http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en abajournal@staff.abanet.org Copyright 2012 Feb 14, 2012, 12:35 am GMT http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chinese_restaurant_owner_surprised_to_learn_justice_jackson_lived_and_studi/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chinese_restaurant_owner_surprised_to_learn_justice_jackson_lived_and_studi/#When:Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:09:48 -0600 A building housing a Chinese restaurant in Albany, N.Y., may soon be sporting a plaque noting a famous one-time tenant: the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson. The former chief U.S. prosecutor of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg was a struggling 19-year-old law student in 1911 when he lived in the building on Lark Street, the Albany Times Union reports. Now officials at the school have agreed to help pay for a plaque as part of its yearlong Jackson centennial celebration. Jackson scholar John Q. Barrett of St. John’s University law school mentioned the lack of a marker during a panel discussion last week,… Judiciary, Law Schools, Legal History, U.S. Supreme Court, States, New York Feb 14, 2012, 08:09 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scalia_backs_work-life_balance_suggests_law_firms_based_in_cleveland_or_la_/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scalia_backs_work-life_balance_suggests_law_firms_based_in_cleveland_or_la_/#When:Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:59:36 -0600 Justice Antonin Scalia gave some advice to law students at the University of Chicago on Monday involving work-life balance and the geographic means to achieve it. Scalia said job-hunting students should try to find a practice where they won’t have to work too many hours, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “Try to find a practice that enables you to maintain a human existence,” he said, “time for your family, your church or synagogue, community … Boy Scouts, Little League.” Scalia noted that he started out at Jones Day in Cleveland. “You should look for a place like that. I’m sure they’re still out there. Maybe you have to… Careers, Work/Life Balance, Judiciary, Law Firms, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 14, 2012, 06:59 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/justice_breyer/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/justice_breyer/#When:Mon, 13 Feb 2012 22:22:47 -0600 A quiet vacation for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and his wife was interrupted last week by a masked man with a machete. The couple were playing bridge with friends at their Caribbean vacation home on the island of Nevis one evening when the man broke in and robbed them of about $1,000, according to the Washington Post and Reuters. No one was injured in the Feb. 9 robbery, which the FBI and local authorities are investigating. The last time another justice of the nation's top court was the victim of a crime was in 2004, when then-Justice David Souter was assaulted… Criminal Justice, International Law, Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 13, 2012, 04:22 pm CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/justice_ginsburg_roe_v._wade_decision_came_too_soon/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/justice_ginsburg_roe_v._wade_decision_came_too_soon/#When:Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:29:05 -0600 The U.S. Supreme Court may have moved too quickly when it found a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, according to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Speaking at a Columbia Law School symposium on Friday, Ginsburg said the court could have delayed hearing the case while state law evolved on the issue, the Associated Press reports. "It's not that the judgment was wrong, but it moved too far too fast,” she said. Another alternative, she said, was to strike down the Texas law before the court, without finding a right to privacy that overturned abortion bans nationwide. “Things might have turned out differently if the court… Constitutional Law, Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 13, 2012, 06:29 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_demands_doj_emails_on_immigration_claim_says_scotus_may_have_been_mis/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_demands_doj_emails_on_immigration_claim_says_scotus_may_have_been_mis/#When:Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:00:47 -0600 The federal judge in New York who challenged several settlements by the Securities and Exchange Commission is now questioning whether Justice Department lawyers misled the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has ordered the government to turn over Justice Department emails documenting how its lawyers developed a claim in an immigration case that made it easier to deport aliens, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The brief now under scrutiny, filed in January 2009, says the federal government helps facilitate deported aliens’ return to the United States if an appeals court rules in their favor. Chief Justice John G.… Appellate Practice, Attorney General, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 13, 2012, 06:00 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/documentary_on_loving_v._virginia/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/documentary_on_loving_v._virginia/#When:Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:50:50 -0600 For most lawyers, the U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia is a familiar one. The 1967 decision struck down Virginia’s antimiscegenation statute, which prohibited and criminalized interracial marriage. Now a documentary film is bringing to light the story of the people behind the seminal civil rights decision. Filmmaker Nancy Buirski says she became interested in making The Loving Story after reading Mildred Loving’s obituary in the New York Times after her death in 2008. “The case was familiar to me,” says Buirski, “but not familiar enough.” Buirski, who previously ran the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, says she knew from her work that no documentaries had been made about… Civil Rights, Legal History, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 10, 2012, 02:50 pm CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/supreme_court_declines_to_lift_execution_stay_for_ohio_inmate/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/supreme_court_declines_to_lift_execution_stay_for_ohio_inmate/#When:Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:11:44 -0600 A stay of execution remains in place for a convicted killer in Ohio after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. Death row inmate Charles Lorraine had been scheduled to die last month, but a federal judge granted a stay because of concerns that the state has failed to follow its lethal injection procedures. