1st Amendment
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7th Circuit, Benchslaps, Federal Judges, Health Care / Medicine, Miguel Estrada, Religion, Richard Posner, Rudeness
The Benchslap Dispatches: I Pity The Fool Who Tries To Talk Over Judge Posner
Isn't this oral argument painful to listen to? -
Abortion, Free Speech, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Women's Issues
An Intimate Conversation From 35 Feet: A Misguided Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Law
The Massachusetts abortion clinic buffer zone law being considered by SCOTUS violates the First Amendment -- and also does the exact opposite of what most of us would hope. - Sponsored
How Generative AI Will Improve Legal Service Delivery
Learn how emerging tools will likely change and enhance the work of lawyers for years to come in this new report. -
Constitutional Law, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Federalist Society, Law Professors, Quote of the Day, Religion
Why Does Xenu Love The First Amendment?
Does the First Amendment contain a "reasonableness" requirement?
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Election Law, Free Speech, Money, Politics, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
Rumors Of Democracy's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated: Why McCutcheon Can Be A Good Thing
Sadly, liberals are too busy class-baiting and wailing about Citizens United to have hard conversations about the First Amendment and the political process. -
Free Speech, Gay, Gay Marriage, Lesbians, Pictures, Politics, Religion, Weddings
Why Using Anti-Discrimination Laws Against Wedding Photographers Doesn't Work
Conservative columnist Tamara Tabo argues against using the law to force businesses to provide services to same-sex couples’ weddings. -
Election Law, Food, Football, Free Speech, Non-Sequiturs, United Kingdom / Great Britain
Non-Sequiturs: 08.30.13
Ed. note: Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday, September 2, in observance of the Labor Day holiday. * Municipal election fraud is being alleged in Tuscaloosa after a sorority bribed people with free drinks to get a University of Alabama Law grad elected (defeating the incumbent, another lawyer — and wife of a UA Law professor). The big question here is how f**king terrible is voter turnout in Tuscaloosa that a sorority can rig an election? [AL.com] * A banned food truck launched a First Amendment suit after officials banned the truck for using an ethnic slur in the name. I haven’t seen a food truck shut down like that since “Steak Me Home Tonight.” [WSJ Law Blog] * The NFL looks to London. Tax laws are one of many obstacles. [Grantland] * From partner to delivery boy. But hey, definitely go to law school kids! [St. Louis Post-Dispatch] * A thorough look at the legality of the pending Syria strike. Obama administration addresses these grave concerns with the phrase, “Talk to the hand.” [Foreign Affairs] -
Constitutional Law, Craigslist, Religion, Weirdness
Crusader Requires A Jewish OR Muslim Lawyer: Apparently We're Going After The 16th-Century Vatican In SCOTUS!!
Who can you sue when the calendar is oppressing you? -
Bar Exams, California, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Law Schools, Quote of the Day
A Law School Whose Grads Fail The Bar Exam 93 Percent Of The Time
You'd want to keep that sad statistic under lock and key, too! - Sponsored
Early Adopters Of Legal AI Gaining Competitive Edge In Marketplace
How to best leverage generative AI as an early adopter with ethical use. -
Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Kids, Social Media, Social Networking Websites, Texas, Violence
Terroristic Threat Laws & A Texas Teen: There But For The Grace Go We
Have you ever written something stupid and intemperate on the internet? Watch out. -
Cars, Constitutional Law, Crime, Free Speech, Rudeness
Fudge Your Crappy Town
Is there any free speech when you get a speeding ticket in Liberty? -
Attorney Misconduct, Bad Ideas, Biglaw, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Legal Ethics, Partner Issues, Summer Associates, Women's Issues
Lawyer Claims His 'Slut-Shaming' Is Protected By the First Amendment -- Just Like the Founders Intended
Hell hath no fury like a patent practitioner romantically scorned. -
Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Free Speech, John Roberts, Media and Journalism, SCOTUS, Supreme Court
The Chief Justice, a Dean, and a Newspaper All Walk Into a Censorship Scandal
No good deed goes unpunished, as the Chief Justice's visit to an out-of-the-way law school leaves controversy in his wake. -
ACLU, Bankruptcy, Biglaw, Defamation, Department of Justice, Dewey & LeBoeuf, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Money, Morning Docket, New York Times, Partner Issues, Technology
Morning Docket: 01.03.13
* Dewey know how much money this failed firm has run up on its tab for legal advisers since May? It’s quite the pretty penny — $14.8 million — and that amount actually includes some pretty ridiculous fees and charges, like $21,843 for photocopies. [Am Law Daily]
* Everyone’s glad that we didn’t nosedive over the fiscal cliff, but the people who are the most excited about it seem to be Biglaw partners. This wasn’t the best bill, and more uncertainty means more work, which means more money. [National Law Journal]
* It looks like we’re never going to find out what the Justice Department’s legal justification was for the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, because a federal judge upheld the validity of its secret memo. [New York Times]
* Everyone flipped out over Instagram’s money filter, but they’re keeping relatively quiet about this mandatory arbitration provision. Quick, post some pseudo-legalese on your Facebook wall. [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* Good news, everyone! Thanks to this ruling, in Virginia, you can be as nasty and negative as you want to be on Yelp without fear that your voice will be censored… kind of like the Above the Law comments. [All Things D]
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ACLU, Antonin Scalia, Bernie Madoff, Biglaw, Crime, Deaths, Federal Judges, Football, Free Speech, Law Schools, Mergers and Acquisitions, Morning Docket, Partner Issues, Prisons, Robert Bork, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, Sentencing Law, State Judges, Supreme Court
Morning Docket: 12.21.12
* Seven out of nine sitting Supreme Court justices were silent when it came to the passing of Robert Bork. Justice Antonin Scalia, of course, issued a public statement, as did liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (surprise!). [WSJ Law Blog (sub. req.)]
