Death Penalty

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.26.15

* Senate Republicans are contemplating abolishing filibusters for SCOTUS nominees. This could go one of two ways: it could work out nicely for them, or explode in their faces. It's like a choose your own adventure game. [POLITICO] * When it comes to the upcoming gay marriage cases before SCOTUS, "[e]very lawyer involved will want to argue." Remember, when you're given the chance to make history, you better hope that you're on the right side of it. [National Law Journal] * "[I]f there is one decision I would overrule, it is Citizens United." Even RBG thinks this campaign finance decision is one of the Supreme Court's "darkest hour[s]." [Salon] * SCOTUS refused to stay Charles Warner's execution, but it agreed to grant cert on his lethal injection case days after his death. Better late than never? [New York Times] * The NFL has drafted Ted Wells of Paul Weiss to blow up the absurd controversy that is "Deflategate." Come on, who cares if the Patriots cheated again? [WSJ Law Blog] * Do you know any chronic Biglaw firm-hoppers? How many firms are too many to lateral to? Three? Five? Seven? Jesus Christ, for this guy, try 10 firms. [Am Law Daily]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.21.15

* Nothing is f*cked here, Judge: With first-class flights, alcoholic beverages, and hotel movies already nixed, lawyers who worked on the City of Detroit's municipal bankruptcy case are now being forced to defend their multi-million dollar billables. [WSJ Law Blog] * "It's important to have different perspectives in Congress. It really adds a lot to the mix." That said, which law schools are the best at producing lawmakers? You may be surprised by some of the schools that made the list. [National Law Journal] * “Going to law school is still a great option," says the dean of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, a school whose 25th percentile LSAT scores dropped by six points year over year. Toss UA Law a pity application. [Daily Wildcat] * Per the defense in the Aurora movie theater massacre case, the prosecutor's "insistence upon the death penalty certainly seems politically motivated" -- that, or maybe James Holmes deserves the death penalty for killing 12 people. [ABA Journal] * By now, everyone's heard of the woman who's planning to "marry" her biological father and move to New Jersey. Believe it or not, incestual adult relationships are actually legal in the Garden State thanks to a legislative screw-up. [NJ Advance Media]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.22.14

* Florida Judge Cynthia Imperato was "devastated" after a jury found her guilty of DUI and reckless driving charges, but we imagine the judge may be more devastated by the fact that she's a sitting judge who's been sentenced to 20 days of house arrest. [Florida Sun Sentinel] * David Schwimmer, best known for his role as Ross on Friends, has been cast as lawyer Robert Kardashian in an O.J. Simpson true crime television miniseries. He surely knows it'll take a lot of "unagi" to play the role just right. [Rolling Stone] * If you have to debt finance your J.D., you're going to in for a rude awakening when you graduate and the loans start coming due. FYI, "lot[s] of graduates [are] buried in private student loan debt with not enough income to repay it." [Forbes] * The parents of James Holmes, who's better known as the alleged shooter in the Aurora movie theater massacre, have begged for him to be spared the death penalty ahead of his trial, but prosecutors say that in this case, "justice is death." [Denver Post] * When it comes to Russia, "[a] lot of firms are thinking about pulling out.” That's what she would've said if she were a managing partner. Biglaw firms that have been rocked by the ruble's ruin are telling lawyers to leave before they're laid off. [Am Law Daily] * Binder & Binder, the National Social Security Disability Advocates® whose late-night TV commercials you've grown to love, has filed for bankruptcy. The firm's headcount will likely drop by more than half because of this. Yikes! [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 12.18.14

* 3D printing and lightsabers and intellectual property. [Concurring Opinions] * Speaking of IP law, let's talk Santa Claus and intellectual property. [Trademark & Copyright Law Blog / Foley Hoag LLP] * "ExamExtensionGate" stirs up conservatives, but also a lot of liberal to moderate Boomers, because... "Lazy Millennials!" Forgetting of course that law students in the 1960s did the exact same thing. But those were mostly white kids talking about Vietnam, so it's like... different, man. [PrawfsBlawg] * If you're excited to hear this year's annual report on the federal judiciary and can't hardly wait until Chief Justice Roberts unleashes it upon the world, perhaps you can sate your appetite with this prebuttal. [Fix the Court] * The Texas judge who kicked a lawyer out of court for thoughtlessly appearing with a broken leg has earned the ire of the Dallas legal community. [Legal Juice] * More than 70 years later, a judge concludes that South Carolina shouldn't have executed a 14-year-old based on a one-day trial. Took ya long enough. [WTOP] * Interesting academic piece on Muslims in the Antebellum South. In other news, there were Muslims in the Antebellum South. [The Faculty Lounge]

