National Emergency

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.15.19

* "This is not a normal vote. This will be a vote about the very nature of our constitution and the separation of powers." The Senate voted to reject President Trump's declaration of the national emergency, with 12 Republicans joining with their Democratic colleagues. Now, we'll wait for the reality TV spectacular that will be the president's first veto. [Washington Post] * A poster of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti in New York. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating. We’ll have more on this later. [New York Times] * Key prosecutors on special counsel Robert Mueller's team are leaving, which could signal that the Russian election interference is coming to an end. The latest prosecutor to head for the exit is Andrew Weissmann, who led cases against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. [NPR] * Was President Trump "dangling the possibility of a pardon" in front of Michael Cohen as a way to keep his former lawyer from telling the truth? If that's what happened, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler says it would've been a "terrible" abuse of power.[CNN] * In a 420-0 vote, the House of Representatives "overwhelmingly" approved a resolution urging the Justice Department to make special counsel Robert Mueller's full report available to Congress. This might matter. Maybe? [POLITICO] * "About being fired, all I can say is it wasn't my decision and I wish the center the best." The Southern Poverty Law Center has fired its co-founder Morris Dees over a “personnel issue.” What happened here? [AL.com] * Marc Jacobs has filed a motion to dismiss the copyright lawsuit filed by Nirvana over the designer's use of Kurt Cobain's yellow smiley face, claiming that the fashion house "reinterpreted the design to incorporate [a Marc Jacobs] branding element into an otherwise commonplace image." [Hypebeast] * Former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, author of the Title IX law, RIP. [ESPN]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 02.19.19

* 16 states, including New York and California, filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump yesterday -- yes, on President's Day -- challenging his declaration of a national emergency. [NBC News] * Meredith Watson, one of the women to accuse Virginia Lieutenant Governor and MoFo partner Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, writes in an op-ed that she's willing to publicly testify about the allegations. [Washington Post] * North Carolina elections shenanigans: state investigators the allege Republican candidate engaged in a “coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced” absentee ballot strategy. [New York Times] * Gibson Dunn is suing the Justice Department over their about face on online gambling. [Law.com] * Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers really wants to bring medical marijuana to the badger state. [Huffington Post]

By Kathryn Rubino
Non-Sequiturs

Non Sequiturs: 02.03.19

* How have personnel changes at the Supreme Court affected the dynamics at oral argument? Adam Feldman offers this analysis. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Ed Whelan expresses relief over the White House's new slate of Ninth Circuit nominations. [Bench Memos / National Review] * Can President Trump declare a "national emergency" in order to build his beloved wall? The National Emergencies Act is not a blank check, according to Brianne Gorod. [Take Care] * Should Congress pass a "deepfakes" law? Orin Kerr has some concerns. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason] * What's going on with Rudy Giuliani? Joel Cohen has a theory. [The Hill] * Jean O'Grady is pleased to see all the competition in the legal analytics space (with Precedent Analytics from Thomson Reuters as the newest entrant) -- but she'd like to see more support for the competing claims of the different products. [Dewey B Strategic] * News organizations need stricter and better guidelines when interviewing mentally ill defendants, according to former public defender Stephen Cooper. [The Tennessean] * Have questions about the fast-approaching February bar exam? Ashley Heidemann has answers. [JD Advising]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.25.19

* President Trump is preparing to declare a national emergency at the country’s southern border. A draft order is in the works, and $7B+ will be used to build the president’s wall to fix the humanitarian crisis he helped to create. [CNN] * Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone was arrested early this morning in connection with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. He’s been charged with seven counts: one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering. [Washington Post] * Were you planning on taking the D.C. bar exam in February? Not so fast. Thanks to the government shutdown, you might not be able to do so. We'll keep you updated. If you've been waiting to get sworn in after passing the July 2018 bar, keep waiting -- potentially for a while. [Law.com] * Michael Cohen's lawyer, Lanny Davis, has called for a criminal investigation into Rudy Giuliani for his alleged witness tampering because "calling out a man’s father-in-law and wife in order to intimidate the witness is not fair game." [The Hill] * Like it or not, women still carry the bulk of their childcare duties, and lawyer moms often find themselves "deploy[ing] tactical maneuvers" to get the job done. At least millennials are doing what they can to eliminate motherhood bias. [Law.com] * Congratulations to Kimberly Mutcherson of Rutgers-Camden, who was recently named as the co-dean of Rutgers Law School. She will be the first African-American and first LGBTQ law dean at Rutgers University. Well done! [Daily Targum] * Believe it or not, you can still do a lot of extracurricular activities during law school. Just ask Ted Bundy. He killed up to eight women while he was a student at Utah Law. We hope your preferred activities are more... normal. [Salt Lake Tribune]

By Staci Zaretsky