NYU Law School

Non-Sequiturs

Non Sequiturs: 04.07.19

* Where does Justice Brett Kavanaugh fit along the ideological spectrum at the Supreme Court? Adam Feldman evaluates the evidence thus far. [Empirical SCOTUS] * Speaking of SCOTUS, Frank Pasquale takes Neal Devins and Lawrence Baum's new book, The Company They Keep: How Partisan Divisions Came to the Supreme Court (affiliate link), as a jumping-off point for exploring the political polarization of SCOTUS. [Balkinization] * Texas v. Azar, the Obamacare case now pending before the Fifth Circuit, makes for unusual alliances -- how often do you see Jonathan Adler, Nick Bagley, Abbe Gluck, and Ilya Somin on the same amicus brief? [Take Care] * David Bernstein offers some thoughtful reflections -- with which I happen to agree -- on how some conservatives responded to the nominations of Neomi Rao and Jessie Liu. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason] * Joel Cohen has a question about Robert Mueller: “What did he know, and when did he know it?” [The Hill] * And Cohen also has this interesting interview with Justice David Wecht of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, about an important (and disturbing) subject: the recent rise in anti-Semitism, in America and abroad. [Tablet] * If you share my interest in litigation finance, then you might be interested in this great new resource: a comprehensive digital library of documents relating to the litigation-funding industry. [Litigation Finance Journal] * What trends and technology will shape the future of the legal profession? Jean O'Grady discusses highlights from a new report by Wolters Kluwer. [Dewey B Strategic]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.18.17

* "It’s a terrible signal for this group to be holding their meeting at the Trump International Hotel and for a Supreme Court justice to legitimate it by attending. It just violates basic ethical principles about conflicts of interest." Justice Neil Gorsuch is under fire for speaking at an upcoming event at the Trump International Hotel just two weeks before SCOTUS will hear arguments in the travel ban case. [New York Times] * After 23 years, National Conference of Bar Examiners president Erica Moeser will be retiring from her job on August 21 and handing over the reins to Judith Gundersen, the NCBE's director of test operations. If you recall, Moeser once infamously -- and most likely, correctly -- said that plummeting bar pass rates were due to "less able" test takers. Enjoy your retirement! [Law.com] * With funding of almost $6 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, NYU Law is launching the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, in an effort to assist state attorneys general who "don’t begin to have the resources to meet these challenges" fight any of the Trump administration's attempts to dismantle environmental protections and climate policies. [Washington Post] * Jacqueline B. Jones, the lawyer who called in a bomb threat to the federal courthouse on the day she was supposed to defend herself against being sanctioned, is set to plead guilty today to third-degree falsely reporting an incident. She faces jail time and up to $15,000 in fines. [Syracuse.com] * "The story's true. I'm not doing anything. I barely show up to work and I've been caught." The spokesman for New York's Office of Court Administration accidentally left a message for a reporter who was working on a story about his truancy on the job, laughing about how he "barely" showed up to work, just after lying and saying the reports were false. Oopsie! [New York Law Journal] * "In an era of alternative news and fake facts, the ABA should be the definitive source of real facts when it comes to the law." Check out the ABA's new online resource, the legal fact checker, a website where members of the public can learn about what the law says regarding current events in the news. [ABA Journal]

By Staci Zaretsky