Mississippi

* Federal investigators are delving into multimillion-dollar deals involving former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai. [New York Times]

* The Fifth Circuit lifts the injunction against H.B. 1523, Mississippi’s notorious “religious freedom” law that many regard as antigay (but the court ruled on jurisdictional rather than gay-hating grounds). [Texas Lawyer]

* In the wake of a mistrial in the criminal case against him, Bill Cosby plans to educate young men on how to avoid accusations of sexual assault. (My advice: don’t commit sexual assault.) [New York Times]

* The Fourth Circuit affirms almost all the convictions of ex-CIA officer in a leak case — a potentially significant ruling if the Trump administration follows through on its threats to prosecute leakers. [How Appealing]

* The Seventh Circuit declines to reinstate the conviction of Brendan Dassey, the defendant made famous by Making A Murderer. [ABA Journal]

* Martin Shkreli, aka “Pharma Bro,” is gearing up for trial — and, for the record, he is “so innocent.” [New York Times]

* More disturbing news from my ancestral homeland of the Philippines, involving accusations that the police are shaking down families in distress as part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs.” [Washington Post]

* The Jeff Sessions Justice Department will decline to bring charges against Baton Rogue police officers involved in the death of Alton Sterling. The shooting of Sterling was caught on videotape and led to protests last summer. [Washington Post]

* A new lawsuit alleges a funeral home in Mississippi refused to cremate a man’s husband because he was gay. [CNN]

* Is Apple prepping for a massive acquisition? Let the guessing game begin. [LA Times]

* A judge has ruled that a defamation suit against CNN will go forward. The allegations surround a story about infant mortality at a Florida hospital. [Law.com]

* The machinations behind the latest push to repeal and replace Obamacare have hit a snag over preexisting conditions. [New York Times]

* The United States may pull out of the climate change Paris Agreement as early as next week. [Huffington Post]

Ed. note: In observance of the Fourth of July, Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday. Have a great weekend!

* The little known religious history behind America’s seal. Separation of church and state be damned. [Wall Street Journal]

* Fireworks are super pretty to look at, but dangerous. So be careful out there. [Southeast Missourian]

* 5 prosecutors are responsible for 440 death sentences. That is incredibly disturbing. [The Guardian]

* U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves blocked a Mississippi law that would allow those with religious objections to deny wedding services to gay couples. Good to see the concept of precedent in action. [Reuters]

* Republican delegates can do… pretty much whatever they want to. It is a political issue, not a legal one. [Huffington Post]

* It is shockingly easy for the government to spy on journalists. [The Intercept]

* Lawyer that sued Led Zeppelin is suspended. [MSN]

* Donald Trump is definitely coming to Pennsylvania Avenue (he’s building a hotel there). [Denver Channel]

* A plea to strike down Mississippi’s “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” which gives special privileges to opponents of gay marriage. [Bloomberg View]

* Not every litigation financier is Peter Thiel, and I think we are all pretty happy about that. [Wall Street Journal]

* What can Judge Maryanne Trump Barry teach her brother about the federal judiciary? [Real Clear Politics]

* Musings on why some law firms still haven’t matched the Cravath pay bump. [Law and More]

* These are the facts people need to know about gun laws. [Slate]

* This is what estate planning attorneys wished you knew about death and dying. [Forbes]

* Is this judge dangerous or just doing her job — or worse, both? [Guile is Good]

* So, you find yourself “in between” legal jobs at the moment. What do you do with the time? [Reboot Your Law Practice]

* This University of Chicago Law student is just trying to make his nut, and he’s developed a card game called “The Golfing Dead.” A standard card game put through the “apocalyptic ringer.” Even his law professor is on board with the fun game… it may not be important or amazing, but it is entertaining. [Kickstarter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRN6vfrIY1c

* This Anthony Weiner documentary looks like it is going to be everything you didn’t even know you always wanted from a political documentary. [Gawker]

* Despite blood testing company Theranos’s recent onslaught of issues, including SEC and U.S. Attorney’s Office investigation, David Boies reports the board is standing behind CEO and founder Elizabeth Holmes. [Vanity Fair]

* When a decrease in the number of prisoners in a state is the cause of a budget crisis, you know things are jacked up. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]

* Deutsche Bank is pushing back against rising legal costs. Is this the new normal that law firms have to deal with? [Law and More]

* New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s lawsuit against Trump University is going forward. [Law Newz]

* “This is, since the recession, the most robust job growth we’ve seen.” Nearly all students who worked at Biglaw firms this past summer as associates received offers of full-time employment. Offer rates haven’t been this high in more than a decade. [National Law Journal]

* Mommy, wow! I’m a big kid now! Affluenza teen Ethan Couch was finally deported from Mexico and booked into a juvenile detention center. Today, we’ll see if he’ll be moved to a big-boy jail, and in February, we’ll see if his case is moved to the grown-up court system. [Associated Press]

