9th Circuit Court

A federal appeals court late Friday temporarily suspended its ban on enforcement of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, reversing course for the second time this month on how and when the Pentagon must stop discharging gay soldiers and sailors. The Justice Department had argued in a motion filed Thursday with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that congressional action last year setting out a path toward eventual repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" should be allowed to run its course without intervention from the courts.

A federal appeals court ruled that Southern California's leading supermarket chains weren't entitled under antitrust law to enter into a revenue-sharing pact during the 2003-04 labor strike but said it had too little information to conclude that the retailers should be punished for it. A federal appeals court ruled that Southern California's leading supermarket chains weren't entitled under antitrust law to enter into a revenue-sharing pact during...

Facebook's bid to end litigation with the Winklevoss twins was put on hold this week when the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals suspended all litigation while the brothers file a request with the U.S. Supreme Court. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who allege that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea for the social networking site, are hoping to reverse the federal appeals court decision to uphold a $65-million cash-and-stock settlement they reached with Facebook in 2008.

Goodwin Liu, President Obama's polarizing choice for the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, has withdrawn from consideration after last week's filibuster of his nomination in the Senate. "With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future," Liu wrote in a letter to Obama on Wednesday. Liu's withdrawal is a victory for Senate Republicans, who last week banded together to deny the UC Berkeley law professor a confirmation vote.

For the third time, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a Thai teenager's confession to the 1991 slayings of nine worshipers at a Buddhist temple near Phoenix was coerced and invalid. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held its ground in overturning the conviction of then-17-year-old Johnathan Doody despite a directive from the U.S. Supreme Court to reevaluate its decisions last year and in 2008. The appeals court ruled that Maricopa County sheriff's deputies distorted their reading of Doody's Miranda rights, telling him he was entitled to an attorney only if he had committed a crime.

Two auditors who helped expose violations in Boeing Co.'s financial reporting practices weren't entitled to whistleblower protections because they leaked the information to a newspaper instead of the appropriate authorities, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. A federal accounting law — the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 — protects whistleblowers in publicly traded companies only when they report the irregularities to financial regulators, Congress or their supervisors, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said.

For the third time, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu for a seat on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. That the vote again divided along party lines suggests that Republicans might organize a filibuster of the nominee. If so, a handful of Republicans will decide whether Liu is confirmed. If they possess a modicum of fair-mindedness, they will balk at such obstructionism. This is, after all, a nominee with a distinguished academic record who has been rated "well qualified" by the American Bar Assn.

A three-judge appeals panel, in a ruling released on Monday, held that a federal judge did not abuse her authority when she blocked provisions of the Arizona law that targeted illegal immigration. The panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a request by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who asked the jurists to lift an injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Judge Susan Bolton the day before the law was to go into effect on July 29. Among the controversial aspects of the law was a requirement that local police check the immigration status of anyone they detain during an investigation.

For more than two decades, California cities have gone to court to settle tensions between residents and day laborers who solicit work from public sidewalks. The issue is now before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. This particular case involves a 1989 Redondo Beach ordinance that bans individuals from standing on streets, sidewalks, curbs, alleys, highways or medians to solicit or attempt to solicit employment, business or contributions from drivers. At the same time, it prohibits motorists from stopping in traffic or parking to hire someone.

Someone who boasts of a military honor he didn't receive is contemptible, but is he a criminal? Congress thought so when it enacted the Stolen Valor Act, which provided for fines or prison time for anyone who "falsely represents himself or herself, verbally or in writing, to have been awarded any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States. " But the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has taken the wiser view, concluding that such misrepresentation, however offensive, is protected by the 1st Amendment.