Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup December 15, 2017
Each week, the Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup presents a few tidbits of news and Twitter posts from the past week concerning appellate advocacy. As always, if you see something during the week that you think we should be sure to include, feel free to send Dan a quick email atDReal@Creighton.edu or a message on Twitter (@Daniel_L_Real).
Supreme Court Opinions and News:
SCOTUS declined to take the appeal in a case involving wife swapping by public employees. In the case, two Louisiana sheriff’s deputies fell in love with each other’s wives and “swapped” wives and families. When their supervisor learned of their action, he told them to stop living with each other’s spouse until divorce and to cease all contact with them until that point in time. They refused, and they were fired. They brought a First Amendment claim based on their right of association. The federal district court found for the state, and the Fifth Circuit affirmed. On Monday, SCOTUS declined to hear the appeal:
Federal Appellate Court Opinions and News:
Allegations of sexual misconduct have now reached the federal appellate judiciary, with allegations being made against 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski. Several women who served as his clerks and externs have made allegations of misconduct.
National Center on Sexual Exploitation is calling for him to resign from the bench.
Mid week, a formal complaint was filed before the Judicial Council calling for an investigation.
And late this week, news came out suggesting that Kozinski’s staff has quit amidst these allegations.
Related: New York magazine article asks whether the federal judiciary is ready for its “#MeToo” moment, looking at Kozinski as an example.
President Trump is on pace to have more federal appeals court judicial nominees confirmed in his first year in office than any president in history. See this report.
Appellate Practice Tips and Tools: