Nota Bene

The LA Times reports:

The California Supreme Court voted 6 to 1 on Wednesday to review legal challenges to Proposition 8, the voter initiative that restored a ban on same-sex marriage, but refused to permit gay weddings to resume pending a final decision.

The court may hold a hearing on the lawsuits as early as March, a timetable that scholars said was swift considering the complexity and importance of the legal issues.

The court’s action, taken during a closed conference, suggested that the court wants to resolve all of the legal issues surrounding Proposition 8, including the fate of existing gay marriages, in a single ruling.

You can view the Supreme Court’s order here.

Findlaw has posted today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning Navy Exercises and the need for an EIR. The opinion opens as follows:

“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” 1 Messages and Papers of the Presidents 57 (J. Richardson comp. 1897). So said George Washington in his first Annual Address to Congress, 218 years ago. One of the most important ways the Navy prepares for war is through integrated training exercises at sea. These exercises include training in the use of modern sonar to detect and track enemy submarines, something the Navy has done for the past 40 years. The plaintiffs complained that the Navy’s sonar training program harmed marine mammals, and that the Navy should have prepared an environmental impact statement before commencing its latest round of training exercises. The Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction imposing restrictions on the Navy’s sonar training, even though that court acknowledged that “the record contains no evidence that marine mammals have been harmed” by the Navy’s exercises. 518 F. 3d 658, 696 (CA9 2008).

The Court of Appeals was wrong, and its decision is reversed.

The LA Times reports:

Over the objection of three justices, the Supreme Court turned down appeals today from two Los Angeles murderers who said it was unfair that a videotape of the victim’s life was played for jurors before they decided the killer should die.

Defense lawyers had argued that this “cinematic evidence . . . designed to play on the jury’s emotions” should be excluded from a sentencing hearing in a capital case.

Today’s action leaves intact a rule that allows the use of so-called “victim impact evidence” in death penalty cases.

In 1991, the high court upheld this rule and said prosecutors may tell the jury about the victim, her life and the effect of her loss on her family and friends. Its decision restored the use of this evidence, which had been ruled unconstitutional in an earlier decision.

Talkleft has more here.

The AP reports:

O.J. Simpson was denied a new trial Friday by the Nevada judge who presided over his conviction in the gunpoint robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass said challenges raised by lawyers for Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart did not rise to the level of granting another trial.

“All of the issues have been preserved for the Nevada Supreme Court,” Glass said, acknowledging her rulings could be appealed to the state’s only appellate court.

Simpson and Stewart, who were shackled and in jail garb, did not speak during the 20-minute hearing, at which the judge also denied requests to release them on bail pending sentencing Dec. 5.

The LA Times reports:

Reporting from Washington — The Supreme Court justices talked about indecency and foul language today, but they did so without using any of the actual words that federal regulators hope to ban from television and radio broadcasts.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia made clear that they strongly support the drive to keep the F-word and the S-word off broadcasts during the hours when children and families are likely to be watching.

But they may not speak for the majority.