9th Circuit
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9th Circuit, Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: Oh, explanation is overrated.
That decision is as inexplicable as it is unexplained. It is reversed. — opinion of the Supreme Court in Felkner v. Jackson, benchslapping the Ninth Circuit through a unanimous, per curiam reversal of an unpublished memorandum disposition. (For more context, see Josh Blackman or read the SCOTUS opinion.) -
9th Circuit, Clerkships, Federal Judges, In-House Counsel, Litigators
Inside Straight: 'Standard of Review Decides Cases'
Ed. note: This is the latest installment of Inside Straight, Above the Law’s column for in-house counsel, written by Mark Herrmann. Here are two stories, from nearly thirty years apart. They’re bookends on the subject of why standard of review counts. Travel back with me, if you will, to the summer of 1983. I’m ten […] - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Movies, Television
A Movie Recommendation from Chief Judge Kozinski
Were you disappointed by James Franco and Anne Hathaway as Oscars hosts? If so, you weren’t alone. PopEater described their hosting efforts, especially Franco’s, as “a disaster.” The New York Times declared the proceedings to be “downright painful” at points. Next year, the Academy Awards should go in a different direction. Enough pandering to the […]
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9th Circuit, ACLU, Barack Obama, Gay, Gay Marriage, Politics, Ted Frank
Obama Directs DOJ to Stop Defending DOMA
President Obama has directed the Department of Justice to stop defending Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law prohibiting federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Attorney General Eric Holder’s letter explaining the decision to Speaker of the House John Boehner appears here. In other marriage-equality-related news, the American Foundation for Equal […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Judicial Nominations, Legal Ethics, Politics
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski Defends Free Speech for Judges
Given my prior stewardship of Underneath Their Robes, it should come as no surprise that I like my judges to exhibit some humanity. My favorite judges are those with personality, spunk, and a sense of humor, not the judicial automatons who just crank out dry opinions. Sometimes judges can be, well, all too human. They […] -
7th Circuit, 9th Circuit, Clerkships, Federal Judges, Frank Easterbrook, Old People
What Is To Be Done About Super-Old Judges?
When I clerked on the Ninth Circuit years ago, one of the judges on the court at the time was extremely old — and didn’t seem very “with it.” His law clerks seemed to take on a large amount of responsibility. One of his clerks that year, a law school classmate of mine I’ll call […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Pictures
A Thank You from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski
Thanks to all the Above the Law readers who responded to the request from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Chief Judge Kozinski sends his gratitude, along with an update…. -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Federal Judges, Pictures
A Request from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski
The Honorable Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, has a favor to ask of Above the Law readers…. - Sponsored
The Business Case For AI At Your Law Firm
ChatGPT ushers in the age of generative AI – even for law firms. -
9th Circuit, Benchslaps, David Boies, Gay, Gay Marriage, Stephen Reinhardt, Ted Olson
Breaking: Ninth Circuit Certifies Standing-Related Question to California Supreme Court
Here’s the Ninth Circuit’s certification order, available on the court’s Perry v. Schwarzenegger portal page, and here’s a quick write-up, from Bay City News. Essentially the Ninth Circuit wants the California Supreme Court to decide whether the official proponents of Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage, have standing to defend the initiative’s constitutionality in […] -
9th Circuit, Drugs, Marijuana, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 12.23.10
* Pat Robertson might be Yale Law School’s most disgraceful graduate, but at least he now has somewhat reasonable views about marijuana. [Raw Story] * Choire Sicha was not a fan of Elie’s take on a possible Clementi v. Rutgers lawsuit. [The Awl] * For my fellow hotel groupies: “Hilton Settles with Starwood Over Dumb […] -
9th Circuit, David Boies, Federal Judges, Gay, Gay Marriage, Stephen Reinhardt, Ted Olson, Videos
Liveblogging the Prop 8 Ninth Circuit Oral Arguments
We’ve set up our liveblog of the Ninth Circuit oral arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the Proposition 8 / same-sex marriage case. For a comprehensive account of what has happened in the litigation thus far, see this great FAQ by Chris Geidner, over at Poliglot. You can watch streaming video of the arguments over at […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Bad Ideas, Federal Judges, Lunacy, Pro Se Litigants, Rudeness
Pro Se Litigant of the Day: Deborah Frisch, Ph.D.Practice pointer: don't refer to judges as 'frocked cowf**kers.'
