Joan Biskupic

John Roberts is not the centrist you're looking for.

It's the exact opposite of winning friends and influencing people.

* “How Tough-on-Crime Prosecutors Contribute to Mass Incarceration.” My review of Emily Bazelon’s new book, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (affiliate link). [New York Times Book Review]

* When it comes to prosecutors, as former prosecutor Joel Cohen explains, it’s all about discretion. [New York Law Journal]

* Judge Nancy Gertner (Ret.) defends Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins’s exercise of her prosecutorial discretion — and argues that Thomas Turco’s criticisms of Rollins are unfair. [Boston Globe]

* Another ex-prosecutor, Quinn Emanuel partner Alex Spiro, is representing tennis star Naomi Osaka in the “repugnant” lawsuit filed against her by her former coach. [Tennis365]

* Former federal prosecutors, many of them now partners at Biglaw firms, represent more than half of the defense lawyers in Operation Varsity Blues, aka the college admissions scandal. [Big Law Business]

* High-stakes litigation is just one of many factors contributing to Biglaw’s robust profit margin these days — hovering around 40 percent, its highest value in almost 30 years, according to Madhav Srinivasan of Hunton Andrews Kurth. [Law.com]

* Ronald Collins interviews Joan Biskupic about her latest judicial biography, The Chief: The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts (affiliate link). [SCOTUSblog]

* And speaking of SCOTUS, Will Baude believes that the death penalty “is justifiable and constitutional” — but argues that the Court has not acquitted itself well in its recent handling of capital cases. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

This wasn't the most thrilling Term ever, but a star-studded panel of SCOTUS experts offered interesting insights.

* Now that the Supreme Court Term is over, it’s time to take stock of SCOTUS. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, law professors Sai Prakash and John Yoo posit that the staunchly originalist Justice Thomas “might have found a fellow traveler in Justice Gorsuch.” [How Appealing]

* Speaking of the Journal, it’s the end of an era: the beloved WSJ Law Blog is no more (but note that the Journal’s stellar legal coverage will remain in the newspaper and online). [WSJ Law Blog]

* There’s an embarrassment of riches hen it comes to SCOTUS Term wrap-ups. The MoloLamken overview is always one of the best — and one of the most useful, for the many Above the Law readers representing big business as lawyers in Biglaw. [MoloLamken]

* And if you like your Supreme Court reviews live, check out this one tomorrow night at the 92nd Street Y here in New York, featuring an all-star cast of commentators: Dan Abrams of ABC News, Joan Biskupic of CNN, Dean Trevor Morrison and Professor Kenji Yoshino of NYU Law, and moderator Thane Rosenbaum, director of NYU’s Forum on Law, Culture & Society. [FOLCS]

* Will Chief Justice John Roberts’s recent speech at his son’s graduation go down in history as one of the best commencement addresses ever? [Jane Genova — Speechwriter-Ghostwriter]

* And where is the Chief Justice spending the summer? Like many of his colleagues on the Court, JGR is leaving the country (and given what D.C. is like in the summer, you can’t blame him). [The Economist]

* A piece by NPR’s Nina Totenberg over the long weekend reignited the Justice Kennedy retirement rumors (which I’ve thrown cold water on last year and again last week — but even I admit that AMK might retire around this time next year). [Daily Intelligencer / New York Magazine]

* Demand for legal services may be down, but to keep up appearances, law firms are raising their rates. Despite those rate increases — which are driving revenue across most firms — Wells Fargo Private Bank’s Legal Specialty Group says, “We do not expect the results to match the record peak performance experienced in 2014.” At least you tried? [WSJ Law Blog]

* In-house attorneys make a lot of money, but that won’t stop them from being envious of their Biglaw colleagues. Per a new survey, 44 percent of in-house counsel say their compensation is “below or significantly below that of their peers,” and 40 percent said they were likely to search for a new job because of comp issues. [Big Law Business]

* If you missed it this weekend, Joan Biskupic had an excellent profile of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Though she once lamented that her decisions were “being dismantled,” she’s modest about how influential she was on the Supreme Court: “We [tried] to persuade by the strength of the argument. Everyone [had] a very key vote.” [CNN]

* “The current condition of the [Cincinnati College of Law may] not [be] good enough for [its] wonderful students,” but that doesn’t mean it’s getting a new building any time soon. The school’s trustees just scrapped a plan to build a new law school at the downtown riverfront, opting to keep it on UC’s main campus. [Cincinnati Enquirer]

* “[B]ehind its façade of attainable elegance, Zara is engaged in a widespread practice of deceiving American consumers through a classic bait and switch.” Clothing store Zara has been slapped with a $5 million federal suit for allegedly engaging in deceptive pricing tactics. The store typically only lists prices in euros in its U.S. stores. [Us Weekly]

Who will be declared the winner in the war of words between Trump and Ginsburg?

A fifth-year associate at Jenner & Block will argue before SCOTUS on Wednesday -- how cool is that?

Did the Wise Latina engage in unwise behavior at a Supreme Court party?

* With the impossible body ideal of Barbie gracing the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover, perhaps we should consider the positives that Barbie has contributed to women over the years. Missing is the rare, vacuous “math class is tough” Barbie. [The Careerist] * A five-year-old writes the cutest response to the IRS. [TaxProf Blog] * Professor busted for taking upskirt pics. His defense? How else was he going to prove the girls weren’t wearing underwear? Touché. Touché. [The Smoking Gun] * The reasons to quit your Biglaw job. Now in listicle form! [Buzzfeed] * The Supreme Court has a chance to take a stand against prosecutorial misconduct. Will they take it? [The Atlantic] * If you’re violating your probation, be sure to videotape it and post it on YouTube. There’s no way your probation officer will see it. [IT-Lex] * More insight into the world of contracting and America’s emerging economic model. [Law and More] * On April 11-12, 2014, the Marquette University Law School will hold a symposium entitled “Judicial Assistants or Junior Judges: the Hiring, Utilization and Influence of Law Clerks.” Our own David Lat will be there, along with such luminaries as Judge Posner, Judge Sykes, Joan Biskupic, and Tony Mauro. [Marquette University Law School]

Which justices might retire, and who might replace them?

Anna Nicole Smith: her candle burned out long before her legend ever did. And the great beauty’s legend continues to grow, over three years after her untimely death in February 2007, as litigation involving her estate contributes to the development of a rich body of law regarding bankruptcy and probate law — in a tribunal […]