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Calista241's JournalPhipps Confirmed to Third Circuit Over Concerns on Lack of Experience
Source: Law.com
The Senate confirmed Peter Phipps to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday, deepening the number of Republican appointees on that bench.
Phipps’ nomination was approved 56-40, and follows the March confirmation of Paul Matey, which flipped the court to a 7-6 majority of Republican appointees.
Phipps‘ appeals court confirmation came on the heels of his October 2018 confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, which had sparked concerns Phipps was inexperienced for his new post. Before he became a judge, Phipps spent 15 years with the Civil Division at U.S. Department of Justice. He also spent three years as an associate at Jones Day in Columbus, Ohio, focusing on civil litigation.
While at the Justice Department, Phipps argued before the Third Circuit in National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Christie, which concerned a 2014 New Jersey law repealing certain prohibitions on sports gambling. Arguing on behalf of the DOJ, Phipps advocated for enforcing the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which bans states from authorizing sports betting. The appellate court eventually agreed with Phipps and struck down New Jersey’s law, finding that it violated PASPA.
Read more: https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/2019/07/16/phipps-confirmed-to-third-circuit-over-concerns-on-lack-of-experience/?slreturn=20190616210323
Senate confirms Trump's appointment to Ninth Circuit appeals court
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
President Trump’s nomination of Washington, D.C., attorney Daniel Bress to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday on a party-line vote, giving Trump seven appointees to a court he has regularly denounced.
On the losing side of the 53-45 vote were California’s Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, who noted that the seat had been held by a Californian — Alex Kozinski, who retired last December after allegations of sexual misconduct by at least 15 female staffers — and would ordinarily be filled by a Californian. Bress, 40, was born in Hollister and grew up in Gilroy but has practiced law in Washington since 2008, mainly representing businesses.
“Bress is not a part of California’s legal community,” Feinstein and Harris said in a statement. Both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, they criticized Republican leaders for discarding the “blue slip” tradition that committee chairmen from both parties had previously used to block confirmation hearings on judicial nominees if either home-state senator objected.
Another opponent, Kristine Lucius of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said Bress was part of a strategy by Trump and Senate Republicans “to mold the Ninth Circuit into a panel of young conservative ideologues.”
Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Senate-confirms-Trump-s-appointment-to-Ninth-14083876.php
New North Carolina law allows prosecutors to charge drug dealers with murder
Source: The Hill
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) on Monday signed into law a bill that allows prosecutors to charge drug dealers with second-degree murder in the case of an overdose death.
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The new law allows prosecutors to pursue felony charges after an illegal sale results in an overdose. Officials will have to prove malice, a high standard that would possibly make convictions hard to obtain, the The Associated Press noted.
Those convicted could face up to 40 years in prison.
Doctors and pharmacists who prescribe opioids for legitimate medical purposes are exempt from prosecution under a “Good Samaritan” clause written into the bill, WTVD reported.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/452192-new-north-carolina-law-allows-prosecutors-to-charge-drug-dealers-with
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