We seem to be on a drug bust kick today. ATL says: "Just say no!"

Especially while you're hanging out behind the courthouse on a jury break. From the Houston Chronicle:

Judge Sherman Ross tried to assemble a jury of peers for a woman accused of possession of a marijuana on trial Tuesday.

But authorities say prospective juror Cornelia Mayo might have taken that concept a bit too far after she was caught smoking a joint outside the courthouse during a break.

Give that juror a bong hit, and she will acquit.

In other drug news, Georgia has a law going into effect July 1st that bans retailers from selling marijuana-flavored candy to kids, punishable with a $500 fine. The man responsible for pushing the bill forward in the Georgia state senate? Senator Stoner.

It targets businesses that sell the candies with drug-inspired names such as "Kronic Kandy" and "Pot Suckers." The law says the candies promote drug use.

Senator Doug Stoner pushed the bill in the senate. "I don't think that folks are aware this is going on," Stoner told Channel 2 in April. "It's mainly, from what I can tell, particularly targeted to minority communities."

Remember the good old days, when retail stores only tried to push candy cigarettes?

Prospective juror in pot trial caught smoking marijuana [Houston Chronicle]
Georgia Law Bans Retailers From Selling 'Pot Candy' To Minors [WSB TV]

The Drug Enforcement Administration raided fraternities at San Diego State University yesterday. They found a treasure trove of evidence: two kilograms of cocaine, 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and $60,000 in cash. Those are the makings of quite a frat party.

Members of Theta Chi, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Kappa Theta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Alpha Mu were allegedly running drug rings at the university. Seventy-five students were arrested yesterday. During finals. That sucks.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

A member of Theta Chi sent out a mass text message to his "faithful customers" stating that he and his "associates" would be unable to sell cocaine while they were in Las Vegas for a fraternity formal, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The text promoted a cocaine "sale" and listed the reduced prices on bulk quantities.

"Attn faithful customers both myself and my associates will be in Vegas this coming weekend," the 19-year-old student wrote in the text message. "So stock up, we will be back Sunday night."

Those arrested included a student who was about to receive a criminal justice degree and another who was to receive a master's degree in homeland security.

Criminal justice frat stud may need to change his major.

Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, agrees with the title of this post. He says to ABC News that the raid will cost taxpayers millions of dollars in court and prosecutorial fees and that "anyone who has gone to college knows there were always students who would deal drugs and who subsequently went on to prestigious careers in law, law enforcement, medicine and politics." No big deal.

6 fraternities suspended in drug probe at San Diego State U. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Critics Call College Bust 'Ridiculous, Nonsensical Waste' [ABC News]

At last weekend’s NFL draft, University of Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham, who was once projected as a late first-round draft pick, saw his stock drop all the way to the third round (95th overall). This happened after he sent a letter to the 32 NFL teams admitting to having smoked marijuana in college. Only the Super Bowl champion New York Giants (incidentally owned by Fordham Law School graduate John Mara) did not become scared away from drafting the former Wolverines wide receiver.

According to published reports, Manningham, when initially asked about his past drug use in interviews, denied ever using marijuana. However, upon hiring an agent (something that Manningham had to delay based on the NFLPA’s new “junior rule”), he wrote a follow-up letter to NFL teams admitting the truth, adding that “I don’t use marijuana anymore — and I have passed tests since.”

Candor about past drug use can be tricky for certain NFL candidates. In many years, evidence of trying marijuana has been as damaging to an NFL prospect’s draft stock as it was to Douglas Ginsburg’s 1987 bid for Supreme Court nomination. In the 1995 NFL draft, for example, University of Miami defensive lineman Warren Sapp, who most had projected as the draft’s first overall pick, fell all the way to no. 11 upon news that he tested positive for marijuana at that year’s combine. Indeed, Manningham’s situation is a bit different. “Super Mario” actually passed his drug tests at the 2008 combine. He did, however, test positive for marijuana twice while at the University of Michigan.

There are some real reasons why certain NFL teams choose not to sign players who admit to having tried marijuana. First, there is the malum prohibitum argument. Marijuana is illegal in the United States. Someone that breaks the law in any capacity shows disrespect for authority. One who disrespects authority is more likely to disobey a team’s internal rules. This spells bad news, especially for disciplinarian coaches.

