Thursday round-up

Yesterday, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana became the second Republican to announce that he will vote in favor of Elena Kagan’s confirmation.  In so doing, he joins Senator Lindsey Graham, who voted for Kagan when the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed her nomination on Tuesday.  Roll Call, Warren Richey of the Christian Science Monitor, and Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the Associated Press (via the Washington Post) all report on his announcement.

In his column for the Washington Post, David Broder predicts that, if Kagan is confirmed, a third woman on the Supreme Court may substantially change the way in which the Court operates.  Broder draws an analogy to changes brought to the journalism profession by increasing numbers of female reporters in the 1970s and ‘80s.

With a final vote on Kagan still days away, much of the Supreme Court news today focuses on repercussions of this Term’s decisions.

In response to the Court’s decision in United States v. Stevens, striking down a federal statute criminalizing the sale of videos depicting animal cruelty, the House of Representatives yesterday nearly unanimously passed a second version of the bill that is drafted more narrowly to prohibit the sale of videos that show animals being burned, impaled, suffocated, or drowned, while allowing films that depict hunting, trapping, and fishing.  The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press have coverage.   In the Huffington Post, Wayne Pacelle – the president of the Humane Society – applauds the bill, noting that it passed by a higher margin than the original version.

Conrad Black, the former chairman of Hollinger International, was released from prison yesterday.  A federal judge had granted his request for bail earlier this week in light of the Court’s ruling in his case, Black v. United States, which narrowed the scope of the law originally used to convict him of fraud.  SCOTUSblog, Bloomberg (update to an earlier story), the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, and the WSJ Law Blog all have coverage of his release.  Martha Neil at the ABA Journal reports on Black’s hefty legal fees to date.

Yesterday on SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston posted the oral argument calendar for the Court’s October 2010 sitting.  Kevin Cole at Crim Prof Blog picks out the arguments most likely to interest criminal law and procedure enthusiasts.

Briefly:

• Earlier this month we linked to an American Constitution Society panel on the future of Miranda rights after the consequential Miranda rulings this Term.  As a follow-up on ACSblog, ACS interviews Michael German, a counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, about Miranda.
• The Appellate Daily blog posts the letter that Kagan wrote – in response to a request from Senator Graham – praising Miguel Estrada’s judicial qualifications.  Graham read excerpts from the letter during the Committee vote on Kagan’s nomination on Tuesday.
• Justice Scalia is scheduled to make a speaking stop at Montana State University on July 28, according to an announcement on the college’s website.