The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

The Morning Wrap

Watching: "In an unusual move that raised the stakes in a major copyright battle between broadcast television networks and the upstart Aereo service, Aereo Inc. on Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve the dispute, even though it won in the court below," The National Law Journal reports. Bloomberg has this report, and Hollywood Reporter has coverage here.

Tracking: The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will rehear a dispute over the warrantless use of GPS trackers, The Legal Intelligencer reports today. The panel ruled against the U.S. Justice Department, which urged the court to find police acted in good faith. Volokh Conspiracy blogger Orin Kerr has this analysis today. The panel ruling is here.

Reforming: The New York Times reports: "A presidential advisory committee charged with examining the operations of the National Security Agency has concluded that a program to collect data on every phone call made in the United States should continue, though under broad new restraints that would be intended to increase privacy protections, according to officials with knowledge of the report’s contents." Coverage here in The Wall Street Journal.

Hacking: Federal prosecutors in Alexandria are seeking a 10-month prison sentence in a computer hacking case in which an aspiring medical student tried to change his MCAT scores. The Washington Post reports: The "tech mercenaries got into the system, though their efforts did not go undetected. Now, the 24-year-old University of Michigan graduate whom prosecutors portray in court papers as a desperate — though not wholly unsuccessful — fraudster could be headed to prison. The government's sentencing memo is here.

The Morning Wrap

Gay Workers: Legislation that would ban discrimination against gay workers cleared a key hurdle Monday, The Washington Post reports. Seven Republicans voted with 54 Democrats to formally begin considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

SCOTUS Oklahoma: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a case concerning Oklahoma's constraints on certain drugs used to end pregnancies, The National Law Journal reports.

Arming TSA: The union representing 45,000 federal security agents is urging the arming of Transportation Security Administration officers after the shooting death of a TSA worker last week at the Los Angeles International Airport, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Challenge to Digital Billboards Gets Green Light

In an opinion heavily trafficked with driving-related puns, a Washington federal judge ruled today that a legal challenge to the growing number of digital billboards along highways across the country could move forward.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found Scenic America, a nonprofit that advocates for preserving the country's "visual character," met the early threshold for challenging Federal Highway Administration rules that made it easier to get approval for digital billboards.

"Scenic America has standing to challenge the Guidance because its case is fueled by concrete harm to the organization’s programs," Boasberg wrote. "And because the Guidance is the end of the road for [Federal Highway Administration] decisionmaking on this matter, it constitutes final agency action. The Court accordingly declines to take either exit proposed by Defendants and Intervenor and orders that the case should speed on to its next turn."

The Morning Wrap

Stalled: U.S. Senate leaders' talks to end the U.S. government shutdown and raise the debt limit stalled over the weekend, The Washington Post reports.

Opening: The Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and some other destinations shuttered by the U.S. government shutdown are reopening, CNN reports. States are footing the bills to operate the attractions for the time being.

Advertising: Google Inc. will use its users' names, photos, ratings and comments in ads across the Web, The New York Times reports.

U.S. Hotel Industry Finding Shutdown Inhospitable

Closed national parks, confused international travelers, and consumer uncertainty that have resulted from the U.S. government shutdown are costing the lodging industry more than $8 million per day, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) said Thursday.

In a letter [PDF] sent to members of Congress and President Barack Obama, the hoteliers' trade group said communities near national parks are losing $76 million per day, foreign tourists are canceling U.S. trips, and current fiscal conditions are making consumers of travel-related services wary. Congress and Obama should reach a deal immediately to open the government and raise the U.S. debt ceiling, the organization said.

"For every day that passes that President Obama and Congress are not at the negotiating table seeking an end to this crisis, the American economy—and the lodging industry—continue to suffer," AH&LA president and chief executive officer Katherine Lugar said in a statement. "Hoteliers are a major economic driver and job creator across the country, and the industry’s ability to continue its growth is hamstrung by inaction from our policymakers."

House Armed Services Committee GC Heads to Covington

By Alex Zank

The former general counsel and deputy staff director of the House Armed Services Committee is joining Covington & Burling's public policy and government affairs practice. Roger Zakheim starts November 4.

On Capitol Hill, Zakheim worked on the passage of legislation authorizing the Defense Department’s $600 billion budget, and he participated in committee investigations and oversight hearings that focused on issues such as the prevention of sexual assaults in the military, defense budget cuts and the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

Zakheim, who joins Covington as of counsel, said he wants to help make the firm “a leader in the areas of national security and defense.” Covington partner David Fagan said Zakheim brings to the firm expertise in the defense industry and the Pentagon.

House Committee Votes to Extend Supreme Court Police Authority

By Alex Zank

A chief responsibility for the U.S. Supreme Court police is the protection of justices, staff and visitors at the high court--inside the building itself and on the grounds.

But what about when justices step away from 1 First Street N.E.?

Federal law gives Supreme Court police the authority to work in any state to protect justices and staff—but that power expires December 29, 2013. In fact, the Supreme Court police don’t have permanent authority to serve and protect in any state.

Every so often, then, Congress takes up a measure to extend the authority of the Supreme Court police to work away from the high court grounds. A bill introduced in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday would grant that authority to the high court police force until the end of 2019.

Va. Attorney Makes Splash in Triple Crown Swimming

By Alex Zank

For Courtney Moates Paulk, practicing law isn’t her only passion that requires daily commitment and dedication.

Paulk, a litigation partner in the Virginia firm Hirschler Fleischer, is about to dive into the final stretch of ocean to complete the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.

The Triple Crown is a three-part physical and mental endurance challenge that tests even the best swimmers’ abilities in open waters. The three swims include a 21-mile trip across the English Channel, 20.2 miles across the Catalina Channel in Southern California and 28.5 miles around Manhattan Island in New York.

Having completed two of the three courses, only Catalina stands in Paulk’s way.

The Morning Wrap

Preparing: "The administration insisted Thursday that President Obama has both the authority and the determination to make his own decision on a military strike against Syria, even as a growing chorus of lawmakers demanded an opportunity to vote on the issue and Britain, the United States’ closest ally, appeared unlikely to participate," The Washington Post reports today. In this National Law Journal report, legal scholars debate the president's authority to order a strike Syria.

Settling: The National Football League will pay $765 million to resolve players' claims concerning concussions. More coverage here and here.

Disclosing: The Obama administration has agreed to release annual totals of surveillance orders issued by the Washington-based Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. POLITICO reports today: "Yet the government’s new, promised disclosures might prove a disappointment to companies like Google and Microsoft, which find themselves in a legal battle that’s doubled as a public-relations war."

U.S., Russia Continue Talks Over Return of Jewish Texts

The U.S. State Department is continuing to discuss with Russia the country's return of thousands of Jewish texts seized in the early 20th century, a lawyer fighting to retrieve the books and manuscripts told a Washington judge today.

The attorney, Nathan Lewin, who represents the Agudas Chasidei Chabad of the United States in its suit against Russia, was in Washington federal district court this morning to provide an update on the talks.

Notwithstanding the deterioration of relations, Lewin said—a reference to the dispute between Russia and the United States over asylum for Edward Snowden—the State Department remains "committed" to ongoing talks with counterparts in Russia. Lewin said the discussion could result in the return of the property in dispute.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in 2010 ordered Russia to return the collection, which includes some 12,000 books and manuscripts that the Soviet army took from the Nazis. Earlier this year, Lamberth imposed $50,000 daily contempt sanctions against Russia over the country's refusal to return the Jewish texts.