Religion

Confined terrorist suspect was just trying to get some fly women out of their religious coverings...

A map of the various states' religious freedom laws in light of the recent uproar over Indiana's version.

* The Supreme Court decided that government-issued GPS trackers violate 4th Amendment. My GPS device is my phone — can we get on protecting that? [Gizmodo]

* More on the subtle differences between the Indiana RFRA and the post-Hobby Lobby landscape. Specifically, the Indiana Act’s provision on private suits, which are the subject of a circuit split at the federal level. [Washington Post]

* Professor Jonathan Lipson reviews what ATL’s Converge conference had to say about the future of law. [The Temple 10-Q]

* The Supreme Court doesn’t want to hear from ever lawyer under the sun on the marriage equality cases. The parties just announced their picks to make the argument. [Lyldennews]

* Another day, another law student busted for sex with a minor. Maybe crim law needs to move up that age of consent lecture to day 1. [The Columbus Dispatch]

* Up and coming Supreme Court challenges to Obamacare for everyone still raging against the dying of the light. [Washington Post / The Volokh Conspiracy]

* Congratulations to Steven J. Harper, who is finally headed home from the hospital after a lengthy stay under apparently Kafka-esque conditions. [The Lawyer Bubble]

* WMU Cooley Law School wants you to know the legal job market is BOOMING! Never change, Cooley. [Cooley Law School Blog]

* The NCAA expressed its concerns with Indiana’s new religious discrimination bill. Somehow the NCAA has the moral high ground. Huh. How did that happen? [Washington Post]

* Judge grants motion to extend time… in verse. [Western District of Texas]

* Do you love pre-1972 rock? So does satellite radio! Because it’s all about love and rebellion and not paying copyright royalties. [Managing IP]

* Did this really need to be a CLE? Are we really abusing the “business casual” regime this much? This is why we can’t have nice things. [ABA]

* Congressperson caught on tape executing the worst parking job ever. Lat’s take on this story: “Guess they don’t teach parking at Yale Law School.” [Roll Call]

* Picking apart Better Call Saul’s take on RICO. [Foster PC]

* If you’re looking for a hot tip for your Fantasy SCOTUS league, then scour confirmation hearing transcripts. Because Chief Justice Roberts either gave away his thoughts on the marriage equality cases. Or he coyly misled the Senate, but that never happens. [Slate]

* People are dogging this, but I wholeheartedly approve. Kids need to learn that Republicans will kill any idea no matter how benign while somehow making it about abortion. It’s an important life lesson. [NH1]

* Sometimes the help of a friend actually makes the situation worse. That’s why I make it my policy not to help. [Science of Relationships]

* A second suspect picked up in the triple murder involving America’s Next Top Model Mirjana Puhar. Investigators plan to give him a hot mic and wait for him to take a bathroom break. [Gawker]

* LSAC’s having a big day. After law school applications hit a 15-year low, we get the news that LSAC has changed their licensing agreement to kill LSAT PrepTest PDFs. That’ll help. [LSAT Blog]

* When you think about it, contract lawyers are living out the white-collar version of the Industrial Revolution. And doing about as well as the first Proletariat did. [Law and More]

* Someone thinks the country doesn’t have to be run by lawyers. This is a dangerous idea that could take down the empire we’ve all built. Thankfully it’s coming from the Transhumanist Party presidential candidate. So I think we’re safe. [Motherboard / Vice]

* That’s not how you use Swiss cheese… [Legal Juice]

* A new podcast discusses religious liberty bills with Professor Marci Hamilton, Verkuli Chair in Public Law at Cardozo. [RJ Court Watch]

* Another call to do something nice and simple so you aren’t the kind of lawyer people joke about. [What About Clients?]

* On that note, here’s a cavalcade of lawyer jokes explained. Until things get too real. [LFC360]

There's a fine line between supporting freedom and officially supporting hate. Where is the line in this case?

* A representative for Amal and George Clooney has denied the rumors of an impending divorce plastered all over the newsstands this week. “This story is totally made up in order to sell their magazines.” Now we can go back to wondering when Amal is planning to sue President Obama. [Aceshowbiz]

* Roe v. Wade is 42 years old (or 126 trimesters) today. How much of the original holding is left? Not that much actually. [TBT Legal]

* Some 1st or 2nd year in D.C. is banging another associate and felt obliged to give us an anonymous blow-by-blow account. Think of it as a Penthouse Letter to the ABA Journal. [Reddit]

* Speaking of Penthouse, the affidavit from the Prince Andrew/Alan Dershowitz sex scandal is just bats**t amazeballs. Check out the full document on the next page. [South Florida Lawyers]

* “Jews in the U.K. never won a reported discrimination case against non-Jewish defendants.” I mean, who’d have thought the country that brought us The Merchant of Venice would have issues with Jews? [Tablet]

* Americans decry European laws prohibiting certain kinds of hate speech. But Professor Faisal Kutty explains that liberal societies have their own secular sacred cows even if they don’t want to admit it. [Al Jazeera]

* If you presume the clientele for litigation financing services are helpless, you’re selling them short. [LFC 360]

* The latest threat to unsuspecting Americans: zombie debt! [Public Justice]

* NYU admits it probably should have told the police when a student allegedly lit a classmate on fire and videotaped it. Ugh. NYU’s gone soft. In my day, we set each other on fire all the time and we liked it dammit! [Chronicle of Higher Education]

A unanimous ruling on religion.