Then, there are the medical arguments against an athlete using marijuana, both with respect to short-term and long-term health risks. Finally, some NFL teams fear that players who test positive for marijuana in college or shortly thereafter are more likely to get suspended for marijuana use in the pros. (See, e.g., Ricky Williams).

But might there also be less valid reasons for teams to avoid pot-smoking players? Read more, after the jump.

For Monday's Lawyer of the Day, we faced an embarrassment of riches -- of embarrassment. So we nominated a quintet of contenders: a North Carolina lawyer caught reading Maxim in court, a former prosecutor who allegedly had sex with two teenage boys, an AUSA arrested on DUI charges, a Canadian lawyer/politician who allegedly overbilled an order of nuns, and a Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine's car. Then we had you vote on who should take the honors.

Participation was enthusiastic, with almost 1,300 votes cast. Two contenders emerged early in the voting: Beth Modica, the allegedly predatory prosecutrix, and Jay Grodner, who pleaded guilty to keying the Marine's vehicle. Competition was fierce. But in the end, Mrs. Modica came out on top.

So congratulations, Beth Modica. You take the prize as Monday's Lawyer of the Day!

Read more about her alleged misadventures, after the jump.

We commend secretaries who don't just cover the phones, but show some initiative and entrepreneurial spirit. From the Chicago Tribune:

A receptionist for the Cook County public defender's office accepted delivery of almost 40 pounds of marijuana at her Loop office, prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

At her bond hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said Lamour Holloway, 40, accompanied by two children, carted the drugs to her husband as he waited in a car behind the Cook County Administration Building at 69 W. Washington St....

"I think it's clear that not only is she committing a crime by accepting a package containing cannabis using the mail service, but as a public employee there is a sense of trust," said Assistant State's Atty Anna Demacopoulos. "She is an employee of the public defender's office, working in a public building, and she violated the sanctity of that public building."

Oh please. It's not like she worked in the prosecutor's office; she worked for the PD. If she wants to walk a mile in the shoes of a criminal defendant, like the ones her office represents, what's wrong with that?

Bail set at $80,000 in drug arrest at county building [Chicago Tribune]

With the police, who pulled you over for a traffic infraction. But the good news is that you're getting it back. From CBS:

Eight grams of medical marijuana seized from a Garden Grove man during a traffic stop must be returned to him, according to an appeals court ruling directing local law enforcement to uphold state, not federal law.

A three-justice panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal [in California] weighed in on the issue in a published decision that sets precedent for future cases on similar issues.

The marijuana, which belonged to Felix Kha, 22, was confiscated during a traffic stop on June 10, 2005.

The city of Garden Grove tried to argue "that to the extent state law authorizers or mandates the return of Kha's marijuana, it is preempted by federal law." The appeals court didn't see it that way:

Kha's attorneys argued that the 10th Amendment to the Constitution effectively prohibits federal interference with California's medical marijuana laws, and the three-justice panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal agreed.

The justices found that because, under state law, Kha was lawfully entitled to possess the marijuana, "due process and fundamental fairness dictate that it be returned to him."

Indeed. Pass the bong, Your Honors!

P.S. The headline that CBS gave to the story is wrong. It was a state court, not a federal court, that issued the ruling.

Federal Court Rules Pot To Be Returned To Driver [CBS]

* Bong hits 4 farmers. [Washington Post via How Appealing]

* If looks could kill, then maybe this guy would have had a defense. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* Privacy is so 20th century. [Reno Gazette-Journal]

* Good for him I guess, but isn't this a little weird? [CNN]

* Our DealBreaker colleagues receive email from William Unroch, the lawyer / ex-boyfriend of Maximilia (née Maximilian) Cordero, the transsexual model suing high-flying financier Jeffrey Epstein. Did you get all that? [DealBreaker]

* Congratulations to (soon-to-be-Chief) Judge Kozinski, who just won the Witkin Medal! [Blogonaut]

* Speaking of Judge Kozinski, here's a counter-plea from perhaps his most famous former clerk. We may have to issue another bleg in response. [Volokh Conspiracy; 2007 Weblog Awards]

* "Uh, there's no pot here, Beavis -- just monkeys." [What About Clients?]

