Tag Archives: Court: DC Circuit

National Religious Broadcasters Email (links to Alliance Defending Freedom press release): At the government’s own request, a federal appellate court has dismissed the Obama administration’s appeal of an order that stopped the President from enforcing his abortion pill mandate against Tyndale House Publishers.

AP: The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved three of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees for a full Senate vote — including one for the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Matt Bowman on the Vince Coakley Show to discuss: Obama admin. surrenders in abortion pill mandate case. | MP3 audio 14:01 mins

Pilot Catholic News: “We believe the government essentially conceded that its anti-religious legal position cannot succeed in court under scrutiny,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Tyndale in court. [more]

Blog of the Legal Times: The thorny question of how to calculate restitution to victims of child pornography came back before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week, with the U.S. Department of Justice defending a proposed formula.

Kevin Theriot on the George Rice Show to discuss this: Obama admin. surrenders in abortion pill mandate case. | MP3 audio 8 mins

The New American: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court.”

CNA at DFW Catholic: Matthew Bowman, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is defending the publisher, told CNA that the move indicates “that the government knows it is taking an extremist view against religious freedom, and it is afraid to defend that in court.”

Bob Smietana of The Tennessean at the ShrevePort Times: The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer,” said Matt Bowman, senior legal council for Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal group that represents Tyndale.

Warren Richey of Christian Science Monitor at MinnPost: Matt Bowman, lead counsel for Tyndale House, claimed victory on Monday when word of the court’s action circulated. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” he said in a statement. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.”

Michael Foust of BP on Christian Examiner: The legal group Alliance Defending Freedom says the government’s desire to withdraw its own appeal is a good sign for religious liberty. ADF is representing Tyndale. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said ADF senior legal counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court.”

One News Now: The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds to argue that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer,” says Bowman. “For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous – and now the Obama administration had to retreat in court.”

Baptist Press on Patheos: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said ADF senior legal counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court.”

Christian Post: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” Bowman said. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court.”

Examiner.com: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.”

Breitbart: “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom Matt Bowman told LifeSiteNews. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.”

Christian Science Monitor: Matt Bowman, lead counsel for Tyndale House, claimed victory on Monday when word of the court’s action circulated. “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” he said in a statement. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer.” Mr. Bowman, a lawyer with the conservative public interest group Alliance Defending Freedom, said the administration’s move was a “retreat” in court. “We will continue to argue that the administration cannot disregard the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom for all family business owners and must offer a comprehensive exemption to the mandate,” he said.

t the government’s own request, a federal appellate court Friday dismissed the Obama administration’s appeal of an order that stopped the president from enforcing his abortion pill mandate against a Bible publisher. The administration’s retreat marks the first total appellate victory on a preliminary injunction in any abortion pill mandate case.

WorldNetDaily: Apparently, ADF said, Obama is nervous “about trying to defend its position that a Bible publisher is not religious enough for a religious exemption to the mandate.” “Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” said Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “The government dismissed its appeal because it knows how ridiculous it sounds arguing that a Bible publisher isn’t religious enough to qualify as a religious employer. For the government to say that a Bible publisher isn’t religious is outrageous, and now the Obama administration has had to retreat in court. “We will continue to argue that the administration cannot disregard the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom for all family business owners and must offer a comprehensive exemption to the mandate,” Bowman added.

Life News: Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys and allied attorneys are also litigating nine other lawsuits against the mandate. The lawsuits represent a large cross-section of Protestants and Catholics who object to the mandate. More than 100 lawsuits have been filed in total.The court’s order was the third nationwide against the mandate and the second obtained by Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys.

NY Times: Sri Srinivasan, President Obama’s nominee to one of the country’s most politically significant appeals courts, breezed his way through an uneventful Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday that ended with at least one Republican saying he would support the nomination.

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Politico: Since 1948, every president except for Obama has had at least one of his nominees confirmed to the court. Obama cannot tolerate a filibuster of Srinivasan. If Republicans filibuster, he should break it. After the hearings, Obama should nominate a judge for each of the court’s remaining three vacancies.

Washington Post: The effort reflects a new White House effort to tilt in its favor the conservative-dominated U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which is one notch below the Supreme Court and considers many challenges to executive actions.

Politico: A dozen former top officials of the Justice Department’s Officer of Solicitor General banded together Monday to endorse President Barack Obama’s latest nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Sri Srinivasan.

NPR: But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has a whopping four vacancies, the most in the nation, including one opening that dates all the way back to 2005, when John Roberts moved to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Blog of the Legal Times: U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit nominee Sri Srinivasan will get a confirmation hearing this month, and he’s receiving more support from some top Washington lawyers.

Volokh Conspiracy: Three unsuccessful applicants to the Department of Justice’s Honors Program sued the federal government alleging  they were rejected on political grounds.  The district court in D.C. rejected their claims.  Last Friday, however, in Gerlich v. U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed . . .

