Appeals

New York lawyer Caitlin Halligan, who was first nominated to the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., almost 2 1/2 years ago, has asked President Obama to withdraw her nomination. As The Times noted in an editorial today, Halligan was the victim of a Republican filibuster in which all but one of the GOP senators voting refused to cut off debate on her nomination. Had the nomination proceeded to a floor vote, she almost certainly would have been confirmed. Liberals and Democrats will decry the sandbagging of Halligan, who was accused by Republicans of extremism because she once filed suit against gun manufacturers.

Israel's Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal by Arab residents of Jerusalem's Beit Safafa neighborhood to halt construction of a freeway extension through their community. The court ruled that there was no urgent need to stop the project, but that the residents' ongoing legal appeal in a lower court should proceed without delay. A Jerusalem court previously ruled that residents were too late to stop the freeway, which was approved by the city in 1990. Residents say the two-mile extension of Begin Expressway will dissect their neighborhood and cut off access to stores, mosques and schools.

It took more than 13 years and appeals at nearly every level of the state and federal court system, but with the simple turn of a key by a state correctional officer on Tuesday afternoon, Daniel Larsen was unshackled and free. "I feel good, feel blessed," Larsen said with an ear-to-ear grin as he rode the elevator down to the main floor of the U.S. Central District Court in downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by friends and family. Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal ordered Larsen's release, finding that he was "actually innocent" of carrying a concealed knife during a 1998 bar fight in Northridge.

In recent years, Prime Healthcare has built a reputation as a take-no-prisoners company willing to run roughshod over patients and employees alike in its quest for profits - $283 million on revenue of $1.6 billion in 2010, according to a financial statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The closely held Ontario firm, which owns or operates 21 hospitals including 14 in California, has received a federal subpoena related to allegations that it has inflated its billings to Medicare.

Americans just love feeling philanthropic. In any debate over cutting tax breaks in the income tax system, the deduction for charitable donations is always held sacred - even more than that other sacred cow, the mortgage deduction. It's a rare political leader who doesn't bow to the role played by charitable foundations in filling gaps left by government services to the indigent, the sick and the elderly, here in the United States and around the globe. The globe-trotting, tent-dwelling relief worker, the doctor without borders, the logistics expert getting food and medicine to camps of war refugees - all elicit unique reverence from us armchair empathizers in civilized lands.

Denny Hamlin dropped his plan to appeal a $25,000 fine that was levied by NASCAR after Hamlin complained about the Sprint Cup Series' new "Gen 6" race car. "After a lot of thought I have decided not to appeal the fine," Hamlin, who drives the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, said Thursday on Twitter. "Dragging myself, my team and NASCAR through the mud for the next 2 weeks would not be good for anyone," even though "I firmly believe I am in the right on this issue," Hamlin tweeted.

WASHINGTON - Despite its long odds in the full Senate, a federal ban on assault weapons cleared a Democratic-run committee Thursday on a party-line vote. "I've looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons," the bill's chief sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, told Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues. "How many times does this have to happen?" The hard work now begins for the California Democrat, who wrote the 1994 assault weapons ban only to see the federal law expire in 2004.

A $500-million proposed rail yard near the Port of Los Angeles will face a challenge Wednesday from an environmental group that says the plans are a threat to civil rights and public health. The Southern California International Gateway, which Los Angeles harbor commissioners approved last week, would go up near the 710 Freeway and function as a staging area for trains hauling freight from the port. The Natural Resources Defense Council plans to appeal that decision to the Los Angeles City Council.

We admire this sugared peak from our downtown L.A. offices on the clearest winter days, a 10,000-foot postcard of pleasures. Indeed, Mt. Baldy offers challenging (though limited) ski terrain. Serious hikers use it to train for Everest. In short, this SoCal playground offers something for almost everyone. And you don't have to be Marco Polo to get there: Baldy is only an hour's drive - one easy turn off the 210 Freeway. The bed The village's centerpiece is the popular Mt. Baldy Lodge ([909]

An appeals court Thursday denied a last-ditch attempt by one of two former Fullerton police officers accused in the death of Kelly Thomas to prevent the case going to trial. Former Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and former Cpl. Jay Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force in the July 2011 beating death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man with a history of schizophrenia. A third officer, Joseph Wolfe, was indicted in September, a year after the others, on charges of involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force.