May 21, 2012
In criminal cases, all-out efforts to get the Court's attention
The National Law Journal
The chances of convincing the Supreme Court to grant review in a criminal case are astronomically low. So an increasing number of petitioners are making their pitch to the Court with high-powered amicus curiae groups on their side.
Courtside: Stevens tips Stetson to Texas lawyers
At age 92, retired Justice John Paul Stevens continues to travel around the country, freely offering commentary about his former colleagues while also tossing out verbal bouquets to lawyers he admires. Stevens' recent speech before the University of Texas Law Review's annual banquet last month was no exception.
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Brief of the Week: Taser case evokes a personal response
Kirkland & Ellis attorney Michael Williams was expecting his eighth child when he read a ruling that sided with police officers who repeatedly used a Taser on a pregnant woman at a routine traffic stop. "It really struck me on a personal level," Williams said of the case, Brooks v. Daman, so he offered to work pro bono on a petition for certiorari.
Marcia Coyle at the Supreme Court: The last day of ACA arguments
Marcia Coyle, chief Washington correspondent for The National Law Journal, discusses developments on the last day of oral arguments before the Supreme Court involving the Affordable Care Act.
Appellate practitioner Howard Bashman was largely unknown outside Philadelphia when he decided to take the plunge into law blogging in May 2002. Twenty million page views and 10 years later, his blog How Appealing has made Bashman something of a nationwide rock star in the usually staid field of appellate law.
Iran hostages take fight to the high court
They call it a "devil's bargain," one that freed them and, paradoxically, has tied their hands as they have sought to hold their captors responsible in court after court and finally now in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared ready on April 25 to support at least part of Arizona's controversial immigration law, in spite of pleas by the Obama administration to keep the federal government as the predominant force in setting immigration policy.
Millett takes the lead for most arguments by a woman
Patricia Millett, head of the Supreme Court practice at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, made it into the history books on Tuesday by arguing her 31st case before the Supreme Court – more than any other woman in history.
An ideological gulf, and familiar combatants, in Arizona immigration case
Just a month after tackling one of the most controversial issues in the nation today — the constitutionality of the new federal health care law — the U.S. Supreme Court this week takes up illegal immigration — another politically divisive area with huge national implications.
A long argument, but nowhere near the record
At six hours over three days, the duration of the arguments over the Affordable Care Act will be historic ‒ but not unprecedented, even in the modern era.
Courtside: A Phillips family affair
Monday was a red-letter day for Carter Phillips of Sidley Austin, and not just because he was arguing his 75th case before the Supreme Court – more than any other lawyer currently in private practice.
Courtside: A presidential possibility?
Courtside is an occasional look at developments, large and small, involving the U.S. Supreme Court. Tony Mauro has written the column since 1986.
Courtside: From Chief Justice Stone, "Egg Nog - Harry Parker"
Just in time for the holidays: an eggnog recipe found among the papers of the late Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, attributed to one "Harry Parker." Warning: Do not plan to drive, write consequential briefs or use heavy machinery after sampling this powerful nog.
Courtside: An early (and accidental) peek at today's orders and opinions
Monday's orders and opinions landed on the Supreme Court's Web site a half-hour before they were announced in the courtroom — a breach of the high court's traditional practice.
Appellate Lawyer of the Week: Steve Eberhardt
A sole practitioner from Tinley Park, Ill., Steve Eberhardt will argue Tuesday in Hill v. U.S., in which the justices will decide whether the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 applies even when illegal conduct occurred before the law took effect.
Appellate Lawyer of the Week: Nancy Gertner
Federal judges have not been shy about their dislike of mandatory minimum sentences even as they conscientiously apply them. But one federal judge, liberated by retirement, has put dislike into action in a U.S. Supreme Court case.
Appellate Lawyer of the Week: Lawrence Fox
Through an amicus brief filed on behalf of 91 law professors, Fox, a longtime partner at Philadelphia's Drinker Biddle & Reath, laid out in excruciating detail the "devastating train wreck" in the case of Cory Maples, the death row inmate who faced execution after a series of mistakes by his lawyers.
Appellate Lawyer of the Week: Harvey Schwartz
The Boston civil rights and employment lawyer is finishing off his career with an appearance at the high court in Elgin v. Department of Treasury.
Appellate Lawyer of the Week: Dan Domenico
The solicitor general of Colorado is making his first high court argument on Feb. 27 in the habeas case, Wood v. Milyard.
Brief of the Week: The limits of torture
The Supreme Court has never granted review to a case about post-9/11 torture claims against U.S. officials. American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Ben Wizner worries that omission leaves the door open for future human-rights abuses. In his petition in Padilla v. Rumsfeld, Wizner is asking the Court to decide whether federal officials "responsible for the torture of an American citizen on American soil" can be sued for damages.
Brief of the Week #1: Arizona law's champion weighs in with amicus brief
When Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach helped Arizona legislators draft S.B. 1070 in 2009, avoiding pre-emption problems was one of his top objectives.
Brief of the Week #2: Bipartisan group of former high-level officials join against Arizona law
An unusual group of former State and Defense Department officials from both Democratic and Republican administrations is urging the Supreme Court to continue to let the federal government "speak with one voice" on international relations including immigration policy.
Brief of the Week: A challenge to 'audience-based censorship'
Noted constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, who has argued before the Supreme Court 35 times, can be picky about the cases he accepts. So he typically takes on clients with cases that have national significance and a position with which he agrees.
Brief of the Week: When AGs unite
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld bribery and "honest services" fraud convictions of former Alabama governor Don Siegelman last year, more than 100 former state attorneys generals decided to intervene. They submitted a friend-of-the-court brief this month urging the Supreme Court to reconsider Siegelman's case and clarify standards for when a campaign contribution is a bribe.
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