Patterico's Pontifications » Court Decisions

Hot Air: Judge Reduces Oberlin Damages To $25 Million But there is a twist: The president of a school facing a $25 million judgment for aiding student efforts to label Gibson’s Bakery a racist...

https://patterico.com/2019/06/28/gibson-v-oberlin-punitive-damages-reduced-as-expected/

Supreme Court Affirms Police Can Order Blood Drawn From Unconscious DUI Suspects: The Supreme Court has ruled that police may, without a warrant, order blood drawn from an unconscious person sus...

https://patterico.com/2019/06/27/more-scotus-mitchell-v-wisconsin/

Beldar 1: Breaking cosmically big news, so far just a headline at the WSJ: Supreme Court Declines to Set Limits on Political Gerrymandering: High court says such cases present political question...

https://patterico.com/2019/06/27/scotus-today/

From The Hill — Supreme Court sides with immigrant in gun possession case: The Supreme Court on Friday found that prosecutors have to prove that an individual alleged to have illegally possess...

https://patterico.com/2019/06/21/scotus-prosecutor-must-prove-immigrant-knew-he-was-here-illegally-in-gun-prosecution/

The Hill – Judge rejects House Democrats’ attempt to block Trump use of military funds for border wall: A federal judge has ruled against congressional Democrats who sought to temporarily st...

https://patterico.com/2019/06/03/headlines-the-wall/

There is an important oral argument taking place today in the Fifth Circuit regarding Obama’s amnesty. First, a paragraph of background: there have been two amnesty-related cases of note percol...

https://patterico.com/2015/04/17/oral-argument-today-on-fifth-circuit-case-challenging-obamas-most-recent-amnesty/

How many of you have seen this recent image bouncing around the Internet? It was apparently created by the deep thinkers at NARAL Pro-Choice America and has been promoted by the DailyKos and Huf...

https://patterico.com/2014/07/01/today-in-failed-criticism-from-the-left/

Here’s an interesting little legal issue — one that is apparently easier to resolve properly if you have not had legal training. California Penal Code section 288.7(a) reads as follows: Any p...

https://patterico.com/2011/12/12/another-example-of-how-lawyers-ignoring-the-plain-meaning-of-language-go-astray/

The Washington Post reports today on a series of recent Supreme Court opinions which overturned decisions by the 9th Circuit. Post writer Robert Barnes informs us: Sometimes the Supreme Court si...

https://patterico.com/2011/01/30/supreme-court-scolds-9th-circuit/

Of course another suit in Michigan resulted in this law being upheld, so we are getting a split in the circuits.  I will say honestly I have not even read the whole decision yet, but I will and...

https://patterico.com/2010/10/15/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-two-counts-in-obamacare-suit/

As I noted last night, a Clinton-appointed judge named Jeremy Fogel has granted a stay of execution in the case of a man convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old child in 1980.  There is no...

https://patterico.com/2010/09/29/needed-an-initiative-to-get-the-death-penalty-working-again/

On this blog I have had a recurring series called “Deport the Criminals First.” The idea is that, unless you are in favor of a complete open border policy, you would want to see the most unde...

https://patterico.com/2010/07/29/arizona-ruling-at-urging-of-obama-administration-undermines-deport-the-criminals-first/

DRJ reported the basics here, quoting a story that said: Attorneys for six Washington state prisoners, Circuit Court Judge A. Wallace Tashima wrote, “have demonstrated that police practices, se...

https://patterico.com/2010/01/06/more-on-that-ninth-circuit-decision-granting-voting-rights-to-felons-in-washington-state/

My wife, God

https://patterico.com/2009/09/07/dumbass-federal-judges-push-release-of-criminals-who-are-bunked-almost-as-tight-as-sailors-in-a-submarine/

Yesterday, Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu dismissed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department as the case was about to go to the jury for deliberations. The action was brought by Lo...

https://patterico.com/2009/08/04/no-pot-of-gold-in-police-shooting/

The New York Times delves into the story of 40-year-old Lieutenant Ben Vargas, the lone Hispanic firefighter plaintiff in Ricci vs DeStefano, and why he did what he did: “Gesturing toward his ...

https://patterico.com/2009/07/04/behind-the-new-haven-firefighter-case/

Chrysler bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez is conducting a hearing today to decide whether Chrysler should be able to terminate 789 of its dealerships. Judge Gonzalez began the hearing by saying ...

