Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor To Drop The Times Square Ball On NYE

The Associated Press reports:

The countdown to the new year in Times Square is getting some high-profile help — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The organizers of the annual celebration announced Sunday that Sotomayor will lead the final 60-second countdown and push the ceremonial button to signal the descent of the Times Square New Year's Eve ball. Sotomayor was appointed to the court in 2009. She is a native of the Bronx.

The Tea People will find a way to complain about this.

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Posted in: NYC,NYE,Sonia Sotomayor,Times Square

Utah Delays Marriage Appeal To SCOTUS

Many had expected Utah to rush their emergency stay request to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor first thing this morning. But not so.

The attorney general’s office is working to prepare the appeal to the Supreme Court on the 10th Circuit’s denial of a stay. Due to the necessity of coordination with outside counsel the filing of the appeal may be delayed for a few days,” he told FOX 13′s Ben Winslow. “It is the intent of the AG’s office to file with the Supreme Court as soon as possible.” The delay means that same-sex marriages would continue to be performed in Utah until the nation’s top court decides. Justice Sotomayor, who oversees the 10th Circuit and Utah federal courts, could either grant or deny the stay, or she could ask the entire U.S. Supreme Court to decide the issue. An appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby’s ruling that declared Amendment 3 unconstitutional is still pending in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. If the Supreme Court denies Utah’s request to halt same-sex marriage licenses from being issued, those marriages would continue to happen throughout the appeals process — which could be decided by 2015.

All but one of Utah's 29 counties are issuing same-sex marriage licenses today. In that one tiny county, the clerk is on vacation.

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Posted in: Gary Herbert,LGBT rights,marriage equality,SCOTUS,Sonia Sotomayor,Tenth Circuit Court,Utah

U.S. Supreme Court Opens Term with New Justice & Interesting Docket

The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) opens it's 2010-2011 term Monday morning, October 4, 2010, with a new justice in its chamber, and one of the more politically charged dockets in recent times.

The SCOTUS bench will feature three sitting female justices for the first time in it's storied history.  Seems like just yesterday that President Obama installed Sonya Sotomayor on the bench.  On Monday, Elena Kagan takes the bench for the first time.

One of the more electrifying cases selected by the Court for argument this term is Snyder v Phelps.  This case addresses free-speech under the First Amendment in the context of protesters picketing near the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq.

The father of the slain Marine from Maryland, Albert Snyder, won an $11 million jury verdict against the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.  The case wound-up in federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction (all parties being from different states).  The verdict was reversed on appeal to the 4th Circuit on First Amendment grounds.

The Westboro Baptist Church, "practices a 'fire and brimstone' fundamentalist religious faith" according to the 4th Circuit.  The church asserts that God hates gays, and is punishing America for its tolerance of gays; particularly in the United States military.   Hence, the protests at military funerals.

The determined crusaders from the small mid-American church are mostly the family and friends of the church's founder and only pastor, Fred Phelps, Sr.  His daughter will be arguing before the SCOTUS on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, Mr. Snyder is represented by Craig Trebilcock, a University of Michigan Law School graduate whom I had the pleasure to know as a fraternity brother at the UM in the early 1980s.

Both positions in this case are supported by an impressive array of amicus briefs.  More than 40 U.S. Senators and the Veterans of Foreign Wars supported Petitioner Snyder with their briefs, while the ACLU and the NYT, among many others, filed briefs on behalf of Pastor Phelps and his lawyer daughter.

Other interesting cases include Schwarzenegger v Entertainment Merchants Association, also involving the First Amendment in the context of selling violent video games to minor children.  In another case from California, Schwarzenegger v Plata raises the issue of the horrible overcrowding of the penitentiaries which led a panel of federal judges to release nearly 40,000 inmates.

The LawBlogger will be tracking these cases and we will be providing updates in the weeks and months to come.

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Posted in: Albert Snyder,Craig Trebilcock,Elena Kagan,First Amendment,Fred Phelps,SCOTUS,Sonia Sotomayor,Westboro Baptist Church