Monday status conference: Supreme summer orders

As Congress continues its recess, the U.S. Supreme Court could issue orders this morning on pending cases, petitions for rehearing, or other matters. We’ll keep you posted on anything newsworthy. Meanwhile, as you kick of your week and check the Olympic medal standings (the USA is in second, right behind China), here is the legal news inside the Beltway:

Stay out of the kitchen? Granite countertops are coming under fire after a flurry of complaints to the Environmental Protection Agency claiming they can decay over time and emit radon, a radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. (Lawyers USA).

High stakes bias suit: Legal watchers are paying close attention to a transgender job bias suit against the Library of Congress, which moves to trial Tuesday in a Washington, D.C. federal court, because of the potentially major implications it could pose for federal anti-discrimination policy. (NLJ)

BPA ok, says FDA: The FDA said the trace amounts of bisphenol A that leach out of food containers like baby bottles and sippy cups are not a threat to infants or adults. (AP)

Doctors back right to sue: A group of influential doctors – current and former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine – have filed an amicus brief backing the plaintiffs in the closely-watched Supreme Court case Wyeth v. Levine. The doctors say plaintiffs suits serve as an important check to protect patients. (WSJ Health Blog)

Workers keep it civil: Just because Attorney General Michael Mukasey said no charges would be filed in connection with politicized hiring practices at the DOJ, that is not stopping the civil suits. (LT)

Friday morning docket: the ‘Bigfoot’ edition

While the world waits with bated breath to see whether Bigfoot is real, here’s a look at the legal news in Washington:

U.S. v. Stevens: The Justice Department is unveiling details about its case against Sen. Ted Stevens, who goes to trial next month charged with failing to disclose gifts and contributions in his campaign finance records. (AP)

Boost for AAJ: Language that would have prohibited state law claims of unsafe child safety seats that have been tested by a federal government-approved method has been removed from a final rule promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – and the AAJ is very happy about that. (Lawyers USA)

Spies like who?!: What did Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, TV cooking guru Julia Child and presidential advisor Arthur Schlesinger have in common? They were spies! (AP)

Judging the judge: A packing house floor supervisor who is facing criminal immigration charges stemming from the largest immigration enforcement operation at a single workplace has asked the federal judge hearing his case to recuse herself, claiming she is not impartial. (NYT)

Get the lead out: President Bush on Thursday signed consumer-safety legislation that bans lead from children’s toys, imposing the toughest standard in the world. (AP)

Exxon’s Supreme bid to cut interest payments runs aground

The Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989

Just weeks after slashing the punitive damages award granted to fisherman injured by the massive oil spill from the Exxon Valdez, the U. S. Supreme Court has declined to consider how much the oil company must pay in interest on the punitive damages award.

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order saying that matter should be decided by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Exxon had asked to Court to decide whether the interest on the damages award, which was cut from $2.5 billion to about $500 million by the Court, should be calculated from the date of the 1994 jury verdict in the case, or from the date of the Court’s June 25, 2008 ruling in Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker.

Exxon said that it would pursue the matter with the 9th circuit. Interest calculated since 1994 would add an estimated $488 million, boosting awards to individuals from roughly $15,000 to about $29,400.

Mukasey: ‘Not every violation of the law is a crime’

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said yesterday that no charges would be filed against Justice Department officials who discriminated against job applicants for career positions for political reasons.

Mukasey said the findings of two internal watchdog audits revealed that officials did use political leanings at a litmus test for hiring applicants for the posts, which are supposed to be non-political. But that the findings did not rise to the level of warranting charges.

“Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime,” Mukasey explained yesterday in remarks to the American Bar Association in New York. “In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws.”

Mukasey’s predecessor, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, resigned amid revelations of politicized hiring practices and allegations that nine U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy was not pleased with Mukasey’s decision. “The Attorney General, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, seems intent on insulating this administration from accountability,” Leahy said in a statement after Mukasey’s remarks, adding that he believed Mukasey’s decision was premature given the ongoing congressional investigation into Justice Department’s hiring practices.

La. Gov. still wants death penalty for child rape

The Supreme Court’s ruling that the death penalty cannot be imposed for child rape where it did not result, and was not intended to result, in the victim’s death has not put the issue to rest in Louisiana.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said he is working with state lawmakers to enact a law reinstating capital punishment for child rapists that would pass constitutional muster despite the Court’s ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana.

“If there is any crime (other than murder) that merits the death penalty, it is rape,” Jindal told applauding delegates to the 71st annual meeting of the Louisiana Municipal Association, according to a report by the Times Picayune.

The state has already petitioned the Court to reconsider its decision in Kennedy. The ruling invalidated the death penalty for child rape in Louisiana and five other states with similar laws.

Jindal told reporters that he and his aides had met with district attorneys and others in an effort to find a way “to craft legislation we think will stand their (the justices’) scrutiny,” including age limits for victims.

Monday status conference: Go Team (Lawyers) USA!

While you root for Team USA as the athletes compete in Beijing, here’s a look at what’s in this week’s issue of Lawyers USA:

If you build it, the lawsuits will come: Construction litigation has become a booming area of the law as the economy continues its downward spiral. Check this story out today for free!

HRT suits stalled by USSC: Hormone-replacement therapy litigation has stalled while judges await a U.S. Supreme Court ruling next term in a key pharmaceutical product liability case.Trials in Texas, Florida and Alabama have been postponed while judges await the Court’s ruling in Wyeth v. Levine. Subscribers can read more here.

