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Thursday, December 1st, 2011

Justice Samuel Alito, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. was born in April 1950 in Trenton, New Jersey, to Italian American parents. Alito grew up in Hamilton Township, New Jersey where he attended high school. He graduated from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs with a B.A. in 1972. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1975.

During his senior year at Princeton, Alito studied in Italy, where he wrote his thesis on the Italian legal system. His lofty yearbook aspirations recorded a hope to “eventually warm a seat on the Supreme Court.”

He served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps after his graduation and was on active duty from September to December 1975, while attending the Officer Basic Course for Signal Corp at Fort Gordon, Georgia. The remainder of his time in the Army was served in the inactive Reserve. He had the rank of Captain when he received an Honorable Discharge in 1980.

During 1977-1981, Alito was Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, where he prosecuted many cases that involved drug trafficking and organized crime. From 1981 to 1985, he was assistant to the U. S. Solicitor General. He argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court for the federal government during his tenure there.

Alito was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and was confirmed by unanimous consent in April 1990. When Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement from the Supreme Court, President George W. Bush nominated Alito to her seat on the Bench. The hearings were somewhat contentious but he was ultimately confirmed as the 110^th justice and the second Italian American.

Alito is the eleventh Roman Catholic to serve on the Supreme Court. He is generally considered to be a conservative jurist with a libertarian streak, particularly on First Amendment issues related to religious affairs. He is married to Martha.

IN THE NEWS: Various states have recently enacted immigration laws – Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Arizona – and the Department of Justice has moved in each case to have such laws struck down. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, for example, upheld an injunction before the law ever took effect in Arizona, and now Arizona is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the state law is preempted by federal immigration legislation. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has been urged by the Department of Justice to strike down Alabama’s immigration law. The Supreme Court could likely join these two states’ cases for the purpose of ruling.

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Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Justice Mike McGrath, Chief Justice, Montana Supreme Court

Chief Justice Mike McGrath was raised in Butte, Montana. He earned a degree in business administration from the University of Montana and graduated from Gonzaga University School of Law. Following graduation from law school, he worked as a community lawyer in Reno, Nevada, providing legal services to low-income clients.

He served in the United States Air Force.

McGrath was a Montana Assistant Attorney General for five years. He was elected to five terms as Lewis and Clark County Attorney, and later elected to two terms as Montana Attorney General, where he served eight years, overseeing a staff of more than 700 employees and focusing on methamphetamine prevention and natural resource and land issues.

McGrath was elected to an eight-year term as Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, assuming office in January 2009.

He and his wife, Joy, have three children.

IN THE NEWS: In its brief to the Montana Supreme Court, the ACLU opined that a district judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit by six same-sex couples was a breach of separation of powers that courts have a duty to interpret whether or not actions by the legislature or the executive branch are unconstitutional. The same-gender couples are not seeking the right to wed, but rather they want to be able to make decisions like married couples about their families’ health care, finances, inheritance and burials. A response to the brief is due in mid-December, and a hearing will be set thereafter.

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Thursday, November 17th, 2011

Judge James Ware, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

James Ware was born in 1946 in Birmingham, Alabama. He received his undergraduate degree from California Lutheran University, and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He was in the U.S. Army Reserve, entering as a Second Lieutenant, and also served in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer. He later served as a U.S. Army Reserve Captain in the Military Police after graduating from Stanford Law School.

Ware worked as an attorney in the private practice of law in Palo Alto, California. He served two years as a judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court. He was nominated to his current U.S. District Court seat by President George H.W. Bush, and was confirmed by the Senate. He became the Chief Judge on January 1, 2011.

IN THE NEWS: Some California boys who wore American flag apparel to school on Cinco de Mayo were sent home for disrespecting Hispanic students on “their day.” Judge James Ware determined that the Morgan Hill Unified School District did not violate the First Amendment, and said that concerns by school officials over possible violence justified censoring the pro-American message. “The school officials reasonably forecast that [the boys’] clothing could cause a substantial disruption with school activities and therefore did not violate the standard set forth – by requiring that [they] change,” the judge wrote.

