Tag Archives: Court: 10th Circuit

AP: In the most prominent challenge of its kind, Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court Thursday for an exemption from part of the federal health care law that requires it to offer employees health coverage that includes access to the morning-after pill.

ACLU: As part of the department’s community policing initiative, Capt. Paul Fields was directed to attend, or send officers from his division to attend the event. Fields refused, claiming that to attend or to send officers to the event would violate his religious beliefs, which require him to proselytize anyone who does not share his Christian faith . . . A copy of the brief can be seen at: aclu.org/religion-belief/fields-v-city-tulsa-amicus-brief

Religion Clause Blog: In Taylor v. Roswell Independent School District, (10th Cir., April 8, 2013), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected 1st and 14th Amendment challenges by student members of a religious group, Relentless, to decisions by Roswell, New Mexico school officials that prevented them from distributing 2500 rubber fetus dolls to other high school students. The schools took the action after disruptions, described by the court . . .

NewsOK: A panel of nine federal appeals court judges will hear oral arguments in Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.’s fight against part of the Affordable Care Act on May 23 in Denver.

U.S. v. Benoit, No. 12-5013 (10th Cir. April 2, 2013)

NewsOK: The Oklahoma City magistrate judge’s confirmation was delayed by politics for nearly nine months before he was unanimously approved by U.S. Senate

Blog of the Legal Times: Those nominees – Richard Taranto for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Robert Bacharach for the Tenth Circuit and William Kayatta Jr. for the First Circuit – all had their nominations languish in the full Senate, never getting a confirmation vote for months. To continue to be considered, the White House had to renominate them this session.

Fed Soc: Today, President Obama nominated Jane Kelly and Gregory Alan Phillips to the United States Court of Appeals.

Trib.com: President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated Wyoming Attorney General Gregory Phillips for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Topeka Capitol-Journal: The president has four spots — a number larger than usual in one year — to fill in 2013 on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a tribunal one step below the U.S. Supreme Court.

Religion Clause Blog: However, in American Pulverizer Co. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (WD MO, Dec. 20, 2012), a Missouri federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the contraceptive coverage mandate in a challenge filed by a group of metal recycling businesses owned by Evangelical Christians Paul and Henry Griesediek . . .

Becket Fund: Today, a federal court denied a request to temporarily stop enforcement of the abortion pill mandate, which would force the Christian-owned-and-operated Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., to provide the “morning-after pill” and “week-after pill” in its health insurance plan, or face crippling fines up to $1.3 million per day.

Religion Clause Blog: In Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v. Horne, (10th Cir., Nov. 5, 2012), the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected on procedural grounds a constitutional challenge by the polygamous FLDS Church to Utah’s reformation of the FLDS United Effort Plan Trust.

ABC: A federal appeals court in Denver has refused to block extradition of a gay illegal immigrant who sought protection in the U.S. claiming Mexican authorities persecute gay people. | Neri-Garcia v. Holder, No. 11-9566

Sacramento Bee: The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday the constitutional amendment that created a nominating commission more than a half century ago is a testament to the state’s commitment to judicial independence.

Findlaw: U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Bacharach has support from his home state senators and a “unanimously well qualified” rating from the American Bar Association, but he doesn’t have enough Republican support in the Senate to be confirmed for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals before November, reports The Oklahoman.

Findlaw: Colorado Mining Association President Stuart Sanderson wants the Supreme Court to reverse the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. Sanderson claims, “If allowed to stand, the roadless rule will effectively prevent future mining operations on roadless lands, leading to a decrease in mineral and coal production, job losses and sharp decreases in taxes and revenues from the coal mining industry that are critical to local governments and public school systems,” the Denver Post reports.

How Appealing reports and links to the ruling.

NewsOK.com: After a long-running White House effort to find a successor for Robert Henry on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, President Barack Obama has nominated Oklahoma City magistrate judge who was on a list given to Sen. Tom Coburn.

Tulsa World: A beleaguered process that repeatedly has failed to put Oklahomans in key federal positions reportedly has produced a potential nominee to fill a year-old vacancy on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Robert Bacharach, a federal magistrate in Oklahoma City, is being vetted for the post, according to sources familiar with the process.

FRC: Family Research Council (FRC) strongly criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today to let stand one of the worst religious assaults in all of American history.

Religion Clause: Yesterday, the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Awad v. Ziriax, a case challenging the constitutionality of Oklahoma’s voter-approved constitutional amendment that bans state courts from considering international law or Shariah law.

Religion Clause Blog: In Adgeh v. Oklahoma, (10th Cir., Sept. 8, 2011), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in a brief opinion (after refusing to hear oral argument in the case) rejected as frivolous a claim that Oklahoma’s statute barring polygamy is unconstitutional.

