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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: US Appeals court

US Appeals court stories: 19 news summaries

 Obama Blasted for Letting 
 GOP Hold Up Judges 

Nominees locked in committee as vacancies build up

Oct 16, 09 6:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - At this point in their first terms, Bill Clinton had had nine federal judges confirmed and George W Bush eight—but Barack Obama has got only three judges through, despite sending 23 names to the Democratic-controlled Senate. Part of the problem is Republican obstructionists who've threatened filibusters and used parliamentary... More »

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Barack Obama • US Appeals court • court • federal judges • judicial nominations • Sonia Sotomayor

 Animal Cruelty Case 
 Hits Supreme Court 

Landmark case to decide 1st Amendment as it applies to cruelty

Oct 5, 09 1:14 PM CDT
(Newser) - Animal cruelty takes the floor of the Supreme Court tomorrow, as the justices consider whether to overturn an appeals court judgment that allows the depiction of animal cruelty under the auspices of the First Amendment. The lower court wasn’t keen on animal cruelty, but found that our furry friends—... More »

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free speech • US Appeals court • First Amendment • animal cruelty • video • child pornography • US Supreme Court • fetish porn • 1st Amendment

Failed Execution Cited in Stay for Another Man

Judge: halted lethal injection raises issues about Ohio protocol

Oct 5, 09 10:55 AM CDT
(AP) - A federal appeals court today halted the execution of an Ohio inmate three weeks after problems with a lethal injection foiled another man's execution. The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to grant a stay to 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr., who had been sentenced to die for strangling... More »

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federal courts • Ohio • lethal injection • execution • US Appeals court • Romell Broom • Lawrence Reynolds

Court Rescinds Cap on Political Spending by Nonprofits

Emily's List wins ruling on 'soft money'

Sep 18, 09 4:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - A federal appeals court today rescinded FEC limits on “soft money,” the Washington Post reports. The federal regulations had required that funds used by a nonprofit to influence a federal election be drawn from “hard money” accounts—individual contributions of “hard money” are capped at $5,... More »

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federal courts • US Appeals court • FEC • nonprofit • soft money • political donations • Emily's List • advocacy • Federal Court of Appeal • Brett Kavanaugh

Court Ruling Scuttles Del. Sports Gambling Plans

Grandfather clause doesn't apply to single-game expansion: judges

Aug 24, 09 4:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - A federal court quashed Delaware’s bid to legalize single-game sports betting today, ruling that the gambling expansion violated a 1992 federal law, the News Journal of Wilmington reports. State lawyers had argued Delaware was exempt from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act under a grandfather clause, but a... More »

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sports • gambling • US Appeals court • casino • Delaware • revenue • sports betting

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today approved the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat over objections from debt holders in Indiana, the Wall Street Journal reports. The court put the sale on hold until Monday afternoon, or until the Supreme Court issues a stay—which Indiana investors say they... More »

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Chrysler • bankruptcy • US Appeals court • Indiana • Fiat • Federal Court of Appeal

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today ruled that alleged Nazi guard John Demjanjuk can be deported to Germany to stand trial, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Demjanjuk’s family had argued that the 89-year-old’s poor health would make the flight tantamount to torture, resulting in a stay last month. An... More »

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Germany • Ohio • US Appeals court • deportation • Nazi • US Supreme Court • John Demjanjuk • murder charges

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff’s lawyer argued today that the financier, who has pleaded guilty to a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, should be free on bail until June sentencing, the New York Times reports. Ira Sorkin cited past precedent in similar cases, but the prosecution said Madoff has incentive to flee—and... More »

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US Appeals court • sentencing • house arrest • bail • Ponzi scheme • district attorney • Bernard Madoff • Ira Sorkin

ANALYSIS

Supreme Court May Have
Too Many Judges

 Is the High Court Too 'Judgey'?

Feb 16, 09 4:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Chief Justice John Roberts recently praised the present makeup of the Supreme Court, which, for the first time in history, consists only of former federal appeals judges. The move towards a Court dominated by those with judicial experience has been afoot since the 1950s, writes Adam Liptak in the More »

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John Roberts • US Appeals court • judicial • federal judges • US Supreme Court • constitutional law • appellate court

Obama Influence Will Be Felt in Lower Courts

Supreme Court is likely set, but underlings decide more cases

Dec 8, 08 7:48 AM CST
(Newser) - Barack Obama isn’t likely to name a Supreme Court justice anytime soon, but he will be shifting the federal judicial balance almost immediately, the Washington Post reports. Democrats currently hold just 36% of appeals court judgeships, but that should jump to 58% by the end of Obama’s... More »

