177 posts tagged with court.
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Boneless chicken wings can have bones: Ohio Supreme Court
The high court in the Buckeye State ruled 4-3 that bones are not a foreign substance and that the customer should have assumed a boneless chicken wing may still have bones.
[more inside]
Christian nationalists in the court system
Justice Alito Caught on Tape Discussing How Battle for America 'Can't Be Compromised' [ungated] - "In a new, secret recording, the Supreme Court justice says he 'agrees' that the U.S. should return to a place of godliness." [more inside]
Follow the Money with $upreme Connections
ProPublica has created a database of Supreme Court financial filings searchable by various categories. After the groundbreaking reporting from ProPublica on Clarence Thomas' gifts and loans from billionaires which led to the new toothless "ethics code" in 2023 for the Supreme Court.
Servants of the Damned
How lawyers from one giant DC firm influenced Trump's Supreme Court picks: NPR interviews David Enrich about his book Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice; review by the Guardian.
Iowa: Justices must retire at age 72.
Your State-by-State Guide to Every State Supreme Court (+ D.C. and Puerto Rico). Bolts Magazine explains the structure (5, 7, or 9 members?), selection procedures (gubernatorial appointment? statewide election?), and functions of each state’s highest court. Does this court have anything to do with setting bail schedules? Is it involved in certifying election results? Is anyone on its bench old enough they’ll soon have to retire? Will a vacancy spark a special election?
Details emerge of Clarence Thomas' received gifts
Ethics in Supreme Court Jurisprudence
The real reason for the Supreme Court's corruption crisis - "Roberts's 2011 report and the Court's more recent statement on ethics portray the Supreme Court as a unique institution that cannot be constrained by the same ethical rules that apply to less powerful judges, especially when it comes to recusals." (previously) [more inside]
In this post, I will walk through the decision & explain just how bad
District judge Kacsmaryk's legally indefensible ruling on mifepristone. (Single link Substack). "Essentially the district court’s reasoning is this: the FDA seems slow and bad, so as a kind of revenge against the FDA, let’s allow plaintiffs to bring suits that are plainly time-barred! This isn’t really “law” in any conventional sense of the word." [more inside]
Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as first Black woman on the Supreme Court
Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in Thursday at noon as the 116th Supreme Court justice and the first Black woman to serve on the high court.
At a noon ceremony at the Supreme Court, Jackson was joined by her husband and two children for the swearing in. A formal investiture will follow in fall.
Jackson took two oaths during the livestreamed event: a constitutional oath, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, and a judicial oath, administered by Justice Stephen Breyer. [more inside]
Man Calling Libraries and Masturbating to a Supreme Court Opinion
"You saw that headline and thought: “This can’t possibly be real.” Alas, it is very much a real thing that’s really happening in America in 2021. The asteroid cannot come swiftly enough."
Bill Cosby free, now and forever.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Cosby had been denied a fair trial "That’s why Cosby—with the assurance that he wouldn’t be prosecuted—divulged in a civil case brought by Constand that he had given quaaludes to women he had pursued sexually, as explained by The New York Times. But years later, after Castor’s departure from office, his successor Kevin Steele did not uphold Castor’s deal. When Steele moved forward with criminal charges, Cosby’s testimony in the civil case was used as evidence." [more inside]
The Historian and the Murderer
Historian Dominique Kirchner Reill: "[M]y job in the almost 80 questions that followed was not to disabuse the court of ideas of adulterous encounters but instead to explain what this strange profession of 'historian' was, and what role it played in bringing Klinger into that Astoria park on the day he died."
Google v. Oracle
The United States Supreme Court has decided in favor of Google [pdf] in the case of Google v. Oracle, essentially resolving a case begun 11 years ago. The 6-2 majority* avoided deciding whether or not the Java API was copyrightable. Rather, it held that, even if the API is copyrightable, Google's use of the API for Android was fair use. SCOTUSblog has more. [more inside]
Witness intimidation at a remote court hearing
Drama unfolds during a preliminary domestic violence hearing conducted over Zoom, when a perceptive lawyer notices her client may be in the same room as the perpetrator. It seems the judge had anticipated this and had police ready to intervene.