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Thursday, November 10th, 2011

Judge Colleen McMahon, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Colleen McMahon was born in Columbus, Ohio. She received a B.A. from Ohio State University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

She was in private practice in New York and was a speechwriter and special assistant to Donald McHenry, of the AU.S. Mission to the United Nations. For four years she was a judge on the New York Court of Claims section of the New York Supreme Court.

McMahon is now a federal judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was nominated to that position by President Bill Clinton, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

IN THE NEWS: Informing the attorney for the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee of the Madoff case that he did not have standing, Judge Colleen McMahon said because he represented Madoff and not the victims, he had no legal right to make a claim on behalf of the Madoff victims. The first payouts to Madoff’s victims were approved in July, and the current case was an attempt to have banks and other third parties turn over their holdings. Creditors have the right to make such claims, said Judge McMahon, but not the trustee.

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Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Judge Paul L. Friedman, U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C.

Paul L. Friedman is a graduate of Cornell University. He received his J.D. from the School of Law of the State University of New York at Buffalo. Following law school, Friedman clerked for a judge on the District Court for the District of Columbia, and for another judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. Judge Friedman also practiced law in a private firm. He was President of the District of Columbia Bar for two years, and was an Associate Independent Counsel for the Iran-Contra investigation.

Judge Friedman was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the District Court, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

He is a member of the American Law Institute.

IN THE NEWS: In an opinion filed by Judge Paul Friedman, he deemed fair a proposed settlement that provides a system of compensation for black farmers who joined a class-action lawsuit claiming that they can prove racial bias in decisions related to Agriculture Department programs and support. “I’m very pleased that this has resolved itself,” the Judge said. “It will provide relief to an awful lot of people.” In his opinion, he wrote, “Historical discrimination cannot be undone,” citing a basis to establish payments “for the broken promise to those African-American farmers and their descendants.”

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Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Justice Roderick L. Ireland, Chief Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Roderick L. Ireland is a native of Springfield, Massachusetts. He received his B.A. from Lincoln University, a JD from Columbia Law School, a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School, and a Ph.D. in Law, Policy and Society from Northeastern University.

Chief Justice Ireland began his legal career as a neighborhood legal services attorney. He then worked as a public defender in the Roxbury Defenders Committee, as chief attorney, deputy director and executive director. He was Assistant Secretary and Chief Legal Counsel for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, and Chair of the Massachusetts Board of Appeal on Motor Vehicle Liability Policies and Bond.

Ireland has been a jurist for more than 34 years, serving as a judge of the Juvenile Court, after which he was appointed an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court. It was Governor William Weld who appointed him to the Supreme Judicial Court as an Associate Justice. In 2010 he was appointed as the Chief Justice by Governor Deval Patrick.

When he was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Court in 1997, he was the first African-American Justice in its then 305 year history, and now serves as its first African-American Chief Justice.

IN THE NEWS: The decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is its second ruling within a year that is attempting to sort out the mess created by the rapid fire foreclosure of thousands of properties after the housing collapse. During that time, some lenders seized and then resold homes before establishing a clear record of ownership. The decision leaves in limbo hundreds, if not thousands, of people who bought homes seized by lenders under questionable circumstances. They are left with no easy recourse; among their options are to sue the lender behind the botched foreclosure or “reforeclose” on the prior owner. The “bundling” of mortgages sold by banks to investment groups has also created havoc for the line of title and lien issues that require sorting out in foreclosure proceedings.

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Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Justice Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, Chief Justice, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama

Sharon Lovelace Blackburn was born in Pensacola, Florida in 1950. She received her B.A. from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, and her J.D. from Stanford University, Cumberland School of Law.

She served as a law clerk to a member of the Alabama Supreme Court, and to a judge of the U.S. District Court Middle District of Alabama. She was a staff attorney of Birmingham Area Legal Services and an assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama in both the Civil Division and Criminal Division.