LifeNews.com: The chairman of the committee, pro-abortion Sen, Pat Leahy of Vermont, had intended to bring up Six for a vote, but some last-minute wrangling from Six home state senators, pro-life Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, appeared to stall the nomination.

LifeNews.com: After his two home state Senators announced opposition to his nomination by President Barack Obama to a federal appeals court, pro-abortion former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six has seen expected votes in the Senate Judiciary come and go without action. Now, another vote is expected on the controversial nominee on Thursday in the committee that Democrats control.

LifeNews.com: An unhappy White House called Kansas’ U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office Thursday, in response to his public statement opposing confirmation of former Kansas AG Steve Six to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

CJOnline.com: Both of Kansas’ United States senators say they will oppose the nomination of a fellow Kansan, former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six, to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Life News: Steve Six was a thorn in the side of pro-life advocates in Kansas wanting to hold the abortion industry there accountable for violating late-term abortion laws, but you wouldn’t know that by his responses at a Senate committee hearing.

Teresa L. Watson, Adult Entertainment And Zoning: A Starting Point For Adopting Or Updating Adult Business Ordinances, 80-APR J. Kan. B.A. 30 (Apr. 2011)

LocalNews8.com: A federal appeals court is blocking a federal judge in Utah from handing control of a communal land trust back to leaders of Warren Jeffs’ polygamous church.

John Ingold writes at the Denver Post: “The departure of the longest-serving active judge on the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals gives President Barack Obama the chance to even the panel.”

LifeNews: “President Barack Obama has nominated a pro-abortion former Kansas state attorney general to serve on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up another battle over abortion and a top judicial pick.”

LJWorld.com: “Lawrence resident and former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six was nominated Wednesday by President Obama to serve on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.”

Denver Post: “A federal appellate court in Denver has denied the media access to video and autopsy photographs showing the mutilation of a prison inmate killed by his cellmates even though the images were used by prosecutors during two criminal trials.” Opinion is here.

The Oregonian: “Oregon Attorney General John Kroger announced today that he will draft legislation that will make it illegal under state law to look at child pornography on the Internet . . . [the] announcement comes one day after the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that state law doesn’t make it a crime to look at child pornography while surfing the Internet if the viewer doesn’t purposefully download the images, print them out or pay for them.”

“A Denver appeals court has stayed an order that would remove 14 crosses from Utah’s highways intended to honor fallen officers and encourage safe driving.”

Salt Lake Tribune: “The Utah Attorney General’s Office requested the stay. UHP and its association plans to appeal its case to the Supreme Court, said [Byron Babione], an Arizona-based attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing Utah troopers’ case.”

“On Wednesday, the appellate court found the ‘government presented no evidence that Mr. Dobbs actually saw the two images on his monitor, such that he would have had the ability to exercise control over them.’”

KSL: “The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to stay an order that would have required Utah to remove 14 large roadside crosses that commemorate fallen Utah Highway Patrol troopers . . . [Byron Babione], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the UHPA in the lawsuit, said the organization supported the request for a stay filed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office ‘We are certainly appealing, especially since we got two strong dissents on the rehearing denial,’ Babione said. ‘The dissents may attract the Supreme Court to grant our appeal.’”

Orin Kerr writing at The Volokh Conspiracy: “Nineteen judicial nominees have been confirmed in the last week. By my count, those nineteen confirmations include five circuit court confirmations: 1) Mary Murguia for the Ninth Circuit; 2) Scott Matheson Jr. for the Tenth Circuit; 3) Kathleen O’Malley for the Federal Circuit; 4) Raymond Lohier Jr. for the Second Circuit; and 5) Albert Diaz for the Fourth Circuit.”

“A federal appellate court ruled Tuesday that requiring small groups who promote ballot initiatives to file campaign finance reports is so burdensome that it’s unconstitutional, dealing the latest blow to open-government advocates.”

Longmont (CO) Times Call: “Boulder County formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review the county’s lower-court losses in its land-use dispute with Rocky Mountain Christian Church, arguing that the case has implications for local governments nationwide.” Via Religion Clause.

OneNewsNow: [The] Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in August those crosses represent governmental endorsement of religion. ADF attorney [Brett Harvey] tells OneNewsNow his firm has asked the full court to reconsider. ‘Our cemeteries are full of memorials that honor fallen first responders and those who [gave] their lives to protect our freedom, so it is difficult to imagine how the court came to this conclusion,’ he laments.”

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys are asking a full panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit to rehear a ruling issued last month by a three-judge panel that struck down roadside memorials to fallen Utah state troopers as unconstitutional.

“The Utah Highway Patrol Association wants the full 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a panel of its own judges and leave in place 14 memorial crosses along Utah’s highways.”

