News Roundup
Weekly Briefs: Newest SCOTUS justice writes second cert-denial dissent; Roe v. Wade archive to be auctioned
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Justice Jackson dissents from cert denial—again
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson hasn’t yet written an opinion in an argued case before the U.S. Supreme Court, but she has written two dissents to denial of certiorari, along with a dissent to a refusal to grant an emergency stay to an execution. All three cases were criminal in nature, and two of them involved death-row appeals. In her latest dissent, issued on Tuesday, Jackson said the court should have heard an appeal by an inmate who said his counsel was ineffective for failing to seek a plea bargain. (Jackson’s Feb. 21 dissent via How Appealing, the Volokh Conspiracy, Law360, SCOTUSblog, past ABAJournal.com stories here and here)
Roe v. Wade documents to be auctioned
An auction house is selling an archive of documents and items chronicling the Roe v. Wade case, from the filing of the original lawsuit to the arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. The archive belonged to Linda Coffee, one of the lawyers representing plaintiff Norma McCorvey, who was known as “Jane Roe” in the lawsuit. Items up for sale include the receipt for $15 documenting the cost of filing the original suit, the quill pens Coffee received after the successful Supreme Court arguments, a notarized affidavit by McCorvey and Coffee’s May 1968 law license. The auction will be held March 3. (Description by Nate D. Sanders Auctions).
Judge tosses ex-associate’s bias claims against Davis Polk
A federal judge in Manhattan has tossed bias claims by a Black former associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell, but is allowing his retaliation claims against some of the lawyer defendants. U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods ruled Feb. 16, saying that plaintiff Kaloma Cardwell “has failed to adduce any admissible evidence that a reasonable jury could use to support a finding of discrimination.” (Law360)
BigLaw firms among groups offering abortion-rights counsel
Several major law firms have joined with abortion-rights group to provide legal advice and representation to patients and providers facing legal threats stemming from U.S. abortion laws. The groups are working with the newly formed Abortion Defense Network. Law firms participating in the effort include Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer; Goodwin Procter; Hogan Lovells US; Morrison & Foerster; O’Melveny & Myers; Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Willkie; and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. (Reuters, Center for Reproductive Rights press release, Willkie press release)
