The Durham Herald Sun reported last week that the City of Durham has filed a response to the petition for certiorari filed by 3 former Duke lacrosse players. The players are asking that theSupreme Court reverse a decision by the Fourth Circuit upholding the dismissal of the players’ claims against the city. According to the…
Category Archives: Appellate issues
Why originalism matters
In his opinion for a unanimous three judge panel of the D.C. Circuit declaring unconstitutional President Obama’s purported recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, Judge Laurence Silberman eloquently explained why adherence to the original meaning of the Constitution is so important: In any event, if some administrative inefficiency results from our construction of…
PA Supreme Court remands Voter ID case
From the per curiam opinion issued today (you can access the full opinion here. Justice Todd’s dissent is here, and Justice McCaffrey’s is here: Thus, we will return the matter to the Commonwealth Court to make a present assessment of the actual availability of the alternate identification cards on a developed record in light of…
Argument on PA Voter ID Law
Is this morning at 9:30. I will be live blogging the oral argument, assuming the plug in I’ve installed for the purpose works (said with fingers crossed).
Obamacare predictions?
We’re nearing the end of the Supreme Court term, and soon to come to come will be the much anticipated ruling on the “ObamaCare” case(s). I do not presume to posit myself as astute or learned an observer of the Court as, for example, my friends at ScotusBlog. But I’ll play the parlor game. Let’s…
Is Obamacare Doomed?
After watching this morning’s arguments on the individual mandate CNN’s legal analyst Jeff Toobin – a liberal – seems to think so. I will happily take his word for it.
PA Supreme Court Declines to Hear Pittsburgh Church Property Case
On Monday of this week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied the petition for allowance of appeal filed by the former Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh (or the “breakaway” diocese, as I had called it in my earlier posts) in the Pittsburgh church property case between the disaffiliated diocese and the rump group that decided to remain…
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Expands Scope of Attorney-Client Privilege
The Legal Intelligencer reports that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled, with Justices Eakin and McCaffery dissenting, that Pennsylvania’s statutory attorney-client privilege protects not only communications by the client to the layer but, also, communications from lawyer to client. The ruling effectively expands the privilege in Pennsylvania – the relevant statute appear t cover only communications from…
1 1/2 Cheers for Obama and Holder
I don’t agree with Barack Obama on pretty much anything. That much is probably clear from most of what I’ve posted here and elsewhere. It is probably also clear that I don’t think very much of Eric Holder’s performance as Attorney General, either. And, to be sure, I have some issues with the Attorney General’s…
Why the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Won’t Hear the Pittsburgh Church Property Case
As noted in my previous post on the Commonwealth Court’s recent decision in the case involving the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, I doubt that the Pennsylvanis Supreme Court will agree to hear the case in the event that the Diocese hould choose to seek further review. This case seems to present a good opportunity to…