Emily Bazelon

* “How Tough-on-Crime Prosecutors Contribute to Mass Incarceration.” My review of Emily Bazelon’s new book, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (affiliate link). [New York Times Book Review]

* When it comes to prosecutors, as former prosecutor Joel Cohen explains, it’s all about discretion. [New York Law Journal]

* Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.) defends Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s exercise of her prosecutorial discretion — and argues that Thomas Turco’s criticisms of Rollins are unfair. [Boston Globe]

* Another ex-prosecutor, Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro, is representing tennis star Naomi Osaka in the “repugnant” lawsuit filed against her by her former coach. [Tennis365]

* Former federal prosecutors, many of them now partners at Biglaw firms, represent more than half of the defense lawyers in Operation Varsity Blues, aka the college admissions scandal. [Big Law Business]

* High-stakes litigation is just one of many factors contributing to Biglaw’s robust profit margin these days — hovering around 40 percent, its highest value in almost 30 years, according to Madhav Srinivasan of Hunton Andrews Kurth. [Law.com]

* Ronald Collins interviews Joan Biskupic about her latest judicial biography, The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts (affiliate link). [SCOTUSblog]

* And speaking of SCOTUS, Will Baude believes that the death penalty “is justifiable and constitutional” — but argues that the Court has not acquitted itself well in its recent handling of capital cases. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* Sammy Alito and the roots of a compassionate constitutional conservatism. By Emily Bazelon. Foreblurb by Juggalo Law. [New York Times] * A U.S. vulture fund is having problems collecting a certain debt from the Democratic Republic of Congo via certain chinamen. Yes, I know that’s not the preferred nomenclature. But these men actually do […]

* Of shaken babies and unsure verdicts. This long piece in the Times Magazine, by Emily Bazelon, is well worth your time. For those who require a funny take on shaking, there’s always this totally NSFW Chris Rock bit. [New York Times Magazine] * What do willful violations of antitrust law and not being admitted […]