Police

There are a lot of myths about criminal law, and the idea of the "one" phone call remains a standard one.

There's a lot of anger over HOW she was arrested, but there should be a lot more concern over WHY she was arrested at all.

I'd understand Harvard Law folding to The Economist, but to the Post?

We got an indictment, getting a conviction will be harder.

Justice for Eric Garner will not be found by releasing grand jury testimony.

Well that seems like a tough choice.

Public defender arrested for pointing out that the cops can't question her clients outside her presence.

This law firm ad is a grammar fail. But it gets to a society fail.

We have clear video of Eric Garner being killed by police and yet no indictment. Tell me again about how these body cameras are going to work?

Eyewitnesses in the Michael Brown case told too many different stories for a true bill.

* “The notion that some of us weren’t invited, selected or chosen to join Morgan Lewis is ridiculous.” Bingham McCutchen partners who aren’t moving to Morgan Lewis don’t want you to think they’re losers. [Am Law Daily]

* MGA is back in court to sue Mattel, and now it wants $1 billion after its $88 million verdict was nixed by the Ninth Circuit. Here’s hoping Quinn Emanuel will come to the rescue in a hot pink Barbiemobile. [National Law Journal]

* “We want an indictment. The cops don’t like it.” Missouri’s governor declared a state of emergency ahead of the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict the police officer who shot Michael Brown. Yikes. [Reuters]

* Not that it’s a wise choice, but you can still apply to law school with a low GPA. Almost nothing is “too low” these days. Most law schools want a pulse, that’s all. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

* Everyone can find love, even mass murderers and cult leaders: Charles Manson applied for a marriage license so he could get hitched to a 26-year-old woman who’s visited him since she was 17. [E! Online]

* A cautionary tale about using online dating to cheat on your spouse — you might end up upwards of $54K poorer. [Legal Cheek] * Alabama wasted time and energy passing a ballot measure for the purely symbolic purpose of reaffirming Xenophobia? Shocking! [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Interesting tale of reporting a female boss for sexual harassment. [Vice] * When the police inevitably come down on you, turn off your iPhones first. [Versus Texas] * 6 Hilarious Trials That Prove the Legal System Is Screwed. [Cracked] * CCAF is hiring. Good pay, flexible hours. Sounds like a great gig if you hate plaintiffs’ firms. [Center for Class Action Fairness] * Should Jewish judges recuse themselves in Palestinian terrorism cases? Um. No? [Tablet Magazine] * Jameis Winston’s lawyer is just the worst. [Jezebel]

* Thanks to this Government Accountability Office ruling, the company that cleared NSA leaker Edward Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis may lose a $210M contract. [Legal Times]

* After being acquitted on insider trading charges, Rengan Rajaratnam agreed to settle the civil suit filed against him for a cool $840K. At least he’s not in jail like his brother. [DealBook / New York Times]

* Those interested in going to law school may want to know that Philadelphia is purportedly home to some of the cheapest law schools in the country — not Penn Law, though, sorry ’bout that. [Main Street]

* Professors at WUSTL Law held a “teach-in” to discuss the Michael Brown police shooting case. According to them, the likelihood Darren Wilson will be federally charged is “slim to none.” [Student Life]

* Attack of the aggrieved ex: a man drove a burning pickup truck loaded with explosives into a law firm, destroying much of the building. He had apparently dated one of the firm’s former clients. [Virginian-Pilot]

