Monthly Archives: November 2010

Chief Justice Roberts’ Facebook Page

Posted November 30th, 2010
Shon R. Hopwood
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This weekend I was perusing Facebook to see what my friends are up to when I decided to start searching for some new Facebook friends. I came up with a brilliant idea--I would become Facebook friends with Chief Justice John Roberts. So I searched for his page, found it, and put in a friend request. A short time later, he accepted. I an now "friends" with the Chief, how cool. I copied his page and thought I would share it with you less cool people.
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New Merits Briefs

Posted November 24th, 2010
Andy Cockle
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Cockle Printing filed reply briefs in the following cases: Thompson v. North American Stainless, No. 09-291; Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy v. Stewart et al., No. 09-529; and Walker v. Martin, No. 09-996. To view the briefs follow this link.
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A Point of Pedagogy

Posted November 19th, 2010
Palma Joy Strand
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So the last installment of my three-part series—The Global Gender Gap (#3 of 3)—is going to have to wait.  I’m a little crunched this week, and there’s something else I want to write about. Today I have a yen to write about teaching and technology. Now, if you ask any member of my family regarding [...]
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Merits Briefs

Posted November 15th, 2010
Andy Cockle
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On Friday, the following merits briefs were filed in the U.S. Supreme Court. The briefs can be viewed at this link. The Petitioner's Brief was filed in Stern v. Marshall, No. 10-179; Boeing v. United States, No. 09-1302; Sykes v. United States, No. 09-11311; and Kentucky v. King, No. 09-1271. A Reply Brief was filed in Pepper v. United States, No. 09-6822.
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ABA Journal Has The Scoop On Justice Alito Being Chased By Blogger

Posted November 12th, 2010
Shon R. Hopwood
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The ABA Journal.com summarizes this story about Lee Fang--a blogger from Think Progress--chasing Justice Alito and yelling questions about whether it is ethical for the Justice to be attending a Republican fund-raiser dinner. Fang also videotaped one of Justice Alito's security guards threatening to arrest Fang.
Posted in Supreme Court |( 3 Comments)

Petition Raises an Ex Post Facto Challenge to the Sentencing Guidelines

Posted November 11th, 2010
Shon R. Hopwood
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For the past three years there has been a growing circuit split on whether a defendant’s sentence may be increased by using a Federal Sentencing Guidelines manual that was amended after the offense took place and whether such an increase would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. Chicago-based attorney Marc Martin filed a petition on Tuesday in United States v. Custable, asking the Court to remedy the circuit split that has become “more pronounced.” In April of 2005, Frank Custable was indicted on a series of wire and mail fraud offenses, and obstruction of justice.
Posted in Briefs, Supreme Court |( 1 Comment)

Divorce Italian Style

Posted November 10th, 2010
Daniel Ortiz
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Courts often don’t get sex.  We know that.  But I had thought that this was a peculiarly American matter.  Not so, apparently.  British newspapers are reporting that Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation, its highest court for nonconstitutional issues, has civilly blessed an ecclesiastical court’s annulment of a marriage.  That, by itself, will strike an American [...]
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Administrative Law’s Empire I

Posted November 8th, 2010
Daniel Ortiz
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Many have weighed in on Justice Breyer’s recent book, Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View.  They understandably focus on the sexy topics—constitutional interpretation, Brown v. Board of Education, and judicial review generally; the topics most relevant to today’s political battles—statutory interpretation and the culture wars; and Breyer’s own big, nagging question—why does the public [...]
Posted in Book Reviews, Supreme Court |( 1 Comment)

The Global Gender Gap (#2 of 3)–From Horse Race to Health Care

Posted November 5th, 2010
Palma Joy Strand
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In my last post, I highlighted the “horse race” aspect of the World Economic Forum’s 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, which shows the Nordic countries ahead of the curve in gender equality and the United States placing in the top 20 (#19) for the first time. The ratings are based on each country’s “Gender Gap [...]
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How the Iowa vote may improve the long-term chances for same-sex marriage

Posted November 4th, 2010
Richard D. Friedman
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Three justices of the Iowa Supreme Court were defeated for election to new terms on Tuesday. It is as clear as could be that they lost because they had joined in Varnum v. Brien, 763 N.W.2d 862 (Iowa 2009), the court’s unanimous decision holding that the state constitution gives same-sex couples a right to marry. Especially given that Iowa is a relatively moderate state – it has a Democratic Governor but just elected a Republican one; it has two long-standing Senators, one Republican and one a liberal Democrat; and Obama thumped McCain there in 2008 – one might well expect that high court judges in other states will take note and be more hesitant than they might have been to follow in the same path as Varnum.
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