#appellate-litigation

#appellate-litigation

The head of the General Services Administration said a proposal to transfer control of courthouse buildings to the judiciary was a bad idea, highlighting ongoing disputes between the executive and judicial branches over federal courthouse governance and administrative authority.

Sometimes, you don't have to make every argument in the alternative. For example, the prosecutors in Littlejohn v. State of Texas had a number of avenues to challenge a competency evaluation request from the defendant's counsel. The defense sought to check the defendant's mental competence after learning that the court clerk observed the defendant masturbating during testimony at the punishment phase of his trial. We've all heard some wanky testimony before, but this takes it to another level.

Ed. Note: A weekly roundup of just a few items from Howard Bashman's How Appealing blog, the Web's first blog devoted to appellate litigation. Check out these stories and more at How Appealing. Handling of Pretti investigation has some prosecutors on verge of quitting; Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis, frustrated by the response to the shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, have suggested they could resign en masse": Perry Stein of The Washington Post has this report.

David H. Souter, Republican Justice Who Allied With Court's Liberal Wing, Dies at 85; He left conservatives bitterly disappointed with his migration from right to left, leading to the cry of 'no more Souters'.

"Federal Judge Strikes Down Trump's Use of Alien Enemies Act to Deport Venezuelans; The ruling, which is limited to the Southern District of Texas, prohibited the administration from using the wartime law because the president's claims about a Venezuelan gang do not add up to an 'invasion'."