Indiana Tech Law School

* Siding with prosecution and without explaining its reasoning, the Seventh Circuit has delayed the release of “Making a Murderer” subject Brendan Dassey, ordering that he remain incarcerated “pending the outcome of the appeal” in his case. Dassey’s conviction was overturned in August; he was set to be released today. [Reuters]

* According to some sources, we may have a full Supreme Court bench by the end of the current term, but at this point, it’s really a matter of “who President Trump nominates and what kind of ‘payback’ the Democrats decide to exact for having lost the election and for the Senate’s having held up the Merrick Garland nomination.” [Big Law Business]

* For the first time, the ranking Republican and Democratic lawmakers leading the Senate Judiciary Committee will be non-lawyers. Senators Chuck Grassley and Dianne Feinstein will not only review judicial appointments, but they’ll also have Department of Justice, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security oversight. [Wall Street Journal]

* Rather than issuing a grant or denial, the ABA will continue to review the University of North Texas at Dallas College of Law’s application for accreditation. What does this mean for the school’s third-year students? The administration hopes the Texas Supreme Court will allow them to take the state bar exam in July 2017. [Dallas Business Journal]

* “[University leadership] need to be ashamed of themselves. … [They showed a] total lack of consideration for the lives of the staff and faculty.” People are pretty angry about the impending closure of Indiana Tech Law School, including its benefactors, and some of them want refunds. We may have more on this at a later time. [Indiana Lawyer]

* Can a president self-pardon? With the investigation of her emails by the FBI and talk of impeachment, this may be a question that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton may be asking herself should she win the election. While the Constitution probably permits self-pardons, some legal scholars doubt anyone could do so without violating the rule of law. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Sorry, New Yorkers, but you still can’t take ballot selfies on Tuesday. Judge Kevin Castel refused to issue an injunction blocking enforcement of the law since doing so would “wreak havoc on election-day logistics.” After all, “the public’s interest in orderly elections outweighs the plaintiffs’ interest in taking and posting ballot selfies.” [Reuters]

* “If women don’t start suing, and they simply wait to gradually change those numbers, then you and I are going to be having the same conversation ten years from now and twenty years from now.” More women have been suing their firms, but others are afraid to come forward because they don’t want to be blackballed by peers. [Big Law Business]

* “The only thing they could have done to mitigate this was not to open.” Professors from Indiana Tech Law School may have plans to file suit against the school in the future, but according to Professor Brian Tamanaha, they may be facing an uphill battle because they’ll have to prove that the university misrepresented its intentions. [Indiana Lawyer]

* If you want to be a judge, it may be possible to prepare for your future by focusing on your writing, choosing a law school with great clerkship placements, and researching your law school’s employment statistics to make sure you’ll be able to find a job that’s prestigious enough add credibility to your résumé. [U.S. News & World Report]

* Not only has the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Rhonda Crawford, the former law clerk who was fired from her position and later indicted after she allegedly impersonated a judge while running unopposed for an elected position as a judge, can’t take office if she wins the election, but the court has also suspended her from practicing law until further notice. A date for her trial has not yet been set. [Associated Press]

* Some law schools are still falling short when it comes to being truthful about their graduates’ employment outcomes. During a recent audit of of 10 randomly selected law schools’ jobs data, half of them missed compliance benchmarks for documentation that was supposed to be kept on file. On the bright side, none of the errors seemed to be instances of “gross misreporting” or “attempts to manipulate.” [Inside Higher Ed]

* “Will Brad Smith feel he can get a fair shake in front of the Washington Supreme Court? If the answer is no, then did he create the situation is a fair question.” Not only have Microsoft’s co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen contributed to political action committees to oust Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Wiggins, but the company’s chief legal officer has joined in the fun now, too. [Big Law Business]

* Bill Cosby’s lawyers are trying to prevent jurors from hearing incriminating deposition testimony the comedian gave in 2005 in a civil suit related to sexual assault allegations made by Andrea Constand. They claim that a former prosecutor promised never to bring their client to trial over those allegations: “This was a sitting district attorney saying, ‘I’m not going to prosecute your client, ever.'” Do you think they’ll be successful? [Reuters]

* “We feel betrayed in a lot of ways, because we were promised. We were promised that the school would be open, we were promised we would have a place to learn, and that was all yanked away from us.” Indiana Tech Law School students are speaking out in the wake of their dreams being crushed by the school’s sudden closure, and they are not happy about it — especially those of them with outstanding education loans. [WFYI]

Why was this law school *really* forced to close its doors?

Will other law schools close in its wake?

Congratulations?

He knows what it’s like to be the only person from your law school to pass the bar exam.

This is unbelievably bad.

