How Appealing



Sunday, December 20, 2020

“‘I’m Haunted by What I Did’ as a Lawyer in the Trump Justice Department; No matter our intentions, lawyers like me were complicit; We owe the country our honesty about what we saw — and should do in the future”: Erica Newland has this essay online at The New York Times.

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Crow tribal police seek ‘equal footing’ in U.S. Supreme Court case”: Seaborn Larson of The Missoulian has this report.

Posted at 8:24 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump campaign files Supreme Court petition over ‘illegally changed’ Pennsylvania balloting laws”: David Sherfinski and Dave Boyer of The Washington Times have this report.

Jill Colvin and Marc Levy of The Associated Press report that “Trump wants Supreme Court to overturn Pa. election results.”

Bradford Betz of Fox News reports that “Trump campaign takes fight over Penn. election, ballot laws to Supreme Court; President Trump still refuses to concede the outcome and continues to promote allegations that there was massive voter fraud.”

And Tucker Higgins of CNBC reports that “Trump campaign files long shot Supreme Court challenge to Biden’s Pennsylvania win.”

Posted at 8:15 PM by Howard Bashman



“10,000 Pennsylvania votes are in limbo. They won’t change the outcome. They could still have a huge impact.” Jonathan Lai has this article in today’s edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Posted at 7:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Shirley Abrahamson, longest-serving member of Wisconsin Supreme Court, dies at 87”: Patrick Marley of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

And Elizabeth Beyer of The Wisconsin State Journal reports that “Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson dies at 87.”

In September 2004, then-Chief Justice Abrahamson turned out to be the final participant in this blog’s “20 questions for the appellate judge” feature. You can access my interview with her from over 16 years ago at this link. Among other things, in the interview Abrahamson discussed Wisconsin’s diploma privilege, a means of becoming certified to practice law that has become the subject of renewed attention as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on administering the traditional bar exam.

Posted at 3:12 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump campaign brings new U.S. Supreme Court challenge over Pennsylvania’s 2020 election”: Jonathan Lai of The Philadelphia Inquirer has this report on a new petition for writ of certiorari and related items submitted today to the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the article, “President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and overturn several decisions the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made regarding the 2020 election, saying the court overstepped its bounds and ‘the outcome of the election for the Presidency of the United States hangs in the balance.'”

Update: At his “Election Law Blog,” Rick Hasen has a post titled “Trump Campaign Files Ridiculous New Expedited Cert Petition, Seeking Supreme Court Order to Overturn PA Election Results, Relying on Fake Electors for Trump from PA as Reported by the Epoch Times” linking to the cert. petition and the related motion to expedite.

Posted at 3:02 PM by Howard Bashman



“NC elections board finally certifies chief justice results”: The Associated Press has this report.

According to the article, “Democrats will hold a 4-3 seat advantage over Republicans on the court in 2021, compared with their current 6-1 margin.”

Posted at 1:20 PM by Howard Bashman



“Amid Vaccine Rollout and Historic Hack, Trump Remains Focused on Reversing Election; The president has been largely out of sight, paying little public attention to any events other than his efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory”: Rebecca Ballhaus, Alex Leary, and Dustin Volz of The Wall Street Journal have this report.

Posted at 1:04 PM by Howard Bashman



“The Supreme Court might be finding its way to overturning ‘qualified immunity’; The unanimous Supreme Court decision in Tanzin v. Tanvir says people can sue government agents for damages when their rights are violated”: Anya Bidwell and Patrick Jaicomo have this essay online at USA Today.

Posted at 11:18 AM by Howard Bashman



“U.S. Appeals Court Judge Made Mark on Business Law; Ralph K. Winter, who has died at age 85, argued forcefully against federal constraints on corporations”: This obituary, written by James R. Hagerty, appeared in yesterday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.

Posted at 9:57 AM by Howard Bashman



“A Conservative Justice in Wisconsin Says He Followed the Law, Not the Politics; Like officials in Arizona and Georgia, Justice Brian Hagedorn is a longtime Republican who is now under fire for ruling against President Trump’s challenges to the election”: Reid J. Epstein of The New York Times has this interview with Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn.

Posted at 9:52 AM by Howard Bashman