Tuesday, November 20, 2007

SUPREME COURT GRANTS CERT

BREAKING BLOG NEWS

The US Supreme Court has granted certiorari in DC v. Heller (click on case for link to SCOTUS Blog) in which the court will for the first time in 68 years address the meaning of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms clause.

The NY Times article is HERE

It is interesting to note that the Court rejected the issue as framed by both of the parties in the underlying case. When a case is appealed to the Supreme Court, the way the issue is phrased can be just as important as the argument on the merits.

In Heller the court decided to frame the issue itself:

“Whether the following provisions — D.C. Code secs. 7-2502.02(a)(4), 22-4504(a), and 7-2507.02 — violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes?”

Rumpole says: This court is rapidly becoming out of step with the American public. The main reason is that the Justice who played the largest role in keeping the court balanced was O'Connor. O'Connor provided the crucial fifth vote for either coalition for the last twenty years, and without her steadying influence on not moving too quickly, and searching for a reasonable middle ground, the court as it now stands is deeply fractured.

Rumpole predicts: Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito push Kennedy very hard for that fifth vote striking down the law. Scalia is just itching to write an "originalist" opinion interpreting an amendment that has a scarcity of case law and opinions. Whether Kennedy gives him that opportunity, and whether Roberts assigns him the opinion is another matter altogether.

16 comments:

  1. Two SHOCKING posts from the Federal Blog on Rumpole:

    Anonymous said...
    Fake Commodore says . . .


    Is that "of the Bailey?"

    4:33 PM


    Anonymous said...
    MY WORD- you have broken the code. Rumpole is ABE BAILEY!!!!!!! He is always telling us to look outside the box- Rumpole (outside the box) of the...BAILEY.

    RUMPOLE IS ABE BAILEY!!!!!!
    THE SECRET IS OUT
    THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED.

    WOW!!!!

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  2. R
    I see u finally got around to reading the 9...

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  3. Previous blogger wrote about Judge Jeri B. Cohen and the Cuban kid. I just loved this quote:

    "It is one thing to act like an ass and quite another to be certified as an ass."

    Could this blogger be thinking about another Judge ehhh Batman?

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  4. AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO HANDGUN CONTROL; We the undersigned, having a financial, sadistic, or intellectual interest in the continued availability of handguns to anyone beyond the 1st grade do hereby petition the US Supreme Court to find the DC handgun ordinance unconstitutional and a violation of the rights afforded in the 2nd amendment of the U.S. Constitution: 1. Handgun manufacturing- approximately 1000 jobs. 2. Hollywood screenwriters of violent movies and tv shows. 3.The WASP association of American which applauds the extermination of thousands of poor minorities every year by handguns which insures our place in the American corporate boardroom. 4. The U.S. Military- our recruiting efforts will be hampered by youths not having handgun experience prior to age 18. 5. U.S. Association of Prison Employees- incarceration would diminish without gun violence thereby diminishing the need for our employment in rural america. 6.The U.S. association of police officers- decreased violence would also lead to a lower supply of police 7. The U.S. social workers of america alliance- a decrease in gun violence would cut down on juvenile crime-less guns equal less crime equals less need for social workers in the juvenile justice system 8. the Divorce Lawyers of America- less juvenile violent crime would mean less marital strife meaning less divorce 9. American Society of Emergency Room workers: less gun violence and then we only work car accidents, less work, less employees and then we would have time to car for poor people without insurance 10.American Association of Nightime News broadcasters- less gun violence equals less interesting news and we are sick of reporting about viagara and other inroads in the pharmaceutical industry. On behalf of the millions of Americans who benefit from 15000 murders a year we respectfully request the status quo be allowed to persist. If, on the other hand you find the law constitutional, in keeping with the true spirit of lobbying in the U.S. , we strongly urge the construction on the mall in Washington of a memorial to those killed by handguns and please feel free to contact the chairman of this organization who has a good friend who is on the board of American Granite and Marble who can get you a good deal on supplies for the monument. P.S. for the simpleminded this is a sarcastic challenge for change, any aggrieved person can ask for an end to handgun murder and be laughed at and denied justice so perhaps sarcasm is the way to go. From the onion peeler, who has worked on only 25 dead body cases in his 20 year career.

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  5. LOL Fall down funny from a previous post: 2 comments

    Anonymous said...
    Speaking of L. Schwartz's courtoom,,,anyone know why he's telling people he'll be out of the building for over a month?

    Tuesday, November 20, 2007 6:38:00 PM


    Fake Captain said...
    FAKE CAPTAIN reports that Judge Larry Schwartz will be flying to a very famous hospital where he will be undergoing a new and risky surgery to have both his nasty sarcasm removed, and a kind personality on the bench transplated. This double transplant/removal is very risky and could result in our Judge remaining just the cranky way he is.

