* Virginia cops got caught using forged DNA reports to extract confessions. Due process, schmue process. [Associated Press]
* The FTC gets the go-ahead to try and force Meta to divest Instagram and WhatsApp. Love me some antitrust! [The Guardian]
* A court heavily influenced by big money with no binding code of judicial conduct (read: the Supreme one) will be giving their say on money's role on politics. I'm sure their decision won't be a blank check for oligarchs. [Esquire]
* Turns out there was a bit of electoral voter fraud in Nevada. But what's a little forgery and disruption of democracy between friends, really? [8NewsNow]
* Students are boycotting firms based on the causes they get their money from. Will you put your heart where your billables are too? [The Nation]
* No WWJD defense: Court nixes religious exemption to vaccine mandate for school kids. [Courant]
While so many GOP members raise a ruckus about nonexistent voter fraud, when election fraud actually happens those same GOP members sit on their hands and turn a blind eye.
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Ed. note: Early wishes for a happy July 4th weekend! We'll be back on Wednesday, July 5 (barring unforeseen news).
* I don't know that free speech is under cultural attack, as this post argues. But I do think people are using lawsuits to bash speech they don't like. Instead of lecturing people about the sacred right of Nazis to intimidate people on Twitter, I'd rather the First Amendment crowd came up with a real regime of sanctions for people who bring lawsuits against clearly protected speech. I just don't know that the Deplorable fanboys would recognize that as a sufficient way to fight for their freedom to talk out of their asses. [Popehat]
* The Fifth Circuit has now conferred qualified immunity on expert witnesses, deployed to spout whatever nonsense the government thinks will help them gain a conviction. The Democrat who runs on a criminal justice reform platform that included changing the rules around qualified immunity would probably get my vote. Instead they'll probably run a Goldman executive with an innovative plan to retrain bigoted hill people for the hi-tech jobs of the future. [Simple Justice]
* What Trump is actually trying to do with his voter fraud investigation is horrifying. But Professor Rick Hasen says it won't work, and I'm going to trust him because I do not want to get pissed off about a whole new thing this close to a long weekend. [Slate]
* Texas isn't sure that same-sex marriage means that same-sex couples get marriage benefits. Sigh. Look, Texas is going to lose its fight against gay people, eventually. YOU HEAR THAT YOU HAT WEARIN' COWBOYS? Gay people are going to kick your ass and have sex in your Alamo. [Texas Tribune]
* Based on the settlement data, The Root came up with a methodology to calculate the worth of a black life. Ballpark, the state pays about $3,364,875 per family for the right to kill us without criminal accountability. If you've got thoughts about how the state spends too much money in settlements, keep them to yourself. [The Root]
* Stay safe out there this long weekend. The Texas Law Hawk has some fireworks safety tips. [Texas Law Hawk]
* Checking in with the Alt-Right, I could go with all the stories about how people have called Kellyanne Conway "ugly," which is apparently the Alt-Right defense for the president mocking Mika Brzezinski? But this headline is just too good: "Germany Surrenders to Trump, Waters Down G20 Climate Plan #Winning" They're making water puns, y'all. They are defiant. You can't even blame the Earth for trying to kill all of us. [Breitbart]
* The United States has been downgraded to a "flawed democracy." [New York Daily News]
* The irony is too much. [Washington Post]
* Rick Hasen on how a voter fraud investigation should really go. [Slate]
* The ACLU wants Jeff Sessions back before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. [ACLU]
* Trump's election changed a lot of things. [Medium]
* Get ready for insurance to be disrupted. [Law and More]
* Wait, where the heck _is_ Staci?
