Free Speech
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Free Speech, Justice, Law Schools
Yale Students Demolish Dean's Dumb Argument
Dean Gerken thinks law students shouldn't protest. Her students disagree. -
ACLU, Free Speech
ACLU Brief In John Oliver Case Is Stone-Cold Hilarious
ACLU Is Having So Much Fun, You Guys. - Sponsored
Legal AI: 3 Steps Law Firms Should Take Now
If 2023 introduced legal professionals to generative AI, then 2024 will be when law firms start adapting to utilize it. Things are moving fast, so… -
Media and Journalism, Movies
How Hulk Hogan Ruined America
Hulk's role as a pawn in Peter Thiel's game was just part of a broader war on journalism.
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.26.17
* President Trump’s personal legal team: “It’s utter chaos. Sometimes it can be like no one knows who is in charge.” [Washington Post]
* Adam Feldman predicts that the travel ban is going down before SCOTUS. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* The Trump tweets on banning transgender individuals from the military aren’t the only bad news for the LGBTQ community today. [Washington Blade]
* A nice win for the First Amendment and public access to court records. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]
* Ira Stoll wonders (with good reason): why did the New York Times account of this high-profile gender discrimination lawsuit name the law firm, but not the plaintiff? [Smarter Times]
* Clerkships guru Debra M. Strauss, who has written for our pages on the topic, is out with a second edition of Behind the Bench: The Guide to Judicial Clerkships (affiliate link).
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Free Speech, Media and Journalism, Movies
Standard Of Review: The Free Press Is Under Attack In the Netflix Documentary 'Nobody Speak'
The film is definitely harrowing, although it could have dug deeper into the issues. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 07.12.17
* The allegations about Marc Kasowitz’s drinking problem might be salacious, but the issue of alcohol abuse by lawyers is serious. [Law.com]
* Fun for legal nerds everywhere: Chief Judge Diane Wood benchslaps parties for shoddy jurisdictional statements! [On the Case / Alison Frankel via How Appealing]
* And more fodder for #appellatetwitter types: Adam Feldman ranks the most-cited justices of the last Supreme Court Term. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* Chris Geidner wonders whether another shoe will drop concerning the emails of Donald Trump Jr. [BuzzFeed]
* The trial judge in this defamation case ought to read this analysis by Professor Eugene Volokh — or at least watch The Big Lebwoski (“For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.”). [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]
* Professor Paul Horwitz comes to the defense of the latest controversial comments by the artist formerly known as Judge Richard Posner. [PrawfsBlawg]
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Donald Trump, Free Speech, Justice, Social Media
Can The President Block His Critics?
Twitter law is something we have to take seriously now. -
Books, Crime, Free Speech
Crime That Might Pay
How do you balance the First Amendment right of free speech with the societal imperative to punish people for crime? - Sponsored
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Boutique Law Firms, Free Speech, Politics, Small Law Firms
Test Case: I Served As A Legal Observer For A Group Counter-Protesting The 'March Against Sharia'
Suddenly people were getting tear gassed, and everyone was running. -
Justice, SCOTUS
Packingham Decision Says More About The Power Of Facebook Than Sex Offenders
Sites like Facebook and Twitter have become entirely too powerful and ubiquitous for the government to restrict access to. -
Law Schools, Technology
Taking A Stand: Tiffany Dehen's $100 Million Lawsuit Against Twitter And Her Law School
When does a parody account cross the line into harassment? -
Intellectual Property, Supreme Court, Trademarks
Supreme Court Confirms The Bill Of Rights Is Just About Making Money, Strikes Down Trademark Disparagement Provision
It's not that the decision is wrong, it's that the reasoning is just a cynical lie. -
Lawyer Advertising, Supreme Court
Lawyer Advertising Turns 40 Years Old!
Legal advertising is a constitutional right. Do you remember what case made it one?
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Law Schools, Politics
Just Checking In -- Yup, North Carolina Politicians Still Stupid
The state legislature plans to gut funding for the UNC School of Law. This is a bad idea. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 06.07.17
* Is there a constitutional right to follow President Donald Trump on Twitter? Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute apparently thinks so, and lawyers from the free-speech center have demanded that Trump’s unblock critics from his @realDonaldTrump account. Good luck! [WSJ Law Blog]
* Following an investigation conducted by Perkins Coie, Uber fired more than 20 employees thanks to complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, and discrimination. Perkins Coie’s probe is separate from that of former Attorney General Eric Holder, who is now employed at Covington & Burling. [ABC News]
* Per sources inside the Trump administration, the president is expected to nominate Cheryl Stanton, a former Ogletree Deakins partner, to head the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Stanton shares a former boss with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta: Justice Samuel Alito. [Big Law Business]
* Michelle Lee, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has resigned. During her time at the USPTO, Lee was known for her efforts to crack down on patent trolls, which ultimately led to a decrease in their vexatious litigation. The Trump administration has not yet put forth a nominee. [Reuters]
* The American Bar Association has granted provisional accreditation to the University of North Texas Dallas College of Law. Last summer, the ABA refused to grant even provisional accreditation to the school because there was concern about future graduates’ ability to pass the bar exam. Congrats… [ABA Journal]
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Education / Schools, Free Speech, Law Schools
First Monday Musings By Dean Vik Amar: One Dean's Take On Public University Speech Suppression
Dean Vik Amar analyzes one proposal to protect free speech on campus. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 05.30.17
* Harvard law students go all out in everything they do — and lying is no exception. [New Yorker]
* If you’re looking to purchase ancillary legal services (e.g., business or litigation support), check out the Buying Legal Guide, just launched today by the Buying Legal Council and Legal.io. [Buying Legal Guide]
* Joshua Matz explains how and when the Supreme Court might review the Trump travel ban (aka “Muslim ban”). [Take Care via How Appealing]
* Speaking of the courts, here’s Professor Carl Tobias’s advice to President Donald Trump on how to fill those 100+ vacancies in the federal judiciary. [Washington and Lee Law Review Online]
* Why is flying such a miserable experience? Blame not just the lawyers but also the index funds, as Matt Levine explains. [Bloomberg View]
* A prominent professor sues Columbia Law School, alleging age discrimination. [TaxProf Blog]
* Professor Eugene Volokh explains the First Amendment to government officials: “no, the government may not deny permits for speech because it views the speech as promoting ‘bigotry or hatred.'” [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]
* Additional thoughts on what TC Heartland means for venue in patent cases, from IP columnist Gaston Kroub. [On the Docket / George Washington Law Review]
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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics
Trump Administration Contemplating Constitutional Amendment
The Trump White House doesn't have much respect for the founding documents. -
Free Speech, Justice
Berkeley Republicans Exist, Sue Over Ann Coulter
The College Republicans have a point. -
Free Speech, Media and Journalism, Politics
Will President Trump Be Hoisted With His Own Petard In Fighting The Media?
Noted First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, author of a new book, raises this distinct possibility.