Economy down, malpractice claims up: At the same time the declining economy is threatening the bottom line of law firms, it is also creating an increased liability risk for attorneys.Over the last 25 years, each dip in the economy has produced a notable increase in legal malpractice claims. Subscribers can read more here.

Minding your DNA Ps and Qs: Employers, health insurers and their attorneys must start planning for a new federal law that will force them to protect genetic privacy.The new law imposes privacy and record-keeping restrictions on employers and insurers, who are accustomed to exchanging health care information freely. Subscribers can read more here.

Anything you say on Facebook can and will be used against you: An increasing number of attorneys, both criminal and civil, are using information gleaned from social networking sites to undercut the testimony of opposing witnesses. Subscribers can read more here.

Friday morning docket: ‘Shadow Congress’ edition

As GOP lawmakers draw to see who gets the short straw to stay in the District to protest in “shadow sessions” during August recess (all while House Minority Leader John Boehner has been spotted on the golf course), we take a look at the news:

EPA gets corny: The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected a request to cut the federal government’s quota for the use of ethanol in cars, concluding, at least for now, that the national goal of reducing oil use trumps any effect on food prices from making fuel from corn. (NYT)

Loopholes and smoke rings: A loophole in a sweeping tobacco regulation bill would give the industry a 21-month window to introduce some new products without first getting federal approval. (AP)

HHS says take a (chill) pill: Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt attempted to ease concerns Thursday that the Bush administration is planning to issue new rules that would limit women’s access to birth control. (AP)

Give us just a little more time: White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers yesterday asked a federal judge to delay an order to cooperate with Congress while they appeal the ruling. (WaPo).

A matter of trust: In a long-running dispute involving claims that the federal government has swindled American Indians under a trust account system created more than 100 years ago, a federal judge has sided, to a point, with the trust holders. (ABA Journal)

International dispute that went to Supreme Court ends in execution

A battle over a death row inmate that pitted the United States against Mexico, and the President against his home state of Texas, ended last night when a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for Jose Ernesto Medellin to be put to death.

The Court, divided along ideological lines, rejected the late appeal by Medellin yesterday. Medellin was pronounced dead last night at 9:57 p.m.

In March, the Court ruled in Medellin v. Texas that President George W. Bush did not have to power to unilaterally order a Texas court to comply with the Protocol of the Vienna Convention, which would have gen Medellin a new hearing because he was denied the right to seek help from the Mexican consulate. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., said that the Executive Branch is not vested with the power to do so. Only Congress can enforce the rule by enacting it into law.

Medellin had asked the Court to delay his execution to give Congress time to act. In the 5-4 vote yesterday, the dissenting Justices – Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter, and Stephan Breyer – said they would have asked the Bush administration for input before making a final decision.

New ‘hot’ practice area: Jalapeño litigation?

What could be the first lawsuit over the recent salmonella outbreak that has sickened about 1,300 people this summer has been filed.

A Colorado man is suing Wal-Mart and one of its vegetable suppliers, claiming that he ate jalapeños from the retailer and became ill and needed to be hospitalized for dehydration, a condition that worsened his existing kidney and liver problems. Tests confirmed that the salmonella strain that sickened the man was found in to remaining jalapeños that had been purchased at the store, according to the suit.

The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog suggests that making a case against tomato retailers and suppliers would have been tough, but the jalapeño litigation was always a possibility provided the crucial “choke point” could be found. DC Dicta doesn’t truly understand why this might be, so we’ll just have to trust Law Blog’s source on this.

The kicker? The suit was filed in Colorado’s Montezuma County Court. You can’t make this stuff up.

Monday status conference: The summer protest edition

After most lawmakers on Capitol Hill recessed and headed to their home districts for the August break on Friday, House Republicans protested the lack of action on the energy bill by staging a “Phantom Session” after the House officially adjourned. Sometimes yelling their frustrations (because microphones were turned off), they occupied the House chamber for nearly five hours. There were no cameras rolling, but the WaPo’s Capitol Briefing has a recap.

Did you miss all the shenanigans Friday? Well you are in luck: about 30 GOP lawmakers vowed to return this morning to continue the recess protest. They say this could go on all week. (Politico)

Meanwhile:

Blogging for the SEC: Corporations may now sometimes fulfill their federal public disclosure requirements under by posting information on their websites and blogs instead of thirdparty-issued news releases, according to new guidance issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (ABA Journal)

High court shout out: Justice Anthony Kennedy supports his former law clerk, embattled 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. (National Law Journal)

: A Mexican convicted of murder in Texas has appealed to the US Supreme Court to stay his execution set for Tuesday so lawmakers can enforce an International Court of Justice order to halt his and other Mexicans’ executions. (AFP)

Tougher sentences sought too: A senior federal appeals court judge is citing the case of a D.C. man awaiting sentencing on a drug charge in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit whether judges should give defendants tougher sentences based on conduct that jurors rejected as a basis for conviction. (Washington Times)

Bad economy = more legal malpractice claims: The declining economy is threatening the bottom line of law firms, but it is also creating an increased liability risk for attorneys. Over the last 25 years, each dip in the economy has produced a notable increase in legal malpractice claims. (Lawyers USA)