Free Speech
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* Which lawyers and law firms scored the most SCOTUS arguments this Term? Adam Feldman has the tally. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* And speaking of the Supreme Court, what can lawyers learn from linguists about Heller and the Second Amendment? [LAWnLinguistics]
* Adam Kolber discusses the phenomenon of “judicial bulls**t” — and wonders whether the justices would fail Philosophy 101. [Daily Journal via PrawfsBlawg]
* Are Justice Neil Gorsuch’s long-winded concurrences contributing to the Supreme Court slowdown this Term? Andrew Hamm crunches some numbers. [SCOTUSblog]
* Many of the major precedents in the school free-speech context feature liberal students — but conservative kids can play this game too. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* Lex Machina’s latest foray into litigation analytics covers the world of trade secrets. [Dewey B Strategic]
* Relativity: not just for ediscovery anymore. [Artificial Lawyer]
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That Time I Got Suspended On Twitter For Calling Kanye West An ‘Uncle Tom’ And Other Things
My first Twitter suspension is not a First Amendment issue, just a Twitter being stupid issue.
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* A question that has crossed the mind of every Biglaw corporate associate: “How much of lawyering is being a copy-and-paste monkey?” [3 Geeks and a Law Blog]
* Kenneth Jost notes out how Justices Ginsburg and Gorsuch like to butt heads — and scores the fight 2-0 in RBG’s favor. [Jost on Justice]
* And speaking of rumbles at One First Street, which pairs of justices have the most disagreements with each other, as reflected in majority and dissenting opinions? Adam Feldman has answers. [Empirical SCOTUS]
* Saira Rao, former Cleary Gottlieb associate and author of the clerkship novel Chambermaid (affiliate link), takes on a new challenge: running for Congress. [American Bazaar]
* Data privacy is the name of the game these days, and Thomson Reuters is ready; TR showed off its new, Watson-enabled Data Privacy Advisor at Legalweek here in New York. [Dewey B Strategic]
* Amidst all the hoopla and robot fights at Legalweek, it would be easy to overlook the latest news from Neota Logic — but you shouldn’t. [Artificial Lawyer]
* Should more states move away from requiring unanimous jury verdicts in criminal cases? Joel Cohen argues that 11 is not enough. [Law & Crime]
* Can a U.S. court punish someone for their speech, on the theory that he breached an agreement not to speak, while keeping the speech-restrictive agreement secret? Eugene Volokh thinks not (with good reason). [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]
* Dewey see an end in sight for legal proceedings related to the collapse of the Biglaw giant? Former executive director Stephen DiCarmine was supposed to be in court today to face fraud claims from the Securities and Exchange Commission, but it looks like the parties might have a deal. [Law360]
* If you will be in New York City next weekend and are interested Asian-American leadership in the legal field, consider attending Columbia APALSA’s annual conference — where Kathy Hirata Chin will be honored for her efforts to promote diversity in the legal profession. [Columbia Law School APALSA]
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Hotel That Charged Guest $350 For A Negative Review Now Facing A Lawsuit From State Attorney General
And they would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling AGs.
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DOJ Subpoenas Twitter About Popehat, Dissent Doe And Others Over A Smiley Emoji Tweet
This is what those geniuses at the Justice Department do with their time.
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Bill Introduced That Would Make Arrested Protesters Pay Police Overtime, Gov’t Expenses
But remember, the REAL threat to free speech are college kids who picket Nazis.
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Court Sends John Oliver, HBO Back To State Court To Fight Bob Murray
Apparently if you’re rich enough you can defeat diversity jurisdiction.
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Taking A Stand: Tiffany Dehen’s $100 Million Lawsuit Against Twitter And Her Law School
When does a parody account cross the line into harassment?
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Twitter Sues Homeland Security Over Attempt To Unmask ‘Alt’ Immigration Twitter Account
Twitter brings in Biglaw to sue government.
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All the way up to the Supreme Court and back and the question still remains unanswered.
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Crime, Free Speech, Masturbation, Non-Sequiturs, Sex, Technology, United Kingdom / Great Britain
* For some reason, the Supreme Court has hardly ruled on any of the First Amendment cases before it this term. Cue the Twilight Zone theme.[PrawfsBlawg]
* New strategy for closing the gender gap: stop relying on mentors so much. Because, you know, Jack Donaghy can only do so much before Liz Lemon has to start figuring stuff out on her own. [Careerist]
* He’s not saying your antivirus software is useless, it’s just not exactly useful. [Volokh Conspiracy]
* Happy Diamond Jubilee to that elderly English lady who wears big, old-fashioned hats and is always politely waving to large crowds. [Charon QC via Blawg Review]
* A man stole a $4,000 gold plated vibrator, but he forgot to nab the charger. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. [Legal Juice]
* What not to do in a judge’s chambers. [Greedy Associates]
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Education / Schools, Free Speech, Kids, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Technology
SCOTUS Denies Cert in Teen’s D-Bag First Amendment Suit
It is not hard to imagine an angsty teenager, angry at her school, hitting the ‘net and writing cruel words about a school employee on her blog. It’s also not hard to imagine word getting back to the school, and some unpleasant consequences for the student. What just doesn’t compute is how that scenario translates to a four-year legal saga culminating in an appeal to the United States Supreme Court….
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Bad Ideas, Facebook, Free Speech, Social Networking Websites, Technology
Even in the Internet Age, You Can’t Call Your Boss a ‘Super Mega Puta’
It’s strange how quickly the world changes. Things used to be so simple, but now Steve Jobs has resigned from Apple and we’re having earthquakes in Washington, D.C. Moreover, some fundamental rules of online conduct are beginning to look like artifacts from a bygone era when people were crazy for RAZRs and nu metal. Gone […]
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Bad Ideas, Crime, Cyberlaw, Free Speech, Police, Technology
San Francisco Subway Shuts Off Cell Service, Hackers Get Angry
I rode BART into San Francisco on Monday for dinner. As our train approached the Embarcadero station, the driver came on the intercom. “We aren’t stopping at this station. Don’t want to drop you in the middle of a protest.” So my roommate and I got off a block later and backtracked. We encountered a […]
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Alex Kozinski, Defamation, Federal Judges, Free Speech, Media and Journalism, Technology
Did Blogging Kill the First Amendment?
Our buddy, the Honorable Alex Kozinski, is on a roll. On Monday, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit benchslapped a pair of wealthy, persistently annoying and mildly famous identical twins. The same day, he gave a lecture at San Francisco’s Golden Gate University School of Law, where he […]
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Facebook, Free Speech, Social Networking Websites, Technology
Insulting Your Boss Online Is Now Protected Speech
In 2009, a paramedic in Connecticut went home and complained about her boss on Facebook. Then she got fired. “Love how the company allows a 17 to be a supervisor,” 42-year-old Dawnmarie Souza wrote. A “17” is the code her company, the American Medical Response ambulance service, uses for a psychiatric patient. She also called […]