Jesse J Holland

February 18, 2005 | Law.com

In a 279-149 vote, the House on Thursday passed legislation that would transfer most large, multistate class action lawsuits to federal court, fulfilling one of President Bush's second-term goals. The aim of the bill was to protect businesses and stop lawyers from reaping huge profits by filing suits in carefully selected state courts. Bush is expected to sign the bill into law today.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

September 02, 2005 | National Law Journal

Sen. Charles Schumer said Thursday that Supreme Court nominee John Roberts should not use Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a role model at his confirmation hearing next week. Republicans say Ginsburg declined to answer senators' questions 55 times at her Judiciary Committee hearing. "If Judge Roberts repeatedly resorts to the so-called 'Ginsburg Precedent,' it will sound less like a principled refusal to answer and more like a variation on the Fifth Amendment," Schumer said.

By Jesse J. Holland

2 minute read

September 20, 2004 | Law.com

The House may vote this week on a bill that says only state courts can hear cases involving the Pledge of Allegiance, which would pre-empt the U.S. Supreme Court from ruling on whether the pledge's "under God" phrasing violates the First Amendment. Along with gay marriage and the perennial matter of flag-burning, the pledge has joined a list of hot-button legal topics that Republicans are pushing toward congressional votes to remind voters of differences between the GOP and the Democrats.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

February 07, 2005 | The Legal Intelligencer

Efforts to curb class action lawsuits advanced Thursday as backers of legislation pushed by the Bush administration and the business community foiled initial attempts to alter a carefully crafted compromise.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

June 09, 2009 | National Law Journal

Iraq's current government cannot be sued for the actions of Saddam Hussein's regime, the U.S. Supreme Court said Monday as it threw out lawsuits filed by Americans who were held by the government of the now-deceased dictator. Foreign nations usually are immune from lawsuits in U.S. courts, but federal law strips that protection from countries that support terrorism. The Iraqi government argued that the U.S.-led invasion that deposed Saddam and a 2003 federal law restored Iraq's immunity to suits in American courts.

By Jesse J. Holland

3 minute read

June 13, 2007 | Law.com

The time limit for suing a company for pay discrimination should restart each time an employee gets a reduced paycheck, House Democrats said Tuesday, taking issue with a recent Supreme Court decision that limits the time workers have to sue their employers to six months after the allegedly illegal action began. Advocates say six months is not enough time to build a case and decide whether a suit is warranted, given how secretive people are about salaries and companies are about their decisions on raises.

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

September 22, 2004 | Law.com

By Jesse J. Holland

4 minute read

June 24, 2005 | Law.com

Senate Democrats, in a letter sent to the White House Thursday, urged President Bush to consult with them on a possible Supreme Court nomination to help avoid the controversy that engulfed his lower court picks. White House officials say the president would listen to the Senate's views if a vacancy occurred, but that the president alone would select his nominee. Republicans responded that Democrats are trying to politicize the nomination process before it begins.

By Jesse J. Holland

3 minute read

April 02, 2010 | National Law Journal

The debate over whether the Supreme Court should look to foreign law when interpreting the U.S. Constitution is ultimately irrelevant because justices can read whatever they want when they are formulating their opinions, Justice Stephen Breyer said in a speech this week. Noting that the most complaints about referring to foreign law came in cases dealing with the death penalty and gay rights, Breyer said it may be simple "displacement," in which people who dislike the result of a case focus their anger on something else.

By Jesse J. Holland

3 minute read

January 31, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Senate all but guaranteed Samuel Alito's confirmation as the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice yesterday, shutting down a last-minute attempt by liberals to block the conservative judge's nomination with a filibuster.

By Jesse J. Holland

2 minute read