Howard J. Bashman's Recent Articles from LexMonitor

"Federal court: State has right to ban brothel advertising."

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:16:37 GMT

"Federal court: State has right to ban brothel advertising." The Las Vegas Sun has this news update.

My earlier coverage of today's Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.

"Minnesota's chief justice to leave the bench; Two years after his appointment, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson announced he will leave the court effective June 30"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:54:20 GMT

"Minnesota's chief justice to leave the bench; Two years after his appointment, Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson announced he will leave the court effective June 30": The Minneapolis Star Tribune has this news update.

And the Minnesota Judicial Branch today issued a news release headlined "Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson to Leave High Court." You can access the official online biography of Chief Justice Eric J. Magnuson at this link.

"Court upholds 'under God' in Pledge of Allegiance"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:22:06 GMT

"Court upholds 'under God' in Pledge of Allegiance": The Associated Press has this report.

And Bloomberg News reports that "Pledge of Allegiance in Schools Ruled Constitutional."

My earlier coverage of today's Ninth Circuit rulings (here and here) can be accessed at this link.

"Federal Circuit Court Nominee Gains Support"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:02:23 GMT

"Federal Circuit Court Nominee Gains Support": Mike Scarcella has this post at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times."

Three-judge Ninth Circuit panel rejects First Amendment challenge to Nevada's restrictions on advertising by legal brothels

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:30:14 GMT

Three-judge Ninth Circuit panel rejects First Amendment challenge to Nevada's restrictions on advertising by legal brothels: You can access today's ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at this link.

This time, the Ninth Circuit rejects Michael Newdow's challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:54:13 GMT

"We are called upon to decide whether the teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, by students in public schools constitutes an establishment of religion prohibited by the United States Constitution. We hold it does not; the Pledge is constitutional." Demonstrating the difference that a new three-judge panel can have, today the majority on a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit -- in a 193-page ruling -- has rejected Dr. Michael Newdow's renewed challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance.

Circuit Judge Carlos T. Bea wrote the majority opinion, in which Senior Circuit Judge Dorothy W. Nelson joined. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who joined in the Ninth Circuit's original ruling in 2002 declaring the Pledge unconstitutional, issued a dissenting opinion. The majority opinion is 60 pages long, and the dissenting opinion is 133 pages long.

Also worthy of note -- in a separate decision issued today, the same three-judge panel unanimously (although not without criticism from Judge Reinhardt in his separate opinion concurring only in the result) rejects Newdow's challenge to the use of the Nation's motto, "In God we Trust," on United States coins and currency.

In early news coverage, Howard Mintz of The San Jose Mercury News has an update headlined "Appeals court rejects challenge to Pledge of Allegiance in schools."

And Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has a news update headlined "Court: 'Under God' in Pledge is constitutional."

"Supreme Court Justices Reveal Their Secret Fast-Food Preferences"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:48:38 GMT

"Supreme Court Justices Reveal Their Secret Fast-Food Preferences": Jess Bravin has this post at WSJ.com's "Law Blog."

"Judge Thomas Porteous impeached by U.S. House of Representatives"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:22:44 GMT

"Judge Thomas Porteous impeached by U.S. House of Representatives": Bruce Alpert of The Times-Picayune of New Orleans has this news update.

"Corporate $peech Good, Presidential Speech 'Very Troubling.'"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:35:34 GMT

"Corporate $peech Good, Presidential Speech 'Very Troubling.'" Law professor James Sample has this commentary at "The Huffington Post."

"Author assumes guise of 10-year-old to punk famous"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:36:54 GMT

"Author assumes guise of 10-year-old to punk famous": The Associated Press has this report, which notes, among other things, that "Supreme Court justices weighed in on their favorite junk food."

My earlier coverage of the book can be accessed here.

"Why the Supreme Court Issues Plurality Opinions"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:28:04 GMT

"Why the Supreme Court Issues Plurality Opinions": Law professor David R. Stras and professor James F. Spriggs II have posted this paper online at SSRN (via "Legal Theory Blog").

"White House Rolls Out Two More Circuit Nominees"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:10:52 GMT

"White House Rolls Out Two More Circuit Nominees": David Ingram and Mike Scarcella have this post at "The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times."

Yesterday, the White Houst issued a news release headlined "President Obama Nominates Raymond Lohier, Jr. for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Judge Kate O'Malley for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit."

Last week, law.com previewed the Federal Circuit nomination in an article headlined "Ohio District Court Judge the Front-Runner for Federal Circuit Seat, Say Sources; There has been a movement in the patent bar to nominate a down-in-the-trenches district court judge to the Federal Circuit, which has suffered from an Ivory Tower reputation."

