“The dispute we are now called upon to address is one of an increasing number of cases that have arisen from actions that state and local governments have taken because of illegal immigration.” So states today’s lengthy ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Lozano v. City of Hazleton . The ACLU provides online access via this link to the appellate briefs filed in the case. Update : In early news coverage,... 

The firm that blogs together, stays together. Are you a superstar or a team player? When it comes to law blogs, the question is: do you have your own blog, or are you part of a team that writes a group blog? With over 45% of the Am Law 200 now using blogs, amid mounting evidence that blogs bring both publicity and business, many firms are trying to figure out the best way to build a successful blog. For those of you who have been living underground... 

(Kenneth Anderson) Temple University law professor Duncan Hollis, and my co-blogger at Opinio Juris , has a provocative new paper on SSRN addressing the question of cyber-threats and why he believes the threats need new forms of regulation.  Duncan titles his article at SSRN, “An e-SOS for Cyberspace,” and of course I can’t resist adding ‘Sending Out An…  Read More →

The  ABA Journal  came up with a fascinating promotion, called Legal Rebels .  With some exceptions, it’s largely a celebration of lawyers who are engaged with social media, as if an iPhone on your hip made you a latter-day James Dean. For those honored, it’s as good an opportunity to scarf a bit of publicity as any.  After all, the ABA Journal carries about of cache from the old days, when the ABA mattered.  …  Read More →

In one of its better articles, the  ABA Journal  posts about a “coalition of civil rights groups and criminal defense attorneys,” including NACDL president-elect Lisa Wayne, suing the Department of Homeland Security over the search of laptop computers at the border. The searches and seizures at issue, which took place between Oct. 2008 and June 2010, were also performed without any judicial review and pursuant to Homeland Security policy... 

Arguing that a federal appeals court has raised an environmental threat that could linger “for generations to come,” the state of North Carolina on Wednesday asked for a new look at states’ options for limiting airborne pollution coming across their borders from out-of-state power plants.   Its plea for rehearing came in the Fourth Circuit Court in the case of North Carolina v. Tennessee Valley Authority (Circuit docket 09-1623)... 

“N.J. appellate judge to temporarily fill controversial Supreme Court seat”: The Newark Star-Ledger has this news update .  Read More →

(David Bernstein) Earlier today, I received a robocall from a DNC-affiliated pollster asking whether I plan to vote for the Republican or Democratic congressional candidate in my district, and also asking my opinion of Barack Obama’s performance as president. The rub is that I live in Arlington, Virginia, represented in Congress by Rep. Jim Moran. Moran won reelection with almost 70% of the vote in 2008, and his district is one of the few areas... 

Raising further the prospect that the courts may never rule on the legality of the Central Intelligence Agency’s alleged program of “rendition” of terrorism suspects to other countries for questioning and perhaps for torture, the en banc Ninth Circuit Court on Wednesday dismissed  the latest challenge.   Dividing 6-5, the Court relied on a broad “state secrets” theory to put a stop — before any evidence was... 

A bit of news for you, LBers, before you clock out for the evening: The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan is bringing back one of its own to head a unit formed earlier this year to pursue potential civil actions in complex financial fraud cases.  Read More →

Wow. They don’t make lawsuits this divisive every day. An 11-member en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ruled 6-5 to block a lawsuit against a Boeing unit that allegedly helped the Central Intelligence Agency move terror suspects for interrogation.  Read More →

“Schwarzenegger continues to reject Prop 8 appeal”: The Associated Press has this report .  Read More →

It’s that time of the year again: the results for the August administration of the MPRE have been released! No emails have been sent out yet, but you can log on to the MPRE Services website and check your score. How future lawyers can be tested on their ethics in a multiple choice format is still questionable to me, but who really cares about the format if you passed for your state? Check out this chart to see whether you made the grade. Obviously... 

Stephen Zack wants a $5 footlong. * Which four firms do in-house counsel fear the most? [ Law 360 ] * Professor Orin Kerr offers a more concise version of my analysis from yesterday of politics and Supreme Court clerk hiring, viewing the issue as a principal-agent problem. [ Volokh Conspiracy via Instapundit ] * Speaking of the principal-agent problem, Ted Frank explores it in the context of class-action litigation — and has some harsh words... 

(Orin Kerr) A while back, I blogged at length about the Third Circuit’s pending case involving government access to historical cell-site records. The issue in the case is what legal standard the government must satisfy to obtain orders requiring phone companies to disclose such information. The district court had ruled that a warrant was required, and the government argued that the correct standard under the law was a “specific and articulable...