A traditional American... Halloween costume mocking the native inhabitants of this land.
Growing up, we had something called the “coffee filter” in my house. It was my mom’s cutesy way of telling us that we always needed to think before speaking, but it worked (most of the time).
The world would probably be a much better place if everyone bothered to use their coffee filters, but the sad fact is that most people don’t even have one. That’s probably the reason why there are so many racial epithets and ethnic slurs floating around that I’m still learning about new ones.
And it’s probably also the reason why judges are just blurting them out in court….
Continue reading “Judges Beware, Because Some Defendants Just ‘Go Native’”
Justice Kennedy
* How did Howrey start to unravel? The trouble might have started in Europe. [Washington Post]
* Congratulations to Arvo Mikkanen, a Native American nominee to the federal bench in Oklahoma (and “an all-around great dude,” according to a tipster). [The Atlantic]
* Washington & Lee Law School, which we recently praised for its honesty to prospective law students, gets even more transparent — in an interview with Vault. [Vault's Law Blog]
* In a recent visit to USC, Justice Kennedy presided over a Shakespeare-inspired trial — something he has done before — and denied that the justices think about the news media when making their decisions. Methinks His Honor doth protest too much. [USC News]
'Please don't ship me in a box with no air holes.'
* A New York trial court smacks down a claim of cyberbullying. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog]
* Taxing alcohol to reduce crime? Sounds like that will lead to more muggings for alcohol money. [Going Concern]
* If you try to mail a puppy from Minnesota to Georgia in a box with no airholes, you don’t get your dog back. Also, you get shipped directly to hell. [Runnin' Scared / Village Voice]
* Blawg Review #297: The Hair Shirt Edition. [Big Legal Brain via Blawg Review]
Who can forget Quinn Emanuel’s victory in the 17-year-long dispute over the name “Redskins”? Above the Law readers will remember Robert Raskopf’s happy victory email … and the first-year associate who had a problem with the firm’s representation of the Washington Football club. The first year was (eek!) fired for reasons unrelated to his disagreement with the firm’s position.
But is the firm’s position as strong as Raskopf thought? The Blog of the Legal Times reports that the Redskins case has made it all the way to the Supreme Court:
The long-running dispute over the appropriateness of the “Redskins” name for the Washington D.C. NFL football franchise reached the Supreme Court today. Philip Mause, partner at Drinker Biddle & Reath in D.C., representing a group of Native Americans offended by the name, filed a petition for certiorari in the case titled Susan Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc.
Was Raskopf’s victory email premature? More details, plus an UPDATE about the Native Americans’ game plan if SCOTUS doesn’t want to play, after the jump.
Continue reading “Quinn’s Redskins Case Goes to SCOTUS — On Petition for Certiorari”
John Belanger, who appears to be a rising 3L at the University of Connecticut, will likely be deferring his third year of law school. He has some bigger legal issues to deal with.
Belanger, 27, was arrested last week for his role in running an international drug ring. From the Watertown Daily Times:
Federal authorities have charged more than 45 people nationwide over their alleged roles in an international drug-smuggling operation that moved $1 billion worth of marijuana.
The two-year investigation exposed a pipeline moving thousands of pounds of marijuana each month from the north country to numerous U.S. cities, including Boston, New York and Miami, prosecutors said. The crime syndicate is alleged to have moved the marijuana, which came from Canada through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in Franklin County and near Churubusco in Clinton County, over the past four years….
Zachary Gouchie, 24, of Montreal, Edward Kener, 31, of Weston, Fla., and John Belanger, 27, of Hartford, Conn., were accused of recruiting people and directing the movement of the marijuana along the East Coast.
Given that this allegedly started four years ago, perhaps Belanger decided to go to law school to give legal advice to the drug cartel. Those with knowledge of Belanger tell us about his exploits at U. Conn. and his special interest in American Indian law, after the jump.
Continue reading “Law Student of the Day: John Belanger”
Here’s a post devoted to the perils of “Reply All” and idealism among first-year associates. Brought to you by the attorneys of Quinn Emanuel.
