A call for more diversity 

11/12/12

By Terry Baynes 

Having won a second term in office, President Barack Obama has an opportunity to make a new round of appointments to the federal bench.

According to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the president, who has made a concerted effort to increase the racial and gender diversity among federal judges, should now focus on professional diversity.

Speaking to an audience at Pace Law School on Monday, Sotomayor said she was "deeply troubled" that so many federal judges were former prosecutors and so few had worked in criminal defense. Lawyers who have done civil rights work have come under "enormous attack" in the nomination process, she added.

There are 15 vacancies in the U.S. courts of appeal and 65 in the U.S. district courts, according to the U.S. courts' website, leading some legal observers to declare a judicial vacancy crisis. Democrats have accused Republicans of stepping up tactics to block picks they consider too liberal, while Obama has also drawn criticism for lagging in his number of nominations and for not pushing candidates through the process aggressively enough.

During his first term, Obama appointed two justices to the Supreme Court, Sotomayor herself and former solicitor general Elena Kagan. With four Supreme Court justices in their 70s, he may have a chance to appoint yet another, as Joan Biskupic of Reuters has written. Sotomayor noted that it's easier for the president to pluck Supreme Court nominees from the courts of appeal, where judges leave an ample record of written decisions. But she pointed to Kagan as proof that you don't have to come from the bench to thrive as a justice.

Sotomayor also lamented that Senate confirmation hearings had become "television drama" aimed at outing a nominee's positions on partisan issues. She said the law, not public opinion or political ideology, controls the outcome of cases, but these answers will never satisfy senators or the public -- so the nomination process is "doomed to failure."

High school 

11/12/12

By Dan Brillman 

How's this for irony: In Colorado and Washington, it's legal to smoke a joint just off college campuses, but on school grounds -- where a, um, high concentration of pot smoking traditionally takes place -- the drug is technically still prohibited.

According to USA Today (hat tip: Washington Monthly), schools have been quick to stress that because federal laws concerning marijuana haven't changed, they're not going to risk federal funding (for both researchers and students) by allowing the quad to become a mini Amsterdam. "We don't see that it will change our policies very much," University of Washington spokesman Norman Arkans told the newspaper. "We get caught in the vise between the state law and our obligations under the federal government."

It's all a moot point, as 21 is the legal smoking age, and a good portion of college students aren't there yet. As with alcohol, however, it will continue to be almost impossible for college authorities to completely snuff it out.

Hold the texts 

11/12/12

By Caitlin Tremblay 

A Buffalo Bills fan has sued the NFL team for texting him too often, according to The Buffalo News (hat tip: USA Today).

Jerry Wojcik, who now lives in Florida, claims that the Bills sent him three more texts than the "3-5 per week" he signed up for. Wojcik says that on Sept. 12 he visited the Bills' website and signed up for text message updates in order to keep tabs on the team. The second week he received six messages and a few weeks later, seven. Claiming these extra messages are a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, he is seeking "$500 per excessive call for negligent violations and up to $1,500 per call for willful violations."

Perhaps Wojcik is just frustrated about the Bills' record this year? It's not too good (3-6). Or, as USA Today muses, maybe he's still peeved about that wide right. That was rotten luck.

The Bills shouldn't have to worry too much about this one, though. Earlier his year, when a Pittsburgh Penguins fan sued the NHL team for sending him too many text messages, the suit got thrown out.

India's law push 

11/12/12

By Suhrith Parthasarathy 

More than 100 literacy clubs have been established in schools in Haryana, northern India, to help increase awareness about the country's legal system, reports The Times of India. The chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court, A.K. Sikri, told a gathering at a school in Gurgaon that the objective is to teach the law not only to students but, through their outreach, to the poor and illiterate.

Sikri, who is also the patron-in-chief of the Haryana State Legal Services Authority, said that apart from spreading awareness through the clubs, there are plans to include some legal subjects in school syllabi to help students learn about the law and their rights. A small book comprising basic lessons on the law is being published by the legal services authority and will be used as a teaching aid in schools, the justice said, according to The Indian Express.

The program will start with students from grades nine to 12, the paper says, but will soon also include colleges and other vocational institutions.

Car dealing 

11/12/12

By Ted Botha

It was seventh time unlucky for Robert Ernst, and it cost him $125,000 to find out. The car collector from North Tonawanda, near Niagara Falls, paid nearly $50,000 for a classic 1966 Chevy Corvette from Ronald Ellis and then spent another $75,000 fixing it up, reports The Buffalo News. Ernst had successfully bought and sold six other Corvettes before he bought the battered model, says Team ZR-1.

In June 2011, when Ernst entered the car in a Corvette competition in London, Ontario, he got the bad news: The all-important vehicle identification number was not the original one and the car was disqualified. Ernst accused Ellis of having created a counterfeit VIN tag, the newspaper says, and Ellis, who had no previous record, was charged with nine felonies.

An investigation by the local district attorney's office found that the car had actually been stolen shortly after it was sold in 1966, at which time the VIN tag had been removed. The case went before the North Tonawanda City Court, but the paper says the two men have agreed to a civil settlement and the charges against Ellis will be dropped if he stays out of trouble for six months. Ernst didn't disclose how much the deal was for, only that "I feel I was made whole on the car" and that he will be able to sell the it easily for $75,000.

Summary Judgments for November 9

Summary Judgments for November 8

Summary Judgments for November 7

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