Constitutional Accountability Center

* Regarding the nomination of Patrick Bumatay to the Ninth Circuit, “Why are Democrats fighting the judicial nomination of a qualified gay minority?” Good question! [The Federalist]

* Speaking of highly qualified minority nominees under attack, Carrie Severino argues that it’s the critics of D.C. Circuit nominee Neomi Rao, not Rao herself, who are being inflammatory. [Bench Memos / National Review]

* And KC Johnson, reviewing the collegiate writings by Rao that have generated the attacks against her, argues that Rao’s views on campus sexual assault — from 25 years ago, so who knows whether or not she still holds them — are “align[ed] both with statute and today’s mainstream opinion.” [City Journal]

* Litigation over a watchdog commission for handling complaints of prosecutorial misconduct in New York State involves a lot of legal luminaries, including Jim Walden and Jacob Gardener of Walden Macht, Jim McGuire and Daniel Sullivan of Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, and Andrew Rossman, Kathleen Sullivan, and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel. [New York Law Journal]

* Could Nick Sandmann and the Covington boys file libel lawsuits over some of the commentary on their controversy? It could be an uphill climb, according to Eugene Volokh (a First Amendment expert, and hardly anyone’s idea of a leftist). [Reason / Volokh Conspiracy]

* But if Covington cases do get filed, they could give rise to some interesting issues of civil procedure, as Howard Wasserman notes. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Many lessons can be learned from the Fyre Festival debacle — and one of the legal ones is that FTC disclosures actually matter. [All Rights Reserved]

* If you’re a liberal or progressive appellate litigator interested in taking on the Trump Administration, check out this new job posting from the good folks at the CAC. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* Remember the “revealed preferences” law school rankings that debuted last year? Christopher Ryan and Brian Frye have issued the 2018 edition. [SSRN]

* And C.J. Ryan offers yet another set of law school rankings, this time focused on “value added” (similar in philosophy to the ATL rankings, but Ryan’s top ten is very different from ours). [SSRN]

* If brevity is the soul of wit, then Supreme Court opinions are getting less and less witty; Adam Feldman has the data to prove it. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* A serious threat to political speech and election integrity, according to media law expert Charles Glasser: the weaponization of copyright law. [Daily Caller]

* Andy Oldham, President Trump’s latest Fifth Circuit nominee, is very, very smart — and very, very conservative. [Texas Tribune]

* The latest headline-making case handled by legendary litigator Ed Hayes is a doozy — involving a former beauty queen, a hedge-fund magnate, an ostrich farm, and… an STD. [New York Post]

* Interested in constitutional law and possessed of a progressive perspective? Here’s a great job opportunity you should check out. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* “You care day and night for your children, grandchildren and your family,” the Russian president said in his annual statement. “Even today, on International Women’s Day, you are still caught up in your routine, working tirelessly, always on time. We often ask ourselves, how do they manage it all?” — Vladimir Putin honoring International Women’s Day, or perhaps a very punctual dairy cow. It’s hard to tell. [Quartz]

* Real estate lawyer Joshua Stein, who thinks Trump shouldn’t be forced to sell his businesses to hold office, instead thinks Trump should run his businesses like a prisoner while in office. [Wall Street Journal]

* In what I’m sure is totally unrelated news to the prior link, China has provisionally approved 38 Trump trademarks. [The Guardian]

* Researchers find strong evidence that racism helps Republicans win elections. When reached for comment, Trump supporters said that the researchers were the real racists because they studied racism instead of what makes America great like it was when there was more racism. [Washington Post]

* Here’s another article about how judges in Kansas are trying to force lawmakers to educate students equally. [The Atlantic]

* The Constitutional Accountability Center has a new job opening. Maybe there are some people out there who showed up to work wearing red today who might be interested? [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* Jim Carrey is fighting back after being sued over the death of his girlfriend, Cathriona White. [E! Online]

* Could there already be a liberal majority on the Supreme Court? At least when it comes to voting rights. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* How lawyers can establish a presence in a room. [Law and More]

* Tips for attorneys that want to become entrepreneurs. [Huffington Post]

