Free Speech
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California, Free Speech, Wall Street
Oakland Goes on Strike, Except for the Lawyers
There was more excitement in Oakland Wednesday, as several thousand people enacted a citywide "general strike" and marched across town and "took over" the Port of Oakland. At least one Oakland law firm tried to keep its motor running through the ruckus, although building management locked the building down like a private tiger collection. Let's take a look at the official memo, courtesy of an anonymous tipster.... -
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 […] - Sponsored
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Education / Schools, Free Speech, Kids, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology
SCOTUS Denies Cert in Teen's D-Bag First Amendment Suit
It is not hard to imagine an angsty teenager, angry at her school, hitting the 'net and writing cruel words about a school employee on her blog. It's also not hard to imagine word getting back to the school, and some unpleasant consequences for the student. What just doesn't compute is how that scenario translates to a four-year legal saga culminating in an appeal to the United States Supreme Court....
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California, Free Speech, Police, Videos, Violence
Madness and Tear Gas in Oakland; Lawyers Join the Fray
It has been a strange couple of days. I woke up on Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. to finish some writing. It was still dark, but I heard several helicopters buzzing near my house. I checked Twitter and discovered several hundred police officers were clearing out the Occupy Oakland tent city a few miles away. I […] -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Antitrust, Biglaw, Blind Item, Department of Justice, Facebook, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Lindsay Lohan, Morning Docket, Munger Tolles & Olson, Music
Morning Docket: 10.19.11
* The AT&T/T-Mobile antitrust suit is so big that not even Big Government law can handle it. The DOJ is bringing in even bigger guns with a partner from Biglaw firm Munger Tolles. [Bloomberg] * Obama has nominated former Kozinski clerk, Paul Watford, to the Ninth Circuit. Way to go, because he’s kind of cute. […]
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Election 2012, Free Speech, Jews, Pictures, Politics, SCOTUS, Slideshows, Supreme Court
ATL Field Trip: A Visit to Occupy Wall Street
Over the weekend, Lat realized that he needed some new white dress shirts. So he headed downtown to the Brooks Brothers at One Liberty Plaza in Manhattan. One Liberty Plaza happens to be located across the street from Zuccotti Park, site of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Since he was going to be in the neighborhood, he decided to pay a visit to OWS. What did he observe? -
Free Speech, Money, Student Loans, Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street Needs To Occupy A Library
No mob has ever changed the course of history. For the last two weeks, the Occupy Wall Street people have been a mob. A leaderless, unfocused, and harmless mob. They're not even violent. And so they are (for some) easy to dismiss, ignore, and deride. The Occupy Wall Street people have no frame of reference; they're just out of their element.... -
Attorney Misconduct, Crowell & Moring, Deaths, Free Speech, Health Care / Medicine, iPhone, Jersey Shore, Legal Ethics, Morning Docket, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Morning Docket: 10.07.11
* The Westboro Baptist Church has announced — on an iPhone — that it will be picketing Steve Jobs’s funeral. And now I have an Alanis Morissette song stuck in my head. [Los Angeles Times] * Price check on aisle seven. Price check on aisle seven for a divorce train wreck. People over in England […]
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Federalist Society, Free Speech, Law Schools, Religion
Here's A Thought: Let The Federalist Society Invite Whomever They Want To Speak
It appears that some people have forgotten that they are free to not attend events sponsored by the Federalist Society. There is a controversy bubbling at George Mason University School of Law because the law school’s chapter of the Federalist Society has invited Nonie Darwish to speak at an event. Darwish has been described as […] -
Free Speech, Law Schools, Videos, Wall Street, YouTube
Video of George Washington Law Student 'Occupying' Wall Street: Hilarity Ensues
A video has surfaced from this weekend's somewhat ludicrous "Occupy Wall Street" protests. One kid who is currently a student at George Washington University Law School, set the protest on fire with his plaintive, whiny, pathetic rantings, as he literally begged to be arrested. It's a great example of how NOT to use your legal training to bring about meaningful change.... -
Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Law Schools, Minority Issues, Racism
Former 'Hate Group' Leader Chosen To Represent University of Toledo Students On Constitutional Panel
Last year, we wrote about Kyle Bristow, a student at the University of Toledo College of Law. Bristow had been the chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom student chapter at Michigan State University when he was in college. The MSU-YAF was designated a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Hey, we’re living […] -
4th Circuit, Crime, Football, Free Speech, Health Care / Medicine, Law Schools, Marijuana, Money, Non-Sequiturs, Police, Rape, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Sonia Sotomayor
Non-Sequiturs: 09.08.11
* Looks like you really screwed the Cooch. Virginia and its Obamacare challenge got slapped around today by the Fourth Circuit. [Blog of Legal Times] * Just how rich are the members of SCOTUS? When you’re worth $45M, like RBG, you can afford to fall asleep during the State of the Union address. But you […] -
1st Circuit, Benchslaps, Cellphones, Free Speech, Nauseating Things, Police, Technology, Videos
First Circuit Has No Sympathy For Cops Who Say, 'Don't Tape Me, Bro!'
