How Appealing



Tuesday, January 5, 2021

“Lawyer on Trump Election Call Quits Firm After Uproar; The law firm, Foley & Lardner, had distanced itself from Cleta Mitchell after a recording of the call revealed she helped the president pressure Georgia elections officials”: Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times have this report.

Michael Kranish of The Washington Post reports that “Cleta Mitchell, who advised Trump on Saturday phone call, resigns from law firm.”

And Sara Randazzo of The Wall Street Journal reports that “Trump Adviser Cleta Mitchell Resigns From Law Firm After Georgia Call; Washington lawyer faced criticism after joining president to ask election officials to reverse Biden win.”

Posted at 8:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Dept. Seeks to Pare Back Civil Rights Protections for Minorities; A late move by the Trump administration would stop enforcement of protections against discriminatory practices that have a ‘disparate impact’ on protected groups”: Katie Benner and Erica L. Green will have this article in Wednesday’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 8:40 PM by Howard Bashman



“Justice Elizabeth Welch on joining Michigan’s Supreme Court, and its new majority”: Doug Tribou of Michigan Radio has this report.

Posted at 6:58 PM by Howard Bashman



“Biden’s committee to ‘reform’ the Supreme Court won’t fix the real problem in Washington; An ideological Congress can’t pass legislation on divisive issues, so it passes the buck to the Supreme Court”: Peter Morici has this essay online at MarketWatch.

Posted at 6:54 PM by Howard Bashman



“It’s time for the Supreme Court to curb one of its worst precedents”: Columnist George F. Will has this essay online at The Washington Post.

Posted at 6:38 PM by Howard Bashman



“Prominent Foley & Lardner attorney resigns after participating in Trump call trying to upend Georgia election”: Daniel Bice of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this report.

And Dylan Jackson of The American Lawyer reports that “Foley & Lardner Partner Who Sat In on Trump’s Georgia Call Resigns From Firm; The abrupt resignation comes just a day after Foley & Lardner told Law.com that it was ‘concerned’ with reports of partner Cleta Mitchell’s participation in the call, in which President Donald Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to ‘find votes.’

Posted at 5:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Paxton refuses to disclose full costs of taxpayer-funded Supreme Court election challenge”: Taylor Goldenstein of The Houston Chronicle has this report.

Posted at 3:52 PM by Howard Bashman



“Manufactured Finality in Arbitration Appeals: The Ninth Circuit held that plaintiffs can no longer voluntarily dismiss their claims and manufacture finality after a district court orders arbitration.” Bryan Lammon has this post at his “final decisions” blog.

Posted at 2:09 PM by Howard Bashman



“‘Enemies of the People’ site reappears, threatens SCOTUS, Senate leader; denies Iran involvement.” Andrew Blake of The Washington Times has this report.

Posted at 1:36 PM by Howard Bashman



“Trump Lawyer on Call Is a Conservative Firebrand Aiding His Push to Overturn Election; Cleta Mitchell had been quietly helping President Trump’s attempt to subvert the election results when the recording of him pressuring Georgia elections officials was revealed”: Michael S. Schmidt and Kenneth P. Vogel have this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

And in today’s edition of The Washington Post, Michael Kranish and Tom Hamburger have an article headlined “Cleta Mitchell, a key figure in president’s phone call, was an early backer of Trump’s election fraud claims.”

Posted at 1:33 PM by Howard Bashman



Eighth Circuit affirms federal district court’s injunctions prohibiting enforcement of Arkansas’ bans on abortion after 18 weeks or due to Down syndrome diagnosis: You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit at this link.

Although the decision was unanimous, two judges on the panel each wrote separately (and joined the other’s opinion) calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reevaluate its current abortion jurisprudence to give states more leeway to regulate or prohibit the procedure. Presumably Arkansas will be seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of today’s ruling.

Posted at 11:33 AM by Howard Bashman



“Pence’s Choice: Side With the Constitution or His Boss; The vice president will preside on Wednesday when Congress convenes to ratify Joe Biden’s victory; President Trump still seems to hold out hope that his loyal No. 2 could change the outcome.” Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman have this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.

Posted at 11:11 AM by Howard Bashman



“Appeals court signals it may block some California COVID-19 church restrictions”: Maura Dolan has this article in today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times.

Josh Gerstein of Politico reports that “9th Circuit skeptical of California church limits, but may uphold stay-home order.”

And Martin Macias Jr of Courthouse News Service reports that “Church Asks Ninth Circuit to Lift California’s Ban on Indoor Worship.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has posted on YouTube at this link the video of what appears to be a portion of yesterday’s oral argument of this appeal.

And in related news coverage, Caroline Enos of The Boston Globe reports that “Dozens of COVID-19 cases linked to Christmas Eve gatherings at Woburn church.”

Posted at 11:09 AM by Howard Bashman



“Biden’s Judicial Picks Should Include Lawyers Who Battled the Government in Court; The incoming president can bring some much-needed professional diversity to the federal bench”: Damon Root has this post online at Reason.

Posted at 11:02 AM by Howard Bashman



“Biden Considering Lawyer Who Defended Big Oil In Climate Suits For Solicitor General; David Frederick is a seasoned litigator with progressive victories under his belt, but some advocates say his work for Royal Dutch Shell should disqualify him”: Alexander C. Kaufman of HuffPost has this report.

Posted at 10:56 AM by Howard Bashman



“‘A lifetime of torture’: the story of the woman Trump is rushing to execute; Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on death row, was found guilty of an ‘especially heinous’ crime — but those who have looked deeply into her agonized life see it differently.” Ed Pilkington of The Guardian (UK) has this report.

Posted at 10:54 AM by Howard Bashman



“I lost a law school election to Josh Hawley. I moved on then, and he should now on Trump. He beat me for president of the Yale Law School Federalist Society by exploiting the rules. He should follow my example and not contest Trump’s loss.” Law professor Irina D. Manta has this essay online at USA Today.

Posted at 10:52 AM by Howard Bashman



“Inmate Revives Excessive Force Suit Over Beating, Pepper Spray”: Jacklyn Wille of Bloomberg Law has this report on a ruling that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued yesterday.

Two law students from the University of Virginia School of Law’s Appellate Litigation Clinic argued the appeal on the inmate’s behalf. In April 2020, Mike Fox of UVA Law had a profile of the law student who presented the main appellate oral argument on the inmate’s behalf titled “Student Led Voter Outreach Effort Before Law School; Jehanne McCullough ’21 Aspires To Advocate for Fellow Deaf Americans.”

Posted at 10:34 AM by Howard Bashman