* Are film tax credits a bad investment for states? [TaxProf Blog]

* Brianne Gorod of the Constitutional Accountability Center explains why the upcoming elections matter so much for the federal judiciary. [Democracy]

* Kate Middleton’s famous wedding dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen is now the subject of a lawsuit, with designer Christine Kendall claiming it is a knockoff. [Fashionista]

* This lawyer, Helene Goodin, after 22 years in the legal profession, left it all to open her own bakery. [Huffington Post]

* The rest of the world discovers Delaware’s a haven for holding companies; lawyers everywhere shrug. [Gawker]

* When humanitarian aid actually caused more economic hardship for the very people we are supposed to be “helping.” [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Can Indian start-ups render the Biglaw firm structure unnecessary? [Law and More]

* Richard Hsu talks with Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert cartoon strip. [Hsu Untied]

* The Constitutional Accountability Center is holding an event this Thursday, April 28th at the National Press Club in D.C. on the Supreme Court’s docket this Term, previewing decisions yet to be handed down and discussing key themes from the Term. [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* Speaking of SCOTUS, if you’re interested in Supreme Court lit, check out this televised panel of authors, including Irin Carmon of Notorious RBG and ATL editor David Lat of Supreme Ambitions (affiliate links). [C-SPAN]

* Living the goddamn dream! This Biglaw attorney is retired… at age 33. [Mr. Money Mustache]

* Law school lecture goes viral! In fairness, “don’t talk to the police” seems like extra relevant advice after binge-watching Making a Murderer. [The Blaze]

* Pissed off about price gouging on Super Bowl tickets? Well, the Third Circuit sure isn’t going to help. [Bloomberg BNA]

* Is there a way to wish anger away? It may not be easy, but here are some tips to help with anger management. [Katz Justice]

* The ACLU has filed a class action over Louisiana’s underfunding of the public defender system. [ACLU]

* Great advice for keeping your firm’s (and client’s) sensitive information out of the hands of hackers. [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* Congratulations to Elizabeth Wydra, longtime chief counsel of the Constitutional Accountability Center, who takes over as CAC’s new president. [National Law Journal]

* Marriage equality, religious freedom, voting rights, campaign finance reform, racial justice… one civil rights issue outweighs them all: the composition of the Supreme Court. [Talking Points Memo]

* Reminder to all the fresh lil’ 1Ls out there: you just might find love. [Go Knoxville]

* I’m glad someone is fact-checking How To Get Away With Murder; watching that show was getting exhausting. [Refinery 29]

* How quickly what is considered “offensive” changes. [What About Paris?]

* The latest review of Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link), by Katelyn Kye of Major, Lindsey & Africa (note: some spoilers). [In Brief]

* Try not to let the misery of the courtroom get you down. [Katz Justice]

* Taking a look at the process of adopting legal tech. [Law Technology Today]

* A tribute to how Doug Kendall changed the way liberals talk about the constitution. The founder of the Constitutional Accountability Center, Kendall passed away this weekend. [Think Progress]

* Chess match becomes eight-hour police standoff. Sure, that makes sense. [Lowering the Bar] * A roundup of the worst courtroom jokes of all time. The decision to kick off Roe v. Wade with a sexist joke was so “meta.” [Salon] * Order some fine wines from Barrister Winery, founded by two lawyers who bought a home wine-making kit and turned it into their business. [Barrister Winery] * A Brooklyn ADA is not fired for calling hookers from his office phone. Charlie Hynes runs a tight ship over there. [Brooklyn Magazine] * A new study suggests that smartphones may make you meeker. The flaw with the study is that someone with a desktop doesn't walk away and "take the initiative" because they're more gung ho, but because desktops are not as cool as sitting around and playing Temple Run on your smartphone. [The Careerist] * Simon Lazarus, Senior Counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, says that libertarianism has taken over the Supreme Court. I won’t believe it until they hand down a ruling about returning to the gold standard. [The New Republic] * Teresa and Joe from The Real Housewives of New Jersey “charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, making false statements on loan applications and bankruptcy fraud in a 39-count indictment.” Teresa’s reaction to the news after the jump…