Mark Bennett

But some think his punishment wasn't severe enough.

The DOJ isn't budging on mandatory minimums and one district judge explains why that's troubling.

No matter how long you've been practicing, sit down and read the rules on electronic discovery, comments included.

Courts around the country are rapidly losing patience with boilerplate objections to written discovery requests.

Lawyers who find success or enjoyment out of blogging are those who enjoy writing, but what are the benefits of doing it?

District Attorney Abel Reyna may not be able to get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, but he could probably get a grand jury to indict defendants for the murder of a ham sandwich.

The misadventures of a new lawyer offer some lessons about reputation management.

A new essay by Judge Rakoff bemoans the tacit judicial support of mass incarceration. But why are judges backing destructive policies?

* Ted Cruz Goes To Jury Duty is the Ernest Goes To Camp of a new generation. [NBC News]

* Former Judge Mike Maggio has graced our pages with his disgrace before when he admitted to making racist and sexist remarks about Charlize Theron’s adoption. Well, he just pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges. Looks like he’ll Geaux to prison. [Arkansas Times]

* Faced with allegations that it discriminated against a trans woman, Saks takes the curious legal stance that it had the legal right to discriminate. I’d say that takes balls, but… [Slate]

* A hearing board in Illinois just recommended a one-year suspension of former Sidley Austin and present DLA Piper attorney Lee Smolen. Maybe he could spend that time with his kids. [Legal Profession Blog]

* Fourth Circuit rules that you can’t set up unconstitutional barriers to abortion. Nothing to do with the woman’s rights of course, but because it might impact the doctor’s free speech. [Dorf on Law]

* Fired for wife-swapping. [Lowering the Bar]

* Jones Day accuses a federal judge of bias in benchslap appeal. Meanwhile, trial lawyers are filing amicus briefs backing the judge. [ACEDS]

* Technology and outsourcing have totally jacked the careers of Biglaw associates. You already knew this, but now there’s a paper! [TaxProf Blog]

Litigators are like unruly kids, which is why this benchslap with a sanction straight out of elementary school is so appropriate.

It's relatively easy to do. Just follow this plan and you'll be ridiculed in no time.

* The NFL has reached a $765 million settlement with the over 4,500 retired concussion victims whose injuries paved the way for the league’s success. [Sports Illustrated] * Dennis Rodman confidante Kim Jong-un had his ex-girlfriend executed on pornography charges. Kind of puts the whole “revenge porn” thing in perspective. [The Telegraph] * A lawsuit against Curt Schilling, based on allegations that he deceived the state into giving his company $75 million, will go forward. Like most conservative Republicans, Schilling saw no problem with taking millions in handouts from the government so long as poor people don’t get $4.50 a day for food. [Comcast SportsNet] * Judge Mark Bennett (N.D. Iowa) ripped the Department of Justice for creating massive drug sentencing disparities because the DOJ went years without a policy for when prosecutors should double the prison time for repeat offenders. In Northern Iowa, that’s a LOT of meth heads in prison. [Des Moines Register] * Attorneys for the Governor of Pennsylvania equate gay marriage to letting 12-year-olds marry. Just because a demographic calls everything “gay” doesn’t make them gay. [ABA Journal] * Study shows academics use lots of adjectives and adverbs. This is really a very terrific and awesome study. [TaxProf Blog] * Polygraphs are inadmissible, but remember invisible jets are A-OK. [Texts from Superheroes] * REMINDER: OK NYU, Columbia, Fordham, Cardozo, and NYLS students! It’s time to send nominations to us for where you want us to go on the Great Above the Law/Kaplan Bar Review Bar Crawl. Send bar nominations to tips@abovethelaw.com, subject: “Bar Crawl.” See you on September 18th! [Above the Law]

* A District Court judge in Iowa ruled that warrantless GPS tracking is A-OK, despite a very recent Supreme Court ruling saying pretty much the exact opposite. In other words, Judge Mark Bennett said, “Well, I forgot how to give a f**k!” [Threat Level / Wired] * Is it more amusing that law students at the University of Georgia adopted a “Law Hawk” as an unofficial mascot, or that the student newspaper article about it reads like something out of The Onion? You decide. [Red and Black] * Ogletree Deakins takes Manhattan (and some lawyers from Seyfarth Shaw). [New York Law Journal] * OK, Marines lawyers. No more excuses, it’s time to suit wire up. Get your tech on, thousands of your jobs may depend on it. [Nightly Business Review] * A North Carolina judge blocked a death sentence based on racial bias. A lot of people say that everyone’s a little bit racist, but let’s work out our prejudices in the Octagon, not the courtroom, okay? [New York Times] * Lat discusses blogging v. journalism, why you shouldn’t be stupid, and the state of legal education with UVA School of Law. [Virginia Law Weekly]

Who says the Midwest is more laid back than the coasts? Who says Midwesterners are more polite than people who live in big cities? Who says working in a place like Iowa affords a higher quality of life and a better work/life balance than working in a place like Chicago? Not United States District Court […]

U.S. District Judge Mark W. Bennett won’t get the publicity of Judge Martin Feldman. Obviously, blocking President Obama’s deep-water drilling moratorium — having already disclosed investments in Transocean and Halliburton — is big news. But Judge Bennett is making waves of his own in his Iowa courtroom. He’s decided that he wants lawyers to participate […]