https://patterico.com/2009/06/04/chrysler-judge-to-rule-on-dealer-terminations/

Powerline posts on a New Haven CT case, Ricci v. DeStefano, that has been granted review by the U.S. Supreme Court: The Supreme Court has decided to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Ric...

https://patterico.com/2009/01/10/ricci-v-destefano/

Via Xrlq we learn that California Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a brief arguing that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. In a dramatic reversal, Brown filed a legal brief saying the measu...

https://patterico.com/2008/12/19/jerry-brown-files-legal-brief-saying-proposition-8-is-unconstitutional/

Law professor Brian Gray argues in this morning’s L.A. Times that California’s Proposition 8 may violate the federal Constitution — and that we could see a ruling to that effect some day, w...

https://patterico.com/2008/11/17/will-the-us-supreme-court-rule-proposition-8-unconstitutional/

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, an appeal from federal district court and Ninth Circuit rulings that enjoined the Navy’s use of...

https://patterico.com/2008/10/09/supreme-court-balancing/

The El Paso Times reports: “Osvaldo Aldrete Davila was sentenced to 9 1/2 years Wednesday for smuggling more than 100 kilos of marijuana in 2005.” Aldrete-Davila was sentenced by U.S. Distri...

https://patterico.com/2008/08/06/osvaldo-aldrete-davila-sentenced/

This isn’t about a debate over whether there should or should not be valid state laws authorizing the distribution and use of medical marijuana. The fact is that marijuana is a Schedule I cont...

https://patterico.com/2008/08/01/pathetic-piece-of-journalism-from-lat-re-raid-of-medical-marijuana-dispensary-in-la/

The Justice Department yesterday asked the Supreme Court to rehear Kennedy v. Louisiana, the case that ruled unconstitutional the death penalty for child rape. According to SCOTUSblog, the move i...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/29/justice-department-seeks-rehearing-in-case-ruling-death-for-child-rape-unconstitutional/

Last week, the Texas Attorney General announced indictments in the FLDS case on charges of sexual assault, bigamy and failure to report child abuse. One indictment was returned against Warren Je...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/28/five-flds-members-turn-themselves-in/

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the convictions of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean with one relatively minor exception. From the Fifth Circuit opinion: “We conclude. For the most part, the trial of ...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/28/fifth-circuit-decides-ramoscompean-appeal/

It wouldn’t be my first day back without some Texas news. Last Tuesday a Schleicher County (Eldorado, Texas) grand jury issued 7 indictments alleging 9 counts of sexual assault, bigamy and fai...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/24/texas-grand-jury-issues-7-flds-indictments-more-expected/

Ed Whelan reports on Louisiana’s effort to get the Supreme Court to re-hear the case that found unconstitutional the death penalty for child rape. You may recall that, in dishonestly finding a ...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/23/louisiana-seeks-rehearing-of-decision-on-death-for-child-rape/

Posted by WLS: Having read Judge Walker’s opinion last week in which he determined that the federal common law “state’s secrets” privilege was abrogated by Congress with its passage of FI...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/07/revisiting-the-fisa-debate-with-a-hypothetical-that-makes-the-article-ii-case/

In light of the extremely disingenuous rulings from Justice Anthony Kennedy recently, it might be good to once again remind readers to try and seek out Jeffrey Rosen’s article from the June 18...

https://patterico.com/2008/07/02/the-continuing-arrogance-of-justice-anthony-kennedy/

Kirk Makin of the Toronto Globe and Mail reports: The media should not live in constant fear of facing a libel suit every time a provocative commentary is published or broadcast, the Supreme Cou...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/29/canada-gets-with-the-program-regarding-free-speech-protections/

Howard Kurtz notes that Big Media is failing to hold Obama’s feet to the fire for his flip-flop on firearms. Barack Obama is under hostile fire for changing his position on the D.C. gun ban. Oh...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/28/la-times-forgets-to-tell-readers-that-obama-supported-the-dc-gun-ban/

Posted by WLS: The majority opinion in Kennedy v. Louisiana (appropriate irony) authored by Justice Kennedy is a stunning exclamation point on the Court’s move this term of impose itself as t...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/25/its-official-the-supreme-court-is-now-the-national-super-legislature/

