Litigation

Friday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on January 29, 2011
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: Former Justice Elizabeth Weaver of the Michigan Supreme Court — and her efforts to seek reform for that court — were profiled in a Toledo Blade article. You also can learn more about her by clicking here for earlier Gavel Grab posts...

Sparks Fly over Proposal to Dump TN Merit System

Posted on January 29, 2011
A proposal to dump merit selection and replace it with election of the Tennessee’s highest judges is provoking some sizzling debate. Here’s the headline from an article in the Nashville Scene about the debate: “Conservatives want judges to sing for their supper and submit to contested election — but will that pimp out the bench?” [...

Sharp Edges at WI Court Candidates? Forum

Posted on January 29, 2011
Some candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court already are engaging in sharp criticism, and an early target is the court’s handling of an ethics case against one of its own. Last summer, the high court  deadlocked on the merits of an ethics complaint accusing Justice Michael J...

JAS Capitol Briefing: Fair Courts ?Under Attack?

Posted on January 28, 2011
Impartial courts across America are under unprecedented attack, leaders and partners of the Justice at Stake Campaign warned at a Congressional briefing Friday. The national, nonpartisan campaign held a briefing entitled “Justice for Sale? The Battle for America’s Courts,” its first briefing ever on Capitol Hill dealing with state court issues...

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Iowa Ouster Vote Still Stirs National Debate

Posted on January 28, 2011
A screening commission has recommended nine finalists to fill three vacancies on the Iowa Supreme Court that were created when voters erupted over a unanimous court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. A national newspaper, meanwhile, seized on the Iowa news to spotlight a  “growing national trend of special-interest groups targeting judges with whom they disagree” [...

Obama Would Elevate Bush Judicial Appointee

Posted on January 27, 2011
President Obama has nominated for the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a South Carolina judge who was named to the federal bench by then-President George W. Bush. U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd became the first judge named by President Bush to be nominated for a higher judgeship by Obama, according to a McClatchy [...

Thursday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on January 27, 2011
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: A screening commission working to fill three vacancies on the Iowa Supreme Court finished the last of its interviews with 60 candidates, the Sioux City Journal reported. Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins, who participated, said Iowans were served well by the commission’s interviewing the candidates in [...

Bid for Vote on MN Chief Justices Rejected

Posted on January 27, 2011
Two Minnesota lawyers have lost a court round in their effort to require that  Minnesota elect its state Supreme Court chief justices. An Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel turned aside the pair’s claim that former Gov. Tim Pawlenty skirted the democratic process when he appointed several chief justices, according to a Star Tribune [...

Editorial: ?Justices? Boycotting Speech is Political Act?

Posted on January 27, 2011
When Supreme Court justices stay away from the State of the Union address, is it a political snub? A Boston Globe editorial suggests as much about the no-show Tuesday by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr. at President Obama’s speech...

Recusal Issue Raised in Emanuel Residency Appeal

Posted on January 26, 2011
Justice Ann Burke of the Illinois Supreme Court (photo at left) appears unlikely to disqualify herself from hearing former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s residency appeal, although some have called on her to do so. Justice Burke’s husband is Ed Burke, a Democratic Chicago alderman who has backed former Chicago Public Schools board [...

Debate Rekindled Over Trying Accused Terrorists

Posted on January 26, 2011
A federal judge’s sentencing of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani to life in prison for his role in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa (see Gavel Grab) refueled a longterm debate about trying accused terrorists in the civilian courts. Ghailani was acquitted of more than 280 charges of murder and conspiracy...

Wednesday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on January 26, 2011
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: As some analysts predicted, the six Supreme Court justices who attended President Obama’s State of the Union address (see Gavel Grab) were Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr...

?Judicial Emergency? Declared in Arizona

Posted on January 26, 2011
A federal judge in Arizona has declared a judicial emergency, effectively relaxing the time limits set for trying accused criminals in court. Judge John M. Roll was waiting to talk to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords about an overload of cases facing the federal courts in Arizona when both were shot outside a Tucson supermarket Jan...

JAS Sets Capitol Hill Briefing

Posted on January 26, 2011
The Justice at Stake Campaign will brief members of Congress, their staff and others in a Friday session about keeping our courts fair and impartial. The Capitol Hill event, entitled “Justice for Sale? The Battle for America’s Courts,” will feature the following speakers: the Honorable Wanda Bryant, Judge at the North Carolina Court of Appeals; [...

Justice Scalia Addresses Lawmakers

Posted on January 25, 2011
Much of he fury over Justice Antonin Scalia’s speaking to the Tea Party Caucus of the U.S. House apparently subsided afterward. In advance of the Supreme Court justice’s appearance Monday, some critics had raised a specter of “collusion” or concern about increased politicization of the high court (see Gavel Grab)...