* Dig if you will the picture, of you and I engaged in a… probate battle? Uh-oh! In documents filed in a Carver County, Minnesota, probate court, Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, claims that the music icon — whose estate is said to have been valued at about $300 million — died without a will. [USA Today]

* “[L]ook, if he’s not our nominee, I think he would be a great replacement for Scalia.” Despite the fact that Senator Ted Cruz previously insisted that he wasn’t interested in being nominated to replace the late Antonin Scalia as a SCOTUS justice, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) thinks Cruz is the man for the job. [The Hill]

* Dentons says $2 million was “erroneously allocated” to McKenna Long & Aldridge partners during a merger with Luce Forward, and now the Biglaw behemoth really wants the money back. Partner’s aren’t pleased, griping that “this is a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of merging with Dentons.” [National Law Journal via Big Law Business]

* Today is sentencing day for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. The accused child abuser faces up to five years in prison for attempting to cover up his hush-money payoffs, but prosecutors have asked that he serve no more than six months. We wonder how his Biglaw supporters will feel if he receives a stiff sentence. [Chicago Sun-Times]

* Indiana Tech Law School will soon hold a commencement ceremony for its inaugural graduating class of 21 students. These soon-to-be law school graduates say that one of the main reasons they chose to attend the school was its low cost of tuition. Not having a lot of debt is a great thing when your job prospects are uncertain. Congrats! [21Alive]

* “My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale … You can only get it on Tidal.” Uh-oh! Kanye West and music-streaming service Tidal are facing a proposed $5 million class-action lawsuit over the availability of the rapper’s album, The Life of Pablo, on other streaming services when it was supposed to be exclusive to Tidal. [Rolling Stone]

* Eighteen-year-old Marina Lonina stands accused of livestreaming her friend’s rape on Periscope, and faces charges of rape, sexual battery, and pandering sexual matter involving a minor. The prosecutor alleges the teen hoped the broadcast would stop the rape, but she “got caught up in the likes” instead. [The Cut / New York Magazine]

* Given that “Americans are less likely to support the court when it is portrayed as a political body — as it is during confirmation proceedings — and not a legal body,” it may not be wise for Chief Justice Roberts to enter the debate about nominee Judge Merrick Garland, especially since the SJC’s chair has already criticized him. [New York Times]

* Think twice before you hack a Biglaw firm’s computers, because it’ll cost you a pretty penny. A former IT employee who wreaked havoc upon Locke Lord’s computer network by disabling and deleting hundreds of user accounts was sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay $1.69M in restitution. [Courthouse News Service]

* He’s biased, but Dr. Arthur E. Snyder, the president of Indiana Tech, says there is a resounding need for a “different kind of law school” in Indiana. He calls out other schools for growing too large and having to perform layoffs, and says Indiana Tech Law is dedicated to remaining small (likely because no one knows it exists). [News-Sentinel]

* “Every school has had to make choices, even at the top. This has been upheaval for everyone.” With a significant drop in applicants, the crisis in legal education has reached the members of the T14, the very best law schools in the country. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * Another lawyer has filed […]

Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200 from Indy Tech Law.

* “I would hope that we’ve already hit the bottom.” America’s legal educators and admissions deans are wishing, hoping, and praying that the upcoming school year will be the last year that merely having a pulse is a prerequisite for law school admission. [National Law Journal]

* Bankruptcy court, here we come: We all know that right now, exorbitant law school debt can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, but judges have started to rally in favor of student debtors, noting that the Brunner test is simply incompatible with today’s high tuition costs. [New York Times]

* “A professional education will never be cheap,” and the ABA has finally decided to give the appearance of caring about the average graduates of private law schools with six figures of loans. Enhanced financial counseling for all! [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]

* Indiana Tech Law School won’t be appealing its denial of accreditation by the American Bar Association. Before you get too excited about a law school accepting failure and throwing in the towel, it seems that the school is just going to reapply instead. [KPC News]

* “[O]ne’s face may determine one’s fate, at least in the judicial domain.” Per a new study, the more untrustworthy a criminal defendant looks, the more likely it is that he’ll receive a harsher sentence. Boy, Dewey know defendants in need of a makeover. [WSJ Law Blog]

* The number of law school applicants and applications continues to plummet, with applicants down by 2.5 percent and the volume of applications down by 4.6 percent since last year. For the love of God, students are staying away for a reason. Do some research, people. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Lawyers may be thanking their lucky stars for loan repayment programs like IBR and PAYE, but when their cancellation of debt income comes back to bite them in the ass in the form of a “tax bomb” as early as 2032, they’re going to be crying for mercy. [TaxProf Blog]

* If the Supreme Court rules against same-sex marriage, life could devolve into chaos for gay and lesbian couples. Sure, SCOTUS could do that, or “a giant meteor could fall on [your] head in the next five seconds,” but one is more likely to happen than the other. [AP]