ADF attorney Byron Babione appeared on Ave Maria Radio with Al Kresta to discuss the litigation over highway memorial crosses for troopers in Utah. | MP3 8:34 mins | ADF Media Information

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ-dEunfZMw

The Alliance Defense Fund’s reaction to the 10th Circuit’s reversal of a district court ruling in American Atheists v. Davenport upholding roadside memorials to fallen Utah state troopers was featured on the Fox News Channel. See two different videos below. ADF News Release: ADF will appeal decision to strike down roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u14RXKd5f3c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcsDVRIkXeo

ADF attorney Byron Babione appeared on KFUO with Roland Lettner to discuss the ruling in American Atheists v. Davenport. | MP3 25:05 mins | ADF Media Information

WJBK Fox 2: “A Federal appeals court says large crosses along roads in memory of Utah state troopers killed in the line of duty are unconstitutional . . . The Alliance Defense Fund, a coalition of Christian attorneys released a statement shortly after the decision, saying, ‘One Atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah Highway Patrol Officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish.’”

Richard Epstein writing at Ricochet: “The general laws that deal with the separation of church and state take Jefferson’s metaphor and apply it with a ruthless insensitivity to all sorts of places where it does not belong. One would never say that the use of crosses in Arlington cemetery creates an establishment of religion because there are relatively few Jewish stars. There would be a legitimate beef in this case if Utah took it upon itself to allow only crosses and to prohibit all other religious insignias for Jewish or Moslem leaders . . . This decision in my mind falls abjectly short of the modicum of common sense that we have a right to respect from our judges.”

The Alliance Defense Fund’s reaction to the 10th Circuit’s reversal of a district court ruling in American Atheists v. Davenport upholding roadside memorials to fallen Utah state troopers was featured on the Fox News Channel. See three different videos below. ADF News Release: ADF will appeal decision to strike down roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8JsPfMoA1c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDvBsm7PItY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTkgGkI0Vc

OneNewsNow: “‘I think one of the important things to really understand here is that an atheist group’s agenda should not diminish the sacrifice made by Utah Highway Patrol officers and their families,’ contends Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney [Byron Babione].”

ADF Attorney Byron Babione appeared on Fox News to discuss the 10th Circuit’s decision to strike down roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers in American Atheists v. Davenport. | MP4 4:19 mins | YouTube | ADF News Release

Baptist Press: “‘One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah highway patrol officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish,’ said [Byron Babione], an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, which was allowed to intervene in the case.”

Fox News / LiveShots: “But the Alliance Defense Fund, says this is about honoring those who gave their lives in the line of duty. In a statement released shortly after the ruling, the ADF said, ‘One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah highway patrol officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish.’”

St. Louis Globe and Democrat: “One very recent example is the ruling by a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that memorial crosses erected and displayed along Utah public roads to honor fallen state highway troopers must be removed as unconstitutional . . . Our politically correct-intoxicated culture is so allergic to expressions and symbols of Christianity that our courts leap to absurd conclusions to cordon off the chief allergen: Christianity.”

The Salt Lake Tribune: “[Byron Babione], the attorney representing the UHPA, said the individualized memorials ‘simply do not amount to a government establishment of religion’ . . . ‘We don’t intend to leave this disappointing ruling standing,’ said Babione, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defense Fund in Arizona. “One atheist group’s agenda shouldn’t diminish the sacrifice made by Utah Highway Patrol officers and their families. The families of the fallen should be allowed to honor their loved ones as they wish.’” | ADF News Release

Eugene Volokh writes at the Volokh Conspiracy:  ”The circuit has 7 Republican appointees and 3 Democratic appointees among its active judges, but the panel consisted of three Republican appointees, including two in active service. It thus seems quite unlikely that the case will be reheard en banc. But five of the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine members seem likely to disapprove of the endorsement test — Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and Thomas are on the record as opposing the test, and Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito seem likely to take the same view. So that might be a reason for the Justices to take the case . . . ” | ADF press release: ADF will appeal decision to strike down roadside memorials to fallen Utah troopers

“Alliance Defense Fund attorneys are reviewing all options for appeal of a ruling issued Wednesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit that struck down roadside memorials to fallen Utah state troopers as unconstitutional.”

“We hold that these memorials have the impermissible effect of conveying to the reasonable observer the message that the State prefers or otherwise endorses a certain religion.”

The Longmont Times-Call: “A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld its own ruling that a federal jury had enough evidence to support its decision that the Boulder County commissioners violated a federal law in 2006 when they denied the church’s request to expand.” | Rocky Mountain Christian Church v. Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County, Colorado, No. 09-1188 (10th Cir., July 19, 2010) | See Religion Clause for more information.

