Morning Docket: 01.23.17
* Several prominent lawyers and legal scholars are filing a lawsuit alleging that Donald Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause by letting his businesses accept money from foreign governments -- but the litigation looks like a long shot to some. [New York Times via How Appealing] * Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (previously profiled here) is returning to private practice -- and, not surprisingly, to Paul, Weiss. [American Lawyer] * Judge Andrew Hanen (S.D. Tex.), who brutally benchslapped the Obama Justice Department last year, has withdrawn the sanctions he imposed on the DOJ, finding that the misstatements in question were inadvertent. [ABA Journal] * If you've been handicapping the Supreme Court race, adjust the odds in favor of Judge Neil Gorsuch (10th Cir.) -- he's conservative but less contentious than some other nominees, as noted by Jan Crawford. [CBS News] * Confirmability might be increasing in importance as a factor for picking a SCOTUS nominee now that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to block any nominee who is not "bipartisan and mainstream." [How Appealing] * The Obama Administration didn't fare so well before SCOTUS; will the Trump Administration do any better? [New York Times] * The Second Circuit joins the Seventh Circuit in considering whether discrimination "because of sex" encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation. [New York Law Journal]
Judge Neil M. Gorsuch
* Several prominent lawyers and legal scholars are filing a lawsuit alleging that Donald Trump is violating the Emoluments Clause by letting his businesses accept money from foreign governments — but the litigation looks like a long shot to some. [New York Times via How Appealing]
* Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (previously profiled here) is returning to private practice — and, not surprisingly, to Paul, Weiss. [American Lawyer]
Luxury, Lies, And A $10 Million Embezzlement
* Judge Andrew Hanen (S.D. Tex.), who brutally benchslapped the Obama Justice Department last year, has withdrawn the sanctions he imposed on the DOJ, finding that the misstatements in question were inadvertent. [ABA Journal]
* If you’ve been handicapping the Supreme Court race, adjust the odds in favor of Judge Neil Gorsuch (10th Cir.) — he’s conservative but less contentious than some other nominees, as noted by Jan Crawford. [CBS News]
* Confirmability might be increasing in importance as a factor for picking a SCOTUS nominee now that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to block any nominee who is not “bipartisan and mainstream.” [How Appealing]
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* The Obama Administration didn’t fare so well before SCOTUS; will the Trump Administration do any better? [New York Times]
* The Second Circuit joins the Seventh Circuit in considering whether discrimination “because of sex” encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation. [New York Law Journal]
David 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].
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