Go Set A Watchman

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.28.15

* "Bueller... Bueller..." Richard Hsu chats with Ben Stein. [Hsu Untied] * NFL deflates Tom Brady's hopes of playing a full season. [Redline] * Can a public defender really handle 700 cases a year? Spoiler alert: No. [Mother Jones] * About a third of the seats on the Court of Federal Claims are vacant, and a solitary Senator aims to keep it that way. Why are Republicans against getting citizens tax refunds? Shouldn't that be their whole schtick? [Constitutional Accountability Center] * If you're around August 11, check out "Many Faces of Mediation: An Alternative to Courtroom Drama" at JAMS HQ in New York. [ABA] * If you've been hankering for a podcast covering the U.S. Tax Court, then hanker no further. [U.S. Tax Court Podcast via iTunes] * A proposal for expanding the U.S. News Diversity Index. [Iowa Law Review via SSRN] * The continuing tribute to commenter Partner Emeritus rolls on. This time delving into my favorite Baby Boomer trope: lame excuses for skipping out on Vietnam. [What About Clients?] * Talmage Boston explains how Atticus Finch is still worthy of respect in a post-Go Set a Watchman (affiliate link) world. [Washington Independent Review of Books] * Talmage will be moderating a panel at the ABA Annual Meeting featuring Judge Posner, William Landay, and Laura Caldwell. The panel will also include our own David Lat, discussing Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link). [Supreme Ambitions]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.27.15

* A jury has ruled that rapper 50 Cent must pay an additional $2 million in punitive damages to a woman whose sex tape he posted online, on top of the $5 million he already owes her. This wanksta better hope the judgment gets discharged in bankruptcy. [Associated Press] * California is America's breeding ground for unaccredited law schools, and "[m]ost jurisdictions simply don't allow [these] kind of law school[s] to exist at all. Period." Nearly all students (about 9 out of 10) drop out before graduation. How much money is being wasted? [Los Angeles Times] * Since 2007, the pay gap between the highest- and lowest-paid positions in many specialized fields has widened -- but that isn't the case when it comes to the legal profession. Unfortunately, not as many people are making it rain. [New York Times] * "[M]aybe legislation should fix this. Not the court." A San Diego judge has suggested that he'll likely dismiss a right-to-die lawsuit filed by Christy O'Donnell, a civil rights attorney who's fighting a battle against lung, brain, spine, rib, and liver cancer. [NBC San Diego] * You've seen reactions to Harper Lee's portrayal of Atticus Finch as a racist in Go Set A Watchman (affiliate link) from everyone and their mother and their dog, but maybe you haven't seen reactions from law professors yet, so have a look. [National Law Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.15.15

* Doesn't the increasingly bloated Republican presidential primary field seem like a plot from Veep rather than real life? Well, take a break from the world's insanity and break down the election law quandary from the season finale of the hit show. [Law.com] * Spoiler alert: the performance art defense doesn't work. [Dealbreaker] * Good news for New York Bar Exam takers -- don't stress about grabbing lunch on the day of the exam. [Custom Gourmet] * This... is not going to end well. China arrested more than 100 human rights lawyers for inciting trouble. [Christian Science Monitor] * I think it's entirely possible Harper Lee never intended to publish "Go Set A Watchman" and that makes me hesitant to read the novel, but Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy's call to "abandon the immature sentimentality ingrained by middle school lessons about the nobility of the white savior" has me itching to buy the book. [New York Times] * Speaking of the incredibly sketchy circumstances under which Harper Lee's novel was published, maybe it's time to blame the lawyer? [New Republic] * Remember that viral video about cat-calling on NYC streets from last year? Yeah, the woman featured is suing the makers of the video (along with Google, YouTube, and TGI Fridays). Only problem? She got nothing in writing. [Slate] * I sure hope no attorneys were sucked into this M&A fraud. [Forbes] * OIL AND HEAVY WATER FOR EVERYBODY -- a take on the Iran deal. [Breaking Energy]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.14.15

* A positive review of Go Set a Watchman (affiliate link) from Professor Brophy. I haven't read it, but it strikes me as a weird choice to make Doctor Manhattan a racist in this one. [The Faculty Lounge] * Standard gun nut operating procedure is to stay quiet after a mass shooting, but this guy decided to explain why Dylann Roof didn't take advantage of a "loophole" to avoid a background check. And he's right. "Loophole" suggests there was a drafting mistake as opposed to an intentional, cynical effort to gut the one gun regulation pretty much everybody agrees on. [National Review] * Everyone knows that the federal government is comprised of three equal branches. But, why do you think that? The Constitution certainly never says that. An interesting question. [Concurring Opinions] * Arts students work harder than law students. Let that sink in. [Legal Cheek] * The Economist just can't help itself from writing contrarian reviews. They're like hipsters if hipsters were old-timey Tories with handlebar mustaches and... actually, wait, is The Economist run by hipsters? [Lawyers, Guns & Money] * The Welsh government responded to an official inquiry in Klingon. Which, admittedly, is easier to understand than Welsh. [Lowering the Bar] * Important practice tip when dealing with a new client: check out the last several complaints filed against them and search for a pattern. [What About Clients?]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.09.15

* The Supreme Court is going to strike down bans on marriage equality folks. And the tea leaves aren't that hard to read. [Slate] * Even if the Court proclaims marriage equality the law of the land, discrimination will march on. On that note, can American law schools like Liberty continue to follow Canada's controversial Trinity Western in functionally barring homosexuality? [Tax Prof Blog] * Law students f**king love Atticus Finch. Um, you know he lost right? Start looking up to winners, like Dan Fielding or something. [Slate] * Who else is jumping from the hulk that was once Patton Boggs? [Legal Times (sub. req.)] * Our old friend George Mason Assistant Dean Richard Kelsey, who we last saw Tweeting about black people and the lack of reason, is back explaining that abortion is genocide... because it leads to immigrants coming to America. Or something. [CNS News] * Meanwhile, there's a new casebook out covering reproductive rights law that challenges the conventional classification of the subject as a subset of women's issues. [RH Reality Check] * Harvard Law 3L, soon-to-be Clifford Chance associate, rapper. [J.KO]

By Joe Patrice