* Nationwide Layoff Watch: Steptoe & Johnson (no, not thatSteptoe, the other one). [ABA Journal]
* Personally I prefer my coffee with whole milk, thank you very much. [CBS Minnesota]
* And I wouldn't get violent over salsa -- but guacamole is another story. [Lowering the Bar]
* Attending CLE while intoxicated: grounds for suspension, or brilliant idea? [Legal Profession Blog]
* Professor Steve Sanders on Indiana RFRA's "political jiu jitsu: all the force and passion that had impelled the RFRA forward suddenly got turned against its proponents, to devastating effect." [Huffington Post]
* What's your favorite word of legalese? [Library of Congress]
* Protesters disrupt the Supreme Court to complain about Citizens United. Just two or three more of these and Alito is sure to break! [SCOTUSBlog]
* In completely unrelated news, TV spending in the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin has now topped $600,000. No risk of corruption there. [Brennan Center For Justice]
* Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has, at the last minute, refused to sign a new RFRA after watching Indiana blow up its own economy over the same law. In other news, Indiana Governor Mike Pence received a delightful gift basket today this morning with the message, "Thanks for taking the hit on this one -- Asa XOXOXO." [New York Times]
* Speaking of the RFRA kerfuffle, defending champion UConn is boycotting the Final Four in Indiana this weekend. Not qualifying for the tournament certainly helps. How about we hold off praising this "bold stance" until a team actually playing this weekend makes a symbolic show of support. [NBC Connecticut]
* After a season of reading about cops brutalizing unarmed kids for no reason, there's a project in Baltimore trying to get the police to better connect with teens. Anything would help. [Washington Post]
* There's a new .sucks domain name, more or less designed for the sole purpose of extorting money from companies and celebrities. I don't see the problem, they extort money out of us all the time. [LXBN]
* Cool new tech. It's like Google Glass for transactional lawyers, designed to instantly identify and highlight key provisions. OK this is an April Fools gag, but their real product actually operates on the same principle. [Kira Specs]
* Just because married couples can file jointly doesn't mean they should. For that matter, just because couples can marry doesn't mean they should. Think about it. [California Lawyer]
* Richard Hsu talks with Guy Kawasaki, the Chief Evangelist of Canva, and former Chief Evangelist of Apple. Evangelists just in time for the holiday! [Hsu Untied]
* What have we done? We wrote about a candidate for SBA President at the University of Miami School of Law with a cheesy campaign video and he won. And now he's drunk with power. He's instituting a mandatory dress code! His email is on the next page...
Miami Law Family,
First and foremost, congratulations to all of the newly elected Student Leaders. Today's Passing of the Gavel ceremony was a huge success, and I look forward to working with you all during the upcoming school year.
It is now time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. I recently surveyed a group of students about immediate issues they want the SBA to address. Without question, they felt that the biggest issue with the law school was that too many students wear flip flops and T-shirts to class. Thus, starting next Monday, April 6th, the SBA will be implementing a mandatory business casual/professional dress code for all full-time students. I know it may come as a shock, but my cabinet felt that this is a priority that needed to be addressed. We chose to make this our first order of business to demonstrate that we are here to work. This is clearly the first step to improve our bar passage rate, and I thank you for your understanding.
I will be following up with you all later this week about upcoming SBA matters. I know you all had a nice break from me spamming your inbox, but I'm back and better than ever.
Please see below for a detailed outline of what attire will be included/excluded from the mandatory dress code.
Truly yours,
Matt Deblinger
President, Student Bar Association
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Oh, before I forget... THANK YOU to Outgoing SBA President Sara Solano. Miss Solano did a phenomenal job as President, and she left big shoes to fill, despite being much shorter than me. As for that mandatory dress code I mentioned..... April Fools!!! :)
In all seriousness- I cannot wait to work with all of the SBA E-board members, SBA Senators, administrators, and the student organization leaders. There is an SBA meeting tomorrow, 4/2/15, at 12:30PM in F309, where we will be appointing our Speaker of the Senate and discussing next year's SBA Budget. As always, time will be allotted for general student body comments. We encourage you all to attend.
Your Student Leaders are going to be working hard to ensure that the 2015-16 school year will be one of the most successful year’s in Miami Law’s history. You've elected a great group of students.
If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas-- or simply want to grab Icees & appetizers with me-- please do not hesitate to call/text me. It's my job is to serve you, but at the end of the day, I'm equally your colleague and friend.
Here's to a good year,
Matthew Ryan David Deblinger
President, Student Bar Association
University of Miami School of Law
* The Supreme Court decided that government-issued GPS trackers violate 4th Amendment. My GPS device is my phone -- can we get on protecting that? [Gizmodo]
* More on the subtle differences between the Indiana RFRA and the post-Hobby Lobby landscape. Specifically, the Indiana Act's provision on private suits, which are the subject of a circuit split at the federal level. [Washington Post]
* Professor Jonathan Lipson reviews what ATL's Converge conference had to say about the future of law. [The Temple 10-Q]
* The Supreme Court doesn't want to hear from ever lawyer under the sun on the marriage equality cases. The parties just announced their picks to make the argument. [Lyldennews]
* Another day, another law student busted for sex with a minor. Maybe crim law needs to move up that age of consent lecture to day 1. [The Columbus Dispatch]
* Up and coming Supreme Court challenges to Obamacare for everyone still raging against the dying of the light. [Washington Post / The Volokh Conspiracy]
* Congratulations to Steven J. Harper, who is finally headed home from the hospital after a lengthy stay under apparently Kafka-esque conditions. [The Lawyer Bubble]
