Appellate Advocacy Blog Weekly Roundup Friday, January 31, 2020

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:

• This week, the Supreme Court granted, without much explanation, the petition to stay an injunction that had prevented the implementation of the Justice Department’s income-based restrictions on immigration. The ruling allows the administration, in the consideration of green card applications, to base decisions on whether the applicant is likely to need public assistance, including public benefits like Medicaid, food stamps, and housing vouchers. The bulk of the opinion is Justice Gorsuch’s concurrence, which focuses on “[t]he real problem here” described as “the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the cases before them.” See reports in New York Times, Washington Post, and Associated Press.

• A documentary on Clarence Thomas is being screened across the country this month. “Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words” is reviewed and discussed in The Washington Post and The National Review. A trailer is available on YouTube.

Federal Appellate Court Opinions and News:

• The Ninth Circuit ruled this week that Arizona’s “ballet harvesting” law discriminates against minority voters. The court reversed a lower court’s findings in favor of Arizona on all counts and stated that Arizona’s laws “have a discriminatory impact on American Indian, Hispanic, and African American voters in Arizona” and that the laws were “enacted with discriminatory intent.” See decision here. See reports by The Arizona Republic, The Associate Press, The Hill, and Bloomberg Law. 

• Also from the Ninth Circuit, the court will permit the malicious prosecution suit against Fairbanks, Alaska, by the four men who spent eighteen years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit. The convictions of the “Fairbanks 4” were thrown out when another man confessed to the murder.  See the Courthouse News Service report and the opinion. 

• The Eighth Circuit upheld an injunction blocking an Arkansas campaign contribution law. The court ruled that the law, which prohibits contributions to a campaign until two years before election day, is likely unconstitutional.  The decision is here. See reports from Bloomberg Law (requires subscription) and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

• The DC Circuit reversed the dismissal of a First Amendment challenge to “FOSTA,” an anti-sex trafficking bill. The dismissal was based on subject-matter jurisdiction, finding that the petitioners lacked standing.  The DC Circuit decision reversed and remanded, finding that at least two petitioners had established standing. See article here.  

• A Sixth Circuit ruling will permit an expelled med-school student to sue for defamation. The student alleges that her professor fabricated a test-cheating story after she rebuffed his advances. See decision and report from Bloomberg Law.

Appellate Practice Advice

A recent Twitter question prompted a thread providing advice for appellate advocacy “newbies.” The thread included a link to a useful 2016 post by Steven Klepper on building an appellate practice.