CNSNews: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats will “fill up the DC circuit one way or another,” even it means changing the rules in the Senate to get nominees confirmed.

Roll Call: The Senate voted 51-41 to end debate on the nomination, nine votes shy of the 60 needed to move forward. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to cross party lines, voting to invoke cloture.

Washington Times: Facing the stiffest Republican opposition to a judicial nominee in two years, the White House is pushing for a confirmation vote this week on Caitlin Halligan’s appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

International Business Times: Halligan “is unqualified to sit on such a prestigious court because of her conduct in office, using her position in state government to advance radical, pro-abortion legal theories against the constitutional rights of pro-life citizens,” said AULA’s Dr. Yoest.

National Review Bench Memos: President Obama’s nomination of Caitlin Halligan to a D.C. Circuit seat is scheduled for a Senate Judiciary Committee vote tomorrow.

SCOTUS Blog: U.S. Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland on Tuesday became the new chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Above the Law: Yesterday the D.C. Circuit announced that its judges won’t be participating in the Law Clerk Hiring Plan.

Blog of the Legal Times: Senate Republicans are holding up the nomination of Sri Srinivasan for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, saying they want to know more about his role in the abrupt settlement of a Fair Housing Act case a year ago.

Blog of the Legal Times: The technological restraints imposed against Legg, convicted in an online child exploitation sting, are at the center of a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Legg is serving a 30-month prison. His lawyer today urged the appeals court to find that the restrictions go too far.

Religion Clause Blog: In In re Navy Chaplaincy, (DC Cir., Nov. 2, 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a lawsuit by several former and current military chaplains who claimed that non-liturgical Protestant chaplains are discriminated against in the promotion recommendations of Chaplain Corps selection boards.

AP: An appeals court on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that likely would have led to greater disclosure of who is paying for certain election ads.

Blog of Legal Times: The nomination of Caitlin Halligan was returned to the White House on Tuesday, ending her second bid for a judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before it could get started.

Blog of the Legal Times: Senate Republicans once again made clear Thursday that there is serious opposition to Caitlin Halligan becoming a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

SCOTUS Blog: The Obama Administration’s second-ranking advocate before the Supreme Court, principal deputy U.S. Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan, was nominated by President Obama on Monday to a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court.

Blog of the Legal Times: Obama chose Srikanth Srinivasan, principal deputy solicitor general of the United States, and Caitlin Halligan, general counsel for the New York County District Attorney’s office.

Findlaw: This case is part of the economic rights debate, which grew more heated in the Obamacare lawsuits. The scathing opinion of the judges here shows the controversy over government regulation over economic rights and whether the courts should assert more power to overturn infringing laws. Brown has been highly vocal over the years on economic issues, at times comparing liberal economic policies with slavery

Orin Kerr posts excerpts of the opinion at the Volokh Conspiracy Blog (Judges Brown and Sentelle Urge the Supreme Court to End Rational Basis Review of Economic Regulations): America’s cowboy capitalism was long ago disarmed by a democratic process increasingly dominated by powerful groups with economic interests antithetical to competitors and consumers. And the courts, from which the victims of burdensome regulation sought protection, have been negotiating the terms of surrender since the 1930s . . . The hope of correction at the ballot box is purely illusory . . . | Hettinga v. United States

Chicago Tribune: The D.C. Circuit, as it is called, is also often a springboard to the Supreme Court where four of the current nine justices served on the D.C. Circuit.

News from The Associated Press: A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that seniors who receive Social Security cannot reject their legal right to Medicare benefits, in a rare case of Americans suing to get out of a government entitlement.

Editorials – The Boston Globe: Discrediting Perfectly qualified nominees to the federal judiciary is a dreary, familiar business – one whose latest target is Caitlin Halligan, a former New York solicitor general who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Ever since President Obama nominated her for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals last year, critics have been combing her record for evidence of dangerous radicalism.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday successfully filibustered the nomination of pro-abortion judicial nominee Caitlin Halligan to replace Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, considered to be the nation’s second most important court.

Senate Democrats: This evening Senator Reid filed cloture on the nomination of Caitlin Joan Halligan, to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia

The Blog of Legal Times: Roy McLeese III, a veteran appellate attorney in Washington, was nominated Thursday to a slot on the D.C. Court of Appeals.

How Appealing links to reports and the ruling.

The Washington Post reports on Obama’s latest nomination to the D.C. Circuit.

Randy Barnett at The Volokh Conspiracy: The low point for the government was when Judges Kavanaugh and Silberman pressed counsel for about 10 minutes for a single example of any economic mandate that would be unconstitutional under the government’s theory of constitutionality. To their evident frustration, she refused to provide any such example.

Bloomberg: “In 220 years there has been a whole lot of laws and a lot of crises, yet Congress has never once mandated a purchase,” said Judge Brett Kavanaugh, adding that the “lurking next step” might be a law requiring investment in private retirement accounts.

