Remember Nick Sandmann? He was the dude who became something of a Rorschach Test for how much your political beliefs (in any direction) influence your views of a short video, when EVERYONE HAD OPINIONS on his MAGA-hat wearing encounter with a Native American demonstrator, Nathan Phillips. Also, everyone magically became experts in reading body language and facial expressions. […]
Transcript Genius is a ‘very well-behaved’ partner.
* The House Judiciary Committee has (finally) opened an impeachment investigation against President Trump, and has asked a federal judge to supply subpoenaed grand jury information related to Robert Mueller's probe. [Washington Post] * "I was OK this last term. I expect to be OK next term. And after that we'll just have to see." Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has no immediate plans for retirement, saying that she'll continue to take things "year by year" and "stay on this job as long as [she] can do it full steam." [CNN] * In case you missed it, here's what SCOTUS justices have done on their summer vacation thus far: they're allowing the Trump administration to use $2.5 billion of funds that were previously allocated to the Defense Department to start construction on the border wall. [New York Times] * Just as LeClairRyan finds itself gasping its presumptive last breaths, the firm finds itself on the wrong end of a gender pay discrimination case. [Big Law Business] * A federal judge has dismissed Nick Sandmann's $250 million defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post. This probably means that Sandmann's similar suits against CNN and NBC will be dismissed soon as well. [USA Today]
* According to House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), special counsel Robert Mueller is making “a mistake” by not putting President Trump under oath for in-person testimony, since “he's made plain in the past [that] he feels it's perfectly fine to lie to the public.” [NBC News] * Per his lawyer, Covington Catholic student Nick Sandmann will be suing CNN for at least $250M because the news network was “probably more vicious in its direct attacks” than the Washington Post. [The Hill] * Lynne Patton, purported “law school grad” and actual prop for Rep. Mark Meadows, will soon be seen on reality TV, with Trump’s permission, of course. [CNN] * Texas lawyers have filed suit against the State Bar of Texas, claiming that the use of their mandatory dues to fund diversity programming and other legislative initiatives is unconstitutional. [SE Texas Record] * Women are dominating the playing field at this year’s SXSW festival and conference, making up about 68 percent of the attorneys who will be featured as speakers or panelists during the event. [Texas Lawyer] * In a split vote, the Maryland Court of Appeals reinstated “Serial” podcast subject Adnan Syed’s murder conviction, ruling that even though he may have had ineffective assistance of counsel, that wasn’t enough to overcome the rest of the evidence against him. [Reuters] * Bill Powers, former UT president and former UT Law dean, RIP. [Statesman]
* Earlier this week, Justice Samuel Alito blocked a Louisiana abortion law, and now a divided Supreme Court has done the same, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining with the Court's liberals to protect women's right to choose without undue burdens. Justice Brett Kavanaugh penned the dissent -- so much for "precedent on precedent." [USA Today] * After some back and forth over the threat of a subpoena, Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has agreed to testify publicly on the Mueller probe before the House Judiciary Committee bright and early tomorrow morning. [Washington Post] * "There’s no doubt that the talent wars in tax have definitely heated up." As it turns out, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is really living up to its name in that it's creating a lot of new jobs -- for tax lawyers and accountants, that is. [Wall Street Journal] * "I always thought of him as a good lawyer. I’m not so sure I think the same thing about him today." Now that he's serving as Trump's counsel, New York lawyers simply "don't understand" who the new and improved(?) Rudy Giuliani is. [Law.com] * Students at Harvard Law really want the school to continue its support of a pilot federal clerk hiring program that prevents judges from offering clerkships until applicants have completed their second year of school. [Harvard Crimson] * Lawyers representing Nick Sandmann, the Covington Catholic student who went viral after his run-in with a Native American elder during a D.C. protest, have sent an evidence-preservation letter to CNN prior to suing for defamation. [Daily Report]