About Me
- Bob Mabry
- Civil appellate, criminal appellate, and criminal trial lawyer at 704 North Thompson Street, #157, Conroe, Texas 77301-2578, (936) 494-1393.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Vacation Letter
I expect that this blog will be on vacation until June 21, 2010. Have a good solstice!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Christopher Hitchens on Holy See v. Doe
Christopher Hitchens's take on the brief of the Office of the Solicitor General supporting the Vatican's position in favor of sovereign immunity in Holy See v. Doe is here.
I don't know that I'm in favor of the State Department's preparing a human rights report every year for every government on the globe, but if that's the law, I am not presently aware of any reason that the Vatican shouldn't get a report like everyone else.
The Wall Street Journal law blog's posting on this story is here. The Vatican's PR people should try to get rid of the photo the WSJ uses in this story. It makes the Holy Father look like a perv.
I don't know that I'm in favor of the State Department's preparing a human rights report every year for every government on the globe, but if that's the law, I am not presently aware of any reason that the Vatican shouldn't get a report like everyone else.
The Wall Street Journal law blog's posting on this story is here. The Vatican's PR people should try to get rid of the photo the WSJ uses in this story. It makes the Holy Father look like a perv.
No Life without Parole for Juveniles Committing Noncapital Crimes
United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for a majority of the court which included Justices Stevens, Ginsberg, Breyer, and Sotomayor held on May 17, 2010 in Washington, D.C. that sentencing ajuvenile offender to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a nonhomicide crime violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Stevens wrote a concurrence that Ginsberg and Sotomayor joined. Chief Justice Roberts concurred in the result. Justice Thomas dissented, joined by Justice Scalia for all of his opinion and Justice Alito for Parts I and III. Alito also filed his own dissent.
Kennedy reasoned that to determine whether a punishment is cruel and unusual, courts must look to the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society. The Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishments requires that punishment for crime should be graduated and proportioned to the offense. SCOTUS has considered proportionality challenges two ways. In non-death-penalty case , the court has examined whether a term-of-years may be too long given all the circumstances in a particular .In death penalty cases, overruling some categories of punishment have been considered. This case is the first categorical proportion challenge in a noncapital case. That the Feds and many states allow life sentences for juvenile offenders doesn't address the immorality of this practice. Only the U.S. does this; other countries don't.
I had not known that Florida did not have parole. The Chief Justice's opinion pieces together a ruling in this case from prior decisions as opposed to the majority's building a new analytic framework. Stevens's opinion was a snippy attack on Thomas's.
Kennedy reasoned that to determine whether a punishment is cruel and unusual, courts must look to the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society. The Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishments requires that punishment for crime should be graduated and proportioned to the offense. SCOTUS has considered proportionality challenges two ways. In non-death-penalty case , the court has examined whether a term-of-years may be too long given all the circumstances in a particular .In death penalty cases, overruling some categories of punishment have been considered. This case is the first categorical proportion challenge in a noncapital case. That the Feds and many states allow life sentences for juvenile offenders doesn't address the immorality of this practice. Only the U.S. does this; other countries don't.
I had not known that Florida did not have parole. The Chief Justice's opinion pieces together a ruling in this case from prior decisions as opposed to the majority's building a new analytic framework. Stevens's opinion was a snippy attack on Thomas's.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Best Review of WestlawNext I've Found Yet
The best review of WestlawNext I've found yet is here. Hat tip to Legal Research Plus blog.
What You Might Miss When You Consult the United States Code
The Legal Research Plus Blog reminds us of potential and actual problems when using the United States Code for research.
United States Code Annotated is not the same thing; it's a West product. As the title indicates, it's annotated. The Blue Book calls for all federal statutes that can be cited to the Code to be cited to it. An appellate lawyer needs to have or use a copy of the Code.
United States Code Annotated is not the same thing; it's a West product. As the title indicates, it's annotated. The Blue Book calls for all federal statutes that can be cited to the Code to be cited to it. An appellate lawyer needs to have or use a copy of the Code.
The Chief Justice, That Centrist, and Also Ninth Circuit, Most Reviewed Not Most Reversed
Supreme Court of the United States statistics have been updated here from SCOTUSWiki (Thanks, folks.).
First surprise: the Chief Justice was in the majority more often than Justice Kennedy; the Chief Justice appears to be working for more agreement between justices. Second surprise: though the Supremes reviewed more decisions from the Ninth Circuit, they reversed a smaller fraction of them than they did of the cases they took from the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits.
First surprise: the Chief Justice was in the majority more often than Justice Kennedy; the Chief Justice appears to be working for more agreement between justices. Second surprise: though the Supremes reviewed more decisions from the Ninth Circuit, they reversed a smaller fraction of them than they did of the cases they took from the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits.
Nice Work If You Can Get It
The Associated Press reports that continues to work after he took senior status (You might see him at oral argument on the First Circuit.).
Ruth Bader Ginsberg appears to me to be a very nice lady, but I don't think you can blame a fellow for preferring to hang out with Meryl Streep (See the photo with the AP story.).
Ruth Bader Ginsberg appears to me to be a very nice lady, but I don't think you can blame a fellow for preferring to hang out with Meryl Streep (See the photo with the AP story.).
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