The decision was 5-4 with Kennedy joining the liberals. Howard Bashman will be posting the link to this and other decisions here. UPDATE: The Court also cut the punitive damage award for the Exxo...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/25/supreme-court-no-death-penalty-for-child-rape/

Will Justice Scalia author the majority opinion in the gun rights case? That’s the speculation. A guy can dream. But I think Allah has it right when he says: What’s strange is that, per O’S...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/23/will-nino-write-the-gun-rights-case/

In case you missed the Supreme Court decision in Dada v. Mukasey , Scalia puts on another clinic regarding judicial activism in his dissent. There have been a lot of attempts recently to distort...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/17/justice-antonin-scalia-the-continued-bulwark-against-judicial-activism/

Another classic dissent. Read the whole thing beginning at pg. 110 of this PDF document of the court’s opinion. But here is a starting taste, along with the ending paragraph (note how Scalia c...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/12/scalias-righteous-anger/

You most certainly did get my attention. Thank you for your wise and insightful concurring opinion which should be read by all California bloggers. Oh, by the way, WTF is up with designating thi...

https://patterico.com/2008/06/12/dear-judge-mcadams/

The recent Ninth Circuit opinion on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has this incorrect passage: Second, the cases on which the Supreme Court explicitly based its decision in Lawrence are based on...

https://patterico.com/2008/05/24/ninth-circuit-lawrence-v-texas-never-even-mentioned-romer-v-eva-doh/

A panel of the Ninth Circuit today issued a decision regarding the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The decision addressed an issue that sounds arcane to non-lawyers, but which is, in real...

https://patterico.com/2008/05/21/ninth-circuit-issues-deceptively-important-opinion-on-dont-ask-dont-tell/

The L.A. Times has a puff-piece interview with Ron George, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court and the swing vote in the gay marriage decision: s he read the legal arguments, the 68...

https://patterico.com/2008/05/18/ron-george-my-god-i-am-courageous/

As a matter of federal constitutional law, do gay marriages performed in California have to be honored in, say, Texas? Jan Crawford Greenburg says no.

https://patterico.com/2008/05/18/jcg-other-states-need-not-honor-california-gay-marriages/

It is a lengthy decision. Vote was 4 to 3. The majority decision goes well beyond the narrow question of gay marriage. It also holds for the first time that sexual orientation is a “suspect c...

https://patterico.com/2008/05/15/california-supreme-court-holds-that-gays-have-a-state-constitutional-right-to-marry/

Two interesting rulings today from the Supreme Court of California involving questions of when prosecutors may or may not need to recuse themselves when they are involved in film and book projec...

https://patterico.com/2008/05/12/california-supreme-court-rules-on-conflicts-of-interest-regarding-prosecutors-involved-in-outside-media-endeavors/

  Patterico has recently had an intriguing set of posts regarding the debate over the use of DNA statistics in criminal cases. In an unusual coincidence, the 9th Circuit has just come down with...

https://patterico.com/2008/05/05/9th-circuit-weighs-in-on-dna-statistics-case/

The New York Times notes today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding an Indiana law that requires voters to present photo IDs before they can vote: “The Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s vo...

https://patterico.com/2008/04/28/supreme-court-upholds-indiana-photo-id-requirement/

In the coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision of Baze v. Rees, virtually all California news outlets have managed to ignore the importance of Justice Alito’s concurring opinion, and what i...

https://patterico.com/2008/04/17/what-now-for-californias-death-penalty/

An Austin, Texas, lawyer has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for contempt after making an obscene gesture in court last month that he claimed was directed at “ruthless prosecutors” and not...

https://patterico.com/2008/04/16/order-in-the-court/

DRJ is on the case in timely fashion, but do yourself a favor – don’t just read the news accounts of the Baze opinion. Read the entire concurrence by Antonin Scalia . Scalia unloads on Justi...

https://patterico.com/2008/04/16/vintage-scalia-on-display-in-lethal-injection-case/

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld Kentucky’s use of lethal injections: “We … agree that petitioners have not carried their burden of showing that the risk of pain from maladminis...

https://patterico.com/2008/04/16/supreme-court-upholds-lethal-injection/

DRJ has already given a good rundown of the Supreme Court’s decision in Medellin v. Texas. I just had to point out the opinion by Chief Justice Roberts manages to channel some of Scalia’s b...

