Blog Round-Up

By Kevin Russell
on Jun 28, 2006 at 5:14 pm

Akin summer associate Malachi Alston has this round-up of Supreme Court commentary in the blogosphere:

In Harmless Errors and Broad Brushes (Crimes and Consequences, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation), the Gonzalez-Lopez decision is analyzed by looking at the Court’s precedent regarding “harmless error,” which is under what circumstances a reviewing court may decide that a ruling by the trial court was an error yet affirm the judgment because the error made no difference in the outcome. It critiques the Court as not being precise enough in reviewing in its past rulings. High Noon at the Supreme Court on the Purpose of Criminal Appeals? (Concurring Opinions, Eric Muller) discusses the difference in vision between the majority and dissent, not just regarding harmless error review, but also the purpose of appellate review of criminal convictions.

Here (ACS Blog), you can read about the Court striking down Vermont’s campaign finance law in Randall v. Sorrell. More here (More Soft Money Hard Law, Bob Bauer), here (National Review Online, Ronald Rotunda), here (Volokh Conspiracy) and here (The Campaign Legal Center, Gerald Hebert). Mark Moller discusses the debate (Cato @ Liberty) between Alito and Roberts in this case.

At Election Law, you will find comments on LULAC v. Perry, the Texas redistricting case. More here (Election Law @ Moritz, Ned Foley), here (Daily Kos, Adam Bonin), here (More Soft Money Hard Law, Bob Bauer), here (The Campaign Legal Center, Gerald Hebert), and here (League of Women Voters).

At Concurring Opinions, you can find Dan Filler’s discussions of Samson v. California here, Kansas v. Marsh here, and Gonzalez-Lopez here.

In Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon today, the Court ruled that suppression of a post-arrest statement is not required as a sanction for the failure of the police to notify a foreign arrestee of his right under the Vienna Convention to have his country’s consulate notified. Crime and Consequences (CJLF) has this discussion.

On June 17, ACS hosted a luncheon panel (ACS Website) at the 2006 National Convention including several of the nation’s most prominent journalists who cover the U.S. Supreme Court: Linda Greenhouse of The New York Times, Jan Crawford Greenburg of ABC News; and Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com. Tom Goldstein served as moderator.