"It's Obama vs. the Supreme Court, Round 2, over campaign finance ruling"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:02:41 GMT

"It's Obama vs. the Supreme Court, Round 2, over campaign finance ruling": Robert Barnes and Anne E. Kornblut have this article today in The Washington Post.

Today in The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin reports that "Reid Remarks Intensify Spat With High-Court Conservatives." You can access the full text of the article via Google News.

Linda Feldmann of The Christian Science Monitor has an article headlined "Chief Justice John Roberts and Obama White House: a tit for tat; Chief Justice John Roberts said Tuesday, in response to an audience question, he was troubled that President Obama used the occasion of his State of the Union address to criticize a Supreme Court ruling; The Obama White House, in turn, reiterated its objection to the court's decision."

The Washington Times reports that "Chief justice reignites feud with Obama; Counters State of Union jab."

Bill Mears of CNN.com reports that "Chief justice chides State of the Union as 'political pep rally.'"

Online at Slate, Dahlia Lithwick has a jurisprudence essay entitled "Et Tu, SOTU? John Roberts' nonpartisan attack on presidential partisanship."

At her "Crossroads" blog, CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford has a post titled "White House Vs. Supreme Court: It's Getting Ridiculous."

And The Tuscaloosa News has an editorial entitled "Roberts has right quality for chief justice job."

C-SPAN has posted at this link the video of the Chief Justice's remarks at University of Alabama School of Law in delivering the spring 2010 Albritton Lecture, and in the question-and-answer session that followed.

"A Second Mistrial for Blogger Charged With Threatening Judges; Lead prosecutor calls third trial 'highly likely'; bail conditions remain in place for Turner, who has announced his intent to fire his attorneys"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:44:35 GMT

"A Second Mistrial for Blogger Charged With Threatening Judges; Lead prosecutor calls third trial 'highly likely'; bail conditions remain in place for Turner, who has announced his intent to fire his attorneys": law.com has a report that begins, "The second trial of blogger Harold 'Hal' Turner, the New Jersey white supremacist charged with threatening to kill three Chicago federal judges, has resulted in a second mistrial."

"Appeals court hears arguments on forest roads rule"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:22:04 GMT

"Appeals court hears arguments on forest roads rule": The Associated Press has this report.

"Spouses have bathroom privacy rights, Minnesota appeals court says; Princeton man had no right to secretly videotape his wife"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:10:13 GMT

"Spouses have bathroom privacy rights, Minnesota appeals court says; Princeton man had no right to secretly videotape his wife": This article appears today in The Pioneer Press of St. Paul, Minnesota.

You can access yesterday's ruling of the Court of Appeals of Minnesota at this link.

Articles of interest available online from SSRN

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:04:59 GMT

Articles of interest available online from SSRN: Law professor Ross E. Davies has posted an article titled "The Last Word" that will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Appellate Practice and Process (via "Legal Theory Blog").

G. Mitu Gulati, David Klein, and David F. Levi have posted an article titled "Evaluating Judges and Judicial Institutions: Reorienting the Perspective" (via "Legal Theory Blog").

And David L. Noll has posted an article titled "The Indeterminacy of Iqbal" (via "Legal Theory Blog").

Second Circuit considers whether "a likelihood of success on the merits" is a prerequisite to a preliminary injunction

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:50:44 GMT

In federal court, must the party seeking a preliminary injunction establish a likelihood of success on the merits, or will it suffice to demonstrate a serious question going to the merits to make them a fair ground for trial, with a balance of hardships tipping decidedly in plaintiff's favor? In a ruling issued today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejects the argument that recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent requires the party seeking a preliminary injunction to establish a likelihood of success on the merits.

Should the constitutionality of a zoning ordinance only be evaluated with regard to the 'alternative avenues of communication' it leaves open at the time it is passed, or also those it leaves open at the time it is challenged?

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:45:37 GMT

"This case requires us to resolve an interesting and surprisingly unanswered question of First Amendment law: whether the constitutionality of a zoning ordinance should only be evaluated with regard to the 'alternative avenues of communication' it leaves open at the time it is passed, or also those it leaves open at the time it is challenged." So begins the adult entertainment zoning decision that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued today.

Senior Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi issued the opinion on behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel.

"SJC upholds trigger locks in Massachusetts"

appellateblog@hotmail.com (Howard J. Bashman) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:36:32 GMT

"SJC upholds trigger locks in Massachusetts": The Boston Globe has a news update that begins, "In a victory for law enforcement and gun control advocates, the state's high court today said state law requiring gun owners to use trigger locks on their weapons inside their homes passes constitutional muster."

And The Associated Press reports that "Mass. court upholds state gun-lock requirement."

You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts at this link.