* Solitary confinement, cruel and unusual? Cruel, perhaps, but not that unusual. [St. Petersburg Times via How Appealing]
* Florida and California decide to take a little break on the whole lethal injection thing. [CNN]
* New Jersey Legislature does what New Jersey’s Supreme Court told them to. [FindLaw]
* Mariah Carey is concerned that people might be confused and think that she is someone who uses sex to make money….oh, wait a minute… [FOX News]
* Global warming is such a nuisance. [Jurist]
Politics
- Cars, Celebrities, Death Penalty, Environment / Environmental Law, Gay Marriage, Morning Docket, Music, New Jersey, Politics, Porn Names, Prisons, Sentencing Law, Trademarks
Morning Docket: 12.18.06
By Billy Merck
Because of Bonusmania, we’ve fallen behind a little in Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. In this post, we discuss lawyer weddings from the weekend of December 2-3.
The most high-profile wedding that week was between media heiress Anne Hearst, sister of Patty Hearst, and novelist Jay McInerney (announcement here). But there were also three marriages involving attorneys:
1. Rebecca Benjamin, Joshua Rikon
Our scores and commentary, after the jump.
Continue reading “Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: December 3, 2006″
- Antonin Scalia, Deaths, Duke Lacrosse Team Rape Case, Eavesdropping / Wiretapping, Federal Judges, HP, Larry Sonsini, Money, Morning Docket, Murder, Politics, State Judges, Wilson Sonsini
Morning Docket: 12.15.06
By B Clerker* Justice Scalia on judicial paychecks. [Associated Press]
And meanwhile…
* “It was just a matter of time before well-heeled business and other interests would expand their influence-peddling efforts, and begin pouring large amounts of money into previously sleepy judicial campaigns.” [TimesSelect (pass-through link) via How Appealing]
* No more melting coins for the value of the metals. [ABC]
* Natalee Holloway’s family files wrongful death suit in Aruba. [MSNBC]
* “Accuser in Duke lacrosse case about to give birth.” [SI.com]
* HP board terminates advisory relationship with Silicon Valley superlawyer Larry Sonsini. [New York Times via Dealbreaker; WSJ Law Blog]
We were wrong in predicting that Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) would be stepping down from the Judiciary Committee. (And we were not alone in making this mistake.)
Earlier this week, we had heard rumors that various deals had unraveled — Senate committee assignments are a complex, delicate ecosystem — and that Hatch might actually be sticking around Judiciary. Now that news is official.
The other members of the committee: Specter (ranking member), Grassley, Kyl, Sessions, Graham, Cornyn, Brownback, and Coburn. It’s the same line-up as in the 109th Congress, except without Mike DeWine (who lost his reelection bid).
We’ll miss Senator DeWine. But he has earned a place in history, as the erstwhile employer of Jessica Cutler, aka Washingtonienne.
McConnell Announces Republican Committee Assignments [Senator Mitch McConnell via How Appealing]
Earmaking Kansas [American Spectator]
Assessing Roberts’ re-election prospects [Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, KS]
Earlier: Senator Hatch Is Leaving Judiciary
- 7th Circuit, ACLU, Cars, Conspiracy Theories, Crime, Deaths, Immigration, Morning Docket, Politics, S.D.N.Y., Sex, Tax Law, Videos
Morning Docket: 12.14.06
By B Clerker* The feds and the ACLU wrangle over a classified document. Is such use of the grand jury subpoena creative, or improper? [New York Times]
* A Swift (& Co.) crackdown: federal raids on meatpacking plants in six states result in over 1,200 arrests on immigration charges. [Associated Press]
* MoveOn and those Swift Boat Veterans get fined. [New York Times]
* “Seventh Circuit reinstates claim asserting that … members of the plaintiff classes have bought products or services from some of the defendants that they would not have bought had the defendants not concealed their involvement in slavery.” [How Appealing]
* Girls Gone Wild guy gets community service for filming underage women. [MSNBC]
* “College Student Gets Mother-in-Law to Co-Sign $10,000 Loan to Buy Apple Computer, Has $7,800 DOI Income When He Repays Only $2,200 After Taking High-Paying Job at Microsoft.” [TaxProf Blog]
* A British police inquiry rejects conspiracy theories concerning the death of Princess Diana, concluding that the 1997 car crash was a “tragic accident.” [Associated Press]
* Does anyone know if “ABV D LAW” is taken? [WSJ Law Blog]
- Blogging, Books, Charles Fried, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Gay Marriage, Neal Katyal, Politics, SCOTUS, Sentencing Law, Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court
The Breyer-Fried Discussion: Some Highlights (Part 2)
By David LatThis is a continuation of our prior post about an event we recently attended at Georgetown Law School, “On Liberty: A conversation between Justice Stephen Breyer and Professor Charles Fried.” For more background about the event, click here.
