Catholic Church

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.19.20

* This election cycle, we are reminded again that taking ballot selfies is illegal in many jurisdictions. Too bad, with the right insta filter, that ballot would look really good... [New York Times] * A New York federal judge has denied a preliminary injunction to the Catholic Brooklyn Diocese seeking to reopen churches closed due to COVID-19 rules. [CNN] * A lawsuit has already been filed over the forthcoming Borat sequel. [Wrap] * A group in Louisiana has been charged for allegedly staging car accidents in order to generate legal payouts. [Times-Picayune] * A lawsuit in Oregon alleges that a Portland gas station attendant purportedly refused to sell gas to black customers out of fear the gas might be used in rioting. [Fox News] * The owner of a law firm named Legal Genius PLLC has pleaded guilty to defrauding the IRS and other charges. Hate to go for the low-hanging joke here, but the firm might want to change its name to something more accurate... [ABC News]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 11.14.19

* Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg missed oral arguments on Wednesday because of a stomach bug. Wishing Justice Ginsburg a speedy recovery! [CNN] * Closing arguments have started in the Roger Stone trial. From what prosecutors are saying, it seems like Roger Stone has a target as well as a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his […]

By Jordan Rothman
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 01.12.16

* Even at a conference, Judge Easterbrook can be intimidating. [Business Law Prof Blog] * Boeing filed a patent to make air travel slight less hellish. Good luck with that. [Travel and Leisure] * Judge plans to stick Ammon Bundy's merry band of militia men playing terrorist out in the woods with the bill for their security... to the tune of $70,000 a day. [Raw Story] * Josh Duggar is such a loser he is even losing discovery battles like a pro. [Radar] * Lawyer Eric Macleish played a role in the legal battles over child abuse by Catholic priests in Boston (as recounted in the movie Spotlight). Whether he was a villain or victim in the saga is still up for debate. [Guile is Good] * Is it possibly true that you can really discharge student loan debt in bankruptcy? [My Bank Tracker] * If you're goofing off by pretending to work from home, don't give yourself away. [Daily Lawyer Tips]

By Kathryn Rubino
John Roberts

Non-Sequiturs: 07.02.13

* Another interpretation of the Shelby County decision posits that the Roberts Court is a lot like the Walking Dead, just less entertaining. [Huffington Post] * Dean David Schizer is leaving. [The Faculty Lounge] * Missouri tried to “save Christmas” from heathens, but had its efforts stymied when the governor realized it could literally set the state on fire. [Volokh Conspiracy] * Cardinal Dolan, America’s most prominent Catholic bishop, apparently shifted Church assets to keep them from falling into the hands of abuse victims. Perhaps he could have exerted the same effort keeping abuse victims out of the hands of abusers? [NY Times] * It looks like a Paul Weiss associate, Molissa Farber, is still alive in the $1,000 No-Limit event at the World Series of Poker. Maybe she’ll be able to pay off her loans sooner rather than later. [Poker News] * Did you enjoy Milli Vanilli? Perhaps you’d like watching air guitar? The national semifinals are in New York tonight. [Bowery Ballroom]

By Joe Patrice
Law Schools

Non-Sequiturs: 05.31.13

* The new meme sweeping the Intertubes is “Old Economy Steve.” While not strictly law-related, it is a fitting meme for trolling recent law school grads entering the market. [The Atlantic] * After talking about the Atlanta battle of the (legal) bands, we learned that San Francisco is also getting into the act. [Law Rocks] * Speculating on George Washington’s approach to drone strikes. [Washington Times] * A look at how regulatory and tax policy changes affect the value of energy companies. [Breaking Energy] * E. Gordon Gee, Columbia Law ’71 and President of THE Ohio State University got in a little trouble for saying, “You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we’re doing.” So another guy gets in trouble for being honest. Gee also said that you can’t trust Catholic priests, which segues nicely into the next item. [Yahoo! Sports] * The Catholic Church’s top exorcist claims to have performed 160,000 exorcisms. After the jump, Professor Mark Kightlinger from the University of Kentucky College of Law eviscerates this claim with “math.” “Assuming he was ordained at the age of 21, he would have had to perform 2388 exorcisms per year for the past 67 years. That is more than 6.5 exorcisms per day every day (not taking into account the occasional leap year with an extra day). Perhaps he is just a really fast exorcist. Or perhaps he does mass exorcisms. I don’t have a view about how many demons might be out there but I am skeptical about whether one guy could cast out so many. Perhaps he needs to go back to the books and read about pride.” – Mark Kightlinger

By Joe Patrice