Above the Law

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Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.23.26

* Republican county judge blocks Virginia’s redistricting effort. The same judge already tried to block it before and keeps getting swatted down by the state supreme court. [Reuters]

* SBF says he wrote his own brief… with help from his parents. Which must thrill the judge. [Law360]

* Interesting paper breaking down the rise in pro se court filings and AI’s role. [Github]

* FBI reportedly probed a NY Times reporter after she wrote about Kash Patel using bureau resources to chauffeur his girlfriend to get her hair done. [NY Times]

* House Oversight Committee Republicans split over whether to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. Except the Constitution doesn’t care what a House member thinks about a pardon, and they’ll all enthusiastically support it if Trump does it. [Politico]

* Wilson Sonsini brings in new COO from Baker McKenzie. [American Lawyer]

* Remember. the insurance fraud case where someone dressed up as a bear? Well, it’s sentencing time. [Lowering the Bar]

See Also

Tenure Means Never Having To Say Sorry — See Also

Jonathan Turley’s Remarks Wouldn’t Fly In An Undergraduate Paper: But we have to pretend its credible because he’s saying it.

Calling Your Own Words “Lies” Is A Strong Start: Kash Patel’s $250M complaint isn’t going so well.

Honesty Becomes Best Policy: The NBCE updated their character and fitness questions around mental health and drug use.

Cogs In The Machine Suffer From The Grind: Associates are heading for the door in record numbers.

Provost Calls Emergency Meeting About Law School Dean Nominee: Judge Van Tatenhove isn’t the most popular pick.

Resources

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.22.26

* DOJ announces that it has secured an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleging the organization supported hate groups by using funds to pay people to infiltrate those hate groups — which, ironically, is something the DOJ historically does. [AP News

* Fifth Circuit rules that states can force public schools to hang the Ten Commandments. When asked about the ample historical record that Americans at the time the First Amendment was ratified would have rejected this result, the originalists on the court declared that “original” is not a matter of “fact” but a judge’s individual legal assessment. [Reuters]

* Do the leaked Supreme Court memos really show Roberts at his worst? Because Shelby County exists. [Slate]

* Have advances in AI threatened the legacy legal research companies? [Legaltech News]

* Another law school ranking is right around the corner. [Law.com]

* Roblox settles with the West Virginia AG’s office for $11.5 million. The state wants more child safety protections in the video game. Last year West Virginia loosened its child labor laws. Yearning for the real mines is good, building them on the computer is bad. [Law360]

* Judge who handcuffed child in Texas has charges dropped provided she never attempts to judge again. [ABA Journal]