Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.11.17

* After hearing powerful testimony from victims' relatives, a federal jury sentenced Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof to death. [BuzzFeed] * Dahlia Lithwick on yesterday's Jeff Sessions hearing: the nominee "will be handily confirmed," and Democrats "are rightly very, very afraid." [Slate] * An interesting puzzle for the Supreme Court: free speech and credit card fees. [New York Times via How Appealing] * Also from Howard Bashman, also about free speech: Gibson Dunn partner Miguel Estrada "warns City of Philadelphia that his hourly rate is very expensive." [How Appealing] * More about Morrison & Foerster snagging former Justice Department national security chief John Carlin -- the latest in a series of high-profile hires of former government lawyers, including Kathryn Thomson and Jessie Liu. [Law.com] * Some good news out of the Charlotte School of Law: students might be getting their spring semester loan proceeds after all. [ABA Journal] * Speaking of money, Volkswagen is going to pay a lot of it -- perhaps $4.3 billion in fines -- to resolve the federal criminal investigation into its cheating on vehicle emissions tests. [New York Times]

Dylann Roof (Photo by Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images)

Dylann Roof (Photo by Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images)

* After hearing powerful testimony from victims’ relatives, a federal jury sentenced Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof to death. [BuzzFeed]

* Dahlia Lithwick on yesterday’s Jeff Sessions hearing: the nominee “will be handily confirmed,” and Democrats “are rightly very, very afraid.” [Slate]

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* An interesting puzzle for the Supreme Court: free speech and credit card fees. [New York Times via How Appealing]

* Also from Howard Bashman, also about free speech: Gibson Dunn partner Miguel Estrada “warns City of Philadelphia that his hourly rate is very expensive.” [How Appealing]

* More about Morrison & Foerster snagging former Justice Department national security chief John Carlin — the latest in a series of high-profile hires of former government lawyers, including Kathryn Thomson and Jessie Liu. [Law.com]

* Some good news out of the Charlotte School of Law: students might be getting their spring semester loan proceeds after all. [ABA Journal]

* Speaking of money, Volkswagen is going to pay a lot of it — perhaps $4.3 billion in fines — to resolve the federal criminal investigation into its cheating on vehicle emissions tests. [New York Times]


DBL square headshotDavid Lat is the founder and managing editor of Above the Law and the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].