https://patterico.com/2008/03/25/a-decision-worthy-of-scalia/

No, this isn’t an NCAA basketball thread although I’m sure the ‘Horns would welcome assistance from any source. Instead, this post is about Texas death row inmate Jose Medellin whose Supre...

https://patterico.com/2008/03/25/supreme-court-sides-with-texas/

A federal judge in California continues to get up to speed on the 21st Century learning curve. He didn’t just reconsider the injunction, he also had second thoughts about the jurisdictional qu...

https://patterico.com/2008/03/03/blowback-on-unconstitutional-restraining-order-continues/

Remember that judge’s prior restraint order on the Internet that I was just shaking my head at the other week? He wisely reversed himself.

https://patterico.com/2008/03/01/california-judge-reverses-his-unconstitutional-prior-restraint/

Disturbing news here. How do courts get away with this? Perhaps they actually think that corporate secrets should have greater legal protection than classified government documents(?). ‘Broken...

https://patterico.com/2008/02/18/california-courts-remain-clueless-about-prior-restraints/

The L.A. Times tells us that Roe is a landmark ruling — and we must follow precedent, precedent, precedent: That appalling possibility should trouble all the justices, but particularly Roberts...

https://patterico.com/2008/01/23/a-paean-to-liberal-precedent-at-the-los-angeles-times/

In trying to read the tea leaves from yesterday’s argument, there are several subtle points that are critical to understanding yesterday’s hearing on the latest GITMO cases, and where the Co...

https://patterico.com/2007/12/06/my-take-on-the-gitmo-arguments-yesterday/

The oral argument transcript in the Gitmo cases is here. The audio is here. I’m listening to it now. Jan Crawford Greenburg has a post about Gitmo, which she recently visited. She also has a ra...

https://patterico.com/2007/12/05/gitmo-argument-resources-and-commentary/

“The Board,” the new blog by the members of the New York Times editorial board, is filled with the kind of kneejerk leftist nonsense you’ve learned to expect from this gang. The editors are...

https://patterico.com/2007/12/04/editors-of-the-new-york-times-lazy-stupid-or-willfully-dishonest-you-be-the-judge/

Is ‘reamage’ even a word? Whatever. I like the sound of it. Anyway, check out this dismissal of an appeal – Sekiya’s opening brief is so deficient that we are compelled to strike it in ...

https://patterico.com/2007/11/29/9th-circuit-reamage/

But I’ve still got to admire a guy for standing on principle.

https://patterico.com/2007/11/28/must-have-been-a-helluva-lot-of-money-to-spend-in-court-costs-just-to-get-back-less-than-a-third-of-an-ounce-of-pot/

Jan Crawford Greenburg has a post that begins: The other day I spent most of the morning with a .38 in my hand. She makes some predictions about the upcoming Second Amendment case in the Supreme ...

https://patterico.com/2007/11/26/jcg-on-the-second-amendment-case/

   In this opinion just released this morning, three Judges of the Ninth Circuit, including one of the most liberal anti-government judges in the Country, Harry Pregerson, sided with the Admin...

https://patterico.com/2007/11/16/huge-admin-win-in-9th-cir-on-terrorist-surveillance-litigation-3-0-vote-and-all-the-judges-are-carter-and-clinton-appointees-who-can-moveon-blame-now/

Recent Supreme Court opinions have made it clear that public schools shouldn’t consider race and yet, in an ironic twist, many school districts still struggle under decades-old federal desegre...

https://patterico.com/2007/11/11/thats-very-odd/

The US Supreme Court granted a stay of execution today in a Mississippi death penalty case pending a hearing on the inmate’s writ of certiorari. This order reaffirms that the death penalty is ...

https://patterico.com/2007/10/30/death-penalty-hold/

Did you ever wonder what our government wants to keep secret — and what courts allow them to keep secret? You’ll get to see one such example in this post, courtesy of Howard Bashman, the lega...

https://patterico.com/2007/10/21/was-a-passage-omitted-from-a-recent-second-circuit-opinion-for-security-reasons-or-to-cover-up-material-embarrassing-to-the-fbi/

Indeed. Play ball everybody!

https://patterico.com/2007/10/16/it-would-be-strange-law-that-a-person-would-not-have-a-first-amendment-right-to-use-information-that-is-available-to-everyone/

