I'll Second That—Today's New Blawg

Manhattan appellate lawyer Sanford (Sandy) Hausler has taken the wraps off his 2nd Circuit blog, Second Opinions.

More blawgs specific to various Circuits include Matt Conigliaro's Abstract Appeal (11th Circuit), and Sixth Circuit Law by Jason Nemes. There's also The Limit of its Logic (for the 9th) but that one seems to have died on the vine, and I can't tell whether Dina Grinshpun's Federal Circuit Blog is going–going? Or gone. Others?

[Update:] Marcia Oddi reminds me that her Indiana Law Blog covers all 7th Circuit decisions, and all Indiana appellate decisions to boot.

[Update:] Steve Minor points out that in addition to his own SW Virginia Law Blog, several others "sometimes sort of" cover the 4th Circuit:

• Brian Peterson (especially employment cases)


• Dave Stratton (especially tort and coverage cases)


• Ken Lammers (especially criminal)

Of course, I've assumed throughout this post it goes without saying Howard Bashman provides excellent coverage of all the Circuits, and many state appellate decisions too, but now I'm saying it anyway. =D

[Update] Jonathan Soglin covers a good deal of the 9th Circuit's output at Criminal Appeal—and may well hold the TypePad record for number of post categories.

If Only They'd Signed Digitally

O. Carter Snead (General Counsel of the President's Council on Bioethics) has a fascinating essay in The New Atlantis about how new technologies affect constitutional interpretation, Technology and the Constitution. A sample:

Because of its defining feature–the requirement that constitutional provisions be construed according to their original meaning–originalist textualism is profoundly affected by advances in science and technology. In cases and controversies in which such advances are centrally involved, originalist jurists are required to discern and apply temporally fixed concepts to circumstances and possibilities that could never have been contemplated by the authors of the Constitution. This collision of fixed meaning and novel realities born of technological progress stands to force a "crisis of construction," where fidelity to originalist textualism is greatly complicated or costly, and in some cases yields politically undesirable or untenable results.

He concludes with a question ("whether the solution to this growing challenge is to empower judges to interpret the Constitution by their own initiative and whim–and therefore to rely on their understanding of the significance and character of new technologies") and discusses the ramifications of the competing approaches.

Green Eggs And Spam

Just wondering if someone had nabbed that headline: yep! Mr. Geisel's prescience as to the email age was nothing short of astounding, but [Spoiler Ahead!] too bad the little guy won. Horrendous example for our youth.

Side linkage:

• Doc Searls on re-mail: "In a word, relationship."


• OC Metro, Beyond Spam: "There's no software inside the boxes. That's because mUrgent doesn't sell software – it sells access to software and related hardware."


• And won't you rest easier knowing you can, in fact, search inside this book?

Bueno Pro Bono

I and my firm are very proud of the work done by my colleagues Jayne Fleming and Ray Cardozo in a case decided today by the 9th Circuit, Garcia-Martinez v. Ashcroft (PDF). Here's the text of the email (lightly ellipsed and link added; editing is a little like nicotine to appellate lawyers) Kathy Banke, head of Reed Smith's appellate group, just sent the firm:

I am pleased to report an outstanding Ninth Circuit result in the high profile, pro bono appellate matter handled by Jayne Fleming and Ray Cardozo involving the denial of political asylum to Reina Garcia-Martinez. As you may recall..., Garcia had been gang-raped by the Guatemalan military during that country's civil war.

In a published opinion..., the Ninth Circuit today reversed the asylum denial, remarking that Garcia has "survived atrocities that most of us experience only in our worst nightmares" and that "persecution is stamped on every page of this record." The opinion recognizes several key principles that will go a long way in protecting the rights of women victims of persecution in asylum cases.

From both the appellate and asylum practitioner's standpoint, the result is particularly remarkable for two reasons. First, the ground for the decision—insufficient evidence to support the IJ's decision—is one that rarely succeeds. Second, the published opinion was authored by Johnnie B. Rawlinson, one of the Ninth Circuit's more conservative judges known for voting against asylum in the vast majority of cases.

Hats off to Ray and Jayne for their tremendous effort.

And here's more about Jayne's argument in the case, including a WMA version of the argument from the Court's audio argument archive:

• Guatelmalan "Rape As A Political Act" Case Begins, Ninth District [sic] to Review Immigration Decisions


• 9th Circuit Leans Toward Asylum for Rape Victim


• Oral argument audio

Blockbusting Late Fees

Did you see Blockbuster recently started offering an all you can eat movie pricing plan with no late fees? They have a similar thing for games. Long live competition!