Litigation

Kagan Argued ?Citizens United,? and Lost

Posted on May 10, 2010
When President Obama formally nominated Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, he assailed “unscrupulous corporations” and “special interests” that work to sway U.S. elections and noted Kagan’s role in a related blockbuster case...

Interest Groups Divided on Kagan Pick

Posted on May 10, 2010
Conservative groups wasted no time in voicing criticism of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, President Obama’s second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet it was hard to tell the extent to which they will fight her nomination. Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, blasted the nomination as “irresponsible” and added, according to The Blog of Legal [...

Holder Floats Idea of Revising Miranda for Terror Suspects

Posted on May 10, 2010
There may be a need for changes to limit the constitutional rights granted terrorism suspects, Attorney General Eric Holder says. In appearances on Sunday TV talk shows, Holder discussed an interest in working with Congress to permit more time to interrogate terror suspects before they are informed of their Miranda rights, according to an Associated Press [...

Republican Strafes as Obama Nears Choice

Posted on May 07, 2010
A prominent Senate Republican met privately with President Obama in the Oval Office, then drove to a libertarian think tank and lit into the president. That account came from the Salt Lake Tribune, which quoted Utah’s Sen. Orrin Hatch as telling the Cato Institute Wednesday about Obama’s process for picking the next Supreme Court justice: “Last summer, [...

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Challenge to Gay Marriage Ban Heard in MA

Posted on May 07, 2010
A federal court in Boston heard arguments over a lawsuit challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which declares that marriage is between a man and a woman. Arguing on behalf of 17 lesbians and gays who wed in Massachusetts, an attorney said the federal statute tramples unconstitutionally on a matter that previously was the province [...

New Life in MN Legislature for Retention Election Bill

Posted on May 07, 2010
There is new life in the Minnesota legislature for a proposal to reform the way voters decide whether to retain a sitting judge. A proposed constitutional amendment would replace contested elections to decide on a sitting judge’s future with up-or-down retention elections...

Judicial Independence Threatened in NJ?

Posted on May 07, 2010
New Jersey Gov. Christopher J. Christie?s refusal to routinely reappoint a state Supreme Court justice has stirred a furious controversy and charges the governor is jeopardizing judicial independence. Protested an editorial in The Press of Atlantic City, “By removing a respected justice with an unblemished record for purely ideological reasons, Christie has undermined the independence and [...

Friday Media Summary

Posted on May 07, 2010
JUSTICE STEVENS ABA Journal: Stevens Explains Death Penalty Stance, Bow Ties Debra Cassens Weiss – 5/6/2010 Washington Post: Justice Stevens casts a long shadow over Supreme Court Robert Barnes – 5/6/2010 SCOTUSBlog: The last common law justice? Rodger D...

New Website a Judicial Selection Resource

Posted on May 06, 2010
A new website devoted to information and news about the escalating national debate over the best way to select judges is available from an initiative spearheaded by retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The Denver-based Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System announced the effort in December...

?Citizens United? Impact on Judicial Elections Examined

Posted on May 06, 2010
The Brennan Center for Justice has published a new report warning of potentially severe consequences for fair and impartial courts flowing from the Citizens United decision. The report is entitled “Buying Justice: The Impact of Citizens United on Judicial Elections,” and it was written by Adam Skaggs...

Holder Defends Handling of Car-Bomb Suspect

Posted on May 06, 2010
In the newest round of controversy over terror suspects’ rights, Attorney General Eric Holder defended on Thursday the handling  of Faisal Shahzad, who was arrested after an attempted bombing of Times Square. Reading the suspect his Miranda rights did not set back the investigation, Holder told a Senate panel, according to a post in The Blog [...

Supreme Announcement Coming Next Week?

Posted on May 06, 2010
There are no leaks yet about who President Obama will tap as his next Supreme Court nominee, but an expert court-watcher says an announcement will come early next week–unless, of course, plans change. That was the handicapping of SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein in a post Thursday...

Justice Steven Questions Choosing Judges by Election

Posted on May 06, 2010
Add retiring Justice John Paul Stevens to the growing list of current and former justices who have publicly questioned the practice of electing judges. Justice Stevens on Wednesday “suggested that the federal system of appointed judges who hold life tenure promoted judicial independence better than popular election of judges,” the Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire blog [...

Thursday Media Summary

Posted on May 06, 2010
SCOTUS NOMINATION REPORTING Washington Post: Obama to make Supreme Court decision soon, aides say Michael D. Shear and Robert Barnes – 5/6/2010 U.S. News & World Report/The Oval: Obama is ‘getting closer’ on Supreme Court pick 5/5/2010 FOX News: Obama Narrows List of Supreme Court Candidates 5/5/2010 NY Daily News: How’s That Bipartisan Thingy Working For You Mr...

Judge Wood Gets Latest Obama Interview

Posted on May 05, 2010
Federal Appeals Court Judge Diane Wood (in photo) was interviewed by President Obama and Vice President Biden as the White House continued its search for the next Supreme Court nominee. She was the fourth known candidate interviewed recently by the president, the Associated Press reported...

Terror Arrest Sparks Renewed Debate over Rights

Posted on May 05, 2010
The capture of a suspect in an attempted car bombing at New York City’s Times Square has sparked a renewed debate about the rights of accused terrorists. When Faisal Shahzad was arrested, he was interrogated without a reading of his Miranda rights to remain silent...

Full Campaign Disclosure Delayed in MI?