Having taken some time now to read the oral argument from yesterday, I think I see the outline of the route the Court is going to take to get out of this case and to avoid the more signficant co...

https://patterico.com/2007/10/11/the-supreme-courts-off-ramp-from-the-road-to-medellin/

Jan Crawford Greenburg has a post on Justice Thomas and precedent. With me, she’s preaching to the choir, and telling me little I don’t know. But I’m a lawyer who follows this stuff closely...

https://patterico.com/2007/10/08/jan-crawford-greenburg-on-justice-thomas-and-precedent/

  Professor Erwin Chemerinsky is reportedly being rehired as dean at UCI’s Law School. Meanwhile, Chemerinsky was representing the family of Rachel Corrie – arguing that the Caterpillar comp...

https://patterico.com/2007/09/17/professor-erwin-chemerinsky-winsand-loses/

Chandler police officer Ronald Dible was fired for participating in a pay sex website with his wife. He sued – claiming First Amendment violations as well as his ‘Right of Privacy’. The 9...

https://patterico.com/2007/09/05/courthouse-quote-of-the-week-3/

Thursday, August 30, a county judge ruled same-sex couples can wed in Iowa: “A county judge struck down Iowa’s decade-old gay marriage ban as unconstitutional Thursday and ordered local offi...

https://patterico.com/2007/08/31/i-cant-believe-this-is-happening-in-iowa/

The New York Times reports: A federal judge in Pennsylvania yesterday struck down ordinances adopted by the City of Hazleton to bar illegal immigrants from working or renting homes there, the mos...

https://patterico.com/2007/07/27/federal-judge-to-local-community-you-cant-do-anything-about-illegals-in-your-community/

A couple of liberal federal judges have control of the state’s prison system, and they’re considering a plan that could release thousands of prisoners upon society all at once: Federal judges...

https://patterico.com/2007/07/24/judge-to-state-of-california-its-your-fault-the-federal-government-is-screwing-you-so-badly/

Add this latest defeat to the quite extensive history of Gary Condit’s bullying use of libel lawsuits.

https://patterico.com/2007/07/23/another-frivolous-gary-condit-libel-lawsuit-goes-down-in-flames/

Jan Crawford Greenburg has a post that whacks the right and the left for their respective whining about the latest Supreme Court term. She starts by lecturing conservatives for understating the s...

https://patterico.com/2007/07/21/jcg-on-posturing-by-the-left-and-right/

I haven’t read this post by Beldar. But I think he’s wrong. I agree with Eugene Volokh’s post on the topic (which I have read). I may end up reading Beldar’s post, just because I enjoy re...

https://patterico.com/2007/07/15/beldars-post-which-i-havent-read-is-wrong/

I have read yesterday’s decision on the NSA warrantless surveillance case. It is a complex set of issues and a complex decision, and I am no expert in this area, so everything I say in this pos...

https://patterico.com/2007/07/07/did-judge-batchelder-support-president-bush-on-the-merits-of-the-legality-of-the-nsa-surveillance-program/

David Savage of the L.A. Times is such a drama queen. In what may signal a generational shift in power, new Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. led a confident conservative majority at the Supreme ...

https://patterico.com/2007/07/01/david-savage-drama-queen/

David Savage’s L.A. Times article on the forced integration decision says: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” Chief Justic...

https://patterico.com/2007/06/30/someone-explain-to-david-savage-the-difference-between-a-plurality-and-a-majority/

There’s a reason for that smug smile I have on my face. I just read the Supreme Court’s decision in the forced integration cases, and I’m feeling like Carnac once again. Earlier this week, ...

https://patterico.com/2007/06/29/my-application-for-the-position-of-associate-justice-of-the-united-states-supreme-court-is-on-file/

It’s Greenburg vs. Greenhouse.

https://patterico.com/2007/06/29/the-incrementalism-of-the-roberts-court/

SCOTUSblog reports. Chief Justice Roberts announced the decision, meaning he apparently wrote it, as expected. Justice Kennedy concurred. Stay tuned to How Appealing for the latest, including lin...

https://patterico.com/2007/06/28/use-of-racial-classifications-to-assign-students-to-schools-struck-down-5-4/

I offered no opinion on the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case in my bare-bones post yesterday, mainly because I hadn’t had the chance to read the opinion before leaving for work. Now that I have rea...