If you're driving 100 miles per hour, but in a hybrid vehicle, can you still get pulled over? Unfortunately for Al Gore III, yes. From Reuters:

The 24-year-old son of former Vice President Al Gore was arrested for drug possession on Wednesday after he was stopped for speeding in his hybrid Toyota Prius, a sheriff's official said.

Al Gore III -- whose father is a leading advocate of policies to fight global warming -- was driving his environmentally friendly car at about 100 miles per hour on a freeway south of Los Angeles when he was pulled over by an Orange County sheriff's deputy at about 2:15 a.m.

Speed limits suck. Why can't we institute a system of "speeding offsets," like the market for carbon offsets? Grandmothers in Boca Raton, who consistently drive 10 miles under the speed limit, could supplement their incomes by selling the right to speed. Who needs Social Security?

After the traffic stop, things only got worse for young Al. From the New York Daily News:

Deputies then searched the car, and Gore faced an inconvenient truth when they allegedly found a small amount of pot and mind-altering pills - Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall.

"He does not have a prescription for any of those drugs," [a sheriff's spokesman] said.

Finally, we loved this little detail:

Al the 3rd lives in Los Angeles and works for GOOD magazine, which describes itself as "media for people who give a damn."

If this arrest is BAD for Al's career at GOOD, we hear they're accepting résumés over at High Times.

Al Gore's son busted for drugs in hybrid car [Reuters]
He's our li'l eco-maniac! [New York Daily News]
Al Gore's Son Busted! [TMZ via Jezebel]

They prefer crack, thank you very much.

Because why else would the justices rule against noble, crusading students, and in favor of the mean old school officials, in Morse v. Frederick -- aka the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case?*

But free speech proponents shouldn't despair. Over at SCOTUSblog, Marty Lederman notes:

Morse is a very limited holding -- essentially limited to the drug context. The Alito concurrence, joined by Kennedy, is controlling. He writes:

I join the opinion of the Court on the understanding that (a) it goes no further than hold that a public school may restrict speech that a reasonable observer would interpret as advocating illegal drug use and (b) it provides no support for any restriction of speech that can plausibly be interpreted as commenting on any political or social issue, including speech on issues such as 'the wisdom of the war on drugs or of legalizing marijuana for medicinal use.'”

In other words: Hey liberals, this Alito guy might not be as bad as you thought.

* As we previously observed, petitioner Deborah Morse, one of the prevailing school officials, is "a curvaceous, dark-haired beauty." But we would hope that Supreme Court justices would decide cases based on the merits, not on the attractiveness of the parties.

Of course, sometimes both factors point in the same direction. See, e.g., Marshall v. Marshall -- the Anna Nicole Smith case.

Quick Preliminary Notes on Hein and Morse [SCOTUSblog]

Make that EX-judges of the day, since they've both resigned from the bench -- one after being arrested on drug charges, and the other after allegedly making inappropriate comments to a female prosecutor.

What is up with state court judges in South Florida?

(Remember this guy?)

Judge accused in pot-smoking case resigns [Daily Business Review]
Courts: Judge abruptly exits [Daily Business Review]
Resignation of Judge Klein [Rumpole via Southern District of Florida Blog]

Earlier: Bong Hits 4 Anna Nicole Smith Judge?

We do not recommend following the example of "Spazzed customer," as related in this anecdote.

(But his description of preparing for the bar exam -- "I have to take a really big test, and then I can forget it all" -- isn't half-bad.)

Where Lawyers Come From [Overheard in New York]

JEEZ. This tax treatment is way harsh.

Perhaps those Tax Court judges need to chillax. With a joint or two.*

(And perhaps the losing litigants should have hired "L.A.'s dopest attorney," Allison Margolin.)

* This suggestion is made in jest. ATL strenuously objects to illegal drug use. We also encourage you to donate blood and to support cancer research.

Have a great day!