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to lift the stay, report Reuters, Vindy.com and the Associated Press. Lorraine was convicted in the fatal stabbings of an elderly couple in a 1986 burglary. Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, U.S. Supreme Court, States, Ohio Feb 9, 2012, 02:11 pm CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/goldilocks_avoids_criminal_sanction_when_sotomayor_judges_dispute_on_sesame/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/goldilocks_avoids_criminal_sanction_when_sotomayor_judges_dispute_on_sesame/#When:Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:58:17 -0600 Justice Sonia Sotomayor took on more of an arbitrator role when she appeared on Sesame Street and heard the case of Goldilocks v. Baby Bear. Sotomayor began by explaining her role for young viewers. “A Supreme Court justice is a judge who solves arguments by giving his or her opinion,” she said. The justice was able to demonstrate when Baby Bear complained that Goldilocks came into his house uninvited, sat on his chair and broke it. Goldilocks responded that she was tired and she didn’t intend to break the chair. When prompted by Sotomayor, she offered to use some glue to help fix it. The justice’s Jan. 26 appearance has… ABA Journal Production, Weekly Newsletter Stories, Judiciary, Law in Popular Culture, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 8, 2012, 11:58 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/anna_nicole_smith_case_results_in_aba_house_resolution/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/anna_nicole_smith_case_results_in_aba_house_resolution/#When:Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:50:41 -0600 The ABA House of Delegates has approved a resolution that affirms the power of federal magistrate judges to conduct proceedings in civil matters with the consent of the parties. A report accompanying Resolution 10B says it is necessary because of the U.S. Supreme Court decision involving Anna Nicole Smith, whose real name was Vickie Lynn Marshall. The court's June 2011 decision in Stern v. Marshall held that bankruptcy judges have no constitutional authority under Article III to decide common law tort claims. As a result of the decision, Smith’s estate wasn’t able to collect on a tort judgment… Bar Associations, ABA, Midyear Meeting, Constitutional Law, Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 6, 2012, 03:50 pm CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/cert_petition_highlights_issues_spurring_bar_independence_resolution/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/cert_petition_highlights_issues_spurring_bar_independence_resolution/#When:Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:27:11 -0600 A Supreme Court cert petition highlights the issues that spurred the bar association of Puerto Rico to propose an ABA resolution urging respect for the independence of the organized bar. The ABA House of Delegates passed Resolution 10A on Monday. It urges courts and legislatures that regulate the legal profession to respect the organized bar’s right to function independently and to express its views freely. The cert petition (PDF) seeks to challenge a law that bars the Puerto Rico Bar Association from promoting or using any religious or political idea. The Puerto Rico Court of Appeals had found the law didn’t violate the First Amendment… Bar Associations, ABA, Midyear Meeting, Constitutional Law, First Amendment, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 6, 2012, 10:27 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scalia_denies_abortion_views_influenced_by_religion/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scalia_denies_abortion_views_influenced_by_religion/#When:Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:03:39 -0600 Updated: Justice Antonin Scalia doesn’t shy from controversy, even before a large crowd of ABA members. On Saturday during the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans, Scalia answered questions posed by Boston University law dean emeritus Ronald Cass and then from the audience. Topics included abortion, religion, lawyer pay and the justice's recent opinion on police use of a GPS device to track a criminal suspect. The only topic that was off limits—and it was Cass who said Scalia couldn’t answer—was on the Constitution and same-sex marriage. Scalia didn’t hesitate when an audience member asked him whether his Catholicism influenced… ABA Journal Production, Weekly Newsletter Stories, Bar Associations, ABA, Midyear Meeting, Constitutional Law, Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 4, 2012, 06:03 pm CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/around_the_blawgosphere_cle_bobbitt_kagan_real_men_computer_burn/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/around_the_blawgosphere_cle_bobbitt_kagan_real_men_computer_burn/#When:Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:30:49 -0600 How Lawyers Ruin CLE Have you been to a good CLE course lately? If not, why do you think that is? Ernie Svenson, a New Orleans-based lawyer who stopped practicing to start giving continuing legal education presentations full-time, says that, ultimately, lawyers' risk-averse thinking