For the conclusion to our write-up, keep on reading. We bring you a “true confession” from Justice Breyer, as well as Professor Fried’s interesting views on gay marriage.
(Before returning to Harvard Law School, Professor Fried was a justice on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, the state’s highest court. But he was back in academia when they decided the gay marriage case, Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.)
Our coverage continues, after the jump.
Continue reading “The Breyer-Fried Discussion: Some Highlights (Part 2)”
- 9th Circuit, Crime, Drinking, Enron, Football, Holidays and Seasons, Jeffrey Skilling, Jews, Morning Docket, Politics, Religion, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 12.12.06
By B Clerker* A unanimous Supreme Court overturns a Ninth Circuit ruling in a criminal (habeas) case. In other news, this morning the sun rose from the east. [New York Times; Washington Post]
* Enron’s Jeff Skilling may get to pass “Go” on his way to jail after all. [WSJ Law Blog]
* BCS vs. the Electoral College: Is the controversy over Florida or Michigan playing Ohio State the college football version of Bush v. Gore? Or perhaps that was the LSU/USC split of 2003-04? [National Journal via MSNBC]
* “Float driver in S.C. Christmas parade charged with drunken driving.” [AP]
* Christmas trees are back up in the Sea-Tac airport. Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky has said he won’t file a lawsuit. But if somebody else does, the Seattle airport authorities will have to throw in a menorah, a Kikombe cha Umoja, and a snowman. [Seattle Times]
* Can an IP expert explain how it is legal for Blockbuster to use Netflix’s name in this promotion?
(And the promotion continues until December 24.) [PRNewswire - FirstCall via Yahoo! Finance]
* Chelsea Clinton’s boyfriend’s dad — putting a face to those Nigerian e-mail scams. [ABC News]
* I would feel safer opening up one of those “Cash Your Check Without ID” storefronts between an adult video store and a pawnshop than cashing someone else’s check. [Consumer Law and Policy]
* I, for one, would rather have the monkeys than the rats. But, and I quote the Delhi High Court: “If you can’t control the monkeys, what can you do?” [Red Orbit]
* It’s just law school, not re-education camp. But I feel kind of inspired — f**k corporate law, I’m reclaiming my dream of banishing styrofoam from the earth once and for all. [Concurring Opinions]
- Clarence Thomas, Harold Koh, Law School Deans, Law Schools, Linda Greenhouse, Politics, Samuel Alito, Yale Law School
Attention, Concerned Alumni of Yale: Justice Alito Gets (Green)housed
By David LatChristmas is less than three weeks away. Are you stumped about what to get for your liberal lawyer friends?
Assuming they’re okay with Christmas gifts — maybe they object to even personal celebration of the holiday — have we got an idea for you: Harold Hongju Koh Bobblehead Dolls!!!
Harold Koh is the dean of Yale Law School. And he’s an unapologetic liberal, regarded by some YLS students and alumni as allowing his personal political beliefs to affect his work as dean (not for the better). It’s only natural for the Yale chapter of the ACS, a leading liberal organization, to honor him with a bobblehead doll.
Above the Law has just learned of another manifestation of Dean Koh’s alleged political hackery. One of his deanly duties is to preside over the committee that selects a recipient for the Yale Law School Award of Merit. This prestigious and prominent honor is presented each year to an outstanding graduate or longtime faculty member of YLS.
We’ve heard that Dean Koh, short-circuiting any real discussion, essentially ordered that the 2007 Award of Merit would go to Linda Greenhouse — the left-leaning Supreme Court correspondent of the New York Times. Other committee members proposed Justice Samuel Alito ’75, confirmed earlier this year to the U.S. Supreme Court, as the most natural and appropriate choice. But Dean Koh squelched their support for the conservative jurist. He cut short the deliberations, declaring by fiat that Greenhouse — who did a one-year master’s program at Yale — would receive the award.
Does this strike you as outrageous? It gets worse. The reasoning employed by Dean Koh — to the extent that he employed reasoning, as opposed to simply forcing his pick upon the committee — was pretty dubious.
Based on what we’ve heard, we’ve created a fictionalized transcript of the committee meeting. Check it out, after the jump.
