Footnotes

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 04.19.17

* An interesting look at the life and career of Gloria Allred -- who has litigated groundbreaking civil rights cases as well as TMZ fodder. [Coverage Opinions] * Lawyer Jose Baez intends to investigate the death of his client Aaron Hernandez, who was found dead in his prison cell after apparently hanging himself. [Deadspin] * Footnote of the day (gavel bang: Raffi Melkonian aka @RMFifth Circuit). [Twitter] * Professor Jonathan Adler still has doubts about the Emoluments Clause lawsuit against President Trump (although it's much stronger now, thanks to some additional plaintiffs). [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * Professor Glenn Reynolds has some doubts about diversity (although I suspect he strongly supports intellectual diversity). [Instapundit] * Professor Ann Althouse has her doubts about... Democrats (even though she has voted for more Democrats than Republicans over the years). [Althouse] * And Professor Eugene Volokh has his doubts about the constitutionality of this order. [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * In honor of national haiku poetry day, here are some verses from Dean Dan Rodriguez of Northwestern Law. [PrawfsBlawg] * Congrats to the ACLU of Massachusetts, the national ACLU, the state public defender’s office, and Fick & Marx LLP on a huge and historic win! [ACLU]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.19.16

* "Donald Ducks," the DNC's mascot that's being used to taunt Donald Trump for his undisclosed tax returns, bears a striking resemblance to Disney's Donald Duck, and people are starting to wonder: "Is Donald Ducks waddling over Disney's intellectual property rights?" [WSJ Law Blog] * The Third Circuit declined to re-seal excerpts of depositions in the Bill Cosby case where he admitted to giving women Quaaludes, but included in its opinion an interesting footnote calling out the district court judge's decision to unseal the records in the first place, saying its "public moralist rational" had "no basis in our jurisprudence," and that the term itself was "vague and undefined." [THR, Esq. / Hollywood Reporter] * This fall, Indiana Tech Law will welcome its largest class ever, with 55 students set to begin their legal studies next week. With only 15 students in its inaugural class, this huge jump in enrollment could possibly be due to the fact that the ABA gave the school a provisional rubber stamp (as it's wont to do) back in March. [Indiana Lawyer] * "There is a disconnect between what banks are doing and what consumers want," and what they want is the ability to sue. More and more big banks -- 72 percent of them, in fact -- are using mandatory binding arbitration clauses in their contracts to prevent customers from filing suit. Read the find print, people. [DealBook / New York Times] * "What if somebody gets injured on somebody else's property? Trip on a rock or get bitten by the neighbor's dog? There would be a whole host of responsible parties." A New York firm already filed a class-action suit against the company behind Pokemon Go, but this lawyer thinks there's a minefield of tort actions available to sue over. [Mlive.com]

By Staci Zaretsky
Bar Exams

Morning Docket: 09.16.13

* You skip over the footnotes when you’re reading for class, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn’t think you should. She’s a proponent of the most important footnote in all of constitutional law. [New Yorker] * New York will modify its pro bono requirement for LL.M. students to allow public service completed outside the country. Well, so much for closing the state’s justice gap. [New York Law Journal (sub. req.)] * Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the government-initiated trademark infringement actions over “Don’t Mess With Texas.” Like “I <3 NY," the Lone Star State's slogans are off limits. [New York Times] * WUSTL Law Dean Kent Syverud didn’t mind advocating for halving professors’ salaries. He just stepped down to become Syracuse University’s president — for much higher pay. [National Law Journal (sub. req.)] * You can sue Lady Gaga for overtime pay all you want, but you do not want to face her wrath. The pop star is due in court in early November where she’ll tell a judge “exactly what f**king happened.” [Daily Mail]

By Staci Zaretsky
Abortion

Morning Docket: 11.09.11

* Yet another appeals court has has ruled that Obamacare is constitutional. Aww, can’t we wait for the other side to catch up a little before it goes to the Supreme Court? [Wall Street Journal] * How did it go for this controversial ballot initiative? As it turns out, the personhood amendment was so stupid […]

By Staci Zaretsky
Antonin Scalia

Grammer Pole of the Weak: Substantive Footnotes

In Grammer Pole of the Weak — yes, “Grammer” is intentionally misspelled, as are “Pole” and “Weak” — we consider questions of English grammar and usage. Last week, for example, we looked at a fun an interesting topic: the adjectival use of “fun” (which over 85 percent of you support, even if traditionalists frown upon […]

By David Lat