* You had one job, Dean Cercone… ONE JOB! After recommending against accreditation back in May, the ABA convened this week to officially deny provisional accreditation to Indiana Tech Law. Its handful of students will be so disappointed. [Indiana Lawyer]

* Ex-House Speaker Dennis Hastert pleaded not guilty in his sex scandal cover-up case and was released on $4,500 bond. Interestingly enough, the judge has volunteered to remove himself due to some potential issues over his impartiality. [New York Times]

* This past Friday, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby dropped the gavel on the police officers who were allegedly involved in the death of Freddie Gray. Here are seven interesting facts you need to know about this “certified badass.” [New York Magazine]

* Which law school placed the most graduates from the class of 2014 into full-time, long-term jobs where bar passage was required that weren’t school-funded? Stop. Before you say Columbia Law, you’re wrong for the first time in years. [National Law Journal]

* Indiana Tech, the little law school that couldn’t, received a recommendation against accreditation from the ABA on its first try. Not to worry, because law school officials say this is just a “minor setback” for all 59 of its students. ::sad trombone:: [News-Sentinel]

* “You are not doing that here.” Tough titty: Kelly Noe, one of the Ohio women challenging the same-sex marriage ban in her state before the Supreme Court, was yelled at by a security guard for breastfeeding her baby outside the high court. [Cincinnati Enquirer]

* If you’re hoping to register a “smutty” or “immoral” trademark, then you may be able to get what you want if this Federal Circuit opinion comes down your way. We’ll soon see if a ban on these offensive trademarks violates the First Amendment. [Corporate Counsel]

* Indiana Tech Law has yet another new dean after a little more than a year of operations — he currently serves as a dean at the second-best law school in the nation, Cooley Law. [Journal Gazette]

* A Pennsylvania lawyer allegedly had sex with a 14-year-old girl in his office, and prosecutors have already reserved a “special place in hell” for him, and possibly a jail cell. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

* “We feel like we’ve been left hanging in a really stressful time.” While Bingham McCutchen partners and top staffers made moves, less senior staffers were left crying and without a clue. 🙁 [Am Law Daily]

* Since a grand jury failed to indict Darren Wilson in Michael Brown’s death, people are counting on the DOJ to come through for them. “I just don’t think Ferguson has a leg to stand on,” says one negative nancy law professor. [National Law Journal]

* After being down in the dumps for a while due to the recession, according to Citi Private Bank Law Firm Group, law firm leaders are feeling more confident and optimistic about the economy — as one can see from these bonuses. [WSJ Law Blog]

* There’s a company with no revenue and no profit run out of Belize with a $6 billion market cap. And this lawyer might be the reason why. [Fortune] * The discrimination claim brought by former professor Teresa Wagner against the University of Iowa College of Law must be retried. Congrats, Teresa! Celebrate with a round of shots. [Iowa Appeals] * Chris Kluwe intends to sue the Minnesota Vikings. He has a good chance because the Vikings can't beat anybody. [Sports Illustrated] * Judge Judy is suing a lawyer over advertisements. [ABA Journal] * A-Rod is being sued by his lawyer for $380,000 in unpaid bills. Life’s hard for multimillionaires when the income stream is temporarily suspended. [NY Daily News] * Breaking up is hard to do. But it doesn’t have to be difficult to dissolve a law firm ethically if you follow this advice. Dewey know anyone who could have used this advice earlier? [Legal Talk Network] * Indiana Tech law school is in desperation mode. Who would have seen this coming? [Third Tier Reality] * The horrors of law school debt are becoming more obvious even to non-students. [Law School Lemmings] * Jon Stewart chats with Dahlia Lithwick about the Supreme Court. Embed after the jump…. [The Daily Show]

Wherein enrolling 28 students just isn't enough.

* Supreme Court justices are “basically rewriting the law,” sometimes years after the fact. As it turns out they’ve been quietly “changing the wording of opinions” — sometimes, even our legal idols make mistakes. [New York Times]

* Many law school deans at leading law schools are pretty pissed off about Justice Antonin Scalia’s latest criticisms of the legal academy. Please, continue taking “Law and Unicorns.” It’s a real class, we promise! [National Law Journal]

* Judge Randall Rader, who recently resigned as the Federal Circuit’s chief judge, released a memo to his colleagues apologizing for his scandalous recusals in a pair of patent cases. Poor guy. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Peter Alexander, Indiana Tech Law’s dean, has resigned less than a year after opening the school’s doors. The school’s interim dean doesn’t use capital letters in his name. That’s cute. [Journal Gazette]

* Très, très déclassé: Mahbod Moghadam, formerly of Dewey & LeBoeuf, was fired from Rap Genius after he inappropriately annotated suspected Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodgers’s manifesto. [Re/code]

Law school will "try hard," like that's a selling point now.