* That didn’t take long. John Oliver’s Supreme Court dogs have already been used to recreate Hobby Lobby. The entire Hobby Lobby argument. [Above the Law] * Squire Patton Boggs is representing the pharmaceutical company promoting Ebola drugs. Or, as CNN would put it, EVERYONE AT SQUIRE PATTON BOGGS HAS EBOLA!!!! [Law and More] * China Central Television advises citizens not to name themselves “Lawyer.” Good advice. [CCTV News] * Slate posits that appealing gay marriage decisions to the Supreme Court may violate Rule 11. They’re wrong, but that’s what they’re positing. [Slate] * Dr. Ruth is incredibly impressive. Next time you complain about the job market, try moving somewhere with no understanding of the language and getting your own TV show. [What About Clients?] * Documentary about eDiscovery going on a six-city tour. This way other people can understand how much it sucks to do document review. [Bloomberg BNA] * UC Hastings students are protesting their own graduation. [Change.org] * Judges are an autocratic lot, and as long as we inflate the criminal justice system, many of them will be subpar and autocratic, which is an unfortunate combination. [Katz Justice] * A man arrested for a carjacking and shooting up an apartment last week is — per our sources — a law student at Florida Coastal. Probably testing out the Crim issue spotter. [News4Jax] * Are lawyers the new dentists? Or something like that. [TaxProf Blog] * Man attempting suicide by cop told detectives he’d wanted to be killed and was disappointed in the officers’ marksmanship. [Seattle Times]

Elie dons his judicial robe and renders verdicts on a bunch of stories from the news.

* A blistering dissent from that usual suspects: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas. [The Atlantic] * Same-sex marriage opponents in Nevada suggest liberal bias in the selection of the Ninth Circuit panels hearing gay rights cases. They demand en banc review after noting that “two of the Ninth Circuit’s more liberal judges wind up most often on panels deciding cases involving gay rights.” Let me peruse that roster of Ninth Circuit judges… yeah, good luck with that en banc review, guys. [SCOTUS Blog] * A Toledo Law student was arrested on a child sex charge. [NBC24] * Kesha is suing producer Dr. Luke for sexual assault and battery. [TMZ] * Can you guess which states lead the way on transgender rights? The answer will… actually not surprise you much at all. [Vocativ] * The travails of Albany Law School continue. President and Dean Penny Andrews announces that she is stepping down. [Albany Law School] * As if police departments weren’t militarized enough, they’re using cash seizures to fuel even more ridiculous spending. [Washington Post] * Staci profiled some legal cosplayers, and when I saw the Judge Dredd costumes, all I could think about is one of the greatest Onion videos about SCOTUS ever. “I am the law!” [The Onion] * Katie Couric sits down with Susan Mellen, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 17 years. [Yahoo! News]

* City Attorney Pete Holmes is dropping all Seattle marijuana tickets for public smoking. Apparently most of them were issued by a single officer who just disagrees with the new pot law in Washington. I mean, respecting “laws” is certainly not a prerequisite for being a cop, right? [KOMO] * With the premiere of Gotham last night, The Legal Geeks have added the show to their regular list of pop culture phenomena that they examine though a legal lens. This should be hard, because I’ve never understood the Gotham Penal Code and the insistence on placing recidivist mass murderers in a revolving door asylum like Arkham. At some point isn’t it time for Supermax? [The Legal Geeks] * The SEC hands out a $30 million whistleblower award. Toot toot. [Fortune] * State Senate candidate accused by his old firm of falsifying his bills to the tune of $2 million. Sounds to me like he’s ready for higher office. [NY Daily News] * More follow-up to Elie’s piece on the Harvard kid who is so sure that making tons of money makes the world a better place. [Washington Post] * A comprehensive infographic of expert witness fees gathered from more than 5,000 experts. Spoiler: if you’re concerned about cost you want your case in Montana. [The Expert Institute] * Apple isn’t really trying to fight the U.S. government. Really. [Slate] * IP Lawyer/Rapper — whom we’ve profiled before — produces an ode to Australians to the tune of Fancy. Yeah there’s not much to add to that.

America in the 21st Century is not as up on the Bill of Rights as you'd hope.

* Bob McDonnell, former governor of Virginia, guilty of 11 counts of corruption. Maureen McDonnell guilty of 8. If only they’d gotten that severance motion. [Wonkette] * The best way to catch drunk drivers is to give them something to crash into. [Legal Juice] * Chaumtoli Huq, a former general counsel to the New York […]

* Here’s the international sign for “don’t urinate in public.” Glad to know we needed a sign for this. [National Review] * An illegal hostile work environment is created when coworkers wear confederate flag T-shirts. Because… obviously it is. Professor Volokh thinks this is unconstitutional. Apparently a document drafted by white slaveholders is set up […]