She was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, and confirmed by the Senate.

IN THE NEWS: The U.S. Department of Justice prevailed in its motion to partially bar the Alabama immigration law from taking effect. The appeals court also blocked a part of the law that allows authorities to charge immigrants who do not carry documents proving their legal status. The three-judge panel let stand a provision that allows police to detain immigrants that are suspected of being in the country illegally. The ruling was only temporary. Justice Sharon Blackburn for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama had twice rejected the appeal of the Department of Justice. A final decision on the constitutionality of the Alabama law won’t likely be made for several months.

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Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Justice John D. Minton, Jr., Chief Justice, Kentucky Supreme Court

John D. Minton, Jr. was born in 1952 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree, with honors in history and English, from Western Kentucky University, and his juris doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Prior to his election to the Kentucky Supreme Court, Minton served as an appellate judge for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. He also served as a circuit judge for Kentucky’s 8^th Judicial Circuit, and a regional judge for the Green River Region. Before his election to the Circuit Court, Minton practiced law in Bowling Green for nearly 15 years.

Justice Minton is married to Susan Lenell Page, and they have two children. He is a member of Bowling Green’s Broadway United Methodist Church, and a former lay leader for the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church.

IN THE NEWS: Jimmy Harston has paid for and erected 8 billboards throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky with messages including texts like, “Hell is for Real” or displaying five of the Ten Commandments. For nearly a decade, the stark signs have been up just a few hundred yards from businesses and the interstate highway. However, three years ago the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet filed a civil suit to force Harston to remove the billboards. The suit has proceeded through the circuit court and appellate courts, both of which have ruled in favor of the Cabinet, but Harston persists. “The Lord put this on me to do,” he said. No date for the review has yet been set.

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Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Justice Peter T. Zarella, Associate Justice, Connecticut Supreme Court

Peter T. Zarella is a Boston native. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern University, and his Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School. He was admitted to both the Massachusetts and Connecticut state bars, and was engaged in the private practice of law in Hartford.

Prior to his service on the bench, Zarella served as a commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission.

He became a judge in the Superior Court, and was later elevated to Judge of the Appellate Court. Governor John G. Rowland nominated him to be Associate Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court in 2001.

UPDATE: Justices of the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled against the Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, which like dozens of parishes nationwide split from the national Episcopal Church after the 2003 appointment of Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The Court said that the break-away parish cannot keep the building and land. The Episcopal Church has a rule that prohibist congregations from walking away with church properties, and that those properties are held in trust for the denomination. Justice Peter Zarella, in writing the 6-0 decision, said, “We now conclude under neutral principles of law that the Episcopal Church rule applies and that it clearly establishes an express trust interest in the property in favor of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese. Parishioners released a statement saying they were going to talk with their lawyers about what to do next. They did not say whether they were considering appealing to a federal court.

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Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Justice James W. Hardesty, Chief Justice, Nevada Supreme Court

James W. Hardesty was born and grew up in Reno, Nevada. He attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he obtained a B.S. in accounting. After graduating, he enrolled in the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctor.

Upon graduating from McGeorge, Justice Hardesty returned to the Reno/Sparks area and entered private law practice. His first step into the judiciary came when he was elected District Court Judge for the Second Judicial District Court of Washoe County, Reno, Nevada. He received high ratings on his judicial performance. In 2004, he was elected a Supreme Court Justice for the Nevada Supreme Court, and has served as the Chief Justice since 2009.

Hardesty is married to Sandy, a now-retired high school teacher. Together they have two children and five grandchildren.

IN THE NEWS: The Supreme Court of Nevada rejected an appeal of a man convicted and sentenced for trafficking methamphetamines. He was judged to have been the “procuring agent,” and as such was sentenced to a much stiffer penalty. The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice James Hardesty, agreed that the drug laws are “designed to make all actors in the illicit drug deal equally culpable when a trafficking quantity of controlled substance is involved.

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