Federal News and Releases

A federal appeals court has ruled against public release of video from the historic 12-day trial over the constitutionality of California’s ban on same-sex marriage. See Gavel Grab for details.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) vowed to block all of President Obama’s judicial and executive branch nominees, in his anger over Obama's winter recess appointments. Read Gavel Grab for more. 

The Supreme Court won’t hear arguments from a conservative watchdog group that is seeking recusal of Justice Elena Kagan from the widely watched health care law case. For more, see Gavel Grab.

Wisconsin Justice Michael Gableman is the target of ethics complaints seeking to reopen a controversial case concerning state workers' collective bargaining rights.  See Gavel Grab.

Chief Justice John Roberts defends two colleagues from demands that they not hear the health care case. See Gavel Grab.

The Supreme Court is poised to take on the role of a major player in next year’s elections, having agreed to decide a trifecta of white-hot, highly partisan issues that all involve the federal government’s power. See Gavel Grab for details.

A Republican filibuster of nominee Caitlin Halligan for a federal appeals court judgeship triggered a scorching Washington Post editorial and concern that partisan wars over judicial nominations are back. See Gavel Grab for details.

One day after two senators introduced a bill for TV cameras at the Supreme Court, a Senate panel heard testimony by prominent advocates on both sides. See Gavel Grab for more. 

A National Law Journal article spotlighted Justice at Stake's suggestion that Justices Elena Kagan and Clarence Thomas strongly consider explaining publicly their reasons for not recusing in the federal health care case. See Gavel Grab for more. 

Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan should strongly consider giving a public explanation of their reasons for not recusing from the federal health care case, Justice at Stake said Monday. Read details in Gavel Grab.

Another leading national newspaper, the Washington Post, is urging the Supreme Court to permit televising of oral arguments in March over a challenge to the new federal health care law. Find out more from Gavel Grab.

A drumbeat of pleas for two Supreme Court justices to step aside from the federal health care case is thrusting judicial recusal into news headlines; many legal experts see the campaigns as partisan. Find out more from Gavel Grab. 

The Supreme Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of the new federal health care law focuses national attention on the courts, a USA Today editorial said. Learn more from Gavel Grab.

The Supreme Court agreed to decide the constitutionality of the new federal health care law. It could deliver a landmark ruling in the heat of a presidential election cycle. Read Gavel Grab for more.

Exploding numbers of criminal cases and vacancies on the federal bench are crowding civil trails off dockets, and some litigants are settling their lawsuits instead of waiting longer. For more, see Gavel Grab. 

Conservative columnist George Will singed six of the eight Republican presidential candidates for what he calls their “barking,” and not very logical, attacks on the courts. Read Gavel Grab for more.

Judge Kevin S. Burke of Minnesota, in addition to leading the American Judges Association, is taking a national lead in challenging former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s attacks on the courts. In a new MinnPost.com column, Judge Burke delivers a detailed and stinging rebuke to the Gingrich camp. Read details in Gavel Grab.

The president of the American Judges Association wants to educate Americans about some of the questionable teachings of former history professor Newt Gingrich. Find out more from Gavel Grab.

It’s high time for certain politicians to “stop bullying judges” and for other leaders to end their silence and stand up to the politicians’ attacks,  a national legal analyst says. For details, see Gavel Grab.

Americans “should learn to love gridlock” from Washington, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told a Senate committee, because the framers of the Constitution made it possible. Learn more from Gavel Grab.

The U.S. Senate’s delay in approving federal judges is responsible forleaving more than 10 percent of federal benches empty, according to a Tuscaloosa News Editorial. The editorial notes that this is the “longest period of high vacancy rates in the federal judiciary in 35 years.” Read more...

In a court outreach effort, three of 17 judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which normally sits in Washington, D.C., heard cases at Willamette University Law School in Oregon, according to the Statesman Journal. Read more...

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Stephen G. Breyer and Antonin Scalia testified at a Senate Hearing on the "Role of Judges under the U.S. Constitution" on October 5, 2011. Learn more from Gavel Grab.

The U.S. killing of American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Alwaki by a drone attack has renewed a debate over civil liberties, terrorism, and the rule of law. Learn more from Gavel Grab. 

Frequent attacks accusing the Supreme Court of “judicial activism” are flat wrong, the Institute for Justice, a libertarian group, declares in a report. Read Gavel Grab for more.