April 08, 2010
NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Miami Herald: Judge: Detainee’s trial won’t begin til 2011 Carol Rosenberg – 4/7/2010 Yahoo News/McClatchy: Guantanamo war court resumes hearings amid uncertainty Carol Rosenberg – 4/7/2010 Common Dreams: 9/11 Families Denounce Resumption of Military trials on Guantanamo Press Release – 4/7/2010 Blog Of Legal Times: Group Presses Defense Department To Open Rule-Making For Military Commissions Marcia Coyle – 4/7/2010 CITIZENS UNITED/CAMPAIGN FINANCE Bloomberg: Secret Funding [...

Mine Blast Puts Blankenship Back in News

Posted on April 07, 2010
The explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia has thrust company CEO Don Blankenship back into the news. “In 2004, Massey CEO Don Blankenship essentially bought a state supreme court seat,” a National Public Radio blog reported...

W. Va. Blog: ?Do Campaign Dollars Sway Judges??

Posted on April 07, 2010
A commentary by Adam Skaggs of the Brennan Center for Justice, entitled “Judging for Dollars,” has drawn attention in a state that recently adopted a public financing plan for state Supreme Court elections. In a blog post from the Charleston (W...

Obama Still Lags on Judicial Picks

Posted on April 07, 2010
President Obama is lagging so far behind in naming federal judges that he may set some modern records. That’s the scoop from the Washington Post, updating the statistics about federal judicial appointments that could poise Obama to set records for recent presidents at the halfway point of their first term: By Monday Obama will have nominated 56 [...

WI Editorial Appeals for Merit Selection

Posted on April 07, 2010
If Madison-area voters turned to the newspaper’s editorial page recently for advice in a Wisconsin judicial election, they may have gotten a surprise. A Wisconsin State Journal editorial abstained from endorsing a candidate in an election for a seat on the 4th District Court of Appeals, saying the editorial board instead “endorses a better method of [...

O?Connor a ?Crystallizing? Critic of Citizens United?

Posted on April 07, 2010
Every week or so, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor makes news in a university town, a state capital, or a major urban center where she drops in to discuss her outspoken views. Of late, Justice O’Connor has courteously disagreed with the court’s Citizens United decision opening the doors to unlimited corporate spending on political [...

Tribute to Justice Moyer is Recommended

Posted on April 07, 2010
To honor Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who died last week, the state’s governor is recommending the renaming of the Ohio state Supreme Court building after him. “It was a building that he loved, that he worked so hard to have restored,” Ohio Gov...

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on April 07, 2010
JUSTICE AT STAKE American Courthouse: Judicial Selection: What Does it Mean to have Judges "Answerable to the Law"? Dan Pero – 4/6/2010 NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Miami Herald/McClatchy: Guantanamo war court resumes hearings amid uncertainty CAROL ROSENBERG – 4/6/2010 Reason...

Are Finance-Disclosure Requirements in Danger?

Posted on April 06, 2010
When the Supreme Court knocked down corporate spending limits for political elections, it also signaled support for existing disclosure requirements. As a result, many critics of the recent Citizens United ruling found something to cheer about in the decision...

Sheriff Arpaio Incites ?Maricopa Courthouse War?

Posted on April 06, 2010
Since December, Gavel Grab has kept track of the unfolding drama in Maricopa County, Arizona, pitting Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas against their political foes–including those in the judiciary. Now the magazine of the ABA Journal has published a page-turner about the conflict...

Editorials Back Ninth Circuit Nominee Liu

Posted on April 06, 2010
In the run-up to a potentially stormy confirmation hearing, President Obama’s pick for a vacancy on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Goodwin Liu, has won support from editorials in two leading national newspapers. A Los Angeles Times editorial agreed with an American Bar Association judgment that Liu, a constitutional law professor at the University of [...

Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on April 06, 2010
NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Blog Of Legal Times: D.C. Circuit Abruptly Closes Courtroom in Guantanamo Case Mike Scarcella – 4/5/2010 Jurist/Paper Chase: Algeria national seeks emergency stay of transfer from Guantanamo Steve Dotterer – 4/5/2010 McClatchy: Judge dismisses scores of Guantanamo habeas cases Carol Rosenberg – 4/5/2010 SCOTUSBlog: New test for detainees Lyle Denniston – 4/5/2010 Chicago Public Radio/City Room: Chicagoan Accused of Funding al-Qaida Back in Court [...

?Justice Stevens Watch? Reaches Fever Pitch

Posted on April 05, 2010
Curiosity about the future of Justice John Paul Stevens, already at high intensity, has gone off the media charts, led by Adam Liptak’s New York Times article, “At 89, Stevens Contemplates Law, and How to Leave It.” Tantalizingly, in a sit-down interview, Justice Stevens declared there were “pros and cons” between continuing and ending his 35-year career [...

New Republic Commentary: ?Judging for Dollars??

Posted on April 05, 2010
How will Citizens United, with its green light for unlimited special-interest spending on elections, affect state elections for Supreme Court justices? In a word, badly, says Adam Skaggs of the Brennan Center for Justice, in a New Republic commentary called “Judging for Dollars...

Detainee Updates

Posted on April 05, 2010
A federal court has dismissed 105 habeas corpus claims of former Guantanamo detainees, saying the cases are now moot because the detainees have been transferred to other countries. A story on the ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan is available at Jurist Legal News and Research...

Monday Media Summary

Posted on April 05, 2010
JUSTICE AT STAKE Harrisburg Morning Call/Capitol Ideas: Monday Morning Coffee. John Micek – 4/5/2010 NATIONAL SECURITY/COURTS Miami Herald: Use courts for terror detainees Editorial – 4/5/2010 Jurist/Forum: Prosecuting Terror Suspects in Federal Court: The Right Choice Virginia Sloan – 4/2/2010 Jurist/Paper Chase: Federal judge dismisses 105 former Guantanamo detainee habeas cases Ximena Marinero – 4/3/2010 HEALTHCARE REFORM/COURTS Washington Examiner: Virginia rejects federal overreach of Obamacare Kenneth T...

Ohio Chief Justice Dies

Posted on April 03, 2010
Ohio Chief Justice Moyer, a founding member of Justice at Stake’s board of directors, died today. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. At the time of his death, he was the longest serving chief justice in the United States...

Merit Updates From Pennsylvania

Posted on April 02, 2010
Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, which has done an outstanding job of raising public awareness about special-interest spending, reports two new major stories this week at www.judgesonmerit.org. In a Thursday post, PMC reported that all four Democratic candidates for governor said publicly they support the appointment of judges, instead of elections...

New Disclosure Law In Arizona

Posted on April 02, 2010
The legislative response to Citizens United continues. In Arizona, Gov. Jan Brewer has signed a law requiring that corporations and unions disclose any significant election expenditures. According to a story in the Arizona Capitol Times: The bill, H2788, requires corporations and labor unions to file campaign finance reports with the Arizona Secretary of State?s Office within [...

Justice Brennan and Citizens United

Posted on April 02, 2010
In a new commentary, “What Would Justice Brennan Do,” Ciara Torres-Spelliscy of the Brennan Center for Justice,  describes a March 27 program in which constitutional scholars examined the state of law governing money and politics in the aftermath of Citizens United...

Court, Media Weigh In on Federal Eavesdropping

Posted on April 02, 2010
In a major decision involving the federal courts and U.S. anti-terrorism policy, a federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Bush-era electronic eavesdropping violated the Constitution because it was conducted without a search warrant. The ruling has spawned numerous articles and commentary in the national media: A New York Times article focuses on how the case has [...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.