What is this fellow’s name, and which law firm does he work for?

Conservation of endangered species shouldn't be a religious issue. But it is.

* 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft got to live out many an American’s fantasy: he got to screw a lawyer, again and again. [Gawker]

* “I guess if I had to change one thing, it would have been to go to law school after college. But I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up until I actually grew up, and by then it was a little too late for those goals.” [XX Factor / Slate]

* Hoboken councilwoman Beth Mason and her husband, Wachtell Lipton partner Ricky Mason, just got hit with more than $40,000 dollars in fines for election finance reporting violations. [Politicker NJ]

* Some thoughts from Professor Jonathan Adler on standing up for free speech in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* Speaking of Charlie Hebdo, Professor Ann Althouse isn’t a fan of slobbery kisses. [Althouse]

* How do legal rules contribute to the evolution of the institution of marriage? Thoughts from Professors Naomi Cahn and June Carbone. [Concurring Opinions]

* In protest, the NYPD has adopted a policy of only making arrests “when they have to.” Shouldn’t that have been the policy all along? Maybe this petulant protest is a good thing after all. [New York Post]

* Michigan banned college athletes from unionizing. Which makes sense because this is an amateur activity that couldn’t possibly afford to pay the students taking risks on the field. In other news, on the exact same day the state of Michigan agreed to pay $5 million a year to the guy who will yell at those same kids. [M Live]

* Do you want a Bryan Garner Bobblehead? For charity? Of course you do. [Law Prose]

* Boies Schiller steps into the Octagon. [Yahoo! Sports]

* Lawyers are sneaking religion into court much more frequently these days. [What About Clients?]

* More fallout from the California Bar Exam results. [Bar Exam Stats]

* The D.D.C. declined to enjoin Abd Al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad Al Nashiri’s military commission trial. Professor Vladeck thinks this decision is dumb. [Lawfare]

* While we’re on the subject of law professors dissing dumb legal arguments, Professor Barnett has some real problems with Nebraska and Oklahoma trying to use Raich to sue Colorado. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* Why the f**k should you care about net neutrality? Here’s why:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8bV8IhbRrQ

* 3D printing and lightsabers and intellectual property. [Concurring Opinions]

* Speaking of IP law, let’s talk Santa Claus and intellectual property. [Trademark & Copyright Law Blog / Foley Hoag LLP]

* “ExamExtensionGate” stirs up conservatives, but also a lot of liberal to moderate Boomers, because… “Lazy Millennials!” Forgetting of course that law students in the 1960s did the exact same thing. But those were mostly white kids talking about Vietnam, so it’s like… different, man. [PrawfsBlawg]

* If you’re excited to hear this year’s annual report on the federal judiciary and can’t hardly wait until Chief Justice Roberts unleashes it upon the world, perhaps you can sate your appetite with this prebuttal. [Fix the Court]

* The Texas judge who kicked a lawyer out of court for thoughtlessly appearing with a broken leg has earned the ire of the Dallas legal community. [Legal Juice]

* More than 70 years later, a judge concludes that South Carolina shouldn’t have executed a 14-year-old based on a one-day trial. Took ya long enough. [WTOP]

* Interesting academic piece on Muslims in the Antebellum South. In other news, there were Muslims in the Antebellum South. [The Faculty Lounge]

Ed. note: Above the Law will be dark on Thanksgiving and on a reduced publishing schedule on Friday, November 28, while we recover from turkey-induced comas.

* Holy backfire Batman! Florida desperately wanted to display a nativity scene in the State Capitol because it’s more important than making real laws. Now they’re probably going to be forced to display a scene from the Satanic Temple. [Slate]

* Researchers assert that college prestige has no bearing on the quality of the teaching. Would this carry over to law schools? [TaxProf Blog]

* The National Bar Association, representing predominantly African-American attorneys and judges, has issued a response to the grand jury’s decision in the Michael Brown shooting. [The National Bar Association]

* Speaking of Ferguson, apparently the investigator listed Darren Wilson as the “victim.” If you needed any more evidence of the power of semantics. [Lowering the Bar]

* The CATO Institute talks about the First Amendment and One, Inc. v. Olesen. It’s an hour-and-a-half panel discussion. Pretty impressive for a 24-word (plus one citation) decision. [C-SPAN]

* Is it a lie? Well, that depends on what your definition of “lie” is? [Dorf on Law]

* Are over the knee boots appropriate office attire? [Corporette]

* 8 women who left the law to follow their passions. [One 400]

* Yesterday, we suggested you should write more thank you notes. Well, here are some reasons why you shouldn’t. [The Muse ]

* “Have a taste of this. It will do you good in so many ways.” Louisa Moritz, one of Bill Cosby’s alleged victims, is interested in filing a class-action lawsuit against the comedian. [Fox News Latino]

