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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, December 10

By Daniel Real

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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.

SCOTUS Opinions and News:
 
  • On Monday, the White House commission examining potential changes to the U.S. Supreme Court released its draft final report.  The report is more than 280 pages long, and includes arguments in favor of and against a variety of suggested changes ranging from imposing term limits to expanding the size of the court.  Continued livestreaming of arguments was the only change that appeared to garner widespread support in the report.
  • On Monday, the Court released a press release indicating that it will continue to hear oral arguments in person in January and February, while continuing to limit access to the courtroom to the Justices, essential Court personnel, counsel, and journalists with full-time press credentials issued by the Court.  The Court will also continue live audio feeds.
  • United States v. Taylor:  
    • On Tuesday, the Court heard arguments in a case in which two men planned to steal money, failed to successfully complete the robbery, but fatally shot the victim.  One of the men was convicted under a plea agreement, and now challenges his conviction under a federal statute making it a federal crime to use a gun in connection with a “crime of violence.”  There is no dispute that the man used a gun in connection with an attempted robbery — the dispute is whether attempted robbery meets the definition of “crime of violence.”  The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with defendant in ruling that it did not.
  • Shinn v. Ramirez: 
    • On Wednesday, the Court heard arguments in a case involving two men sentenced to death in Arizona.  The issue in the case concerns whether the men should be allowed to present evidence in federal court that their trial lawyers were ineffective.  Arizona argues that a federal law bars the federal court from considering evidence supporting an ineffective assistance claim unless that evidence was first presented in state court, even though it is undisputed that Supreme Court precedent allows ineffective assistance claims to be brought in federal court.
  • Carson v. Makin:  
    • On Wednesday, the Court heard arguments in a case involving the question of whether the state of Maine could exclude insitutions that promote religion from a state program that covers the cost of private education in areas without public schools.  The Justices seemed inclined to rule in favor of the litigants, indicating belief that they were not seeking special treatment but were merely seeking equal treatment and signaling that excluding institutions that promote religion might be discrimination on the basis of religious beliefs.
  • Whole Women’s Health v. Jackson:  
    • On Friday, the Court issued an 8-1 decision holding that Texas abortion providers can challenge the Texas abortion law (SB8) by suing some state licensing officials in federal court.  By a 5-4 vote, however, the Court held that suit cannot go forward against state court clerks.  The Court did not strike down the law or prevent its enforcement while such suits go forward.  Justice Thomas was the sole vote to deny all relief and allow the law to be enforcement without allowing the pre-enforcement legal challenges to go forward.
Federal Appellate Court Opinions and News:
 
  • Trump v. Thompson:  
    • On Thursday, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in which the court held, among other things, that White House records of former President Trump can be released in the January 6 probe, pending Supreme Court review.
Appellate Jobs:
 
  • The Harris County, Texas, District Attorney’s Office is hiring an Appellate Prosecutor, to prepare appellate briefs, motions, petitions for discretionary review, and oral arguments in the appellate courts.
  • The Office of the Ohio Public Defender is hiring an Assistant Public Defender to join the Appeals and Post-Conviction Section of its Legal Department.