In Virtual Court No One Knows if You're a Cat
Things go wrong on zoom hearings all the time but they are usually not this hilarious. (SLYT) The judge followed up with a warning about the dangers of using filters in virtual hearings.
“I don’t understand why I have to be put at risk"
Oregon Assault Case Dismissed After Witness Refuses Court's Demand to Testify Without a Mask "Sanchez asserted his right to meet his accuser face-to-face and, with the support of the Judge, insisted that Fawcett testify without a mask—despite the trial occurring in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic." [more inside]
Oops, sorry guys, my bad!
Kavanaugh corrects a concurring opinion after Vermont secretary of state Condos issued a strong condemnation.
Zipper-mouth face
"It would seem I had planned everything according to Hoyle"
Katia Kapovich (Body, 7/19/2014), "Soup Gazpacho": "it's Saturday, the supermarket is packed to the gills, the five cashier girls are busy like robots and don’t even have time to look up from their work. What's necessary is to act quickly and decisively. I tossed the package with the hot dogs in my purse, stacked the three freshly packed containers of gazpacho soup one on top of the other, and proceeded to the exit. Explaining why I did it would take a long time." Kapovich's story is semi-autobiographical. Her poetry, written in both Russian and English, includes "The Ferry" and "The Green One Over There."
A certian fairness is required
Supreme Court of Canada: agreement saying an UberEats driver had to go to arbitration instead of suing in Ontario was so unfair it was invalid. Toronto Star: ruling paves the way for $400M class-action lawsuit by Ontario Uber drivers. [more inside]
Bostock v. Clayton County
In a 6-3 decision written by Justice Gorsuch [pdf], the United States Supreme Court has held that "In Title VII [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964], Congress adopted broad language making it illegal for an employer to rely on an employee’s sex when deciding to fire that employee. We do not hesitate to recognize today a necessary consequence of that legislative choice: An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law." [more inside]
In re Toilet Flush
In response to the pandemic the US Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments via conference call, and it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. From Ashley Feinberg at Slate: Who Flushed? A Supreme Court Investigation.
All over the world it's the same, it's the same.
Divorce, Iran Style - Iran Family Court Rooms This link is to a YouTube video of a seventy-five minute documentary inside an Iranian family courthouse.
The Court Question
“The changes that the Senate Judiciary Committee have made has created a rubber stamp for nominees to sail through,” Buchert said. “Nominee after nominee is either unqualified, or hiding their writings from the committee, or they’ve got clear views on LGBT people that show they aren’t going to provide fair and impartial justice.” How Trump fucked the courts for a generation (Outline) “ In the face of an enemy Supreme Court, the only option is for progressives to begin work on a long-term plan to recast the role of fundamental law in our society for the sake of majority rule—disempowering the courts and angling, when they can, to redo our undemocratic constitution itself.” Resisting the Juristocracy (Boston Review) How Democrats Can Insulate New Laws From a Hostile Supreme Court (American Prospect)
capable of delivering an extended jolt of 50,000 volts
Shock Treatment in Court Stun belts are intended to keep control in the courtroom, but some judges use them to inflict punishment. [The Marshall Project]
The Most Important Supreme Court Cases of 2019
And 40 million pages of justice for all
"The Caselaw Access Project (“CAP”) expands public access to U.S. law. Our goal is to make all published U.S. court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library. Our scope includes all state courts, federal courts, and territorial courts for American Samoa, Dakota Territory, Guam, Native American Courts, Navajo Nation, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Our earliest case is from 1658, and our most recent cases are from 2018." [more inside]
Leap Baby Crime Loophole
If a Leap Baby born in 2000 commits a crime on February 28, 2018, should they be tried as a minor or an adult? One girl challenged the Australian courts with just this conundrum when she chose February 28, 2018 for her crime, resulting in incredibly complicated discussions of what exactly a "month" is and an initial ruling overturned on appeal. [more inside]
It's not a diversity experiment.