Posted on May 05, 2010
Michigan’s secretary of state has issued a draft declaratory ruling about disclosure requirements for corporations making independent political expenditures in compliance with Citizens United. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce requested a declaratory ruling in March...

Wednesday Media Summary

Posted on May 05, 2010
SUPREME COURT NOMINATION REPORTING Houston Chronicle/AP: Obama interviews Diane Wood for Supreme Court Ben Feller – 5/4/2010 Huffington Post: Diane Wood, Supreme Court Contender, Interviewed By Obama And Joe Biden Sam Stein – 5/4/2010 SUPREME COURT NOMINATION COMMENTARY CNN: High court contender Kagan brings reputation for consensus-building Bill Mears – 5/4/2010 CNN: Chicago judge’s record rates highly among progressives, colleagues Bill Mears – 5/4/2010 National [...

Million-Dollar Clash Over Picking MO Judges

Posted on May 04, 2010
The showdown in Missouri over the best way to select judges is a million-dollar fight, already. Critics seek to scrap the state?s  judicial appointment system and replace it with competitive partisan elections, and they’re working to put the issue on the ballot in November...

Obama ISO a ?Consensus Builder? for Supreme Court

Posted on May 04, 2010
Much has been written about President Obama’s supposed criteria for selecting the next Supreme Court justice, but a new account sounds especially credible and a lot like Obama’s style. The president dispatched his staff to help him find a “consensus builder” capable of crossing the partisan gulf and working with the conservative majority, a Los Angeles [...

Supreme Court Shuts ?Nation?s Most Important Portal?

Posted on May 04, 2010
Citing security reasons, the Supreme Court has closed its front entrance to visitors. To enter the building, visitors will no longer be able to pass under the words “Equal Justice Under Law” and through 1,300-pound bronze doors past the columned and iconic entryway, according to an Associated Press article...

Tuesday Media Summary

Posted on May 04, 2010
SCOTUS NOMINATION REPORTING Blog Of Legal Times: Obama Nears Decision on Supreme Court Nominee Tony Mauro – 5/3/2010 AOL News: Spill, NYC Attack May End Napolitano’s High Court Bid Andrea Stone – 5/3/2010 SCOTUS NOMINATION COMMENTARY LA Times: Wanted: A consensus-building justice Christi Parsons and David G...

Obama Advances Supreme Court Interviews

Posted on May 03, 2010
President Obama has held interviews with two more potential Supreme Court candidates, appeals judge Merrick Garland and Solicitor General Elena Kagan. Earlier reports said Obama interviewed appeals judge Sidney Thomas of Montana late last week. Judge Garland sits on the federal appeals court in the District of Columbia and was interviewed earlier in April, according to [...

A Call for Cleaning up PA Judicial Elections

Posted on May 03, 2010
Public appeals for merit selection of judges in Pennsylvania keep growing. One of the latest examples: An Allentown Morning Call column that urges an end to “a judicial stench.” Columnist Paul Carpenter says he talked to Lynn Marks of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, who furnished him “stacks of documents listing who gave money to Supreme Court [...

TX Judge Handed $100,000 Ethics Fine

Posted on May 03, 2010
The Texas Ethics Commission has fined Judge Sharon Keller, presiding judge for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, $100,000 for her failure to disclose more than $2.8 million in personal assets. Judge Keller filed amended reports with the commission last year after news reports had suggested omissions, according to a Dallas Morning News article...

Massey?s Blankenship Draws More Attacks

Posted on May 03, 2010
Near coal country, a newspaper’s editorial page editor joined the chorus of calls for the firing or resignation of Massey Energy Co. chairman and CEO Don Blankenship. Dan Radmacher of the Roanoke Times urged the firing of Blankenship on the heels of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 workers...

Obama Expands Critique of ?Citizens United? Ruling

Posted on May 03, 2010
President Barack Obama set his sights on the blockbuster Citizens United decision in his Saturday radio and Internet address. The president decried it as a potent weapon for special interests, warned of “a potential corporate takeover of our elections,” according to a New York Times article, and  urged Congress to respond with bipartisan legislation...

A New Proposal Seeks Recusal Reform

Posted on May 03, 2010
Amid a national legal debate over judges disqualifying themselves for ethical or financial conflicts, a Washington Post editorial has highlighted a new recusal proposal as offering some “improvements.” The proposal came from the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers...

VA Belt-Tightening to Create Judge Shortage?

Posted on May 03, 2010
Each week news articles from one state or another chronicle the impact of budget crises on the courts. On Sunday, a Virginia newspaper carried this front-page banner headline: “Virginia faces shortage of judges.” A hiring freeze resulting from budget-cutting by Virginia’s General Assembly is expected to leave 18 judgeships unfilled in the current fiscal year and [...

Monday Media Summary

Posted on May 03, 2010
SCOTUS NOMINATION REPORTING ABC News: Poll: Public Gives President Obama Latitude in Supreme Court Nomination MIKE MOKRZYCKI – 4/30/2010 NY Times/The Caucus: Obama Interviews Potential Supreme Court Nominees SHERYL GAY STOLBERG – 4/30/2010 Wall Street Journal: Search for Supreme Court Nominee Advances (subscription required) LAURA MECKLER – 5/1/2010 FOX News: Obama Interviews Solicitor General Elena Kagan for Supreme Court 5/1/2010 Washington Post;/Reuters: Clinton says [...

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