Litigation

?Weakened Courts? from Judicial Election Ruling?

Posted on July 31, 2010
In the Midwest, federal appeals court decisions have stirred up concerns about higher-spending, increasingly politicized judicial elections in at least two states. An Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision cited free speech protections in overturning Minnesota’s limits on fundraising and endorsements by judicial candidates (see Gavel Grab)...

Companies Queried on Political Spending Plans

Posted on July 31, 2010
A Washington-based nonprofit group is asking top U.S. companies to reveal their policies and plans on independent expenditures in advance of the upcoming midterm elections. In a letter dated July 29 to all members of the S&P 500 Index, the Center for Political Accountability and more than 30 shareholder advocates and groups made the request [...

Hate Mail, Death Threats for AZ Judge

Posted on July 30, 2010
A federal judge has received hate mail and death threats after she put the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration law on hold. Her decision thrust her into a national spotlight. Federal District Judge Susan R. Bolton halted the most controversial parts of the law from taking effect (see Gavel Grab)...

Controversial Judge: ?Unhinged? or ?Impeccable??

Posted on July 29, 2010
Federal District Judge Susan Bolton (photo at right) came under withering criticism from some foes for her ruling that enjoined the most controversial sections of Arizona?s new immigration law from taking effect (see Gavel Grab). In Human Events, Ben Shapiro assailed her as “Example No...

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MN Limits on Judicial Candidates Overturned

Posted on July 29, 2010
A three-judge federal appeals court has struck down Minnesota rules that bar judicial candidates from endorsing candidates for elective office and from directly soliciting campaign money given by individuals and small groups. The ruling represented a major victory for lawyer Greg Wersal (photo at left), currently a candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court who is [...

Obama to Senate: ?We Need Judges?

Posted on July 28, 2010
President Obama hasn’t talked much in public about judicial politics, but this week he spoke out about the importance of getting Senate confirmation votes on nominees who have long awaited them. ?Most of these folks were voted out of committee unanimously, or nearly unanimously, by both Democrats and Republicans,? Obama said, according to The Blog [...

Judge Blocks Key Parts of AZ Immigration Law

Posted on July 28, 2010
A federal judge has enjoined the most controversial sections of Arizona’s new immigration law from taking effect. With the law scheduled to take effect Thursday, Judge Susan Bolton put on hold sections of it that call for police to check an individual’s immigration status while enforcing other laws and that require immigrants to carry their [...

Without Disclosure Bill, ?Mud Fight? Ahead?

Posted on July 28, 2010
Senate Republicans drew condemnation in two newspaper editorials for blocking a bill to require disclosure by corporations and labor unions of their political spending (see Gavel Grab). “Senate Republicans made sure this fall’s elections will be drenched in corporate money,” said a San Francisco Chronicle editorial...

JAS Signs Letter Opposing Detainee Transfer Ban

Posted on July 28, 2010
Today, House Democrats and the full Senate were sent a letter that opposes a blanket ban on transfers of Guantanamo detainees to the United States. Justice at Stake and a JAS partner group, The Constitution Project, were among fifteen organizations that signed the letter...

Controversy Over MN Corporate Spending

Posted on July 27, 2010
Target Corp.’s donations totaling $150,000 to a group supporting the GOP candidate for governor in Minnesota have sparked controversy. Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel told employees that Target is “unwavering” in support of the gay community, according to an Associated Press article, which noted concerns raised by gay Target employees...

Disclosure Bill Blocked in Senate

Posted on July 27, 2010
Senate Republicans have blocked efforts by Democrats to advance  a bill with more stringent requirements for special interest groups, unions and corporations to disclose their political spending. Democrats were unable to muster the 60 votes needed Tuesday to get past a filibuster by Republicans against The DISCLOSE Act, as the bill is called, and it [...

?Gitmo Roulette? is Decried

Posted on July 27, 2010
Conflicting  court rulings in the case of a Yemeni national held at Guantanamo Bay underscore the need for clear rules on challenging detentions, a Washington Post editorial contends. The editorial draws on the case of Mohammed Al-Adahi to argue that detainees now face a kind of “Guantanamo roulette” when it comes to the standards they [...

A Prescription for Bipartisanship

Posted on July 27, 2010
From Texas, there is editorial board applause for bipartisanship in judicial selection. An editorial in the San Antonio Express-News reports that President Obama nominated U.S. Magistrate Diana Saldaña to a federal district court judgeship after months of inaction...

Retired MT Chief Justice Honored

Posted on July 27, 2010
Retired Montana Chief Justice Karla M. Gray will be honored this week by the National Center for State Courts, when it presents her the 2009 Distinguished Service Award. ?Throughout her nearly 18 years of service to Montana?s highest court, and particularly during her eight years at its helm, Chief Justice Gray championed equal access to [...

A Better Way to Choose Judges in Ohio?

Posted on July 26, 2010
An Ohio newspaper, with an eye on a recent federal appeals court ruling on judicial election rules in Kentucky, says the Buckeye State may be forced in the future to think about a better way of picking judges. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said judicial candidates in Kentucky may seek office with advertised [...