For a long time, Jonathan Lee Riches reigned as Craziest Pro Se Litigant in America. But at a certain point, JLR jumped the proverbial shark. His handwritten complaints, making bizarre allegations against everyone from Michael Vick to Martha Stewart to the late Benazir Bhutto, were just too clever by half. And once he passed the […] -
9th Circuit, Federal Judges, Quote of the Day, Richard Posner, Stephen Reinhardt
Quote of the Day: Is This an Opinion or an Op-Ed Piece?
[S]ome of the conclusions of which our leading economic experts have been confident have turned out to be incorrect. For example, Alan Greenspan, appointed and then reappointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve for five terms by four different Presidents, recently admitted to a significant flaw in the ideology that caused him to support and implement […]
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9th Circuit, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lesbians, Weddings
Breaking: Ninth Circuit Issues Stay Pending Appeal in Prop 8 Case, Schedules Oral Arguments for December
The three-judge motions panel — consisting of Judges Edward Leavy, Michael Daly Hawkins, and Sidney Thomas — has issued a stay pending appeal in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case in which Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.) struck down Proposition 8’s ban on gay marriage in California. More about the ruling and a link to the […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Cars, Constitutional Law, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Federal Judges, Technology
Judge Kozinski Doesn't Track with the Ninth Circuit on GPS and the Fourth AmendmentCalls his fellow judges 'cultural elitists' when it comes to privacy.
A user’s manual that’s 200+ years old can be difficult to apply to modern technologies. Thus, it’s been a challenge for judges interpreting the Fourth Amendment as it applies to police surveillance via GPS tracking devices on cars. There has been a plethora of precedents set across the country as to whether slapping a GPS […] -
9th Circuit, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lesbians, Weddings
Breaking: Judge Walker Won't Stay Prop 8 Ruling Pending Appeal!
Chief Judge Vaughn Walker (N.D. Cal.), who struck down Proposition 8’s ban on gay marriage in California, has denied a motion to stay his judgment pending appeal. This means that same-sex marriages in California can start immediately after August 18 at 5 PM, assuming the Ninth Circuit doesn’t grant a stay. UPDATE (3:45 PM): No […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Fabulosity, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Federal Judges, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Shoes, Susan Graber
Here Comes the Judge -- and Check Out Her Peep-Toe Shoes!
Last week, I wrote (with great pleasure) about whether women lawyers should wear peep-toe shoes to court. In my informal poll of seven federal judges, the vote broke down roughly as follows: four in favor, two opposed, and one in the middle. (See the update — Judge Susan Graber seemed agnostic on peep-toes, but advised […] -
9th Circuit, Clerkships, Lawsuit of the Day, Racism, Weirdness
Lawsuit of the Day: Fun With Hawaii Birth Certificates
Orly Taitz and the Birthers aren’t the only people obsessed with Hawaiian birth certificates. A young lawyer by the name of Adam Gustafson — a 2009 graduate of the Yale Law School and former vice president of the Yale Federalist Society, who’s currently clerking in Hawaii for Judge Richard Clifton (9th Cir.) — is making […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: Alex Kozinski gives Barbie a spanking
America thrives on competition; Barbie, the all-American girl, will too. — Alex Kozinski in a Ninth Circuit opinion [PDF] throwing out the Mattel victory in Barbie v. Bratz. Gavel bang: FedCourtJunkie. -
9th Circuit, Department of Justice, House Judiciary Committee, Jay Bybee, Office of Legal Counsel, Torture
Quote of the Day: And I ordered the Code Red on Santiago, too!
We took a muscular view of presidential authority. We were offering a bottom line to a client who wanted to know what he could do and what he couldn’t do. I wasn’t running a debating society, and I wasn’t running a law school. — Ninth Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee, testifying to the House Judiciary […]