By Joe Patrice
American Bar Association / ABA

Non-Sequiturs: 11.10.14

* Huge Net Neutrality development: President Obama believes the FCC should reclassify the Internet as a utility. Will his three appointees listen to him? [Vox] * Rick Springfield’s butt faces retrial. [Lowering the Bar] * The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar is recommending the sale of Charleston Law School to InfiLaw. Well, now we should feel secure in knowing this is a great plan. [TaxProf Blog] * An interview with famed mob lawyer turned mayor, Oscar Goodman. [Coverage Opinions] * In Alabama, if a jury misbehaves and doesn’t sentence a murderer to the death penalty, the judge has full power to overrule them. Delightful. [The New Yorker] * A white former prosecutor has to work really, really hard to get himself arrested, along the way exposing just how racially stilted the criminal justice system is. [The Atlantic]

By Joe Patrice
Barack Obama

Morning Docket: 10.21.14

* When asked what his favorite SCOTUS decision was during his POTUS tenure, Obama said it was the high court’s cert denials on the gay marriage cases. Well played, sir. [Wall Street Journal] * “Leverage has started to shift away from law firms.” Despite the fact that their headcounts are rising, Biglaw firms are downsizing office space as rents keep climbing higher. [Am Law Daily] * Schools are trying to slap lipstick on the pig that legal education has become amid an “anemic job market.” We bet your law school has some shiny new innovations too. [News Observer] * Citing the fact that “the courts do not exist to win popularity contests,” a judge sentenced Oscar Pistorius to five years in prison. Serious question: Will he be allowed to bring his prosthetic legs? [New York Times] * Nancy Grace and her friends have pitchforks at the ready because Jodi Arias’s penalty phase retrial begins today, and another jury will decide if she deserves to die for murdering her boyfriend. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky
American Bar Association / ABA

Morning Docket: 08.04.14

* All work and no play makes summer associates sad, but they had a really great time this year, what with the lucky law students attending Broadway shows, sporting events, and Russian cabarets. Sounds like fun! [Am Law Daily] * Alas, not everyone was getting wined and dined this summer. Some lawyers can’t even find a place to work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal services sector lost ~200 jobs during the month of July. [WSJ Law Blog] * It may be the “worst time in the history of legal education to go to law school,” but because of new programs being launched, at least some of our recent graduates will be less screwed. [New York Times] * “The ABA is used as a whipping boy for standing in the way of innovation,” but soon it’ll vote on revisions to its accreditation standards. Welcome to the party, ABA, thanks for being late. [National Law Journal] * It took 15 doses of lethal injection drugs to execute Joseph Wood when it should’ve taken one. Don’t worry, it wasn’t cruel and unusual punishment — the Arizona Department of Corrections says so. [CNN]

By Staci Zaretsky
Bankruptcy

Morning Docket: 07.24.14

* The day after the Supreme Court lifted a stay on Joseph Wood’s execution, it took nearly two hours for Arizona authorities to kill him using the very drug cocktail he contested on appeal. [New York Times] * So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu: Spencer Barasch, the lawyer at the center of some blowback due to his dealings with Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford, is now leaving Andrews Kurth. [Am Law Daily] * A dead body was found inside of this West Texas law firm, and the man who was pegged as a suspect claimed he lived at the firm, along with his recently deceased friend. This seems sketchy. [KCBD 11] * Suffolk Law is hosting a contest where students, coders, and entrepreneurs will try to figure out a way to hack the justice gap. Start by creating an app to help new lawyers earn a living wage. [BostInno] * Donald Sterling isn’t going to let the fact that he’s already involved in one contentious lawsuit about the L.A. Clippers stop him from filing another contentious lawsuit about the L.A. Clippers. [Bloomberg] * Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild infamy is in some trouble with the law. He just got hit with a $5,000 per day fine until he returns two luxury cars to the pornography company’s bankruptcy estate. [WSJ Law Blog]

By Staci Zaretsky