Tax Court Denies Deduction for Cost of Medical Marijuana Given to Dying Patients [TaxProf Blog]
Californians Helping to Alleviate Medical Problems, Inc. v. Commissioner [Tax Court (PDF)]

* No bad deed goes unrewarded. [Overlawyered]

* Pay per view internet porn is a lot like bottled water -- the industry has somehow convinced the collective masses that because it's not free, it's a better product with no funny aftertaste. [Yahoo! Finance]

* I believe these are important developments for criminal lawyers, crack whores and Lindsay Lohan. [Sentencing Law and Policy]

* And in other drug enforcement news... [New York Daily News]

* The best case scenario is that this 88-year-old man is senile and/or cataracts-ridden; the worse case scenario is that he's been doing this for nearly 70 years. [CBS5]

* Supreme Court says EPA can regulate greenhouse gases. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]

* Fourth Circuit's reading of PSD regulations did not comport with Clean Air Act's limits on judicial review of EPA regulations for validity, so Duke Energy's summary judgment gets reversed. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]

* More interminable Anna Nicole legal news: Howard K. Stern drops his appeal of using DNA to determine paternity, and some kind of a hearing will be held tomorrow. Apparently Bahamian court rules prevent us from knowing the nature of the hearing. [CNN]

* Bong hits 4 glaucoma in New Mexico. [Jurist]

* DNA evidence to the rescue once again. [CNN]

Or maybe not, thanks to two pesky vigilant police officers.

P.S. Don't get your hopes up: the toker in question was Judge Lawrence Korda, who played a secondary role in the Anna Nicole Smith case. Judge Larry Seidlin, who handled the bulk of the proceedings, was not caught smoking pot. 'Cause to get THAT crazy, you need to use the harder stuff.

You Can't Make This Stuff Up [Concurring Opinions]
Anna Nicole judge cited for pot in park [Associated Press]
ANS Judge Busted For Smoking Weed [dlisted]

* Will Yalies respond with an NYU-esque gimmick? [Balkinization]

* And some people say raising kids and taking care of the house is a full-time job. Looks like the monetized value of a stay-at-home mom is not always so inflated after all. [Christian Science Monitor via CrimProf Blog]

* You just know that after a few minutes of official union matters, they’re going to be laughing it up about the stuff they see in our bags, and body parts that accidentally (or not) get felt up during pat-downs. [Yahoo! News]

* Another argument in favor of stronger Second Amendment rights? [MSN]

* I know these are the kinds of stories you want, so occasionally, you’ll get them. [WTHR Indianapolis]

* You have a right to a jury trial, whether you want it or not. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution via How Appealing]

* Santa's big behind is gonna make kids want to drink beer?. [CNN]

* Now my case is at the Supreme Court, and I know why; because I got high, because I got high, because I got high... [WSJ Law Blog]

* It's sad when otherwise good people get sucked into the seedy underbelly of the Arizona bingo scene. [MSNBC]

* Nice try, Jane, but a little too late to get your job on the Intelligence Committee back. [Jurist]

Good stuff.

And they agreed to hear two other cases: a taxpayer lawsuit, and an appeal involving the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management. Control your excitement, people.

Tom Goldstein is a bit peeved at how late the Court is granting certiorari. This leaves relatively little time between the cert grant and the argument, which has unfortunate consequences:

The failure to adapt the briefing schedule to the smaller size of the Court’s docket produces expedited briefs that are less thorough and helpful to the Justices and creates a recurring cycle in which it is necessary to apply still more expedited schedules.

But we're not shedding tears for the attorneys whose cases get granted. The opportunity to brief and argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court is once-in-a-lifetime experience. Suck it up and deal, people.

(Of course, Goldstein -- a veteran Supreme Court litigator -- probably doesn't quite the same thrill from strutting his stuff at One First Street as SCOTUS virgins.)

Supreme Court Takes 'Bong Hits 4 Jesus' Case [New York Times]
Court grants three cases [SCOTUSblog]
An Update on the State of the Docket [SCOTUSblog]

* Several federal law all-stars have filed amicus briefs in the 4th Circuit -- which means a lucky clerk now has Janet Reno's autograph! [SCOTUSBlog]

* Gun makers challenge a finding that lawsuits are legal. [Indy Star via How Appealing]

* "A lineup of legal heavyweights unusual even by Supreme Court standards is doing battle in a case pitting Wachovia Corp. against Michigan banking regulators." [Bloomberg via How Appealing]

* Appellate law 101: Careful what you say at oral argument, they're kind of picky about accuracy. [CNN]

* "Marijuana-for-homework mom gets 3 months." [MSNBC]