Massachusetts parents’ school plea denied
The Supreme Court turned aside on Monday an effort by parents of public school children in Lynn, Mass., to reopen their case against a student assignment plan.
July 2006 Archive
Showing 1–50 of 61 items published in July 2006, most recent first.
Opinion Round-Up
There has been a lot of heated point-counterpoint in the major news outlets and the blogosphere over several different legal issues during the last two days.
A move to salvage a big antitrust case
A newly filed antitrust appeal to the Supreme Court, a significant test of the proof needed to show below-cost pricing to try to drive out a competitor, has been taken off the Court’s docket because it was not filed before a deadline.
Analysis: a significant, initial victory for Rep. Jefferson
The D.C. Circuit Court on Friday gave a Louisiana congressman a significant, initial victory in his constitutional feud with the Justice Department over materials seized from his Capitol Hill office during a bribery investigation search.
New Cert Petition
Today we filed the attached petition (and appendix) presenting the following question: When police conduct an illegal search and use the fruits of the search to secure a warrant, does the “good faith exception” to the exclusionary rule apply to the fruits of the second search?
The Status of Legal Blogs
SCOTUSblog’s own Lyle Denniston has published a piece in the Chapman Law Journal entitled, “Legal Blogs: The Search for Legitimacy.” The article can be found online here.
A role for courts on presidential statements
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, would provide a significant role for the Supreme Court and lower courts in reaction to statements that Presidents make in signing new legislation into law.
Round-Up
This New York Times story details the new White House bill that proposes a system to try detainees at Guantanamo.
D.C. Circuit to weigh Hamdan impact
After a considerable delay, the D.C. Circuit Court has asked lawyers involved in two packets of war-on-terrorism cases to file new briefs on how those cases are affected by the Supreme Court’s June 29 ruling in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (05-184).
Bush Administration Response to Hamdan
Over on Balkinization, I’ve linked to a draft of the legislation that the Bush Administration is considering in response to Hamdan. As I note over there, it’s fair to assume it’s a work in progress.
Round-Up
Much ado about presidential signing statements today in the wake of an ABA task force report on their use. For more details on the report, see Lyle’s earlier post here or see this article by the Boston Globe’s Charlie Savage.
Souter refuses to block antitrust indictment
UPDATE Wednesday p.m. Stolt-Nielsen S.A. on Wednesday took its plea to delay an antitrust prosecution to another member of the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens, after being rebuffed Tuesday by Justice Souter.
Round-Up
Jeffrey Rosen of the New Republic has a new book out entitled The Most Democratic Branch: How The Courts Serve America, and Dahlia Lithwick has a review at Slate here. David Cole of Georgetown has an extended analysis of Hamdan forthcoming in the New York Review of Books.
Rehearing in Bush v. Gore sequel
The Sixth Circuit Court on Friday vacated a controversial ruling issued in April that had relied upon the Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Bush v. Gore to strike down the use of different voting technology in different Ohio counties.
Analysis: ABA, the courts and the presidency
UPDATE: Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Monday that he will introduce legislation before week’s end to “give the Congress standing to take into the federal courts situations where the President has issued such signing statements and to authorize the
Government seeks to go ahead with antitrust case
UPDATE Tuesday a.m. — Stolt-Nielsen S.A.on Friday renewed its plea to Justice Souter for a stay pending review of the company’s appeal challenging the Justice Department’s impendng plan to indict it on antitrust charges.
The Cato Institute’s “Supreme Court: Past and Prologue”
In honor of the nearby Constitution Day holiday, on Septetmber 14, 2006, The Cato Institute will be hosting an all-day conference entitled: The Supreme Court: Past and Prologue A Look at the October 2005 and October 2006 Terms Cato Institute F. A. Hayek Auditorium Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Move to block antitrust prosecution
A Norwegian-based ocean transport company and one of its executives, preparing to take a major constitutional issue to the Supreme Court, took an initial step on Thursday by asking Justice David H. Souter to temporarily block an antitrust indictment of them while their appeal unfolds.
