Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, April 1, 2022

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.

US Supreme Court Opinions and News

• In a shocking and unexpected move, a unanimous Supreme Court overturned Marbury v. Madison this afternoon stating that the principle of judicial review was, in fact, unconstitutional.  The sua sponte ruling sent ripples through the legal community with many wondering how the decision may retroactively affect what was consider controlling Supreme Court precedent. See the opinion here.  And reports from The New York Times, CNN, and Fox.

• The Supreme Court heard argument this week in a case that addresses whether companies can use arbitrations clauses that forbid class claims. At issue is a California labor law that allows attorneys to sue on behalf of groups of workers even where the workers agreed to arbitrate their claims.  The Court posted transcripts and audio of the argument. See reports from Courthouse News Service and The LA Times.

• This week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two interesting cases:

  • A case involving the humane treatment of pigs that will hear a challenge to a California law that requires adequate space for breeding pigs to turn around. The challenge argues that the law is an unfair burden on out-of-state farmers. See discussion of the case from The New York Times and The Washington Post.
  • A copyright battle over Andy Warhol’s Prince image. The question is whether Warhol violated copyright of the photographer Lynn Goldsmith when Warhol created his Prince images based on the Goldsmith’s photo. The case addresses the scope of fair use as a defense to copyright infringement. See discussion of the case from NBC News, USA Today, and The New York Times.

State Court Opinions and News

The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that Black Lives Matter leader DeRay McKesson could be liable for injuries an officer suffered during a 2016 protest. The court ruled that people who participate in crimes by others can be held liable and that emergency workers injured while on duty are not automatically barred from suing. See ruling and reports from ABA Journal and The Advocate,