Continue reading “Attention, Concerned Alumni of Yale: Justice Alito Gets (Green)housed”
(Yes, politics may lie slightly beyond the legal beat — but not by much. Senatrix Hillary Clinton is, of course, a lawyer by training. And if elected president, she’d probably get to appoint at least two Supreme Court justices. So we think we’ve established an adequate topical nexus for posting this amusing screenshot.)
Clinton Reaches Out to Iowa, N.H. Dems [Associated Press via Drudge Report]
-
Sponsored Content
The Grooming Goods You Need to Crush the Interview
Presented by Birchbox
Watch to find out what some of our subscribers received in their May box!The proper hair styling product might just be the only thing standing between you and your dream job. And the best way to find what works for you is to try the best stuff on the market. Join Birchbox Man for $20 a month and you’ll get customized shipments of the best grooming and lifestyle gear on the market every month—everything from haircare and shaving supplies to style accessories and tech gadgets.
As the leading discovery commerce platform, Birchbox is redefining the retail process by offering consumers a unique and personalized way to discover, learn about, and shop the best grooming and lifestyle products out there. It’s a full 360-degree process: try, learn, buy. Once you sign up and fill out your profile, head over to Birchbox Man’s online magazine to find article and video tutorials on how to get the most out your monthly box products. Pick up full-size versions of anything you like in the Birchbox Shop and earn points for every purchase.
Keep reading »Sponsored Content
The Asia Chronicles – ASSOCIATE AND IN-HOUSE OPENINGS IN HONG KONG / CHINA, JAPAN AND SINGAPORE
Presented by Kinney Recruiting
We currently have a number of active openings for associate roles at US and UK firms in HK / China, Singapore and two new in-house openings. As always, please feel free to reach out to us at asia@kinneyrecruiting.com in order to get details of current openings in Asia, as well as to discuss the Asia markets in general and what we expect for openings later this year. Our Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney will be in Beijing the week of March 25 and Evan Jowers will be in Hong Kong the week of April 1, if you would like to meet them in person.
The US associate openings we have in law firms are in the usual areas of M&A, cap markets, FCPA / white collar litigation, finance, and project finance. The most urgent of our top tier (top 15 US or magic circle) law firm openings in Asia (among many other firm openings that we have in Asia) are as follows:
• 2nd to 5th year mandarin fluent M&A associates needed in Beijing and Hong Kong at several firms;
• Korean fluent 2nd to 4th year cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 5th year Japanese fluent M&A associates needed in Tokyo;
• 4th to 6th year mandarin fluent cap markets associate needed in Hong Kong;
• 2nd to 4th year M&A / cap markets mix associate needed in Singapore.Also, we have the two below in-house openings:
Keep reading »Sponsored Content
Digital Canary in the Virtual Mine #2: What’s In Your Apps? Prying Eyes Are Ready To Discover . . .
Presented by AccessData
The last time I flapped my wings your way, I tried to make at least enough noise about your mobile phone to make you more than a little bit uncomfortable. I hope I did. If enough of us become anxious enough about the known and unknown unknowns and knowns in our mobile phones, then we can start making wise decisions about how to manage that information and its resultant investigations.Today, I’d like to put a finer point on the last installment’s topic by asking a question that seemed to catch most attendees off-guard at a conference panel that I moderated last week: is there discoverable personal information in a mobile app? Our panelists’ answer was a uniform “yes” with one stating that, if he had to choose only one type of data that he could discover from a mobile phone, he’d choose app data. Why? Because there’s simply so much of it and because almost all of it is objective – not just user-created like an email – but machine-tracked like GPS, usage duration, log in and log out times, browsed web addresses, browsed actual addresses. Also, most of us seem to have the idea that data doesn’t actually “stick” to our mobile devices the way it “sticks” to our hard drives. Maybe there’s a disconnect based on the fact that our phones are mobile so we assume the data is mobile to?
Keep reading » Video Profiles for Job Seekers
The traditional job application and interview process can be impersonal, and applicants often struggle to present themselves as more than just the sum of their GPAs, alma maters, and previous work history. ATL has partnered with ViewYou to help job seekers overcome this challenge. ViewYou NOW Profiles offer a unique way for job seekers to make a personal, memorable connection with prospective employers: introduction videos. These videos allow job candidates to display their personalities, interpersonal skills, and professional interests, creating an eDossier to brand themselves to potential employers all over the world. Check it out today!
