Brett M. Kavanaugh

  • Morning Docket: 11.20.17
    Morning Docket

    Morning Docket: 11.20.17

    * President Trump has added five names to his slate of judicial candidates to fill a nonexistent vacancy on the Supreme Court. Welcome aboard to Judges Brett M. Kavanaugh (D.C. Circuit), Amy Coney Barrett (Seventh Circuit), and Kevin C. Newsom (Eleventh Circuit), as well as Justices Britt C. Grant (Georgia Supreme Court) and Patrick R. Wyrick (Oklahoma Supreme Court). [New York Times]

    * Did Trump obstruct justice in the Russia probe? We may soon find out. Special counsel Robert Mueller has requested all manner of documents from the Justice Department related to the firing of former FBI director James Comey. [ABC News]

    * In other Trump-related legal news, rather than continuing to have his re-election campaign or the Republican Party foot the bill for his legal representation in the Russia probe, the president has officially started to pay his own legal tab. [Reuters]

    * Ohio Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill, who was considering running for governor, bragged about the fact that he’d been “sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females.” After much backlash, he told his detractors to “lighten up” and offered a nonpology. He won’t be running for governor anymore. [Washington Post]

    * FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is about to pull the plug on net neutrality, and Americans are too distracted by Thanksgiving to care. Luckily for us, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants open hearings to take place before a vote is held. [Slate]

    * “Probation is a trap and we must fight for Meek and everyone else unjustly sent to prison.” In the wake of rapper Meek Mill being sentenced to up to four years in prison for violating his probation, Jay-Z is letting everyone know he’s got 99 problems and the way the criminal justice system treats minorities is one of them. [New York Times]

  • Non-Sequiturs: 06.10.16
    Non-Sequiturs

    Non-Sequiturs: 06.10.16

    * Lawsuits matter: in the wake of the $140 million verdict against it in the Hulk Hogan sex tape case, Gawker Media is filing for bankruptcy and putting itself up for sale. [Gawker]

    * Declaratory judgment: according to Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Judging Statutes (affiliate link), by fellow feeder judge Robert Katzmann, is “a pleasure to read,” “succinct,” and “educational.” [Harvard Law Review]

    * SCOTUS sez: a judge shouldn’t hear an appeal in a death penalty case that he worked on as a prosecutor. [How Appealing]

    * Speaking of the Supreme Court, Gabe Roth of Fix the Court makes the case in favor of mandatory retirement for the justices. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

    * Worst fellow airplane passenger ever (yes, even worse than the drunken law firm partner). [U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit]

    * 9 “Musts” for Privacy & Data Security Risk Management and Compliance. [Legaltech News]