James Lindgren

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 10.14.18

* Adam Feldman examines the historical record to look at how Justice Brett Kavanaugh's brutal confirmation process could affect his jurisprudence. [Empirical SCOTUS] * And Joel Cohen looks at how Justice Kavanaugh's confirmation fight might affect his judging of the accused. [Law and Crime] * Meanwhile, David Oscar Markus argues that criminal defendants in federal court get treated much worse than Justice Kavanaugh. [The Hill] * Jemele Hill points out the support and sympathy for Justice Kavanaugh from a possibly surprising quarter: African-American men. [The Atlantic] * Packing the Supreme Court? There ought to be a constitutional amendment about that, Jim Lindgren says. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason] * In fact, is it time for progressives to fight against, rather than within, the courts? Howard Wasserman offers thoughts on the recent Slate debate between Daniel Hemel and Christopher Jon Sprigman. [PrawfsBlawg] * Patrick Gregory reports on the latest controversy in the world of lower-court nominations: the ABA's "not qualified" rating of Eighth Circuit nominee Jonathan Kobes. [Big Law Business] * Edmund Zagorski has multiple legal challenges to his execution (which is now on hold); former federal defender Stephen Cooper looks at the one based on the method of execution. [Tennessean] * Congratulations to Pedro Hernandez on the dismissal of his case -- and to his counsel, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, on the great result. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2YPLmtwkug

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.25.15

* "You can do all you want! Four days. You don’t have the jurisdiction. Five days.” Judge Joe Brown lost his appeal over a contempt charge he earned last year after he allegedly "lost control" during a juvenile court hearing and yelled at the presiding judge. [WREG] * According to a recent study, law faculties are lacking in white Christians and white Republicans. The most underrepresented demographic of all is that of Republican women. By all accounts, it looks like that particular group needs to sue to to get full-time teaching positions. [National Law Journal] * Law firms are constantly being inundated with solicitations for rankings and awards, and while they often complain that there are too many, let's face it: lawyers' egos are huge, and there will never be enough prestige to sate them. [Business of Law / Bloomberg BNA] * Ellen Pao's gender discrimination case against Kleiner Perkins has turned into a circus, with two area law firms fighting each other tooth and nail, and witnesses on the stand questioning lawyers with the judge's intermittent approval. [DealBook / New York Times] * Paul Ceglia, the alleged Facebook huckster who claimed he owned half of the social media company, may have escaped justice by removing his ankle monitor and disappearing, but his family had to forfeit his $250,000 bail yesterday. Like? [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky