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The Cockle Bur Blog

Legal minds on legal matters and whatever else strikes our fancy.

31 Oct, 2010

Halloween and Racial Sensitivity

2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 31st, 2010|

My son Danny will turn 13 this Wednesday – he had his Bar Mitzvah yesterday, in fact – and last week I took him shopping to try tor figure out a Halloween costume. When I spotted a dreadlock wig, I hit instantly on an idea that I was surprised hadn’t occurred to us earlier: Danny, an avid Michigan football fan, could be Denard Robinson, the quarterback who has had some electrifying experiences this season. I showed the dreaddies to Danny, without explanation, and had the same immediate thought., Even better from my perspective, he had already wheedled a No. 16 Michigan jersey from me just a week or so before, so we already had the otehr key component of the costume. He could also borrow a pair of maize-colored football pants, we had socks that at least faintly resembled Michigan socks, and of course he knew to leave his shoelaces untied; Denard Robinson, sometimes called Shoelace (now also the name of our new kitten) is well known not to tie his laces. So we were all set – except for one thing.

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31 Oct, 2010

Very Disappointing: The Obama Administration and the Establishment Clause

2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 31st, 2010|Tags: , , , , |

The Obama administration’s brief supporting an Arizona law which creates a tax credit system which substantially benefits religious schools is inexplicable and deeply disappointing. Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn (Nos. 09-857 and 09-991), to be argued on Wednesday, November 3, does not involve a federal law and did not require any participation by the Obama administration. Yet, the Solicitor General’s office filed a brief for the United States which argues that taxpayers lack standing to challenge a state tax program which subsidizes religious schools and that this does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. It is exactly the brief that would have been expected from the Bush administration, but disturbing to have come from the Obama Justice Department.

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28 Oct, 2010

Formulating the QP—Suggestions and Analysis of Questions Presented from the 2009 Term

2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 28th, 2010|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

If the argument section is the engine that drives the cert petition car, the Questions Presented (“QP”) is the body governing how the engine is framed and the paint job creating that vital first impression. Send a rusty and dented car to the Court, and the Clerk writing the cert pool memo may move on to a flashier ride. Nor will the Justices be impressed. The goal of this post is meant to turn your scratched and marred Pinto-looking QP into, at very least, a Prius!

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21 Oct, 2010

The Global Gender Gap (#1 of 3)—The Horse Race

2010-10-21T23:34:49-05:00October 21st, 2010|Tags: , , |

Earlier this month, the World Economic Forum published its 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, which compares 134 countries based on 5 years’ worth of data. The overall purpose of the report is to emphasize the positive relationship between economic success and gender equity. “Women and girls,” says Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Forum, “must be treated equally if a country is to grow and prosper.”

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18 Oct, 2010

Both Style and Substance: The Anatomy of a Supreme Court Brief Cover

2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 18th, 2010|Tags: , , , , |

When part of your employment revolves around reviewing the covers of U.S. Supreme Court briefs, you start to take notice of things like New Century Schoolbook font, diamond lines and all caps versus initial caps. But it’s not just style that differentiates a good brief cover from a bad one; there is a little substance, too. This post covers both.

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12 Oct, 2010

Posting U.S. Supreme Court Merits Briefs

2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 12th, 2010|

I will periodically post party merits briefs and noteworthy amicus briefs that were printed through Cockle Law Brief Printing Company.  The merits briefs will be posted the day after they are filed with the Court.  All the merits briefs with be archived under the New Filings tab.  The Respondent’s Brief in Virginia Office for Protection [...]

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12 Oct, 2010

Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri Granted

2019-03-18T18:48:12-05:00October 12th, 2010|Tags: , , , |

Today, the Supreme Court released its order list from last week’s Conference. Among the seven petitions for writ of certiorari that were granted was the petition in Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri, No. 09-1476. The petition was filed by CockleBur contributor Dan Ortiz from the University of Virginia Supreme Court Clinic.

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