IN Editorial Backs Merit Selection

Posted on January 25, 2011
A merit selection bill in Indiana’s legislature, to permit the appointment of four judges who preside over the county division of Lake Superior Court, has won support from a local editorial board. The Merrillville Post-Tribune published an editorial that was headlined, “County Division judges belong in merit system...

Life Sentence Imposed in Terror Case

Posted on January 25, 2011
Convicted terrorist Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was sentenced in federal court in New York City today to life in prison for his role in 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. He was the first former Guantanamo detainee to be prosecuted successfully and sentenced in a civilian court in the United States, according to a [...

IA Court Candidates Interviewed Publicly

Posted on January 25, 2011
Iowans can follow the interviews of 60 candidates for the state Supreme Court that began this week, and the initial proceedings delivered both lofty and more practical discourse. Rebecca Saffin Parrish-Sams described herself as a “soccer mom,” and  William Talbot called himself a utility infielder who has practiced different kinds of law, according to articles [...

Six Justices to Attend State of the Union Speech

Posted on January 25, 2011
Six of the Supreme Court’s nine justices will attend tonight’s State of the Union speech by President Obama, the court announced, although it did not name them. The Blog of Legal Times said Justice Samuel Alito Jr. was in Hawaii addressing the Hawaii Bar Association...

Justice Thomas Revises Disclosure Reports

Posted on January 24, 2011
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has revised his financial disclosure statements for  recent years that did not include his wife’s employment, according to letters released by the court on Monday. The letters showed that Virginia “Ginny” Thomas worked for Hillsdale College in Michigan, for the Heritage Foundation and for the GOP House leadership, according to [...

Citizens United Anniversary Round-Up

Posted on January 24, 2011
So much has been written on the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United campaign finance ruling, that it is impossible for Gavel Grab to highlight all of it. In lieu of excerpts, here is a round-up of many of the commentaries and reports, with apologies to anyone who was left out, and [...

Branstad Talks Judicial Selection; JAS Cited

Posted on January 24, 2011
Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who will interview nine finalists for three state Supreme Court openings, says he hasn’t asked such candidates in the past about specific cases and he doesn’t expect to change that now. Branstad will select individuals for vacancies created when Iowans voted to remove three Supreme Court justices over a unanimous [...

Monday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on January 24, 2011
In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: Shira Goodman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a partner of Justice at Stake, was among those quoted in a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article suggesting that a political shift in the state capital will lend momentum to the cause of appointing rather than selecting state appellate judges...

Do Justices? Tensions with Politicians Pose a Risk?

Posted on January 24, 2011
Are contacts between Supreme Court justices and the federal government’s elected branches becoming more politicized — and posing a potential threat to public confidence in impartial courts? That question is raised and explored in a USA Today article entitled, “Tensions rise between Supreme Court, politicians...

Friday Gavel Grab Briefs

Posted on January 21, 2011
In other dispatches about fair and impartial courts: Federal District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan indicated he is not likely to reverse a conviction against terror defendant Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, according to a New York Times article; Ghailani was acquitted on more than 280 [...

No Jury Duty for Kagan, This Time

Posted on January 21, 2011
Member of the jury, Elena Kagan? Not this time around. The newest Supreme Court justice was spotted at the jury lounge of the District of Columbia Superior Court on Thursday, according to a Washington Post report. She was observed sitting with other potential jurors...

Scholars Score IA Impeachment Bid

Posted on January 21, 2011
“We fought a Revolution, in part, to ensure that our judges would not be made dependent on the whim of politicians,” a legal scholar writes in denouncing a proposal to impeach four Iowa Supreme Court justices. Miguel Schor, who teaches at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, takes issue in a Des Moines Register column [...

Recusal Issue at Supreme Court is Highlighted

Posted on January 21, 2011
The watchdog group Common Cause grabbed plenty of media coverage for questioning whether Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas should have stepped aside in voting on the Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens United case. Common Cause trained a spotlight on a topic that doesn’t get a lot of media attention — recusal by Supreme Court justices [...

Political Donations by TN Justices in Spotlight

Posted on January 20, 2011
A newspaper’s report about Tennessee judges making donations to political campaigns has ignited controversy. The Tennesseean reported that in the past four election cycles, judges donated more than $204,000 to candidates for governor and for the legislature...

Judiciary ?Under Attack,? IA Chief Justice Says

Posted on January 20, 2011
Chief Justice Mark S. Cady of Iowa, continuing a speaking tour, says the state’s judicial branch is “under attack.” Justice Cady said efforts to remove state Supreme Court justices for their controversial marriage ruling in 2009 threaten Iowa’s independent judiciary, KCRG-TV reported...

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