Gerrymandering

This Biglaw Firm Keeps Showing Up At The Supreme Court

Maybe it would be better for the country if they weren't quite as successful.

Elena Kagan Makes The Best Possible Dig At Samuel Alito

Her pettiness is the stuff of legend.

Court Rejects Alabama Request To Pretty Please Let It Keep Using Racial Gerrymanders Forever

The Southern strategy.

Morning Docket: 08.04.23

* Elena Kagan has entered the chat: Justice Kagan sounds off in response to Samuel Alito's self-serving thoughts on the ability to check the Supreme Court's power. [Politico] * Thanks to the ban on cameras in federal court, all we get is a sketch of Donald Trump's not-guilty plea. [Huffington Post] * The legal battle to end Wisconsin's egregious gerrymander heats up. [Vox] * The defamation case between Fox News and Smartmatic is getting spicy. [Law.com] * A look at Donald Trump's latest defense attorney. [Law360]

Judge Prevents Mississippi From Creating White-Elected Courts For Black Counties… For Now

Shouts out to Henry Wingate.

South Carolina’s Racial Gerrymandering Is Headed To The Supreme Court

Maybe we should start calling racial gerrymandering to exclude black voters 'reverse affirmative action.' People only seem to care when you put 'reverse' in front of it.

Morning Docket: 03.14.23

* Want a popular policy done, but Congress is uncooperative? Enter Executive Orders. Joe Biden plans to issue one on gun background checks today. [Bloomberg Law] * Can partisan gerrymandering get worse? Yes, yes it can. Today the North Carolina Supreme Court will reconsider the issue, which could have major repercussions for national politics. [Reuters] * Supreme Court to consider whether the Constitution provides protection against anti-trans discrimination. And I am sure completely coincidentally, a vocally anti-trans federal judge finds himself in the news. [Vox] * Court issues blow to California labor movement: an appeals court found ride share services can classify drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. [Huffington Post] * It's not that law school deans want to end rankings, it's that they want to make them better. [Slate] * Michael Cohen takes the stand: Donald Trump's one-time fixer is singing to a New York grand jury. [Law360]

I Did Not Have Mississippi Creating Whites-Only Courts On My Black History Month Bingo Card

'You don't understand — this isn't blatant racism and segregation, it's tradition and heritage.'

If You Had The Supreme Court Supporting Fair And Non-Discriminatory Elections As A Wish This Year, I Have Bad News

So this is how democracy dies… with weird, Jenga-like pieces.

Cornell Law Professor Gives Redistricting And Gerrymandering Breakdown

Soon the campaign trail will just be Texas and Mississippi, as The Founders intended.

Morning Docket: 09.26.22

* Do you attend the T.C. Williams School of Law? Not anymore! [WRIC] * Tired of pretending to know what gerrymandering or redistricting is? Here's a legal primer. [Cornell Sun] * Pursuant to a California law, the word "Squaw" — which contextually can be a slur — won't be in place names anymore. Squad! [LA Times] * Car start yodeling at you when you start the engine? This law may prevent that happening with as much frequency. [Car And Driver] * GM and Hyundai accused of having crappy airbag inflators. Better to find that out like this instead of first hand experience on the freeway. [Law.com]

Morning Docket: 06.03.22

* Florida's Supreme Court doesn't think diluting Black voters' votes is unconstitutional. What a vibe. [The Guardian] * Ilya Shapiro will start working at GULC on Friday. [WaPo] * New York just passed a bill to set the age to buy and own a semi-automatic rifle at 21. It's what Biggie would want. [NPR] * What do glass in a bowl of cereal and cleaning up a coal ash spill have in common? Read about this Tennessee Supreme Court Case to find out. [ABC News] * Lastly, I'd just like to remind you that you are more than capable of sticking to your bar prep. Just think of the level of dedication you've spent on discovering other things. [Reddit]

Morning Docket: 10.19.21

* Map drawing that weakens Latino vote in Texas faces Voting Rights Act scrutiny. I hope that whatever is left of it gets the job done. [The Dallas Morning News] * Looks like Michigan is about to be a UBE state! Woop woop! [Law.com] * Groups "Black Men Build" and "The Smile Trust, Inc." continue to feed and clothe unsheltered folks in Miami despite ordinances. Sounds like some good governance to me. [Miami Herald] * Jussie Smollett still headed to trial after judge dismisses his plea. No way 50 Cent is gonna let this go without some Grade A petty. [Yahoo!] * SCOTUS upholds strong qualified immunity standard for police. [New York Times]

Morning Docket: 09.17.21

* Lindsay Graham thinks Trumpism will die if GOP doesn't win Congressional control in 2022. Lord, if you're listening... [Business Insider] * It's looking like tomorrow's pro-fascism rally already hasn't taken place. If it does or doesn't happen, I'm sure Hillary's emails are to blame either way. [The Guardian] * Texas is about to start gerrymandering without federal oversight. If only there were a federal act, about voting maybe, that secured some kind of rights for the underrepresented. [Texas Tribune] *  Country's ideological schism grows so large that it paints former president George W. Bush Jr. as relatively uncontroversial. [Washington Post] * PA republicans are in an existential tiffy over voters because they lost. [BuzzFeed News]

Morning Docket: 07.03.19

* “Everyone in America counts in the census, and today’s decision means we all will.” The Justice Department has officially confirmed that in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, a citizenship question will not be added to the 2020 Census. [Washington Post] * Has Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg handed off the high court’s liberal torch to Justice Elena Kagan? Based on the fact that the Notorious RBG assigned the dissent in the partisan gerrymandering case, it sure looks like it. [NPR] * Dozens of prominent Republicans plan to submit an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of a “common sense, textualist” ruling that the Civil Rights Act outlaws discrimination against LGBT people in the workplace. [New York Times] * Allen & Overy and O'Melveny & Myers are still in merger talks, but this has been going on for more than a year now and it seems like it's taking forever for anything to happen. [American Lawyer] * Michael Avenatti, the Lawyer of the Year accused of bank fraud and embezzlement, is refusing to give up his desktop, iPhone, and iPad passwords to federal prosecutors in New York. [Big Law Business]