Education / Schools

Et Tu, John Jay?

Is the College for Criminal Justice part of the patriarchy?

First Edward Blum Came For The Voting Rights Act, Now He Aims To Gut Affirmative Action With The Help Of Asian Americans

Blum’s organizations attempt to choke our country’s educational institutions’ ability to take race into account in their admissions policies.

Non-Sequiturs: 09.23.18

* In case you missed it amidst all the craziness of last week, Monday was Constitution Day -- and as Judge Don Willett reminds us, it's up to us to keep our constitutional republic strong. [Wall Street Journal] * The Supreme Court clerk class of October Term 2008: where are they now? Derek Muller has tracked them down. [Excess of Democracy] * Senator Dianne Feinstein is under fire, and not just for her handling of the Kavanaugh nomination -- but she's still likely to emerge victorious in November, as Kashmir Hill reports. [Splinter] * The past 12 months haven't been easy for superlawyer David Boies -- but he's still very busy (and also a bit wiser), as he tells Jim Stewart. [New York Times] * It's only a matter of time before the Supreme Court has to address the rights of transgender students under Title IX, according to Justin Driver -- who's the author of a buzz-generating new book, The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind (affiliate link). [Reason / Volokh Conspiracy] * If you're looking for advice about discipline, focus, happiness, and relationships -- and who isn't? -- here's a podcast you might want to check out. [University of Good / SoundCloud] * Law firm mergers are notoriously hit or miss -- so this new M&A intelligence tool from ALM could come in very handy. [Dewey B Strategic] * Congratulations to the six new participants in LexisNexis's third Silicon Valley Legal Tech Accelerator program! [Artificial Lawyer]

If U.S. News Really Wants To Improve Social Mobility, They Need To Include Tuition In Their Rankings

Including tuition in the rankings would incentivize college administrators to cut costs.

To Ma’am, With Love: Teacher Leaves Million-Dollar Bequest To School District For Establishment Of Scholarships

Her gift will establish scholarships for special education students seeking post-high-school educations.

Morning Docket: 08.27.18

* Ken Starr has a new workplace to disgrace! [Law.com] * One of the lawyers who spoke at a recent Nazi rally has been disbarred. [Daily Beast] * Verizon is now apologizing for its decision to throttle the data of firefighters battling Western blazes, claiming it should not have throttled their data. The company should be apologizing for having a system that automatically artificially caps data in an effort to bleed money out of consumers, but they're not going to be doing that. [Courthouse News Service] * A collection of legal remembrances of John McCain. Eric Holder appears to leave out the whole "McCain fought against Martin Luther King Day" part in his reverential message. [National Law Journal] * Former critic named UVA's top lawyer. [Corporate Counsel] * Wait, there are helicopter parents in law school? Cut the f**king cord, people. [Legal Talk Network] * The U.S. government's criminal jurisdiction still requires at least some tie to the United States. [Law360]

Morning Docket: 08.21.18

* Michael Cohen is talking to John Dean because 2018 is the new 1973. [WTOP] * Shocking no one, John Dowd doesn't understand basic laws. [Washington Post] * Andrew Cuomo signed a bill cracking down on bad prosecutors. He's been in office for 7 years but he finally got around to this because Cynthia Nixon said something about criminal justice reform. [Law360] * UNC students toppled a confederate statute because the school wasn't doing anything about it. [Huffington Post] * Will elite Biglaw firms suffer from mid-tier competition? Probably not, but maybe. [American Lawyer] * Microsoft identifies more Russian hacking efforts because Microsoft is our default government now. [Courthouse News Service] * Georgia is trying to kill kids. [AJC] * FIFA fired its lawyer so if you want a job facilitating international graft on an epic scale, here's your chance. [NY Times]

School Board Demands Journalists Be Punished For Reporting On The School Board’s Redaction Failure

Sometimes lawyers need to understand basic technology.

Morning Docket: 07.27.18

* Papa John has filed suit against his former company in a bid to protect his legacy as America's foremost "racist guy who makes bad pizza." [Wall Street Journal] * While everyone prattles on about Trump's tapes, the government just blew another deadline to reunite the children they kidnapped with their parents. [Courthouse News Service] * Troubled law school Arizona Summit trying to get ASU to take its students if or when it loses accreditation. By the way, if you want to hear an in-depth discussion about the problems with Arizona Summit and its sibling schools, check out this. [AZ Central] * Speaking of independent law schools, the landscape for these programs -- for-profit or not -- is getting harder. [Law.com] * Lawsuit seeking to desegregate Minneapolis schools is moving forward. [MinnPost] * Government argues that Evan Greebel deserves 5 years for his role in aiding Shkreli. [Law360] * Former Biglaw associate accused of ripping off Harlem church. [New York Law Journal]

Majority Of Undergraduate Students Will Never Apply To Law School

Here's a new study that'll squash deans' hopes and dreams of overflowing classrooms and burgeoning budgets.

Trump Reverses Obama Guidance On Affirmative Action, As The White Supremacist Takeover Continues Apace

To be honest, I'm surprised it took them this long to do this.

How Do You Eliminate Affirmative Action In Higher Education? By Improving The Quality Of All Schools

Unfortunately, that solution costs money and will likely result in more nondischargeable student loans for students.

Morning Docket: 06.12.18

* Proskauer tells the EEOC that there's nothing "sinister" about employers demanding that sexual harassment victims sign away their legal rights to be railroaded through employer-chosen kangaroo courts and then forcibly silenced. Welcome to 2018. [National Law Journal] * In emoluments news, Judge Peter Messitte asked the Justice Department if, based on their chosen defense, "Wouldn't that be bribery?" which he seemed to think would be a bad thing as if the Supreme Court hadn't legalized bribery in McDonnell. [US News] * Chris Christie is starting his own law firm and somehow Rudy Giuliani has already managed to lie about that. [NJ.com] * Betsy DeVos succeeded in keeping fraud victims indebted to the government. She was also ordered to stop pursuing collection actions against the victims, but she still gets to destroy their credit ratings, which is still a great day for kleptocracy. [Courthouse News Service] * Nelson Mullins merging with Broad and Cassel as part of the growing trend of super-regional firms designed to keep the Am Law elite at bay. [Daily Report] * In a lesson on putting carts ahead of horses, the former general counsel for Portland, Oregon's public school district was just admitted to the bar... after the state bar lodged ethics violations against him for serving in that role without a law license in the state. [Portland Tribune]

Best Hate Mail Of The Spring

We get hate mail all the time here, but this one is special.

Morning Docket: 05.22.18

* A full 85 percent of companies aren't ready for the GDPR implementation deadline later this week, meaning... well probably nothing, but let's freak out about it anyway. [Corporate Counsel] * Jones Day's Dana Baiocco tabbed by Trump administration to the Consumer Product Safety Commission to end Democratic leadership on that board. So get ready for exploding bottles and nails just sticking out of stuffed animals... because "freedom." [National Law Journal] * DOJ tests new investigative tactic of just telling suspected criminals everything before interviewing them. [Huffington Post] * We're deregulating banks again because that's historically worked out so well. [Wall Street Journal] * South Carolina has repealed its "disturbing school" law, which was really just a vague catch-all provision to allow cops to harass and imprison black kids. [ACLU] * Paul Manafort looks to suppress more evidence. Hey it's worth a shot. [Courthouse News Service] * In sad news, groundbreaking attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree has passed away at 104. [Washington Post]