Bump Stocks

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.21.18

* Lawyers for Brendan Dassey of Making a Murderer have filed a writ of certiorari, asking the Supreme Court to review a decision made by the en banc Seventh Circuit that upheld his conviction for murder. Earlier, a federal magistrate overturned his conviction and a panel of the Seventh Circuit affirmed. This is totally going to be in the show’s sequel. [ABC 2 WBAY] * A step in the right direction for gun control? During a Medal of Valor ceremony at the White House, President Trump announced that he'd directed Attorney General Jeff Sessions to draft regulations that would effectively ban the use of bump stocks. Now we'll just wait a few months to see some action on AR-15s... [USA Today] * Could it be? Could Justice Neil Gorsuch be on your side when it comes to privacy? Believe it or not, “[h]e may even become the Supreme Court's next swing vote on Fourth Amendment issues,” and this term he’ll have more than an ample opportunity to swing on the issues of digital privacy and police search warrants. [VICE News] * If you thought you couldn't get rid of your student loans in bankruptcy, you were likely be right, but that could change. The Trump administration is looking into what it takes for borrowers to meet the "undue hardship" threshold for the discharge of federal loans in bankruptcy, and may clarify the standard. [Wall Street Journal] * In perhaps the best student event ever, Howard Law rented out an entire movie theater so that students, faculty, staff, and alumni could see an opening-night screening of Black Panther. The school's SBA co-hosted the awesomeness with Georgetown Law’s Black Law Students Association. Congratulations! [Law.com]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.06.17

* "They're not just preparing for a court challenge. They’re prepared to lose." President Trump has been including severability clauses in some of his most controversial executive orders and proclamations (e.g., Travel Ban 2.0, Travel Ban 3.0, and the transgender military ban). At this rate, he's on pace to use them more than all of his most recent predecessors combined. [USA Today] * Special counsel Robert Mueller filed his legal team's first expenditure report yesterday afternoon, and it's a doozy. Thus far, $6.7 million has been spent between May 17, 2017, and September 30, 2017, and contrary to popular belief at the White House, the Russia investigation is nowhere near an end. [National Law Journal] * The Justice Department is now open to regulating guns; we repeat, the Justice Department is now open to regulating guns -- or at least parts that can make guns even more deadly than they already are. That said, the DOJ has entered into a rule-making process that will redetermine the legality of bump stock devices. [CNN] * All has been quiet on the Sedgwick front for about a week, but now we've got word that "many" of the failed firm's lawyers from numerous offices -- including San Francisco-based team led by partners Bruce Celebrezze and Alexander Potente -- will be joining British insurance firm Clyde & Co in the new year. [American Lawyer] * In case you missed it, Judge Valarie E. Turner -- who allowed a law clerk to wear her robes and preside over cases -- was recently forced into retirement after admitting that she'd been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and "acknowledg[ing] that she [was] permanently unable to perform her judicial duties." [Chicago Sun-Times]

By Staci Zaretsky