* No one ever really doubted that it would take an army of Biglaw lawyers from the likes of Sullivan & Cromwell, Shearman & Sterling, and Wachtel Lipton to handle a monumental deal like the proposed $8.2 billion NYSE/ICE merger. [Am Law Daily]
* Can you coach with Nick Saban and be a Miller Canfield partner at the same time? No. But you can sue (and win!) when the firm allegedly forces you out due to its “culture of fear and intimidation.” [Detroit Free Press]
* Justice Rolando Acosta, who wrote the opinion upholding the dismissal of the class action case against NYLS, rates well among his peers as a nominee for the New York Court of Appeals. [New York Law Journal]
* Peter Madoff was sentenced to ten years in prison for his role in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, but the judge will probably let him go to his granddaughter’s bat mitzvah before shipping him to the pokey. [Bloomberg]
* Merry Christmas, now go f**k yourself. A federal judge has given a woman in Louisiana free rein to display holiday lights on her roof in the form of an extended middle finger. God bless America. [CBS 3 Springfield]
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Quote of the Day, Religion, Sentencing Law, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns
Quote of the Day: Jesus Take the Wheel Stand
This Oklahoma judge likes to sentence people to church attendance instead of jail. Is that even legal? -
9th Circuit, Alex Kozinski, Constitutional Law, Diarmuid O'Scannlain, Eugene Volokh, Federal Judges, Federalist Society, Religion, Videos, YouTube
First Amendment Fun at the Ninth Circuit
The Ninth Circuit hearts the First Amendment. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 10.31.12.
* Shashank Tripathi appears to be behind the fake tweets about the flooding of the New York Stock Exchange. Is that protected speech or (wait for it) DID HE JUST SAY “FIRE” IN A CROWDED THEATER??????? [Gigaom] * But to be clear, Romney is free to lie as much as he wants. Political speech, even […]
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Free Speech, Health Care / Medicine, Jews, Kids, Religion
Circumcision, Anti-Semitism, And You (Part Deux)
Should Jewish groups file a legal challenge to a New York law requiring written parental consent for a circumcision practice known as "direct oral suction"? -
Antonin Scalia, Blogging, Contracts, Food, Free Speech, Google / Search Engines, Law Professors, Money, Non-Sequiturs, Pornography, Richard Posner, Sports, Student Loans
Non-Sequiturs: 09.24.12
* Someone was finally able to liken the Scalia v. Posner debate to a suitable situation: bitchy mean girls fighting each other in a middle school cafeteria. Seriously, only the inclusion of “like” throughout the entirety of the dialogue could’ve made it better. [lawprofblawg] * Who pays your law professors’ salary? The obvious answer is law students, since professorial wallets are padded by tuition dollars. But what happens when IBR comes into play and loan debts are forgiven? Then the answer shifts to the taxpayers. [PrawfsBlawg] * When Derek Boogaard of the New York Rangers died, everyone was expecting that a lawsuit would be filed, but no one really thought that it would be one based on contract law. [New York Law and Legal Analysis Blog] * What kind of case “really turn[s] on” everyone’s favorite First Amendment lawyer? Free speech cases that are riddled with challenges, of course, and questions about what does and doesn’t constitute porn. [Vegas Inc] * You must be wondering where Above the Law fell on this ranking of the 15 Most Influential Law Blogs. We won’t give it away, but let’s just say that we now share something in common with Cooley. [Business Insider] * “[S]ome dude with the munchies is getting a little legal education.” That’s what we thought when one of our top searches last week was “pictures of tacos” — and not even “duck tacos,” but regular ones. [Search Party] -
Guns / Firearms, Technology
This Gun Is Your Gun, This Gun Is My Gun: A 2L's Quest To Make Printable Firearms
A UT Law student wants to create a way for people to print guns in the privacy of their own homes.