ADF Attorney Erik Stanley writing at Speak Up Movement / Church: “The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision recently that demonstrates why churches should be updating their by-laws to protect against potential litigation that can threaten the constitutional right of the church to select its ministers free from government interference. The case was called Skrzypczak v. Diocese of Tulsa. In the case, the Diocese hired Ms. Skrzypczak to work as the Director of the Department of Religious Formation for the Diocese. … The Tenth Circuit described that the ministerial exception ‘preserves a church’s “essential” right to choose the people who will “preach its values, teach its message, and interpret its doctrines[,] both to its own membership and to the world at large,” free from the interference of civil employment laws.’ The Court explained that, ‘Although the doctrine usually comes into play in employment suits between an ordained minister and her church, it extends to any employee who serves in a position that “is important to the spiritual and pastoral mission of the church.”‘”

Skrzypczak v. Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, No. 09-5089 (10th Cir. June 13, 2010)

In this case we consider whether the district court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa on a former employee’s federal employment law claims, based on the ministerial exception to Title VII. After considering the parties’ arguments and the evidence in the record before us, we hold that the district court correctly dismissed the claims. In April of 1996, the Appellant, Monica Skrzypczak, began work as the director of the Department of Religious Formation for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa.

“U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera, who is not related to the secretary of state, had ruled last August that the state’s threat to prosecute the Albuquerque groups for not registering as political committees under the state Campaign Reporting Act violated the constitutional rights of New Mexico Youth Organized and the SouthWest Organizing Project.”

Religion Clause: “In United States v. Quaintance, (10th Cir., May 19, 2010), the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Arizona federal district court’s refusal to dismiss the indictments of Danuel and Mary Quaintance for conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.”

“The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected Boulder County’s appeal of the 2008 jury decision that allowed the church to expand.”

Passive Acknowledgement or Active Promotion of Religion? Neutrality and the Ten Commandments in Green v. Haskell
Stephanie Barclay, 2010 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 3

“This Note argues that the Tenth Circuit erred in finding that the monument in Haskell County violated the Establishment Clause. The Tenth Circuit failed to apply the controlling precedent of Van Orden v. Perry to find that the monument in Haskell County was a constitutionally acceptable, neutral acknowledgement of the religious history of this nation. Instead, the court incorrectly distinguished Van Orden both by using an unrealistic ‘reasonable observer’ standard requiring a clear secular purpose for the erection of the monument, and by incorrectly attributing the divisiveness surrounding the lawsuit to the unconstitutional effect of the monument.”

The National Law Journal (Law.com): “Three nominees for federal appellate judgeships have hardly been living hand-to-mouth, and one who’s married to a Big Law partner has a net worth of $4.5 million, according to newly released disclosure reports.”

Obama names brother of undecided House Dem to Appeals Court.

OneNewsNow: “The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an Oklahoma case concerning a Ten Commandments monument . . . ‘It allows a case to stand, which really takes the concept of separation of church and state way too far,’ he comments. ‘And we’re concerned [that] what it’s doing is . . . marginalizing Christian speech in the public square so that a privately donated monument, like the Ten Commandments monument that was donated here, is not allowed, but other historical monuments are on a county courthouse lawn.’”

The Oklahoman: “The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken: The Ten Commandments monument must be removed from the Haskell County Courthouse lawn . . . ‘We’re very disappointed that the Supreme Court didn’t take the case,’ said attorney Kevin Theriot of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Alliance Defense Fund, which defends religious freedom cases and represented Haskell County commissioners in the case. ‘Our concern is that Haskell County officials and other small county officials around the country are still without guidance as to exactly how to apply the Supreme Court rulings that really are contradictory in the case,’ Theriot said.”

Vikram David Amar and Alan Brownstein write at Findlaw: “In this column, we critique a recent and potentially important case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit that, to our minds, completely misapplies basic free speech theory and doctrine. Taken at face value, the case threatens to place the President above, if not the law entirely, at least the First Amendment . . . The ruling, Weise v. Casper, involves the expulsion of two persons, Leslie Weise and Alex Young, from a speech given by then-President George W. Bush in March 200 . . . ”

The Oklahoman: “The resignation of Chief Judge Robert Henry of Oklahoma City on Thursday gives President Barack Obama more opportunity to shape the federal appeals court that serves Oklahoma. Seven judges on the 12-seat 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were appointed by Republican presidents.”

Southwest Times Record: “Although the LeFlore County Commission tabled a decision regarding establishing an American Heritage Park that would house monuments on the county courthouse lawn, the unveiling of a planned Ten Commandments monument at the courthouse on Pearl Harbor Day will proceed, Charlie Horsley said Monday . . . In June, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver ruled Haskell’s monument was unconstitutional because it has ‘the impermissible principal or primary effect of endorsing religion.’ And in October, the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit alliance of Christian attorneys based in Arizona, asked the Supreme Court to review the appeals court ruling.”