Morning Docket: 03.25.16
* The "best way to get a handle on a circuit judge's judicial philosophy is to look at the judge's concurrences and dissents," but that's a bit problematic in Chief Judge Merrick Garland's case -- in his 19 years on the D.C. Circuit, he's only dissented 16 times. That's less than one dissent for each year he's been on the bench. We'd probably be able to get to know him better if he got a hearing. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * Recent law school graduates aren't thrilled about their life choices: Per a survey of more than 7,000 law school alumni, less than half of those who graduated since 2000 "strongly agreed" that if given the chance, they'd choose to go to law school again, and just 20 percent "strongly agreed" that law school was worth the cost. [WSJ Law Blog] * "[L]aw schools systematically deceived students with misleading statistics, with the blessing of the American Bar Association." The jury's verdict in the Alaburda v. TJSL case continues a long history of law schools being left unaccountable and off the hook for their disingenuous employment and salary statistics. [DealBook / New York Times] * "I was not 'instructed' to strike black jurors so much as I was advised or encouraged to do so as a matter of trial strategy." Assistant District Attorney Nathan Wood of Wharton County, Texas, has accused his boss of excluding black residents from juries in criminal cases to improve the prosecution's odds of receiving guilty verdicts. [Houston Chronicle] * One week after resigning from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court over his role in the infamous "Porngate" scandal, citing "disgust" with his conduct, former Justice Michael Eakin was fined $50,000 by the state's Judicial Conduct Board. At least Eakin will be able to keep his state pension, with an estimated $140K annual value. [Associated Press]