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Barack Obama • US Appeals court • federal judges • US Supreme Court • President Obama

In 8 Years, Bush Revolutionized Appeals Courts

Below the high court, conservative judges for decades to come

Oct 29, 08 5:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - George W. Bush's two appointments tilted the Supreme Court to the right—but it's at the appellate level where his judicial legacy is greatest. The president has appointed fully a third of all appeals court judges, and Republican appointees now control 10 of the 13 circuits. The result, writes the... More »

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US Appeals court • US Court of Appeals • judge • US Supreme Court • George W. Bush • judicial nominations • conservatives

Appeals Court Halts Release of 17 at Gitmo

Goverment seeks to reverse decision to free Chinese Muslims

Oct 9, 08 7:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - An appeals court has blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay after the Bush administration filed an emergency motion. A lower court had ruled that the men, members of the Uighur minority who have been imprisoned for 7 years, must be released. That decision also said... More »

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China • Bush administration • US Appeals court • Guantanamo Bay • Guantanamo prisoners • Uighurs • Chinese Muslims

Court Voids
2 Terrorism Convictions

Blow to administration as Yemeni defendants get a new trial

Oct 3, 08 7:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - An appeals court yesterday overturned the verdicts of two men convicted of terrorist offenses in a case once hailed by the Bush administrations as a major triumph, the New York Times reports. The court ruled that inflammatory and irrelevant testimony prejudiced the trial of a Yemeni cleric and his assistant.... More »

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terrorism • US Appeals court • terrorist • Yemen • overturned verdict

Court Likens Gitmo Case to Absurd Poem

Lewis Carroll cited
in mocking decision
to void detention

Jul 1, 08 6:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - In ruling that a Gitmo detainee has been improperly held for 6 years, a federal appeals court deemed the government's standard of evidence on par with an absurdist poem of the 19th century. The DC Court of Appeals voided the detention of Huzaifa Parhat last week, but yesterday it released... More »

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US Appeals court • Guantanamo Bay • Guantanamo prisoners • Boumediene • Uighurs • Huzaifa Parhat

Polygamy Kids Could Be Back Home in 10 Days

Texas must appeal surprise ruling or
send children back

May 23, 08 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - Yesterday's surprise court ruling in favor of a polygamous sect has Texas authorities scrambling, Time reports. An appeals judge ruled that the state had no right to seize children suspected of being sexually abused from the Yearning for Zion ranch. Officials now must appeal the ruling or return the children... More »

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Texas • US Appeals court • polygamy • child custody • FLDS • Child Protective Services • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints • Yearning for Zion ranch • polygamists

UPDATED

 Texas Court: Return Kids
to Polygamy Sect 

Appellate body finds no evidence more than 460 children were in danger

May 22, 08 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Texas appeals court found today that authorities, acting on "no evidence," and supported only by a "general allegation" of impropriety, should not have removed more than 460 children from a polygamist compound, the Dallas Morning News reports. The panel also said a local court "abused... More »

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Texas • US Appeals court • polygamy • judicial • child custody • Child Protective Services • Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints • Yearning for Zion ranch • Barbara Walther • polygamists

Appeals Court Nixes Sonar Exemption Claim by Navy

But court sets aside protections for marine life for another 30 days

Mar 2, 08 5:25 AM CST
(Newser) - The US Navy is not exempt from laws that ban whale-harming sonar, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Bush administration had contested an earlier ruling, arguing that halting sonar use when whales are nearby poses "significant restrictions on our ability to train realistically." Whales and dolphins have... More »

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whale • Southern California • US Appeals court • US Navy • marine life • dolphins • sonar • submarine training

No Horseplay Allowed When Naming One

The Jockey Club screens names for vulgarity, offensiveness

Oct 2, 07 12:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Good luck giving your racehorse a racy name. Horse racing's governing body goes to great lengths to squash obscene monikers; censors check proposed thoroughbred name requests against a slang dictionary, and phonetics software weeds out ones that might be, or sound, offensive. Of the 60,000 names submitted to the... More »

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horse racing • US Appeals court

Appeals Court Rejects FCC Decency Rules

Broadcasters can't be punished for airing "fleeting expletives" 

Jun 5, 07 7:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Networks that accidentally air profanity got a major break from a US appeals court yesterday when the court  shot down an FCC regulation that punishes them for airing even "fleeting expletives." The court said some of the FCC's indecency rules were "divorced from reality" and sent them... More »

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television • FCC • censorship • Super Bowl • indecency • US Appeals court • appeal • Nicole Ritchie • Cher • Billboard Music awards • Janet Jackson • nipple slip • Fox

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