https://patterico.com/2007/06/26/no-supreme-court-justice-would-have-held-the-principal-liable-in-the-bong-hits-4-jesus-case/

In this article, Jan Crawford Greenburg previews the upcoming Supreme Court decision on assigning students to public schools according to their race. Greenburg says that the Court is expected to ...

https://patterico.com/2007/06/26/preview-of-school-busing-decision/

  The Second Circuit brings back some sanity to the broadcast biz with this decision on FCC indecency rules. In addition to being a well articulated ruling on Administrative Law, it also offers...

https://patterico.com/2007/06/04/well-thats-an-fing-relief/

Today’s “Must Read” is this post from Jan Crawford Greenburg. Even if I weren’t pressed for time (and I am), I wouldn’t excerpt it. I want you to read the whole thing. Greenburg uses th...

https://patterico.com/2007/05/16/todays-must-read-2/

The amazing thing to me about yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in Scott v. Harris is that it would have been a completely different case without the videotape — a videotape that I will show y...

https://patterico.com/2007/05/01/scott-v-harris-the-video-makes-all-the-difference/

If I write a silly blog post, can I have it made into an op-ed at a major newspaper? I guess I could . . . if I were a law professor. As it is, I’m a mere lawyer (one sometimes mistaken for a n...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/30/stones-silly-catholicism-post-becomes-chicago-tribune-op-ed/

Geoffrey Stone’s recent controversial blog post, blaming the partial-birth abortion decision on the Catholicism of the majority justices, has been mentioned in the Washington Post: “What then...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/30/geoffrey-stones-silly-post-mentioned-in-another-post/

For those who know me, it should come as no surprise that I strongly disagree with today’s decision by the California Supreme Court that sustains a permanent injunction against a defendant’s...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/26/california-supreme-court-screws-the-pooch-on-permanent-speech-injunctions-for-libel/

In a new post, Prof. Geoffrey Stone backtracks from his earlier assertion that Catholicism, and not legal principle, was behind the majority decision in the partial-birth abortion case. Stone now...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/25/prof-stone-backtracks-without-admitting-it/

Below is my e-mail exchange with Chicago Law School Professor Geoffrey Stone, regarding his recent mischaracterization of the partial-birth abortion decision. The payoff is near the end, when Pro...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/24/i-take-it-youre-not-a-lawyer-my-e-mail-exchange-with-chicago-law-professor-geoffrey-stone-regarding-his-mischaracterization-of-the-partial-birth-abortion-decision/

University of Chicago Law School professor Geoffrey Stone has this jaw-droppingly incompetent analysis of Gonzales v. Carhart, the partial-birth abortion decision: Gonzales reversed an earlier de...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/20/chicago-law-professor-gives-stunningly-incompetent-summary-of-partial-birth-abortion-decision/

Get all the details, including a link to the opinion, at How Appealing. I engaged in a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over how Kennedy would vote on this, but he came through. I’ll have f...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/18/supreme-court-upholds-federal-ban-on-partial-birth-abortion/

  I have long predicted that this case would be tossed out of court – but I didn’t necessarily think it would be on a personal jurisdiction issue. I figured that the absolute protections fr...

https://patterico.com/2007/04/09/dontdatehimgirlcom-defamation-lawsuit-tossed/

I know that Patterico is very busy these days. But if he ever gets around to it, I’d be curious to hear his perspective on this decision. — Justin Levine UPDATE FROM PATTERICO: I haven’t r...

https://patterico.com/2007/03/29/9th-circuit-on-prosecutorial-immunity/

In a published ruling, the Third District California Court of Appeal ruled today that prosecutors in California are legally entitled to allege aggravating factors in a charging document. The deci...

https://patterico.com/2007/03/28/california-court-upholds-prosecutions-right-to-seek-high-term-prison-sentences-post-cunningham/

Even for someone like me who advocates cracking down strongly on the illegal immigration problem plaguing the country, I have to admit that this case is heartbreaking. (Be sure to read the lette...

https://patterico.com/2007/03/28/heartbreaking-dilemmas-in-immigration-policy/

Courtesy of the Supreme Court oral arguments in the case of Morse v. Frederick (popularly known as the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case). Before the quote, a quick background on the case – In Janua...

https://patterico.com/2007/03/19/courthouse-quote-of-the-week-2/