* Sorry, Hillary Clinton, but President Obama has no desire to be on SCOTUS. According to White House press secretary Josh Earnest, while Obama “would have plenty of ideas for how he would do a job like that,” he “may have other things to do.” [The Hill]

* It’s so hard to get execution drugs that Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is asking state legislators for alternative methods for carrying out death sentences, like death by firing squad, electrocution, and hanging. Seems reasonable? [Reuters]

* Arizona is so eager to kill people it hired Alston & Bird to go up against the Food and Drug Administration in the state’s quest to obtain the release of a shipment of execution drugs that it had imported to the country from India this summer. [BuzzFeed News]

* Thinking about transferring law schools? Get the ugly truth first. [Underdawg Law]

* Is it possible your smart phone shouldn’t be your everything? [What About Paris?]

* Now this is scholarship I can get behind: The Walking Dead Colloquium. [Savannah Law School]

* In trial be ready for anything… including vomit. [Katz Justice]

* NFL players and prospective law students — I totally get the similarities. [TaxProf Blog]

* Sigh… Mississippi. Still defending its ban on adoption by same-sex couples. [Slate]

* Free CLE! Next Thursday on “The U.S. & China: Perspectives on Brand Protection & Intellectual Property.” [AABANY]

* District Judge Henry Wingate suspends Mississippi’s death penalty. The full written decision is expected later this week. [BuzzFeed]

* Wondering why Roger Goodell is taking a hardline over Deflategate? He’s just acting like any good dictator and securing his power. [Washington Post]

* Trying to get bail set in a massive insider trading case? It helps if you’ve got God as a character reference. [Dealbreaker]

* Of all the dumb, stupid, obvious, %^$*#, frustrating AF horse hockey. Alabama is in the process of closing 45 out of 49 DMVs around the state. For the uninitiated: Alabama passed a strict voter ID law in 2011 and now there’s this new barrier to getting the proper identification. I guess it isn’t a stretch to pencil in Alabama as red in 2016. [Daily Kos]

* In less depressing news, read contemporary coverage of the passage of the 19th Amendment. [The Nation]

* … And right back to the depressing: a commenter places the blame for a lack of women lead counsel squarely with clients. Oh good, I was afraid for a minute that the legal industry might actually have to do something about gender issues. [What About Paris?]

* Rest in peace, Amelia Boynton Robinson. The civil rights activist died today at age 104. Best known for her fight for voting rights in the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” march, she was portrayed by Lorraine Toussaint in the movie Selma. [WTOP]

* “When it’s convenient, we’re alumni; when it’s not convenient, we are not alumni.” Grads of Texas Wesleyan Law — which is now known as Texas A&M Law — are suing because the school won’t grant them new degrees or recognize them as alumni. Harsh, y’all. [Houston Chronicle]

* The ABA Journal wants to know who you think the smartest judge in the U.S. is. Let’s hear it for the wonderful women of the Supreme Court: Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. [ABA Journal]

* Now that same-sex marriage is legal across the country, it only seems logical that bans on adoptions by same-sex couples should be overturned. Mississippi will have Roberta Kaplan of Windsor fame to thank when its ban is struck down. [New York Times]

* Pa. Attorney General Kathleen Kane has claimed innocence with regard to the criminal charges she recently racked up. She blames the entire ordeal on blowback from the state’s “Porngate” scandal. AG Kane has got one hell of a moneyshot. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* Did you know that there’s such a thing as barbecue law? Further, did you know that a Biglaw attorney who serves as counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright who’s never handled a barbecue case has cornered the market on BBQ law books (affiliate link)? [Legal Times]

* After closing arguments in the Dark Knight movie massacre trial, the case against accused shooter James Holmes now goes to a jury. He’s facing 165 criminal charges, and if found guilty, he may be sentenced to death. [NBC News]

* A federal magistrate judge ordered the NCAA to pay almost $46 million in legal fees and costs to lawyers representing student-athletes in their antitrust suit against the organization, and he even likened the case to Game of Thrones in his decision. This is a monumental win. [Reuters]

* Last night, SCOTUS denied a stay of execution for Mississippi death row inmate David Zink, even though his lawyers cited Justice Breyer’s recent death penalty dissent in Glossip with high hopes that the Court would act in their client’s favor. [National Law Journal]

* For your information, the gender gap in the legal profession extends far beyond pay and partnership prospects. According to a recent study by the American Bar Association, about two-thirds of all attorneys who appeared in federal civil trials were men [WSJ Law Blog]

* Going to law school in an underserved community that isn’t overflowing with lawyers is great for résumés, because the University of New Mexico School of Law is seriously bucking the trend of its students having difficulty finding jobs after graduation. [KOB 4]