The firm just celebrated a victory in its Washington Redskins case, reports the Washington Post:
A federal appeals court yesterday handed the Washington Redskins another victory in their long-running legal dispute with Native American activists over the team’s name.
The appeals court did not address whether the name was offensive but upheld a federal judge’s ruling last year that a Native American man had waited too long to challenge six Redskins trademarks.
AmLaw Daily reports that Quinn attorney Robert Raskopf, who has been working on the case for as long it has been since the Redskins have seen a Superbowl stadium, was pretty psyched about the victory:
Raskopf was in a good mood when we spoke with him about the appellate win. He’s been on the case since it started 17 years ago. “It’s a great win for the team,” said Raskopf, who had help from Quinn partner Sanford Weisburst on the brief. “I’m so happy for the Redskins and their fans.”
Raskopf was so happy on Friday that he sent out a firm-wide victory e-mail. But not everybody was thrilled. After bouncing around the firm and racking up some responses, the victory chain made its way to our inbox via a tipster:
This is too good not to share. This was sent to all Quinn attorneys.
—
The First Year Associate Who Shat All Over Raskopf’s Victory Email OR The First Year Associate Who Repurposed the Redskins
After the jump, see the chain that culminates in a (soon-to-be-fired?) first-year associate’s plea for idealistic litigation at Quinn.
Continue reading “Quinn Emanuel Associate Has Reservations About ‘Redskin’ Victory”
* Michael Jackson “beat it” without paying his legal bill. [The Daily Breeze]
* Former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain testified for 2.5 hours yesterday in New York in Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, but wouldn’t say which employees got some of the $3.6 billion bonus pie before the merger with B of A. How are we supposed to know which men to date when we get laid off? Kidding….[Bloomberg]
* More than 100 clients of a man who pretended to be an immigration lawyer got free advice from Lawyers at the New York City Bar Association. [The New York Times]
* SCOTUS had a big day yesterday, ruling on a Utah union case and a case involvingIndian reservations, and hearing arguments on environmental cleanups. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first to ask questions. [ABA Journal]
* In Houston, a Republican on the congressional judiciary has called for the impeachment of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent, aka the groper we’ve been writing about, who is still hoping to get retirement funds from the state. [The Houston Chronicle]
* Show me the money. Lawyers, bankers, and accountants stand to make $1.2 billion in fees from GM’s bankruptcy. [Bloomberg.com]
* Martha steps into the minefield of political incorrectness once more. [Racialicious; The Mercury]
* There’s nothing I like more than old-fashioned, non-partisan fun. Hill interns, this is your chance to make a buck from an illicit affair or two, without resorting to Jessica Cutler antics (because prostitution can tarnish even the best CV). [Taegan Goddard's Political Wire]
* You haven’t heard anything since they filed for separation, and you won’t hear anything now that they’ve filed for divorce. And that’s what makes them worth mentioning. (Plus, I have a total girl crush on Catherine Keener and just a regular crush on Dermot Mulroney.) [Yahoo! News]
* An ice cream man in 2007 is a different breed from his 1953 counterpart. (Although a co-worker once did this to me to drive home the point that he was lost without the former girlfriend who used to do his laundry.) [KOCO]
* Domenici asked for ousting of New Mexico U.S. Attorney. [New York Times via How Appealing]
* Descendants of ex-slaves not welcome in Cherokee Nation. [Jurist]
* Prosecutors decide to pass on attempted murder charge for astronaut in kidnapping case; CNN decides to use a more flattering picture. [CNN; compare with CNN (2/05/07)]
* And speaking of unflattering pictures… [CNN]
* Breyer to appear on NPR “comedy” show. [AP via Yahoo!]
Update: In case you were hoping to attend the “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” taping, you should note that it has been pushed back by a week.