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  6. THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

    MORE NEW JUDGES .....

    First, the Gov. has six names before him for the seat of Judge Jorge Perez. Three of those names are County Court Judges. Careful readers may recall that I have noted that this Gov. has done the opposite of Gov. Jeb and has not gone out of his way to do the TWO-FOR-ONE. That being appointing a County Court Judge to a Circuit Court seat, just to get a second appt.

    This appt. may be the exception as Judge Gayles, Miller and Sarduy go up against Joseph Davis, David Peckins and Lisa Walsh for the open seat.

    Also, the JNC is looking at still more names, for the seat of Judge Bach. That list includes names before the Gov like Davis, Walsh and Peckins; names that have filed to run for Judge, like Segarra, Cueto, Mario Garcia, Sampedro-Iglesia, Glick and Sanchez-Llorens. And some new names, like:
    Steve Levine, Gail Ash Dotson, Alan Taylor, and James Leano.

    CAPTAIN OUT .....

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  7. Rumpole- I have to share this with you. A great new receipe (its i before e except after c right?) for a margarita:

    Using a margarita mix and cuervo gold tequila, when adding triple sec, add a similar amount of 10 Cane Rum. 1) it will knock you on your butt
    2) it tastes great!

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  8. Triple sec?

    All good margaritas require Cointreau.

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  9. Abe Bailey certainly shares Rumpole's affinaty for Shakespeare but Abe probably knows less about American football than Margaret Thatcher--cricket and rounders are more his speed. It is unlikely that Abe could be making Rumpole's Sunday football picks.

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  10. I've fought it and fought it and fought it, but I have to admit it- I am in love with Mills-Francis's clerk. She is so hot.

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  11. Breaking Blog News: Q In NYC keeps Dr. Jan Adams off the Larry king show, and vows to file motions to overturn "all of Dr. Adams false DUI convictions."

    IONQ out.

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  12. If the Supreme Court sticks to constitutional law and stays out of politics, it should affirm the unconstitutionality of the DC gun ban.

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  13. The Broward blog is one of a handful of legal blogs that have started in South Florida in the past two years that have shone a spotlight on the justice system.

    Justice Building Blog is anonymous and written by a Miami criminal defense attorney who calls himself "Rumpole of the Bailey."

    South Florida Lawyers, started anonymously a month ago, covers civil law in the southern part of the state. The Southern District of Florida blog is run by David O. Markus, a prominent Miami criminal defense attorney and president of the Miami chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

    While the Southern District of Florida and South Florida Lawyers blogs are intended to share discourse and aggregate newspaper stories, the JAA Blog and the Justice Building Blog are clearly intended to make waves.

    "People underestimate the impact of the Justice Building Blog, but I believe that every state court judge, particularly criminal, reads it routinely as well as most of the practitioners," said Brian Tannebaum, a defense lawyer at Tannebaum Weiss in Miami.

    "There are a lot of things that happen in the building that people didn't know about. I think it's had a huge impact on the way people operate in the criminal courthouse. I think blogs in general have had a huge impact on the way that our system operates," Tannebaum said. "They can spread rumors, they can relay information that people otherwise may not have known."

    The downside to the blogs, say readers, is that anonymous responders post information about judges routinely not showing up for work, judges and lawyers having affairs with each other and other salacious rumors.

    Moderating movement

    The JAA Blog is not moderated and anyone can post any comment. The anonymous author of the Justice Building Blog recently began moderating the comments section and bans personal rumors and attacks from his blog.

    "I think it would have a lot more credibility if you had to register your name. Right now, it's a tremendous catalyst for a lot of controversy that didn't exist before," Adler said.

    Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Leonard Glick said he reads the Justice Building Blog "two to three times a day" and sometimes writes in.

    "I think it's an interesting exchange of ideas," he said. "Some people spoil things by posting juvenile and hurtful things. But it's not totally a gossip mill. There are elements of important ideas."

    In an e-mail response to questions, "Rumpole" took direct responsibility for two changes: helping to secure a daycare room for children at the Miami criminal courthouse for defendants to use, and causing judges to rethink their position of not allowing continuances at "soundings" or calendar calls held a week before trial.
    It's unquestionable that JAAB and Rumpole have had an effect; David Marcus has been a valuable asset to the federal courthouse coverage, and the influence can been seen by talking to lawyers and judges around town.

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  14. According to the Herald, Mills -Francis will be joining other judges such as Milian, Ferrer, Pereya-Shuminer and Young as the next TV judge to hail from Miami.

    It's the Judge Karen show.

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  15. If Schwartz is so bad why have his PD's fought to stay over two years and his his ASA's never want to leave...Maybe the those who think so negatively havent been there for a while or perhaps they're ginaatheleticsupporters.......
    Some of us hope his surgery goes well and he returns as scheduled.

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