Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, July 9, 2021

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

The Supreme Court ended the 2020-21 term last week. And with that came the many end-of-term wrap-ups and commentaries. Here are a few for your perusal:

• UCI’s 11th Annual Supreme court Term in Review.
• ADL’s 22nd Annual Supreme Court Review.
• SCOTUSBlog
• The New York Times
• The Washington Post
• NPR:
  • 5 Takeaways From the Supreme Court Term
  • The Supreme Court’s Term Appeared To Be Cautious. The Numbers Tell A Different Story.

Appellate Court Opinions and News

• The Fifth Circuit ruled that Texas’s rule that requires attorneys to join the bar association violates the First Amendment. The court reasoned that, because “the Bar is engaged in non-germane activities,” compelling Texas attorneys to join and pay dues violates their First Amendment Rights. See the order and reports from the ABA Journal and the Times-Picayune. 

Jobs

The Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of North Carolina is hiring an Appellate Assistant Federal Public Defender.  See the posting here.

Interesting Discussions

• Tim Koval posted a discussion that he and Jeff Lewis had with Judge Robert Bacharach of the Tenth Circuit about using acronyms in brief writing. Spoiler: avoid them if you can.
• Avi Wolfman-Arent  started a thread (and sub-thread) about the circumstances that led to the Supreme Court case where we find the oft-quoted First Amendment line about yelling fire in a crowded theater.