One of the most important -- and overlooked -- technological developments of the last five-odd years is the ease with which anyone can record police doing their jobs and throw the video on YouTube. The technology can be a great deterrent against police misconduct. So it's really, seriously disturbing when police try to intimidate witnesses into turning off their cellphone cameras. It's even more nauseating when someone gets arrested for simply filming police activity. Luckily, a recent decision from First Circuit unambiguously told police to cut it out....
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American Bar Association / ABA, Benchslaps, Department of Justice, Free Speech, Movies, Non-Sequiturs, Pro Bono, Romance and Dating, Sam Sparks
Non-Sequiturs: 08.31.11
* Some thoughts from our colleague Matt Levine on the Justice Department’s opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. [Dealbreaker] * Judge Sam Sparks (W.D. Tex.), king of the benchslap — yes, we already covered his latest handiwork, so no need to email the “kindergarten party” order to us again — has blocked key parts of the […] -
Breasts, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Nude Dancing, Quote of the Day, State Judges, Texas
Quote of the Day: Texas Doesn't Support Single Moms?
We think a $5 fee presents no greater burden on nude dancing. . . . The fee is not a tax on unpopular speech but a restriction on combining nude dancing, which unquestionably has secondary effects, with the aggravating influence of alcohol consumption. — Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan L. Hecht, writing for the majority […] -
Bad Ideas, Facebook, Free Speech, Social Networking Websites, Technology
Even in the Internet Age, You Can't Call Your Boss a 'Super Mega Puta'
It’s strange how quickly the world changes. Things used to be so simple, but now Steve Jobs has resigned from Apple and we’re having earthquakes in Washington, D.C. Moreover, some fundamental rules of online conduct are beginning to look like artifacts from a bygone era when people were crazy for RAZRs and nu metal. Gone […] -
Bad Ideas, Crime, Cyberlaw, Free Speech, Police, Technology
San Francisco Subway Shuts Off Cell Service, Hackers Get Angry
I rode BART into San Francisco on Monday for dinner. As our train approached the Embarcadero station, the driver came on the intercom. “We aren’t stopping at this station. Don’t want to drop you in the middle of a protest.” So my roommate and I got off a block later and backtracked. We encountered a […] -
ACLU, Constitutional Law, Education / Schools, Facebook, Free Speech, Kids, Pictures, Pornography, Sex
Indiana Judge Upholds High School Girls' Constitutional Right To Post Slutty Photos Online
Back in 2009, some teen girls in Indiana had a sleepover that lived up to any teen boy’s fantasy version of one. After racy photos from the summer slumber party made their way to the principal’s office, two of the athletes in attendance were suspended from school sports for the year. What did the court have to say about their First Amendment right to post slutty photos of themselves online? -
Blogging, Death Penalty, Defamation, Free Speech, Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 08.05.11
* Some bloggers stand up to dubious defamation lawsuits. [Techdirt] * And some settle: St. Thomas Law (or its insurer) is paying $5,000 to Joseph Rakofsky. [Simple Justice] * Another day, another lawyer accused of trying to kill someone — but not succeeding. (We might have more to say about this case next week; send […] -
Cars, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Jury Duty, Rudeness
Is A Ban on 'Truck Nuts' Unconstitutional?
Is a ban on "truck nuts" unconstitutional? Actually, do you even know what "truck nuts" are? Ignorance may be bliss, but it's time to enlighten yourself....