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Appellate Advocacy Blog
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Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Saturday, February 26

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 Friday, President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to replace Justice Stephen Breyer when he steps down this summer.  The nomination is the first of a black woman, and has been largely expected since Biden’s promises during the presidential campaign to nominate a black woman.  In addition to the historical significance of being the first black woman nominated to the Court, Judge Jackson also could be the first Justice on the Court with significant experience representing criminal defendants since Justice Thurgood Marshall and would join Justice Sotomayor as one of only two members of the Court with experience as a trial level judge.  SCOTUSblog’s coverage HERE.
 
Federal Appellate Court Opinions and News:
 

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in a case where United Airlines employees sought a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of United Airline’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, in which the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings a trial court decision denying the preliminary injunction.  This week, United Airlines sought rehearing en banc from the Fifth Circuit.

    • Article on last week’s decision HERE.
    • Last week’s opinion HERE.
    • Petition for Rehearing HERE.

On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated a copyright lawsuit against Apple over the first three episodes of its psychological horror series, “Servant.”  The suit alleges that the first three episodes are a “wholesale copy” of a 2013 feature film, “The Truth About Emmanuel.”  The Ninth Circuit ruled that the trial judge was too quick to conclude that there is no substantial similarity between the two works.  More HERE.

State Appellate Court Opinions and News:

On Wednesday, the Iowa Supreme Court heard arguments in a case in which the court is asked to overturn a district court’s ruling on a state law requiring women to wait at least 24 hours before obtaining an abortion.  In the case, the lower court entered a permanent injunction against the state law, and the state is now asking the high court to overturn the ruling.  More HERE.