Constitutional Law
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Antonin Scalia, Constitutional Law, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Justice Scalia Goes to Wesleyan
Justice Scalia spoke recently at Wesleyan. How was the famously conservative justice received at this legendarily liberal university? -
9th Circuit, Constitutional Law, Copyright, Eric Holder, Facebook, Jed Rakoff, Milberg Weiss, Morning Docket, Trials
Morning Docket: 03.06.12
* Due process, judicial process, yeah, yeah, same difference. Not so, says Attorney General Eric Holder — especially when it comes to assassinating killing Americans abroad. [Blog of Legal Times]
* Now that BP has settled claims made by private sector plaintiffs, state and federal government lawyers are getting ready to wait “months, not weeks” for their new trial date. [Financial Times]
* Newt Gingrich wants his “Eye of the Tiger” copyright infringement suit to be dismissed. Listen, judge, if he can’t play this song, we won’t get our moon base or cheaper gas. [The Caucus / New York Times]
* As if being a Mets fan wasn’t bad enough on its own, Judge Jed Rakoff has struck again. He refused to dismiss Irving Picard’s lawsuit, and now the team’s owners must go to trial over millions. [Businessweek]
* Lawyers from Milberg will be joining Paul Ceglia’s legal team. They must not have checked this dude’s Facebook timeline — this is the the fifth firm to sign up for a Gibson Dunn sucker punch. [Bloomberg]
* Thanks to a decision by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit, Jared Loughner will continue to be forcibly medicated. What better way to restore him to competency than to shove pills down his throat? [Reuters]
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9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Benchslaps, Constitutional Law, Federal Government, Federal Judges, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lesbians, Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: A Reverse Benchslap... of Chief Judge Kozinski?
Whoa -- did Chief Judge Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit just get reverse benchslapped? By a district court judge out of San Francisco?
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Antitrust, Biglaw, Constitutional Law, Copyright, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lexis-Nexis, LexisNexis / Lexis-Nexis, Morning Docket, Murder, Westlaw
Morning Docket: 02.23.12
* And now another reason for lawyers to hate other lawyers (even more than they already do): Westlaw and LexisNexis are being sued for copyright infringement for selling access to publicly filed legal documents. [WSJ Law Blog]
* MGA Entertainment’s antitrust suit against Mattel has been dismissed. In celebration, attorneys from Quinn Emanuel will buy themselves hot pink convertibles while singing that “Barbie Girl” song. [Thomson Reuters News & Insight]
* Yesterday in the Golinski case, a federal judge ruled that the definition of marriage under DOMA is unconstitutional. Come on, even a Bush II appointee knows what’s up. [Poliglot / Metro Weekly]
* After finally realizing that he was a lawyer and not an agent — and that his most infamous client wasn’t worth as much as he thought — Jose Baez dropped Casey Anthony like a bad habit. [Miami Herald]
* Former University of Virginia lax player George W. Huguely V was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of Yeardley Love. UVA students are instructed to pop their collars at half-staff. [Bloomberg]
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Constitutional Law, Contracts, Fabulosity, Fashion, Fashion Is Fun, Fashion Victims Unit, Gay Marriage, Law Schools, Morning Docket, New Jersey, Police, Securities Law, Wall Street
Morning Docket: 02.14.12
* A bill to legalize gay marriage in New Jersey has passed in the state Senate. If this passes in the state Assembly, will Chris Christie put the kibosh on it? Someone better make him a faaabulous offer he can’t refuse. [Wall Street Journal] * They might not be the most stylish bunch, but without […]
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Adam Liptak, Constitutional Law, Law Professors, Law Reviews, Quote of the Day, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: Why Do You Hate America, Justice Ginsburg?
