California

Morning Docket: 01.21.22

* California has the opportunity to modify or do away with their three strikes law. I hope they take it. [Voice of San Diego] * Tennessee creates law intended to penalize kids who make threats online. The first person to get locked up over a TikTok is never gonna live that down. [WKRN] * The three officers who did nothing as their coworker killed a man with his knee will also face trial soon.  [NPR] * Electronic sniffing dogs are being used to detect child pornography. This is going to end up in a Criminal Procedure casebook isn’t it? [ABC] * Green thumbs and orange jumpsuits: man sentenced to two years for smuggling succulents. [LAist]

Parole Denied For An Assassin, Several Steps Forward, The Emoji Defense, And Sing It, Aretha

Binding up wounds takes work, and, in our profession, clients are often so entrenched in their respective positions of misery that they see no way out except to fight to the figurative death of the other side.

In 2022, Can We Stop Arresting Folks For Weed?

Instead of weed, they should have been moving something that’s not a threat. Like high-powered assault rifles.

A New Reason To Get An Impression Of Erie

Hey, SCOTUS! Got a family who wants to get their art back. Oblige them.

California State Bar Is Thinking About Letting Nonlawyer Paraprofessionals Practice Law In Certain Areas

If the group is serious about improving access to justice by lowering the educational barrier to entry, they should lobby the ABA’s Section of Legal Education to adopt changes that would reduce the overall cost of law school by reducing course load or substituting work experience for academic credit.

Morning Docket: 12.30.21

* Michigan and other states saw a lot more fraudulent claims where people asked the government for financial assistance. Probably wouldn't be a thing if there was UBI, but hey. [NPR] * Playing both sides partnered well for her legal career. Maybe you should do the same? [Law.com] * California wants businesses to open their black boxes. Maybe this is a sign we should all be more transparent come 2022. [Marketplace] * Florida judge found love in a hopeless place and got his license suspended for it. Is recusal not a thing down there or something? [Tampa Bay Times] * High hopes for equity could mean abolishing the bar. I can't wait for last call on unnecessary testing. [The Hill]

What Else Could Happen To California Lawyers? Don’t Ask.

Don’t be afraid to go for what you want. You won’t have a Legislature second-guessing you.

Kim Kardashian Passes The Baby Bar Exam

Congratulations!

Post-Thanksgiving Indigestion?

Can Biglaw sustain its bigness?

A Sheriff’s Gotta Do What The Law Says. Unless They Don’t.

Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Willful defiance is okay, though.

Biglaw Firms ‘Desperate’ For Associates In Staffing ‘Crisis’

The war for talent is raging on in California.

Morning Docket: 11.08.21

* Felonious Monkfish: the surf of your turf may actually be criminally good. [LA Times] * Looking to naturalize in the US? Hope you're up to date on your COVID immunity. And very lucky. [NY Daily News] * ...I think a town in Cali just seceded over vaccines? Am I reading this right? [The Guardian] * SCOTUS will be hearing a case about coal that will determine the strength of the EPA's bite. [Inside Climate News] * Some of them that work forces, are the same that keep oaths. They tried to tell you. [NPR]

Is Judicial Feedback A No-No?

The California Supreme Court Commission on Judicial Ethics has published for comment a draft opinion on whether critiquing an attorney’s performance in trial violates various judicial canons of ethics.

Attorney LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leads To New California Law

The law regarding name and gender changes on birth and marriage certificates will go into effect on January 1, 2023.

Morning Docket: 10.14.21

* California is making sure 23andMe doesn't become 23andUs with new genetic data privacy law. [JD Supra] * California appeals court upholds law banning fracking. They have been on fire lately! No, not like that. [Jurist] * Law firms are facing a big burnout problem. I realized things were bad when they run the risk of losing their star lawyers to TikTok. [Law.com] * Montana lawsuit claims that prohibition on holding voting drives at high traffic college campus areas suppresses students' right to vote. And that makes sense. I'd probably still be unregistered if not for being hounded on my way to Philosophy 102. [Daily Interlake] * Missouri man who followed and killed two people over $200 found not guilty because of stand your ground law. This feels really familiar. [KSHB] * Texas's juvenile prisons are being investigated by the Department of Justice. [New York Times]