* All may not be genetically sound with Suri babies of holoprosencephaly sufferers. (But does genetic perfection really exist?) And once again, wordplay gets us out of the woods of potential litigation by a crazy actor midget. [Overlawyered]
* Jack Abramoff has been hitting the books in the prison law library and will represent himself in two lawsuits filed against him by Indian tribes. I think “kitchen duty and carpentry” is prison-speak for “shower activities.” [Law.com]
* Off-ensive or just off-menu? Not brought to you by the people who brought you this refreshing drink. [Vivir Latino via Racialicious]
* Remember when we used to de-contract words (e.g., “does not” for “doesn’t”) to inch our way towards the minimum word requirement? [FN1] Apparently, this is the only way law school is not like high school. [PrawfsBlawg]
[FN1] Enough already! law professors lament. And yes, smart aleck, footnotes do count toward the word limit.
* Running with Scissors writer Augusten Burroughs is being sued for libel, not for his part in the adaptation of his memoir into the abysmally bad film version. [Vanity Fair]
* Any future husband of mine should be so lucky as to take on “Q” as their last name, or our combined last name. But for the record, could it be that “Buday” is pronounced “booty”? [ACLU of Southern California via PrawfsBlawg]
* The FCC has eliminated the requirement for Amateur Radio Operators to know Morse code. That is the actual headline of this blog entry, for those of you who complain of the wasted five seconds it takes to click on a link, only to realize you were completely misled. [Jim N Texas!]
* I never understood the reality of a record being “sealed” anyway… If that hilarious yet illegal adolescent escapade is in an official record, sealed or not, it’s not going anywhere. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via How Appealing]
* Do not worry, I will not indulge in any sue/Sioux homonym fun. For the record, it’s absurd that we haven’t ridden ourselves of such disrespectful team names, nicknames and logos that also recall a less-than-glorious history. [AP via Yahoo! News]
* The Italian legislature has decided average consumers/modelling agencies/fashion folks can’t decide for themselves what is or is not attractive, thus depriving underweight 16-year-olds from achieving world domination. [Reuters via MSNBC]
* Authorities have a suspect in custody for the Ipswich prostitute murders. So if you’re a prostitute in Ipswich, you can breathe a sigh of relief. (At least with respect to a serial killer; we hate to break it to you, but you don’t exactly have the safest job in the world.) [The Times]
* If a tree falls and there is no one around to see it, who’s liable? [Random Local News]
* Griffith v. Griffith is sure to make it into your IP casebook in no time. [MSNBC]
* Who knew Robin of Locksley was as good with partnership law as he was with a bow and arrow. [CNN]
* Sticking with the Dakotas, “District judge grants injunction in Fighting Sioux nickname case.” [CBS]
Law dorks around America rejoiced when the Supreme Court announced it would be making available free, same-day, online transcripts of oral arguments. Because we wouldn’t have to wait for amusing typographical errors, would we?
One of you points out:
Very funny transcription error in Gonzalez v. Carhart. Justice Stevens and Solicitor General Clement are sparring about the question of viability, and Clement says: “Yes. Because the issue is whether it’s going to be performed in Ute row.”
Sounds like a reservation prison in eastern Utah. First casinos, now abortions. Those pesky natives just keep cornering depraved markets left and right.
Actually, that wasn’t what we thought of when we saw the typo. “Ute Row” sounds like a street to us — or maybe, you know, a back alley.
(Disclaimer: This post is not making light of abortion, dead babies, or women who would die if abortion were criminalized. It is simply making light of a typo — and calling it to the attention of the Court, so they can have it fixed in the final version of the transcript. You’re welcome.)
(SCOTUS hallway photo from stock.xchng, which is a great resource for stock photography. Bloggers will appreciate its comprehensive collection of royalty-free images, which their owners have placed in the public domain for anyone to use. You can check out the pics that we have taken and contributed by clicking here.)
Gonzales v. Carhart Oral Argument Transcript (PDF) (p. 13, lines 11-12) [Supreme Court]
Same-Day Transcripts for Supreme Court Arguments [Volokh Conspiracy]
Same day Supreme Court argument transcripts [Althouse]
