Religion

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.23.18

* The effort to hijack "religious freedom" to legalize discrimination continues to be plagued by members of Satanic Temples invoking the same law to secure personal freedoms that governments routinely curtail. [Huffington Post] * Cy Vance is barring donations to his campaign from lawyers with business before his office, resolving a conflict that was obvious to everyone but him. [ABC News] * Mary Jo White admits Debevoise made a mistake in naming confidential witnesses in its report that functionally exonerated the University of Rochester in a massive sexual harassment investigation. Well, when they're described as "confidential" witnesses this would seem to be a mistake. [American Lawyer] * Prosecutors want to retry Senator Menendez and have a list of demands for the new trial like, "not letting defense attorneys talk." [New Jersey Law Journal] * HLS students open a startup bringing AI into document categorization following in the proud tradition of Harvard undergrads who dropped out to become tech moguls. [Legaltech News] * Discrimination suit against Winston & Strawn hinges on what it means to be a "partner." In other words, can firms placate attorneys with empty titles without accepting the consequences? [Litigation Daily] * Pennsylvania's gerrymandered map gets the benchslap. [NPR]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.14.17

* Time to nerd out! We'll start with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) firing a shot across on the bow on blue slips. [Politico via How Appealing] * Speaking of judicial nominees, Professor Stephanos Bibas, nominated to the Third Circuit, has a long, long paper trail -- including not just lots of law review articles, but letters to the editor from when he was a college kid. [CA3blog] * Who knew that singer John Legend was a legal nerd? He's all about "the challenge and the opportunity of federalism," as Chris Geidner reports. [BuzzFeed News] * It's time for the courts to recognize that the Lemon test "is really and truly dead," according to Daniel Blomberg of Becket. [Bench Memos / National Review] * Meanwhile, Professor Orin Kerr identifies "an interesting question worth flagging for the Fourth Amendment nerds" out there. [Washington Post] * Finally, Fifth Circuit guru David Coale has found something even wonkier than the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. [600 Camp]

By David Lat
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 06.12.17

* Maybe Comey already has a job lined up. [Chronicle of Higher Ed] * A deeper dive into Gorsuch's first opinion and how it stacks up with those of the other justices. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Newt Gingrich sets land speed record on flip-flopping with his latest Bob Mueller tweet. [Salon] * I already said it this morning, but it bears repeating. [Lawfare] * Is it discriminatory to broadcast Cleveland Indians games? Canadian tribunal allows this argument to move forward. [Turtle Talk] * What's the official state exercise of Illinois? [Lowering the Bar] * Interesting legal battle going on within the Catholic Church. [Canon Law Blog]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.04.17

* Harvard Law wants students to defer admission. Tuition deferral program still a no go apparently. [New York Times / Dealbook] * Trump signing executive order to let the IRS choose when to enforce the Johnson amendment. I'm old enough to remember when conservatives had a meltdown over exaggerated allegations of IRS selective enforcement. Now it's actually going to be legal and I doubt I'll hear anything about it. [CBS News] * Want to know how much a Sullivan & Cromwell partner takes home? Thankfully Donald Trump can tell us. [National Law Journal] * Alabama enacts law allowing adoption agencies to reject gay couples. Alabama has one of the worst economies in America, but this was the issue that they really needed to address. Roll Tide. [Alabama] * ABA President Linda Klein testifies on behalf of Legal Services Corporation. funding. Question: Is the ABA President job more or less difficult today? One could say "more" because she has to devote considerable energy to fighting a hostile government. Or you could say "less" because the most difficult argument she has to make is, "please don't be monsters." [ABA Journal] * FAMU fired its dean. [Orlando Sentinel] * New trend in litigation finance: buying portfolios of cases instead of investing in individual matters. We've reached the fund stage people! [Law.com] * Former Guinea mining minister convicted of taking bribes. How did they know? Perhaps they thought he was a Dickensian throwback when he kept saying "Guinea" all the time. [Law360]

By Joe Patrice