In the City of South Fulton’s justice system, black women hold all the reins. The city is the first city in American history where every criminal justice department head is an African American woman. [more inside]
The Christian Legal Army Behind ‘Masterpiece Cakeshop’
The Nation investigates the Alliance Defending Freedom. An in-depth look at one of the most powerful anti-gay-rights legal groups in the country, with ties to the Department of Justice, Congress, multiple state legislators and state departments of justice, thousands of attorneys who will work pro bono, and donors including Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and noted puncher of journalists Representative Greg Gianforte (R-MT).
The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth, SO HELP ME GOD
Juror removed for using secret knowledge from the Holy Ghost ("A higher being told me that Corinne Brown was not guilty on all charges, and I trust the Holy Ghost." 27:10-11) . Defendant convicted. Defendant appeals on the grounds that the Holy Spirit is not real but was actually just the Juror's judgment that one of the witnesses was lying. Welcome to Congresswoman Corinne Brown's very unusual appeal. [more inside]
A-Mazing
♪♫ The world turned upside down. Finally, it's US election week.
574 days since Hillary declared she would run, and 2 days left for the frontrunner and all of us till election day. While the world watches e.g. [Guardian] [RTE] [Denmark] [Russia] [Sweden (lonely)] and [France], analyses, reacts, or organizes election parties [Australia] [New Zealand], the polls bounce around but generally favor Hillary, the UK bookies, other odds and an increasingly angry Nate also still favor Hillary, and Politico only sees three narrow paths to victory for Donald. Meanwhile, the Democrats get the vote out, it's not been the best of years for Trump's New Jersey chum (also November 10th 2015), there are fears of an election "cyber attack", political phrases are becoming fatigued, celebrity social media remains divided, Mr Kaine duets with Mr Bongiovi, and Hillary and Donald (in Reno) near the end. [more inside]
"he can also be a loudmouth whose favourite subject is his own rights"
Court judgments are often long, dense and full of legal jargon. But in the English Family Court case of Lancashire County Council v A & B
Mr Justice Peter Jackson has given a judgment carefully written to so that the children involved, and their mother, can understand it. [more inside]
The definition of "parent" has been expanded in New York State
New York's highest court has redefined parenthood in a same-sex parenting case. (SLNYT) The Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday in In the Matter of Brooke S.B. v. Elizabeth A. C.C. and Matter of Estrellita A. v. Jennifer D., that the non-married, ex-partner of a biological parent may seek custody or visitation rights of children they once agreed to conceive and raise as co-partners with their exes.
The Court, in a 6-0 vote, said that given the legalization of same-sex marriages and other societal changes that have upset the notion of "parents" as being a married man and woman, it was time for it to abandon the precedent of its 1991 ruling in Matter of Alison D. v. Virginia M. [more inside]
The Court That Rules The World
International investors have a private court of appeal even in criminal matters - "A parallel legal universe, open only to corporations and largely invisible to everyone else, helps executives convicted of crimes escape punishment. [ISDS] operates unconstrained by precedent or any significant public oversight, often keeping its proceedings and sometimes even its decisions secret." (via) [more inside]
Due Process
A Family Matter. Each year, California’s child protective services agencies remove thousands of kids from their homes. Some parents decided to fight back.
The Victim
A Marine's Convictions. "After a flawed sexual assault investigation, a Naval Academy instructor fights to prove he has done nothing wrong. But did he?" (content warning: rape) [more inside]
"...and do equal right to the poor and to the rich..."