More Litigants are Representing Themselves

Posted on July 26, 2010
It’s another sign of difficult times, this time at the courthouse. More Americans are facing court proceedings that could cost them dearly, whether about bankruptcy, foreclosure, or employment rights–and they choose to represent themselves due to the high cost of retaining an attorney...

Kagan Would Sit Out Some Cases

Posted on July 26, 2010
If she is confirmed, you can count Elena Kagan out from 11 cases the Supreme Court will hear in the opening weeks of its next term. Those are cases in which Kagan has said she will step aside, or recuse herself, given her contact with them as U.S. solicitor general...

PA Judge?s Guilty Plea Accepted

Posted on July 26, 2010
A federal judge in Scranton, Pa. has accepted a guilty plea from Michael T. Conahan, a former Luzerne County judge charged in a “cash for kids” scandal. Conahan pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge, according to an Associated Press article, in a kickback scheme to lock up juvenile defendants...

Roberts? Court Conservatism ?Shown by Data?

Posted on July 26, 2010
The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is decidedly the most conservative one in decades, and it was the replacement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. that has defined it. These are the leading conclusions of a lengthy analysis of the five terms of the court led [...

O?Connor to Press for Merit Selection in Nevada

Posted on July 26, 2010
Big names led by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor are backing a push for merit selection of judges in Nevada. That’s despite a recent poll reporting that 54 percent of voters said they would vote “no” in November, Jane Ann Morrison writes in a Las Vegas Review-Journal column, the second of her recent [...

Confirmation Votes Part of ?Partisan Battleground? Now

Posted on July 23, 2010
Don’t expect to see Senate votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee soon that resemble Justice Anthony Kennedy’s 97-0 tally in 1988 or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 96-3 total in 1993. A Wall Street Journal article discusses this trend and offers a conclusion: “Supreme Court confirmations are now part of the partisan battleground, with groups [...

OH Judicial Candidates Take Clean-Campaign Pledge

Posted on July 23, 2010
With big-spending judicial races a possibility this year, four candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court have taken a clean-campaign pledge proposed by the Ohio State Bar Association. David Crago, dean of the Ohio Northern University Law School and chair of the OSBA?s Judicial Campaign Advertising Monitoring Committee, said the pledge was aimed at helping candidates [...

Ten States Pass New Campaign-Spending Disclosure Laws

Posted on July 23, 2010
A bill to require disclosure of corporate and labor union spending to influence elections has stalled in the U.S. Senate, but one-fifth of the states have passed legislation to require further disclosure of political spending. This update comes from an article in USA Today, reporting that states have passed measures quickly in response to the [...

Impeachment, Condemnation Urged for TX Judge

Posted on July 22, 2010
When a judicial conduct commission gave Texas Judge Sharon Keller a virtual wrist slap over her handling of a last-minute death row appeal, “it could have been worse,” suggests a Houston Chronicle article. Far worse, in fact, judging by recent outcries...

Real Change Coming to Supreme Court?

Posted on July 22, 2010
Perhaps the common view that the Supreme Court’s ideological lineup will not change if Elena Kagan is confirmed actually misses the point, a veteran political commentator says. David Broder suggests in a Washington Post commentary that the high court  might change in unforeseen ways with three female justices on it...

Is AL Recusal Law in Limbo?

Posted on July 22, 2010
For 15 years, Alabama has had a law on the books that judges should recuse themselves if their campaign got a least $2,000 from a party to a case. But it never has been enforced. Now the recusal law is getting attention, according to a Birmingham News article, thanks to a lawsuit filed by Benjamin [...

Sisters of PA Justice to Stand Trial

Posted on July 22, 2010
An Allegheny County judge has ordered a trial for a Pennsylvania state senator and her sister in an alleged scandal tied to a third sister’s successful campaign for the state Supreme Court. Sen. Jane Orie and her sister, Janine, were ordered to stand trial on charges they had Jane Orie’s publicly funded legislative staff do [...

NV Judge Speaks Out for Merit Selection

Posted on July 22, 2010
A family court judge in Nevada has an answer for activists who say a proposed appointment-and-retention system for selecting judges would take away citizens’ right to vote. Washoe County Judge David Hardy said that under the merit-based selection proposal that will come before voters this fall, after a judge is appointed, he would be required [...

U.S. Senator ?Begs? for a Judicial Confirmation Vote

Posted on July 21, 2010
President Obama’s nominations of Judges James Wynn and Albert Diaz to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee six months ago, on votes of 18-1 and unanimously, respectively. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina stood on the Senate floor recently to “beg” for a confirmation vote on [...

First Filipina American Tapped as CA Chief Justice

Posted on July 21, 2010
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated Tani Cantil-Sakauye to be chief justice of the California Supreme Court on Wednesday. If confirmed, she would become the state’s first Filipina American chief justice, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The nominee is a Republican appeals court judge regarded as a moderate, according to a Sacramento Bee article...

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