Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday will nominate Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge in Washington to succeed Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh serves on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which often rules on major challenges to federal laws and policies. If confirmed, he would make the Supreme Court solidly conservative, joining Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch — providing a five-vote majority. He would be sure to join the conservatives more often than Kennedy, who sometimes voted with the court's liberals in cases raising hot-button social issues. Kavanaugh was nominated to the appeals court by President George W. Bush and confirmed in 2006 by a vote of 57-36. Four Supreme Court justices have come from the D.C. Circuit in recent years … [Read more...] about Trump to tap federal appeals court Judge Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court
Appeals court judges
Appeals Court Judge Questions Fee Boost for Exceptional Work
A federal appeals court judge has questioned fee enhancements for exceptional legal work in what the blog How Appealing calls “a must-read decision” for many in the class-action bar.Although Judge Edward Carnes of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Court of Appeals questioned the fee award, he nonetheless said precedent required him to uphold $10.5 million in fees for lawyers who successfully challenged Georgia’s foster care system, according to the Fulton County Daily Report. Two other judges did not join the part of Carnes’ opinion questioning a 75 percent enhancement of the award in the case.Carnes said increasing the award for good lawyering double counts qualities captured by hourly billing or the contingent nature of the case. He said plaintiffs’ lawyers should not be given more money for simply winning what the law allows, nor should they be rewarded for winning more than the law allows.“A result that obtains more or better relief than plaintiffs are … [Read more...] about Appeals Court Judge Questions Fee Boost for Exceptional Work
Public Reprimand Recommended for Fla. Appeals Court Judge
A Florida appeals court judge who criticized a fellow jurist in a written opinion should be publicly reprimanded, a hearing panel has recommended.It is now up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether to reprimand 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Michael Allen in the highly unusual case, if he challenges the recommendation. The matter concerns a claim by Allen in a written opinion that a fellow appeals court justice in the 1st District, Charles Kahn Jr., cast what the Fort Mill Times characterizes as a “corrupt vote” in a case against a former president of the Florida state senate.Allen’s opinion was “reckless and had no objectively reasonable factual basis,” the state Judicial Qualifications Commission wrote in an opinion issued today. “He succumbed to his dislike of Judge Kahn, which clouded his perspective and his judgment.”However, the panel said it didn’t think a harsh punishment was warranted, given Allen’s generally … [Read more...] about Public Reprimand Recommended for Fla. Appeals Court Judge
Appeals Court Judge Allegedly Ran Stop Light, Nearly Hit Cop Car, Blew 2.5 Times Legal Limit
A New Mexico appeals court judge faces an aggravated drunk-driving charge after being pulled over in Albuquerque in the wee hours Wednesday and allegedly blowing a .20 on a breath-alcohol test.The legal limit in the state is .08. Appeals Court Judge Robert Eugene Robles was also charged with reckless driving, reports the Las Cruces Sun-News.The Albuquerque Journal (sub. req.) says Robles was pulled over after he allegedly ran a stop light at 50 mph and nearly hit a police vehicle. The officer at the wheel said he had to drive onto a sidewalk to avoid being struck.“It’s been a sad and lonely night,” a Metropolitan Court criminal complaint says Robles told an arresting officer.He has voluntarily taken an unpaid leave of absence from the appellate court and self-reported to the state Judicial Standards Commission, appeals court Chief Judge Celia Foy-Castillo tells the Albuquerque newspaper.An Albuquerque native, the 60-year-old judge was briefly jailed and then released … [Read more...] about Appeals Court Judge Allegedly Ran Stop Light, Nearly Hit Cop Car, Blew 2.5 Times Legal Limit
Ouster of 3 federal appeals court judges sought by plaintiffs in hard-fought NYC stop-and-frisk case
Will three federal appeals court judges who booted a federal district court judge from overseeing a lawsuit about New York City police stop-and-frisk practices get a taste of their own medicine?In a brief (PDF) filed Monday, lawyers for the plaintiffs challenging the city’s stop-and-frisk practices ask not only for en banc review of the appellate panel’s Oct. 31 ruling by the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but that the three judges on the appellate panel be removed from the case, the New York Law Journal (sub. req.) reports.The filing says the panel rushed to judgment in determining that Judge Shira Scheindlin had created an appearance of impartiality in her comments on the case and called its “gratuitous” decision to remove her from the case a “perfect storm of procedural irregularity,” the legal publication recounts.Scheindlin has previously protested her ouster from the case in a brief filed by law professors that also … [Read more...] about Ouster of 3 federal appeals court judges sought by plaintiffs in hard-fought NYC stop-and-frisk case