The Volokh Conspiracy: From Electronic Privacy Information Center v. United States Department of Homeland Security (D.C. Cir., decided this morning) . . .

The appeals court said Kessler must “order restitution equal to the amount of harm the government proves the defendant caused the victim.”

Blog of the Legal Times: “Among the nominations are two candidates for spots on the bench of Washington’s federal trial court. Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia Superior Court and Amy Jackson, a partner at Washington-based Trout Cacheris, have both been nominated for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.”

Blog of the Legal Times: “Caitlin Halligan followed an often-used script today during her confirmation hearing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, telling a Senate committee that if confirmed, she would defer to Supreme Court precedent and to the Framers’ intent. But her hour-long testimony made clear that Republicans are laying the ground for possible opposition to her nomination.”

Religion Clause: “In Daniel Chapter One v. FTC, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 25496 (DC Cir., Dec. 10 2010), the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that an organization’s formal legal status as a religious corporation sole does not prevent the Federal Trade Commission from regulating its advertisements for dietary supplements.”

LifeNews: “Taking advantage of an appeals court ruling striking down an injunction against his forcing Americans to pay for embryonic stem cell research, the Obama administration is looking at more funding . . . ”

LifeNews: “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear oral arguments Monday in the appeal of a lower court ruling related to the lawsuit brought by stem cell research scientists . . . [Steven Aden], a lead attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund applauded [the lower court's ruling]. ‘The American people should not be forced to pay for experiments — prohibited by federal law — that destroy human life,’ he said.”

Religion Clause: “In Payne v. Salazar, (DC Cir., Sept. 7, 2010), . . . Department of Interior employee Cassandra Payne won her religious discrimination clam at the administrative level. An EEOC administrative judge found that the Interior Department had violated Title VII by refusing Payne’s requests for weekends off so she could attend church and Bible study . . .”

White House: “Today, President Obama nominated Caitlin Halligan for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Jimmie V. Reyna to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit . . . ”

OneNewsNow: “‘The American taxpayers said 15 years ago that public funding cannot be provided for embryonic stem-cell research, and this is a test in the courts [on] whether the rule of law will be upheld or whether taxpayer dollars will continue to be used for research that has proven to be unproductive, unlawful, and unethical,’ ADF attorney [Steve Aden] comments about the latest decision.”

Associated Press: “A government official said Wednesday that Obama was nominating Caitlin Halligan, general counsel at the D.A.’s office, to the court. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the nomination had not been made public.”

The New American: “The Alliance Defense Fund is involved in the lawsuit that challenges the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research. [Steven Aden], senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund reacted to the Appeals Court decision. ‘We believe it’s a shame that they would rush to push funding of embryonic stem cell research, and a waste of taxpayer money.’”

“A federal appeals court has lifted the injunction a federal judge put in place stopping President Barack Obama from forcing taxpayers to finance unproven embryonic stem cell research while scientists continue with their lawsuit against the funding.”

LifeNews: “The Obama administration argued with an appeals court on Monday to overturn the decision a federal judge issued to temporarily halt taxpayer funding of embryonic stem cell research that destroys human lives to produce. They claimed the temporary funding ban would hurt scientific research . . . [Steven Aden], a lead attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund applauded Lamberth’s decision. ‘The American people should not be forced to pay for experiments — prohibited by federal law — that destroy human life,’ he said. ‘The court is simply enforcing an existing law passed by Congress that prevents Americans from paying another penny for needless research on human embryos.’”

Religion Clause Blog: “Yesterday a Petition for Certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to review the D.C. Circuit’s decision in Newdow v. Roberts.”

Associated Press: “Judge Thomas Griffith questioned whether the work would really be irreparably harmed or just delayed if the government ultimately can win the ongoing case.”

The Tech (MIT): “Arguments will be heard at 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 27. It had previously been expected the court would decide on the strength of briefs filed before it, the last of which is due Sept. 20. The court will probably rule a few days after oral argument . . . The lawyers for Sherley and Deisher, are all working pro bono, meaning free of charge, because they believe the work is in the public interest. The lead counsel is Thomas G. Hungar, a partner at the high-powered law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; five Gibson Dunn associates are also on the case. They are joined by Samuel B. Casey of Advocates International and Steven H. Aden of the Alliance Defense Fund.”

Blog of LegalTimes: “A federal appeals court in Washington will hear oral argument Sept. 27 in the government’s challenge of a preliminary injunction that blocks funding for human embryonic stem cell research.”

Law.com: “The Gibson team, working with Washington’s Alliance Defense Fund and Fairfax, Va.-based Advocates International, said in the court papers that a stay pending appeal ‘would lead to a flight of federal dollars into [human embryonic stem cell] research,’ hurting Sherley and Deisher and other National Institutes of Health grant applicants.”

CBN News (video): “Steven Aden, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, discussed the immediate impact of the ruling and more on the Friday, September 10 edition of CBN Newschannel’s Morning program.”