Bail

First The Onion Is Teaching People First Amendment Law, Now This?

At this rate, being a comedian should count as having the JD Advantage.™

Prosecutors Admit They’re Abusing The Bail Process And The Media Just Cheers Them On

You can keep someone in jail for being a threat; you can't keep them in jail for being a credit risk.

Morning Docket: 07.19.19

* Eugene Scalia, a partner at Gibson Dunn, will be nominated as the next Labor secretary to replace Alex Acosta. If that last name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s son. [NPR] * "I disagree with it." President Trump now claims that he was "not happy" with a crowd chanting "send her back" in relation to Somali-born Representative Ilhan Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, at one of his re-election campaign rallies. This, after Trump tweeted that Omar and three other congresswomen of color should "go back" to their countries, despite being American-born citizens. [New York Times] * According to recently unsealed court records, per the FBI, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and some of his top aides were very much involved in a series of hush-money payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump, of course, has very publicly denied having knowledge of such payments. [USA Today] * The House of Representatives passed a bill to gradually hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. Don't get too excited, because this has little to no chance of passing in the Senate. [CNBC] * In case you missed it, you shouldn't really be surprised by the fact that a judge turned down bail for convicted sex offender and accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. He'll remain in jail until trial. [New York Law Journal] * Disgraced former Case Western law school dean Lawrence Mitchell (now known as Ezra Wasserman Mitchell) was quietly let go without a contract renewal at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, where he'd been working as a visiting professor, after an investigation into his alleged misconduct. [Cleveland Scene] * It's been five years since FSU Law Professor Dan Markel was murdered in his own home, and we're still waiting for his killers to be brought to justice. [Tallahassee Democrat]

Of Course Jeffrey Epstein Has A Fake Passport

Prosecutors request no bail, claim Epstein a flight risk.

Why Setting Bail Can Make Or Break A Case

The law says that everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, yet for poor people unable to afford bail, the opposite is true.

Morning Docket: 03.05.19

* Another woman alleges Morrison & Foerster held back her career by placing her on a "mommy track." These Mofos. [American Lawyer] * Ty Cobb thinks Robert Mueller is "an American hero" underscoring why Cobb's no longer running the president's defense. [ABC News] * Being no fools, Team Cohen tried to secure a pardon before finally deciding to cooperate with the government. [WSJ] * Jane Mayer reports that Trump ordered his underlings to block the Time Warner deal in an effort to punish CNN for reporting on him. George Conway is not pleased. [New Yorker] * Money bail schedules ruled unconstitutional as applied to the poor. [Courthouse News Service] * Trump buddy sued over hacking Mariah Carey's manager's electronics because things can always get weirder. [Law360] * Jones Day continues to profiteer off the decline and fall of the American experiment. [American Lawyer]

Judge Locks Up Defense Attorney Who Dared To Roll His Eyes At Him

'Rolling your eyes, throwing your hands in the air, acting like I’m some kind of idiot gets you locked up for contempt.'

The Bailout Initiative: Is It Fair Or Is It Dangerous?

Is putting approximately 500 people charged with crimes back on the street risky? Maybe, but not as risky as prosecutors and police fear. 

California Botched Its Attempt to Abolish Cash Bail

The law that passed is so flawed its original co-sponsor, the ACLU, disowned it.

Morning Docket: 08.29.18

* Trump's now claiming that Stormy Daniels is impinging on his right to free speech because weaponizing that right's worked so well so far, why not extend it to this? [NBC] * In the same breath, we're now talking about censoring Google to "own the libs." [Recorder] * And the First Amendment now protects sharing food with homeless people, because apparently we needed a rule to cover being a decent human being. * Don McGahn may be on the way out after spilling the beans to Mueller. Trump insists on Twitted that McGahn is not a "rat" like John Dean, but just as this whole administration is "Nixon, but dumber" McGahn probably didn't realize what he was doing while he did it. [Business Insider] * People are up in arms over Lanny Davis being an anonymous source for CNN, but really what was CNN supposed to do? They couldn't say, "Davis refused to comment on the record" because that would prove he was the anonymous source. It's where dumb journalism rules hang people up because the right answer would be to make no mention at all of Davis, but journos feel they have to indicate that they tried to talk to principal figures in any given story. Anyway, Glenn Greenwald has thoughts on this and he used to be a real journalist before he went batshit crazy. [GQ] * California ends money bail! California, man. They're ahead on everything. Getting rid of bail, legal weed, regretting Reagan.... [Washington Post] * One of the actions Trump is "most proud of" is one he never accomplished. Sounds about right. [Axios] * Vermont changes its laws in bid to become a blockchain hub because it's all about bad ideas. [VT Digger]

Morning Docket: 08.28.18

* Which Biglaw firm orchestrated the biggest turnaround in associate satisfaction this year? [American Lawyer] * Evidence nerds can rejoice! The upcoming Manafort trial will have a lot to talk about on that front. [National Law Journal] * Despite some talk from proponents, re-erecting UNC's recently toppled Confederate statue isn't required by law. Just a staunch commitment to white supremacy. [News & Observer] * A consideration of bail alternatives. [Courthouse News Service] * GCs from some of the biggest companies in the world share what they want out of outside counsel. [Law.com] * A quick chat with Marriott's general counsel. If you read it, you get 10000 Marriott points. OK, you don't really but that would be a good promotion. [Law360]

Bail Revoked For Alleged Waffle House Shooter, Who Was Given Monetary Bail For Some Unknown Reason

Let's use this opportunity to talk about how stupid bail is.

Morning Docket: 09.21.17

* Tiffany Trump attends Justice Ginsburg lecture because in the coming dystopian FedSoc hellscape, Tiffany will be the enigmatic hermit charged with remembering the long-long-ago when judges spoke of "interstate commerce" and "checks and balances." [Washington Post] * PwC is set to launch a U.S. law firm, but Biglaw is just fine because the Big 4 law firm can't offer domestic legal advice... yet. [Law.com] * Meanwhile, from the massive understatements department: "Kasowitz Benson Adjusts Management Team Amid Tumultuous Year." [New York Law Journal] * Looking for solutions to the problems plaguing patents? Here's some insight direct from the Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit. [Law360] * You can now legally dance in New York bars. I'm not sure why you'd want to, but you can. [NPR] * You probably knew that bail was discriminatory and awful, but it's always jarring to see exactly how discriminatory and awful. [The Guardian] * Sex trafficking fight may torpedo Section 230. [Wired]

Bail Reform Seems Like The Very Least We Could Do

If the robots can do it better, we should let them.

The Dan Markel Case: Watch Your Words About Wendi Adelson

Wendi Adelson's lawyer is considering legal action against those who malign his client online.