The Morning News: Anna Nicole's Impact on D.C.

IT'S HARD TO FIGURE OUT the impact, if any, yesterday's death of Anna Nicole Smith has on the nation's capital. Certainly, it was a topic of interest. Word spread quickly via e-mail, blogs, IM and general cubicle chatter that the 39 year-old former Playboy playmate, onetime reality TV star and sometime model had died after collapsing at a Florida hotel. But Washington is a city of laws and litigation, so Smith (whose legal name was Vickie Lynn Marshall) might be best known as a celebrity litigant, for her time before the U.S. Supreme Court.

From Above the Law:

As the petitioner in Marshall v. Marshall, Anna Nicole Smith helped clarify (1) the scope of the "probate exception" to federal jurisdiction, and (2) its applicability to cases that do not directly involve the administration of a will or estate.

That's referring to the drawn-out legal battle between Smith and the family of her late husband, billionaire J. Howard Marshall that made it all the way to the high court last year.

So give thanks this morning that probate law was clarified because of Anna Nicole Smith. The steps of the Supreme Court will likely never be graced by someone of her stature ever again ... or maybe not. Perhaps Paris Hilton can get involved in a lawsuit that will someday clarify rules governing torts or class action!

» "Anna Nicole Smith, Successful Supreme Court Litigant, Has Passed Away" [Above the Law]

Photo of Smith on the Supreme Court steps last year by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post

What else is making news on this Friday, Feb. 9, 2007? Let's get to it.

» METRO: "Metro Shelves Fare-Hike Talks" [WaPo]; "Express Has 10 Questions for Metro's New General Manager" [Free Ride/Express]; "MoveOn Slams War Planning in Bus Ads" [WT]
» CAPITOL HILL: "Ramsey Hired to Provide Anti-Terrorism Advice" [WaPo]; "House Democrats Reach Accord on Debate Over War Resolution" [WaPo]
» WHITE HOUSE: "White House on Sidelines in 2008 Contest" [WaPo]
» PENTAGON: "Official's Key Report on Iraq Is Faulted" [WaPo]
» D.C. SCHOOLS: "D.C. Parents and Students Steamed Over Heating-Related Disruptions" [WaPo]; "Janey Submits New Science Curriculum to Board" [WaPo]
» RICHMOND: "Va. House Rejects Funding For Kaine's Top Programs" [WaPo]; "Smoking Ban Not Likely This Year" [Times-Dispatch]
» ANNAPOLIS: "Delegate Would Add Raven as a State Bird" [Sun]
» GAITHERSBURG: "Montgomery Planners OK Day-Labor Center" [WT]
» BETHESDA: "Water Main Break Closes Portion of River Road" [WaPo]; "2 Injured in 'Violent' Building Explosion" [WTOP]
» MONTGOMERY VILLAGE: "Md. Man Who Treated Palsy Patients Lacked License" [WaPo]
» WOODLEY PARK-ZOO: "A Blood Clot Ailed Ambika. Now Life Is Sweet, and So's the Hay." [WaPo]

Photo of Metro's new general manager, John Catoe, by Melina Mara/The Washington Post

» MORE NEWS AND VIEWS are available, as always, at washingtonpost.com, Washington Post Radio and Slate.

COMING UP TODAY at ReadExpress.com ...
» At last night's party celebrating former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe's new book, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton speech about friendship bored some and Rep. Jim Moran got left out of "What a Party!"
» In a game honoring a century of Hoya basketball, a Thompson will coach and a Ewing will play.
» We chat with music critic and professor William Jelani Cobb about his new book, "To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip-Hop Aesthetic." We also discuss burlesque dance with Trixie Little.
» Some people say Joan Crawford "was a very nice person." Others say "she was the biggest bitch who ever walked." Lypsinka brings all of Crawford's complex personality traits to life.
» Scottish folk singer-songwriter Alexi Murdoch, who performs at the Rock and Roll Hotel on Sunday, chats about artistic independence.

Posted By Michael Grass at 8:51 AM on February 9, 2007 Tagged in Free Ride , News

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