Judge rebuffs government on NSA spying
Impact of Supreme Court rulings on later cases — a continuing series. Precedent at issue: U.S. v. Reynolds, 1953, on the “state secrets privilege”.
Round-Up
Tony Mauro of Legal Times recently commented on the rise in Supreme Court Litigation Clinics at top law schools (the principals of this blog are affiliated with the clinics at both Stanford and Harvard). His article can be found here, and the WSJ Law Blog also mentions the phenomenon here.
Round-Up
The Washington Post has a story here discussing the future of Bobby Glen Wilcher, the man to whom the Supreme Court recently offered a stay of execution; the Court will deal with the case early in its next term.
Appeal begins on Hill search; stay sought
UPDATE Thursday p.m. Lawyers for Rep. William Jefferson on Thursday filed an emergency motion in D.C. Circuit Court for a stay of a District judge’s ruling allowing the Justice Department to begin examining computer disks and papers seized by the congressman’s Capitol Hill office during a bribery probe.
House moves to take Pledge cases away from courts
A measure that faces an uncertain future in Congress — to strip the Supreme Court and all federal courts of authority to rule on challenges to the wording of the Pledge of Allegiance or its recitation, including in public school classrooms — was passed by the House Wednesday afternoon.
New legislative plea to overturn Hamdan
This is another report in continuing coverage of the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling June 29 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on issues in the war on terrorism.
October Term 2006 Calendar
Howard Bashman of How Appealing noted late last night that the Supreme Court has released its calendar for the term beginning in October; it can be found here. The listing of the arguments that will take place during the October session can be found here.
October arguments — day by day
The Supreme Court will open its new Term on Monday, Oct. 2, but will hear no arguments that day because of a religious holiday. The Court, however, is expected to take the bench that morning at 10 to formally open the Term, and is likely at that time to issue orders on pending cases and to admit attorneys to its Bar.
Mrs. Blackmun dies
Dorothy C. (“Dottie”) Blackmun, the widow of the late Justice Harry A. Blackmun, died on July 13 at a retirement home in Florida, the Supreme Court announced Monday. She was 95 years old Here is the Court’s announcement of her death and the family’s background.
Round-Up
A few links for your perusal this afternoon: UPDATE 5:08 PM: The Washington Post’s Charles Lane has an article in the August 2006 issue of Chicago Magazine telling the story of Justice Stevens’ relationship to the failed Stevens Hotel and how the subsequent trial of his father may have influenced
Nebraska gay marriage ruling: only federal issues
UPDATE Friday evening: The Tennessee Supreme Court, in a decision that can be found here, ruled that individuals who had challenged a proposed ballot measure on a state constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage did not have standing to sue.
Blog Round-Up
With good reason, the agreement between Senator Specter and the Bush Administration over the Terrorist Surveillance Program has been the talk of the legal blogosphere lately.
Analysis: The new roles for courts on NSA spying
The proposed federal legislation that the White House apparently is willing to accept on the National Security Agency’s “terrorist surveillance program” sets up a new role for the Supreme Court and for a secret lower appeals court, but leaves wide gaps on how those judicial review processes would work.
Government challenges lawmaker’s right to appeal
Impact of Supreme Court rulings on later cases — a continuing series Precedent at issue: DiBella v. U.S. (1962) The Justice Department on Thursday argued in federal court that Rep. William Jefferson, a member of Congress under investigation in a bribery scandal, has no right to pursue an immediate appeal to challenge the FBI seizure of papers and computer disks from his Capitol Hill office.
DeLay case on fast track
UPDATE Friday p.m. The state GOP’s brief in the Fifth Circuit can be found here. The Texas Republican Party’s appeal seeking to take former Rep. Tom DeLay off of the ballot for the November congressional election will be expedited in the 5th Circuit Court, that Court said in an order Thursday.
DeLay ballot case moves up
This is another in a continuing series of reports on the effect of Supreme Court decisions on later cases. The following discussion involves the Court’s rulings in Powell v. McCormack in 1969 and U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton in 1995, barring states from adding new qualifications for membership in Congress.
