Free speech is a complex area legally, but it’s important to recognize that there are distinctions between one’s ability to express an opinion versus one’s ability to use F.C.C.-regulated airwaves to do so, and also one’s ability to engage in speech versus one’s ability to engage in slander.
– Georgetown Law graduate Sandra Fluke, in a New York Times Magazine interview this weekend. Fluke was launched into the national spotlight after Rush Limbaugh called her a “slut” for speaking out in favor of affordable contraception.
(An additional excerpt from the interview, after the jump.)
Remember Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown Law student who testified before Congress about the need for insurance plans to cover birth control — and then received a verbal smackdown from conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh?
As if you needed a reminder, Limbaugh had the nerve to make the following remarks about Fluke over the airwaves: “What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.”
Society was outraged, and even President Obama called Fluke to denounce Limbaugh’s comments. Limbaugh eventually issued an apology, but at that point, it was too late. Everyone had already rallied around Fluke as the new face of women’s issues in America.
So what’s Fluke up to these days? We’ve got all of the details for you….
* The definitive post on why we cannot sue Rush Limbaugh for exercising his right to have enough rope to hang himself with. [The Legal Satyricon]
* Bill Maher is also defending Limbaugh. Why can’t people understand that most acts of speech aren’t punishable offenses, even if that speech is very stupid. [Entertainment Weekly]
* Go to page three of this article. You’ll find a woman who did horribly on the LSAT, twice, and instead of going to some God-forsaken piece of crap law school, she found something else to do with her talents. And now she’s rich. Because processing new information about your own skills and limitations is what successful people do. [Forbes]
* Footballer blames Baptist Church for ruining his professional career. Similarly, I blame the Catholic Church for that one girl who nearly ruined me one night in college. [Lowering the Bar]
* Do black kids face harsher discipline in law school too? I don’t know, but I know in Soviet Russia, the blacks discipline you. [New York Times]
* The three basics of trial advocacy. Or six. Lawyers aren’t great with math. [Underdog]
* I’ve got twenty bucks for the next employed law school graduate who gets this kind of bitchy paragraph into their alumni newsletter. [Gawker]
* Holy s**t. A few hours ago, several people were wounded after being shot in front of the Tulsa County Courthouse in Oklahoma. We have video from the scene after the jump…
* Dear readers, legal pundits, regular pundits, and the public at large: Please stop with this nonsense of how Sandra Fluke should sue Rush Limbaugh. Because I swear to God, if you guys make me indirectly defend Limbaugh, I will wear you guys out like the dirty little sluts you are. [Politico]
* Which founding partner of a major law firm has abs of steel? [Dealbreaker]
* A ranking of top moot court programs. I wouldn’t be surprised if the schools that are best at moot court are the schools that spend the most time lying to their students about how there’s a single goddamn employer out there who cares about moot court. [TaxProf Blog]
* People think I hate cops, but I have nothing on Republicans in the Indiana House of Representatives. Those guys are such cop haters that they want to pass a law to make it okay to kill them if they enter your house. All I want is to be able to get away with saying “yo’ mama” if they try to falsely arrest you in your own home. [Recess Appointments]
* This legal assistant reminds me of what Lane Pryce might have said if he had been sacked for a job as a legal assistant. [Roll on Friday]
* Really, it’s the pro-death penalty crowd that wants us to be more like Communist China. [A Public Defender]
* Congratulations to the new leaders at Ms. JD. [Ms. JD]
* Michigan man sues movie theater for overpriced snacks. He’s not suing for amount they charge to see movies over the past atrocious season, he just wants to spend less while he’s sucking down Goobers and watching them. (One quick side note on the Oscars ’cause I was sick last week: F*** you, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Maybe they should re-release Margin Call with Zach Quinto replaced by a French mime so you guys might notice something at least 1% of this country cares about.) [Huffington Post]
* Apparently the Roberts Court is unusual in that its elite members lacked opportunities to gain “the most critical judicial virtue: practical wisdom.” Yeah, right. Tell that one to the Wise Latina. [Washington Post]
* The powers that be in Massachusetts have decided to show law bloggers a little bit of respect. Now they’ll get to cover judicial proceedings like real, live journalists — press passes and all. [Metro Desk / Boston Globe]
* Pornography: now with ten percent fewer HIV infections! A Los Angeles city ordinance requiring porn actors to wear condoms during filming will be taking effect today. [L.A. Now / Los Angeles Times]
* After allegedly making two other incidents disappear from her record, former Bronx ADA Jennifer Troiano pleaded guilty to drunk driving last week. It looks like the third time really is the charm. [New York Daily News]
* New York newlyweds allege that Glamour Me Studio Photoshopped their heads onto naked bodies. Groomzilla Todd Remis must be glad that his wedding photography woes weren’t so graphic. [New York Post]
Yesterday marked the first day of Women’s History Month. And as we noted for our readers, Rush Limbaugh began his celebrations a day early by calling Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown Law student who testified before a Congressional committee on the need for access to birth control, a “slut.”
In case you’re in need of a refresher, here’s what Limbaugh had to say of Fluke’s testimony: “What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.”
Needless to say, people are outraged about Limbaugh’s comments. Because really, who wouldn’t be? Let’s take a look at what Fluke had to say in response….
What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex — what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute.
– Rush Limbaugh, criticizing Georgetown 3L Sandra Fluke, who went before a Congressional committee last week to lament the high cost of contraception.
People are getting pretty hot and bothered about Fluke’s testimony and Limbaugh’s comments. But before you pass judgment in the matter, watch an informative video appeal from some experts in women’s health….
* Huh. It turns out people have been criticizing law schools for the same reasons for more than 100 years. There is literally nothing new under the sun. [Inside The Law School Scam]
* This takes my disgust with airline cell phone rules to a whole new level. Congress needs to get on this, stat. [The Legal Satyricon]
* Two Emory law professors say law school deans might be guilty of “mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and making false statements” as part of the creation of the U.S. News rankings? Holy s**t. I don’t even know if Elie would go that far. [Social Science Research Network via Chronicle of Higher Education]
* If for some reason you are considering going to a correspondence law school in New York, you may want to reconsider. Especially if you want to sit for the bar exam. [Adjunct Law Prof Blog]
* How many lawsuits would a Fighting Sioux file if a Fighting Sioux could file suit? A lot. [The Legal Blitz]
*A Georgetown law student had the gall to tell Congress that birth control is too expensive. This apparently makes her “sex-crazed” and incapable of “sacrificing temporary pleasure for the sake of long-term success.” [CNS News, Hot Air]
In a land that is right here and in a time that is right now, a technology has arisen so powerful that it can replace basic human document review. Is it time to bow down before our new robot overlords?
First, here’s a little story about me: my life in the legal world began as a paralegal. My first case was a GIANT patent infringement case that was already six years old and had involved as many as five companies, multiple US courts, the ITC and an international standards committee. I knew nothing about any of this.
On my first day, my supervisor (a paralegal with at least eight other cases driving her crazy) sat me down in front of a Concordance database with a 100,000+ patents and patent file histories. “Code these,” she said. I learned that “coding”, for the purposes of this exercise, meant manually typing the inventor’s name, the title of the patent, the assignee, the file date, and other objective data for each document. I worked on that project – and only that project – for at least the first six months of my job. After a week or so, time began to blur.
What I know, in retrospect and with absolutely certainty, is that as time began to blur, so did my judgment. So did my attention to detail. If you could tell me that I did not make at least one mistake a day – one inconsistent spelling, one reversed day and month, one incorrectly spaced title – I frankly would need to see your evidence. I would not believe it. The human mind is trainable but it is not a machine.
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