It’s time for another Court of Appeals news roundup. Once again, we’ve relied on our own research to gather the sources this week but would welcome any suggestions that you might have. Please email us any ideas (twentyeagle@twentyeagle.com).
Over the past two weeks, outlets both local and national have covered the Court’s leave grant in Matter of Nonhuman Rights Project v. Breheny, a suit brought on behalf of an elephant who lives in the Bronx Zoo and asks whether nonhuman animals may seek a writ of habeas corpus. Coverage can be found in USA Today, Metro, Sputnik International, The Lawyer’s Daily, and WHFB.
The Adirondack Almanck recapped the Court’s recent decision in Protect the Adirondacks! v. N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation. WAMC recapped the decision on May 5. And over at the Albany Times Union, Peter Bauer used the decision to support a call to “reform DEC forest management.”
Thomas R. Newman and Steven J. Ahmuty Jr. wrote in the New York Law Journal about “the elements of a motion for leave to file an amicus brief in the New York Court of Appeals and the attributes of a well-crafted amicus brief.”
Several commentators have discussed the three current and impending vacancies on the Court. Marcia Poggio published a piece on Law360 asking how political Governor Cuomo’s appointments to fill the vacancies will be. Steven Zeidman, writing for the New York Daily News, urged Governor Cuomo to “remake New York’s highest court,” including by appointing candidates with “a background defending people from hyper-aggressive and race-based policing.” Professor Vin Bonventre, of Albany Law School, appeared on the WMHT’s “New York Now” to discuss the vacancies. And Law360 reported that “New York’s most prominent attorney groups” gave “generally qualified” ratings to all seven candidates proposed to replace the late Judge Paul G. Feinman.
SCOTUSblog covered the petition for certiorari in Pilevsky v. Sutton 58 Associates LLC, a case the Court of Appeals decided last year, which asks whether the Federal Bankruptcy Code preempts state-law tort claims for facilitating wrongful bankruptcies.
Posted on 2021-05-18.