has helped bring CLE to the low it's currently at. "Call me crazy, but the overriding objective of CLE programs should be to encourage lawyers to learn. CLE programs should be engaging, and—dare I say it—entertaining," Svenson wrote at Ernie the Attorney. Instead, he says, CLE regulations focus on minimizing the risk that lawyers will leave the program before it ends rather… Careers, Personal Lives, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 3, 2012, 08:30 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chemerinsky_new_hurdles_for_civil_rights_cases/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chemerinsky_new_hurdles_for_civil_rights_cases/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:50:50 -0600 In a term filled with likely blockbuster decisions, two civil rights cases decided in January—one decided by an 8-1 vote and the other unanimous—are unlikely to receive much media attention. Each, though, is likely to make it much more difficult for civil rights plaintiffs to succeed. And each reflects a significant, though unstated, change in the law. In Minneci v. Pollard, the U.S. Supreme Court held Jan. 10 that prison guards at private prisons contracting with the federal government cannot be sued for constitutional violations where state tort law provides a remedy. In 1971’s Bivens v. Six Unknown Federal Narcotics Agents, the Supreme Court held that federal officers can be… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 1, 2012, 08:50 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scalia_and_holder_to_speak_at_aba_midyear_meeting_in_new_orleans/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scalia_and_holder_to_speak_at_aba_midyear_meeting_in_new_orleans/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:45:44 -0600 The ABA Midyear Meeting returns to New Orleans today, six years after Hurricane Katrina forced the association to move its midyear gathering out of the city. To ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III, the meeting has symbolic significance. “In returning to New Orleans, we hope the ABA will demonstrate its continuing respect for the resiliency of the residents to recover from one disaster to the next,” Robinson tells the ABA Journal. “These are talented, courageous people, and their spirit of recovery is admirable.” The 2012 meeting includes some high-profile speakers and panelists, including Justice Antonin Scalia, Attorney General Eric Holder, Theodore Olson, David Boies and former… Attorney General, Bar Associations, ABA, Midyear Meeting, Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Feb 1, 2012, 05:45 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/constitutional_dilemma_the_power_to_declare_war_is_deeply_rooted_in_america/ http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/constitutional_dilemma_the_power_to_declare_war_is_deeply_rooted_in_america/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:35:10 -0600 Admiralty & Maritime Law, Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, Government Law, Legal History, Legal Theory, Military Law, U.S. Supreme Court, Features Feb 1, 2012, 05:35 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/only_congress_can_declare_war/ http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/only_congress_can_declare_war/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:20:10 -0600 Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, Government Law, International Law, Legal History, Legal Theory, Legislation & Lobbying, Military Law, Terrorism, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court, Features Feb 1, 2012, 05:20 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_high_bench_vs._the_ivory_tower/ http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_high_bench_vs._the_ivory_tower/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:00:10 -0600 Judiciary, Law Professors, Legal Ethics, Legal History, Legal Theory, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, U.S. Supreme Court, Features Feb 1, 2012, 05:00 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/unknown_knowns_torture_suits_against_rumsfeld_may_revive_a_40-year-old/ http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/unknown_knowns_torture_suits_against_rumsfeld_may_revive_a_40-year-old/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:40:05 -0600 Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Legal Ethics, Legal Theory, Terrorism, U.S. Supreme Court, 7th Circuit Court, The National Pulse Feb 1, 2012, 03:40 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/dissecting_the_health_care_case_election-year_term_mirrors_new_deal_era/ http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/dissecting_the_health_care_case_election-year_term_mirrors_new_deal_era/#When:Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:20:34 -0600 Constitutional Law, Executive Branch, Health Law, Insurance Law, Legislation & Lobbying, Trials & Litigation, U.S. Supreme Court, Supreme Court Report Feb 1, 2012, 03:20 am CST http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/high_court_should_space_out_opinions_and_hire_clear_writer_to_summarize_the/ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/high_court_should_space_out_opinions_and_hire_clear_writer_to_summarize_the/#When:Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:32:26 -0600 Televised oral arguments are one way the U.S. Supreme Court could communicate better with the public, according to University of California at Irvine law dean Erwin Chemerinsky. But why stop there? Speaking at a symposium on the court and the press at Brigham Young University’s law school, Chemerinsky suggested several ways the court could do a better job of informing the public. The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times summarizes Chemerinsky’s keynote address. According to The BLT: Chemerinsky offered these suggestions: • Instead of rejecting cert petitions without comment, the court could explain why it denied review. • The court should notify… Judiciary, Law Professors, Law Schools, U.S. Supreme Court Jan 31, 2012, 06:32 am CST