Appellate Practice

Appeals Panel Weighs Narrow Ruling in Gay Marriage Case

A federal appeals court panel considering California’s gay marriage ban could decide the case without finding a broader constitutional right to same-sex marriage. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals focused on two issues, the Los Angeles Times reports. One is whether voters can…

Dec 7, 2010 3:01 PM CST

7th Circuit Says Plaintiffs Lawyer ‘May Wish to Moderate His Fury’

A Chicago plaintiffs lawyer who compared a federal appeals panel to Simon Cowell of American Idol fame “may wish to moderate his fury,” according to an opinion denying the lawyer’s petition for a rehearing. The lawyer, Clinton Krislov of Krislov & Associates in Chicago, objects to a ruling by the…

Dec 6, 2010 2:15 PM CST

Fla. Gov Studies Doors Front Man’s Wild Miami Night, Prepping for Pardon Hearing

Jim Morrison urged his fans at a 1969 concert to “love your neighbor ‘til it hurts!” But did the Doors front man expose himself? That is the critical question outgoing Florida governor Charlie Crist is studying as he prepares with a thick notebook of material for a Clemency Board hearing…

Dec 3, 2010 10:26 PM CST

Principal’s Pasting of Schoolgirls’ Heads on Women’s Nude Bodies Not Child Porn, Says Appeals Ct.

A Florida appeals court today reversed the child pornography conviction of a former elementary school principal serving a five-year prison term after finding that the face photos of 11- and 12-year-old students he apparently pasted over the heads of nude adult women in other photographs weren’t illegal under state law.…

Dec 3, 2010 8:44 PM CST

US Attorney Offers Resentencing, Says Federal Judge May Have Been Affected by Drugs or Bias

After a federal judge’s acceptance of a plea deal last month, after he was accused of carrying loaded firearms in his vehicle and buying drugs for a stripper with whom he was having a relationship, federal prosecutors are offering defendants he sentenced during his last months on the bench a…

Dec 3, 2010 1:26 AM CST

Veterans Outraged Over Decision Downplaying Influence of Purple Heart Lie

Veterans are outraged by a federal appeals court decision upholding a conviction for solicitation to commit murder, even though the chief prosecution witness falsely claimed on the witness stand that he had a Purple Heart. The witness, Elven Swisher, wore a replica of the medal as he testified and said…

Dec 2, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Barrier-Breaking US District Court Judge Is Nominated for Seat on 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

An award-winning, barrier-breaking federal district court judge has been nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Bernice Bouie Donald, who became the first female African-American bankruptcy judge in the country in 1988, and has been a federal district court judge…

Dec 2, 2010 1:16 AM CST

Lawyer Defending Calif. Prisons Takes a Liberal ‘Pummeling’ in Supreme Court

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was among the justices who took an aggressive posture toward California’s prison overcrowding in spirited oral arguments on Tuesday. California’s lawyer, Supreme Court litigator Carter Phillips, took a liberal “pummeling,” SCOTUSblog reports, as he argued against a court ordered cap on the state prison population that could…

Dec 1, 2010 2:51 PM CST

Ruling: State Can Be Sued Over Fatal Bear Attack at Campground

A Utah woman whose child was killed by a bear while they were camping near American Fork Canyon in 2007 can sue the state for not warning her family about a bear attack that took place earlier that day. Eleven-year-old Sam Ives was pulled from his tent by a bear…

Nov 24, 2010 7:03 PM CST

Appeals Court Nixes $292K Debt Cancellation, Despite Mortgage Lender’s ‘Repulsive’ Acts

Reversing a decision by a trial judge in a closely watched case that had seemed to shift the balance of power in problematic mortgage foreclosures, a New York appeals court has held that Justice Jeffrey Spinner exceeded his discretion by canceling a couple’s $292,500 home mortgage due to the lender’s…

Nov 23, 2010 3:54 PM CST

Convicted Lawyer Blames Toothpaste for Positive Alcohol Test; Appeals Court Isn’t Persuaded

When Anthony Galluccio tested positive for alcohol, three days after being sentenced to six months of home confinement for leaving the scene of an accident in 2009, the former Massachusetts state senator blamed his toothpaste. It contains sorbitol, an artificial sweetener and sugar alcohol, explains the Associated Press. But the…

Nov 22, 2010 7:32 PM CST

Prosecutor Says Student Wire Raises ‘Serious Legal & Ethical Questions’ in Innocence Probe

At least one journalism student at Northwestern University wore a wire while talking to a potential witness during an Innocence Project investigation in the case of Anthony McKinney, casting doubt on the validity of the wrongful conviction probe, an Illinois prosecutor says. Because state law requires the consent of the…

Nov 18, 2010 8:04 PM CST

ABA Battles FTC in DC Appeals Court: Does Red Flags Rule Apply to Lawyers?

Seeking to call a decisive halt to an attempt by the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the practice of law, the American Bar Association argued today in federal appeals court that a U.S. District Court judge clearly got it right when he ruled from the bench last year that the…

Nov 16, 2010 12:12 AM CST

‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy Remains in Force During Appeal of Ruling Striking It Down

The U.S. Supreme Court today agreed to leave in place the American military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy concerning service members with a same-sex orientation, while an appeal of a lower court ruling striking the policy as unconstitutional is ongoing. The ruling was unanimous; however, Justice Elena Kagan didn’t…

Nov 12, 2010 8:48 PM CST

Sole Surviving Defense Lawyer Recalls Jim Morrison’s 40-Year-Old Indecent Exposure Case

Talk of a possible posthumous pardon for former Doors front man Jim Morrison in a 40-year-old Florida indecent exposure case has put his sole surviving defense lawyer in the news. From what Robert Josefsberg tells the Arts Beat blog of the New York Times, it appears that he believes his…

Nov 11, 2010 10:56 PM CST