[A]mong the world’s democracies … constitutional similarity to the United States has clearly gone into free fall. Over the 1960s and 1970s, democratic constitutions as a whole became more similar to the U.S. constitution, only to reverse course in the 1980s and 1990s. The turn of the twenty-first century, however, saw the beginning of a […] -
Constitutional Law, Department of Justice, Health Care / Medicine, John Yoo, Law Professors, Musical Chairs, Non-Sequiturs, Peter Lattman, Richard Epstein, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Videos, YouTube
Non-Sequiturs: 01.30.12
* Are you still trying to make sense of the conflicting opinions in United States v. Jones, the GPS tracking case recently decided by the Supreme Court? Professor Barry Friedman has this helpful round-up. [New York Times] * Elsewhere in law professors opining on SCOTUS, what do Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo predict the […] -
Books, Constitutional Law, In-House Counsel, Law Professors, Litigators
Inside Straight: Torpedoing Class Actions
In 2009, Professor Martin H. Redish of Northwestern Law School published a book arguing that class actions are in large part unconstitutional: Wholesale Justice: Constitutional Democracy and the Problem of the Class Action Lawsuit (Stanford Univ. Press 2009). Where is the practicing bar? I understand that nobody reads law review articles or books published by […] - Sponsored
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9th Circuit, Constitutional Law, Election 2012, Federal Judges, Politics
Rick Santorum: Google Him, Please
Rick Santorum is taking his turn as the non-Romney Republican choice. Rick Santorum. Yeah, that Rick Santorum -- the self-same Rick Santorum who thinks Griswold was wrongly decided and wants to ban birth control -- is now the "real conservative" alternate to Mitt Romney. Ladies and gentlemen, we present your 2012 Republican Party.... -
Constitutional Law, Michael Jackson, Non-Sequiturs, Nude Dancing, Paralegals, Politics, Sex Scandals
Non-Sequiturs: 11.29.11
* We suspected as much: it appears that the “poop tattoo” story is, er, “full of crap.” [The Smoking Gun] * What’s the first Michael Jackson lyric that Conrad Murray will hear in jail from his fellow prisoners? My vote: “I want to love you, pretty young thing.” [Hollywood Reporter] * Herman Cain wants the […] -
Blogging, Constitutional Law, Fat People, Food, Insider Trading, Law Schools, Media and Journalism, Money, Morning Docket, Pro Bono, Violence
Morning Docket: 11.16.11
* One of the reasons that members of Congress are so filthy rich is because they’re only technically breaking the law, but Scott Brown wants to try to curb Congressional “insider trading.” [CBS News] * In other Congressional news, pizza is now considered a vegetable. And fat people the world over rejoiced by stuffing their […]
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Barack Obama, Brett Kavanaugh, Constitutional Law, Election 2012, Federalist Society, Health Care / Medicine, Laurence Tribe, Noah Feldman, Paul Clement, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Supreme Court To Decide Constitutionality of Obamacare
In a development that should surprise no one, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's signature policy achievement, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- aka Obamacare. This means that, before the end of the current SCOTUS Term in summer 2012, the justices will rule on the validity of this sweeping legislation.... -
Abortion, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Constitutional Law, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Health Care / Medicine, Insider Trading, Lindsay Lohan, Money, Morning Docket, SCOTUS, Securities and Exchange Commission, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 11.09.11
* Yet another appeals court has has ruled that Obamacare is constitutional. Aww, can’t we wait for the other side to catch up a little before it goes to the Supreme Court? [Wall Street Journal] * How did it go for this controversial ballot initiative? As it turns out, the personhood amendment was so stupid […]
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ACLU, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Wall Street
Are Occupiers Finally Learning The Value Of Competent Lawyering?
I’ve said from the beginning that while the goals of the Occupy Wall Street crowd were not wrong, their tactics have been lacking. The denizens of “Wall Street” (at least not in its geographic form) didn’t cause the collapse of the American economy; they’re just trying to figure out how to profit from it. There’s […] -
Alex Kozinski, Constitutional Law, Federalist Society, Quote of the Day, Richard Epstein
Quote of the Day: Well, Many Lawyers Aren't Good at Math
Whenever a judge turns to rational-basis analysis, he’s basically saying, ‘You think two plus two equals five, and I don’t know how to add.’ — Professor Richard Epstein, at an interesting debate sponsored earlier this evening by the Columbia Law School Federalist Society. Professor Epstein and Chief Judge Alex Kozinski (9th Cir.) debated the merits […] -
Animal Law, Constitutional Law
PETA's Animal Slavery Constitutional Test Case Is Just Stupid
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has launched a lawsuit claiming that animals, namely Orcas (a.k.a. Killer Whales), should be protected under the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution which outlaws slavery. You know you are in trouble when you are filing lawsuits inspired by songs from Michael Jackson.... -
Clarence Thomas, Constitutional Law, John Yoo, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Wall Street Journal
Quote of the Day: Hope There Weren't Any Coke Cans on the Table
Clarence Thomas set the table for the tea party by making originalism fashionable again. — Berkeley Law professor John Yoo, in an interesting Wall Street Journal piece discussing how his former boss, Justice Clarence Thomas, has defended the Constitution and embraced originalism during his twenty years on the high court. -
Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Barack Obama, Constitutional Law, Election 2012, Elena Kagan, Federal Judges, Joe Biden, Old People, Politics, Robert Bork, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Borking Up a Storm: Romney's High-Profile Legal Adviser Speaks His Mind
Some lawyers can be so circumspect in speech and so careful in action that they’re just plain boring. Such caution might help you make it to the Supreme Court someday, but it’s not a recipe for a very fun life. Thankfully, not all brilliant lawyers are afraid of speaking their minds. Take Robert Bork, the […] -
Abortion, Antonin Scalia, Constitutional Law, Eminent Domain, Politics, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: And What About Citizens United?
My court has, by my lights, made many mistakes of law during its distinguished two centuries of existence. But it has made very few mistakes of political judgment, of estimating how far … it could stretch beyond the text of the constitution without provoking overwhelming public criticism and resistance. Dred Scott was one mistake of […] -
Antonin Scalia, Constitutional Law, Federal Judges, Politics, Quote of the Day, SCOTUS, Senate Judiciary Committee, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court
Quote of the Day: Intemperate Liberals Feel That Way About You
I’m hoping the living Constitution will die. — Justice Antonin Scalia, in remarks made yesterday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Justice Scalia and Justice Stephen G. Breyer were invited by the Committee to discuss their views on constitutional interpretation and the proper role of judges in our democracy.