Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, November 29, 2019

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 a quick note to either (1) Dan Real at DReal@Creighton.edu or on Twitter (@Daniel_L_Real) or (2) Catharine Du Bois at DuBoisLegalWriting@gmail.com or on Twitter @CLDLegalWriting

With the Thanksgiving holiday and even the Supreme Court taking a little break this week, the roundup is a little shorter this time around.

US Supreme Court Opinions and News:

This week, the Supreme Court ordered President Trump to file an expedited appeal in a case in which Trump is seeking to block a House subpoena of his financial records.  The case is one of two testing the Court’s willingness to block subpoenas as part of investigations into his personal and business affairs.  More from Boomberg news HERE. 

A couple of posts at The Volokh Conspiracy this week addressed recent indications from the Supreme Court about its willingness to revisit the nondelegation doctrine, concerning whether administrative agencies can exercise authority delegated by Congress.  First, Jonathan Adler had THIS article pointing out that in the Court’s denial of rehearing in the case of Gundy v. United States, and in the Court’s denial of certiorari in Paul v. United States, Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have signaled that the Court may be willing to revisit nondelegation in the context of major regulatory initiatives. In addition, Josh Blackman had THIS article noting that the DACA cases currently pending before the Court squarely present the opportunity to address the doctrine.

State Appellate Court Opinions and News:

Recently, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed an Iowa Court of Appeals order in a case concerning Iowa’s new “stand-your-ground” law.  The Supreme Court ruled that the law, allowing people to use lethal force to defend themselves, is not applicable to protect the use of force by people engaged in criminal activity prior to the perceived threat.  More HERE.

The Kansas Supreme Court ruled this week that a man’s criminal conviction should not be automatically set aside despite evidence that the presiding trial judge had fallen asleep on the bench during the first day of the trial.  The Supreme Court called the conduct “regrettable” but concluded it did not automatically warrant reversal.  More HERE.