At 11am Eastern time, President Obama will nominate Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to the Supreme Court. Judge Garland is a centrist who was previously considered by the President for SCOTUS nomination in 2010, during the selection process which gave us Justice Sotomayor. He is reportedly "well known, well respected, and tremendously well liked in Washington legal circles; even Republicans have nice things to say about him." [more inside]
"Four."
“Can you imagine a situation where a celebrity sex tape would not be newsworthy?” asked the lawyer, Douglas E. Mirell.
“If they were a child,” Mr. Daulerio replied.
“Under what age?” the lawyer pressed.
Gawker founder Nick Denton and former editor Albert J. Daulerio take the stand.
“If they were a child,” Mr. Daulerio replied.
“Under what age?” the lawyer pressed.
Gawker founder Nick Denton and former editor Albert J. Daulerio take the stand.
“It involves my life, my legacy, my career, my history, my reputation.”
Alan Dershowitz on the Defense (His Own) by Barry Meier [The New York Times]
Last month, demonstrators at Johns Hopkins University interrupted Alan M. Dershowitz as he was giving a fiery speech defending Israel. The disruption normally would not have fazed Mr. Dershowitz, a former Harvard Law School professor who thrives on controversy and relishes taking on opponents in and out of the courtroom. The protesters, however, were not challenging his Middle East politics. Instead, they held up a sign reading, “You Are Rape Culture.” Mr. Dershowitz knew what it meant. A decade ago, he had defended a friend, a money manager named Jeffrey E. Epstein, after authorities in Palm Beach, Fla., found evidence indicating that he was paying underage girls to give him sexual massages. The lawyer led a scorched-earth attack on the girls and, with a team of high-priced lawyers, cut a plea deal for Mr. Epstein that the local police said was too lenient.[more inside]
This American death
Adnan Syed’s case is being reopened. NPR's Serial Podcast, formerly discussed abouts these parts, seems to have finally precipitated the state of Maryland to allow a new examination of the case, considering new evidence stemming from the podcast series and following events. The Guardian's post-podcast rundown.
Is the US justice system up for sale?
Reasonable Doubts About the Jury System Trial consultants allow the affluent to manipulate the biases of those who judge them, putting our justice up for sale.
via The Atlantic
“It’s Over!”
Amanda Knox Acquitted of 2007 Murder by Italy’s Highest Court [New York Times]
"ROME — Italy’s highest court overturned the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend on Friday, throwing out all charges and ending a long-running courtroom drama over the killing of a British student in 2007. The ruling in favor of Ms. Knox, a 27-year-old former exchange student from Seattle, and her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, 31, was a shock in Italy, where the convictions had been expected to be upheld in the stabbing death of the British student, Meredith Kercher.Previously. Previously. Previously. Previously.
SCOTUS Search
Now in open beta, SCOTUS Search allows users to "search the text of 1,424,780 individual statements within 6,683 Supreme Court oral arguments." [more inside]
“I can’t breathe,”
On Trial for Rape by Ann Brocklehurst [The Walrus Magazine]
"Late last year, in a Toronto courtroom, a young woman faced off against the university student whom she accused of raping her in a school parking lot. The media ignored the story. This is a series about a criminal rape trial that took place in Toronto late last year. The trial lasted eight days; the judge announced his verdict earlier this month." —Ann Brocklehurst[more inside]
Social media as a crime scene
On Monday, the Supreme Court (with a recovering Ruth Bader Ginsburg) will hear argument in Elonis v. United States, a case where a man was convicted for posts and messages on Facebook that prosecutors treated as threats of actual violence. (trigger warning: descriptions of violence) [more inside]
"has no place in the field of public education"
Tomorrow, is the 60th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision (pdf) in Brown v. Board of Education [more inside]
These APIs© Oracle Corporation
Her Majesty's High Court of Chivalry of England and Wales
In England coats of arms and other issues of heraldry are registered and administered by the College of Arms. But what if some base scoundrel displays your family's ancient and noble coat of arms without the right to do so? You sue them in the Court of Chivalry. [more inside]