https://twitter.com/stacizaretsky/status/824339825063055364
* Donald Trump is launching a "major investigation" into voter fraud because the rest of us pointed out that his popular vote claims were pure bull hockey. This is fantastic. We've known that voter fraud really isn't a thing for years but now there'll be proof. [CNN]
* A deeper dive into the Dentons conflict check snafu. [Litigation Daily]
* The original patent troll firm is no more. [Ars Technica]
* Sergey Aleynikov's conviction reinstated. "The decision is a 'big victory' for Vance and helps to enhance his reputation as a 'no-nonsense' prosecutor who will aggressively prosecute financial fraud." Wasting years pursuing a conviction the federal courts threw out just to appease Goldman Sachs donors in their private vendetta... sure that's the kind of financial fraud everyone's looking to see aggressively prosecuted. [Bloomberg]
* Deutsche out $110 million. [Law360]
* Hughes Hubbard files trademark application for Trump's reelection slogan "Keep America Great." Which he stole from The Purge, if you're wondering what's next on his agenda. [The Am Law Daily]
* Oh. And we have our first martial law sighting! [Salon]
* More cease-and-desist action from the world of Donald Trump. It seems he's gone and pissed off Aerosmith. [Fortune]
* First-person accounts of providing abortions on the cusp of Roe v. Wade. [New York Magazine]
* This is the exact opposite of how a school district should handle teacher molestation cases, though I can see it playing well in law school fact patterns in the near future. [The Atlantic]
* Kansas Secretary of State to begin his prosecution of voter fraud cases, after first being given authority to do so earlier this year. [Talking Point Memo]
* These are now skills lawyers need: the ability to sell, sell, sell. [Law and More]
* A change.org petition to prevent gun suicides. [change.org]
* Practical advice (in podcast form) for making your law practice lean. [Law Reboot]
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* Dewey know if Citibank is planning to sue other former D&L partners over their capital contribution loans? According to one court document filed by Luskin Stern & Eisler, the bank’s counsel, the fun has just gotten started. [Am Law Daily]
* Unlike the voter ID laws in Texas and South Carolina, the Department of Justice has approved New Hampshire’s law of the same ilk. Apparently hippies from the “Live Free or Die” state are incapable of discrimination against minorities. [CNN]
* Arizona, on the other hand, can discriminate against minorities all the live long day — for now. A federal judge ruled that the “show me your papers” provision of S.B. 1070, the state’s strict immigration law, may be enforced. [Bloomberg]
* The latest argument raised in the case over the Mongolian Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton is that the bones are actually a “Frankenstein model based on several creatures.” This movie is getting boring. [WSJ Law Blog]
* “[T]he state of New York doesn’t get to be a dance critic.” We’re sure that any man would gladly tell the New York Court of Appeals that lap dancing is a form of art, but should it enjoy a tax exemption? [Associated Press]
* These are some sad times in Texas, y’all. It really hasn’t been a very good week for the Lone Star state in the courts. First their redistricting plan got thrown out, and now their voter ID law has been struck down. [CNN]
* Jeh Johnson of the Defense Department may take legal action against the former Navy SEAL who wrote a book about the Osama bin Laden raid, calling it a “material breach” of duty. Must be good; go buy it! [CBS News]
* Bros will be bros: disbarment has been recommended for an attorney who failed to disclose to clients that he had been suspended for banging an underage chick who worked at his office. [National Law Journal]
* Here are 15 Northeast law schools ranked by employment rate. After getting excited that mine was on the list — albeit dead last — I realized I’m seriously a low expectation havin’ motherf**ker. [Boston Business Journal]
* George W. Huguely V, the UVA lacrosse player who beat his girlfriend to death, was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Distasteful joke alert: for his sake, we hope the prison uniforms have poppable collars. [Bloomberg]
* A Maryland lawyer with autism and Sensory Processing Disorder has created a way for people to stop getting up in your personal space while riding public transportation. Say hello to the Sensory Shield! [Huffington Post]
* Rush Limbaugh wonders if Obama is responsible for today’s violence at the Empire State Building. As usual, someone commits a crime, and Rush tries to find a black person to pin it on. [Politico]
* Speaking of the shooting, this is the single best update in the history of updates. [Onion]
* Here’s how the GOP is trying to work the voter fraud angle. [AlterNet]
* If you are going to insult your clients, I believe the preferred nomenclature is “muppets” not “toothless cooties.” [Denver Westword]
* Of COURSE porn is copyrightable. Jesus, it’s not like any bored housewife can do it, though I suppose it is fun when the try. [The Legal Satyricon]
* What lawyers do in August. [Dealbreaker]
* if you happen to be in Honolulu this Labor Day, first you should thank the God you pray to that you get to be in Honolulu. But then you might want to check this legal film series “The First Thing We Do, Let’s Film All The Lawyers.” It sounds pretty cool, and might be a nice break from relaxing in paradise. [Law In Film]