* If you’re interested, here’s all of the testimony and evidence that was presented to the grand jury that resulted in no true bill for Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown shooting. [Associated Press]

* HBO hired a team of 160 lawyers to look at its film adaptation of Lawrence Wright’s book about Scientology. The power of thetans compels them to keep churning that bill, baby. [Hollywood Reporter]

* “The Constitution is not a math problem,” but it seems like the Supreme Court is playing a numbers game when it comes to its decisions having to do with same-sex marriage. What’s the magic number for SCOTUS to take a case? [New York Times]

* It’s official: Morgan Lewis has gobbled up most of Bingham McCutchen ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Stick a fork in it, because Morgan Lewis is done — it’s now stuffed full of more lawyers than any other firm in the country. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* Emerson Briggs III, an ex-partner at Hunton & Williams, is facing disbarment in D.C. over the child pornography he downloaded at work. Oh, how the mighty have fallen: he’s been working as a paralegal since being disbarred in New York. [Legal Times]

* Patricia Nesci, a law firm secretary, allegedly forged a judge’s signature on an order to show cause to keep herself from being evicted from her home earlier this month. She apparently did not get a Biglaw-style bonus from her former firm. [Syracuse.com]

* Before you submit your applications, you should try creating a budget to see just how financially screwed you’ll be during and after law school, and then compare it to your pre-law school budget. Try not to cry. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News]

Eliot Spitzer prosecuted and Alan Dershowitz defended; who prevailed?

* Morgan Lewis approves the Bingham deal, with 227 of the roughly 300 Bingham partners moving over as full partners. Morgan Lewis is calling it a “mass lateral move,” which is the nice way of telling the remaining 70+ partners (and whatever associates and staffers they don’t care to include) to enjoy early retirement. [American Lawyer; WSJ Law Blog]

* A follow up report on the horrific story of the lawyers accused of stabbing a managing partner and his wife. [Washington Post]

* Justice Scalia realizes that strict constructionists are just jerks. [The Onion]

* When the title of the story uses the phrase “super-drunk judge”… [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

* Judge Posner took a detour into Jewish theology, apparently based on scholarly research from “Google” and “Wikipedia.” In his defense though, he thought he was citing the well-known Hebrew texts of “Elgoog” and “Aidepikiw.” [The Jewish Daily Forward]

* It may sound like a terrible horror movie, but “Darkhotel” is actually a campaign of cyberattacks against business executives logging in from their high-end hotels. [Internet, Information Technology & e-Discovery Blog]

* Um, Florida State may care so much about their (number 3) football team they gloss over criminal activity. And this article is NOT about Jameis Winston. [New York Times]

* Linda Greenhouse. Damn. “In decades of court-watching, I have struggled — sometimes it has seemed against all odds — to maintain the belief that the Supreme Court really is a court and not just a collection of politicians in robes. This past week, I’ve found myself struggling against the impulse to say two words: I surrender.” [New York Times]

* If you’re in L.A. tonight, check out the 6th Annual Justice Jam, celebrating “A Tradition of Advocacy” at 5:30 p.m. at La Plaza De Cultura y Artes. The event benefits Community Lawyers, Inc., an organization working to promote access to affordable legal services for low- and moderate-income individuals. [Community Lawyers, Inc.]

* A cautionary tale about using online dating to cheat on your spouse — you might end up upwards of $54K poorer. [Legal Cheek] * Alabama wasted time and energy passing a ballot measure for the purely symbolic purpose of reaffirming Xenophobia? Shocking! [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Interesting tale of reporting a female boss for sexual harassment. [Vice] * When the police inevitably come down on you, turn off your iPhones first. [Versus Texas] * 6 Hilarious Trials That Prove the Legal System Is Screwed. [Cracked] * CCAF is hiring. Good pay, flexible hours. Sounds like a great gig if you hate plaintiffs’ firms. [Center for Class Action Fairness] * Should Jewish judges recuse themselves in Palestinian terrorism cases? Um. No? [Tablet Magazine] * Jameis Winston’s lawyer is just the worst. [Jezebel]

* “I thought it was hilarious. And I imagine my colleagues who have seen it would share that view.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has seen John Oliver’s talking Supreme Court dogs, and she totally LOLed about it. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Hey guys, guess who’s excited about a yet-to-occur increase in law school applications? If you guessed law school admissions officers, then you’d be right. Come on, what else are they going to do now, cry? [National Law Journal]

* We suppose some congratulations are in order for Ave Maria Law, because now the school doesn’t have to provide insurance coverage for its employees’ contraceptives. Yay, thanks Hobby Lobby! [LifeNews]

* Manuel Noriega’s “Call of Duty” lawsuit was dismissed earlier this week, and Rudy Giuliani is just glad that “a notorious criminal didn’t win.” Let’s get real here: the dictator’s rep was already damaged. [CNN]

* “Can we talk?” Melissa Rivers called a plaintiffs firm to ask the question made famous by her late mother, Joan Rivers. Her malpractice and wrongful death suit will be coming soon. [Page Six / New York Post]

A tipster noted that a controversial Supreme Court case from this Term gets a predictive wink from an episode that aired in 1992...