Analysis: Hamdan and the fate of the Geneva pact
UPDATE Wednesday morning, July 12: News organizations reported that the White House late Tuesday had issued a statement noting that a presidential order on Feb. 7, 2002 had declared that “Common Article 3 did not apply to Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees.” The statement then added: “As a result of
Court delays Mississippi execution
The Supreme Court, over three Justices’ dissents, on Tuesday evening temporarily blocked the execution in Mississippi of a man whose lawyers contend he was not mentally competent to make a decision to drop all appeals and allow his execution to go forward.
Round-Up
First up, Georgetown Professor Neal Katyal, who argued for Hamdan in front of the Supreme Court, has an op-ed at Slate arguing that we ought to use courts-martial to try detainees. His article is here.
Skakel appeals on murder case timing
With the Supreme Court’s Term now concluded, the blog resumes its continuing series of reports on interesting new appeals to the Court. At this stage, the blog takes no position on whether the Court is likely to review those cases.
Opinion Round-Up
Rick Hasen has a commentary at LegalTimes speculating about where the Court may head in the area of election law; his article can be read here. LegalTimes has another article that attempts to predict where the Court is headed.
Rehearing sought in school case
Parents who have challenged a race-based student assignment plan in Lynn, Mass., have asked the Supreme Court to reopen their case, contending that the plan’s validity may depend upon the outcome of newly granted cases from Seattle and Louisville, Ky.
Massachusetts gay marriage: federal issues loom
This is another in a continuing series of reports on Supreme Court decisions that have recurring effects on lower court cases.
Legal Times Event
Sizing Up the 2005-06 Supreme Court Term – A Practitioner’s View Supreme Court correspondent Tony Mauro and a panel of distinguished Supreme Court practitioners analyze the Roberts Court, the substance of the 2005-06 term, the winning and losing strategies, and the outlook for the 2006-07 term.
UPDATE: Hill search ruling appealed
UPDATE Tuesday July 11: Rep. William Jefferson, Louisiana Democrat, on Tuesday formally noted that he would appeal a District judge’s ruling rejecting his constitutional challenge to an FBI search of Jefferson’s Capitol Hill office. The appeal will go to the D.C. Circuit.
The President on Hamdan
President Bush on Friday offered his most extensive comment so far on the Supreme Court’s decision June 29 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. In a press conference in Chicago, he used various formulations to suggest that the Court had silently endorsed the use of the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold terrorist suspects.
Opinion Round-Up
The war of words over the Hamdan ruling is particularly fierce on the op-ed pages of today’s papers. Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post believes that the “robed eminences…didn’t have to issue a ruling this bad.” The full article can be found here.
Kennedy delays cross removal
Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Friday afternoon postponed a federal judge’s order that would have required the city of San Diego to remove a Christian cross from city-owned land on a prominent hill, Mt. Soledad.
Switch to new docket
The Supreme Court, following its usual custom after issuing its final rulings in a Term, has begun docketing cases for the next Term — the 2006 Term, which begins officially this Fall.
Blog Round-Up
Prawfsblog has had a series of posts regarding the Supreme Court’s role in error-correction. A good entry point to the discussion is here. Former U.S. Soldier Steve Green allegedly committed a murder while in Iraq, and it has some Iraqis clamoring for him to be tried in Baghdad; Prawfsblog has another post (here) about what the Supreme Court’s precedents have to say about the legality of such an extradition.
Analysis: 2 rulings on gay marriage: no federal issues
Two decisions by state supreme courts on Thursday set back the legal campaign to win the right to marry for same-sex couples. But neither of the rulings appears to have been based on federal law, so there appears to be nothing in them that the Supreme Court would be likely to review.
Justice Department interprets Hamdan
UPDATE Friday p.m. The Justice Department’s second court filing offering its views on the jurisdictional ruling by the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld repeated the arguments that are discussed in the post below..
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