Olu Stevens
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Minority Issues, Racism, State Judges
Black Judge Ordered To Pay Up For Having Opinions
While judges get away with bias and abuse all over the country, this guy's the one left paying the price. -
Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 08.05.16
* Judge Olu Stevens, who famously said he would not “check his First Amendment rights at the courthouse door,” will be dropping his suit against the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission. He remains charged with six counts of misconduct related to public comments made about the exclusion of black jurors. [WDRB] * Four partners from Cadwalader […]
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Morning Docket
Morning Docket: 04.04.16
* “Say you’ll remember me, standing in a black robe, waiting for a hearing, babe. Begging the SJC, say you will confirm me, even if it’s just in my wildest dreams, ah-ha ohh.” SCOTUS nominee Judge Merrick Garland has something in common with an overwhelming number of teenage girls: he loves Taylor Swift sing-alongs. That’s cute! [People]
* “A judge does not check his First Amendment rights at the courthouse door.” Judge Olu Stevens has filed suit against the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission on free-speech grounds in an attempt to stave off an ethics sanction for publicly commenting on Facebook about all-white juries and their “disproportionate and disparate impact on black defendants.” [Courier-Journal]
* Hardly any partners leave Cravath, but a very important one just did, and his exit is making people talk. Scott Barshay, once a top M&A partner at the firm that tends to set the associate bonus scale, has defected to Paul Weiss, where he’ll become its global head of M&A. Which clients will he take to the “dream team”? [DealBook / New York Times]
* This plaintiff’s antitrust allegations against Uber’s CEO may be “wildly implausible” and representative of an “impossibly unwieldy conspiracy,” but in Judge Jed Rakoff’s eyes, they were enough to overcome a motion to dismiss that was filed by Boies Schiller. Something tells us Uber’s legal bills are going to see some surge-pricing. [WSJ Law Blog]
* Per a study by Ravel Law, in a new index that tracks federal judges by their rulings and subsequent citations to those rulings, Michigan produces the most influential judges on the federal bench, followed by Chicago, Harvard, and Yale. Harvard has finally gotten one over on Yale — but for a measly bronze trophy. [Crain’s Detroit Business]
* According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the legal sector gained 1,200 jobs in March. On top of that positive news, February’s numbers were revised from a loss of 1,500 jobs to a gain of 100 jobs. In any case, what with the huge discrepancy, we’re happy to see Dewey’s bookkeepers found new work. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg]
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Racism
White People Weigh In On How They Should Be Punished For Using The N-Word
Can you be "excessive" when punishing a racist? -
State Judges
Hero Judge Puts Racist In His Place -- Which Is Jail
If only all racists were dealt with this swiftly. -
Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 11.19.15
* #tbt to The Onion’s glorious take on the average American’s understanding of the Constitution — it’s sad because it is still so very true. [The Onion]
* Forget all those stories about hitting kids with rulers — nuns are so badass. Here’s a group of nuns that work undercover to rescue women from human trafficking. [Huffington Post]
* Remember Judge Olu Stevens? He’s the judge that took to dismissing all white juries for black defendants. One commentator thinks he should be right — even if he isn’t. [Louisville Constitution-Journal]
* You shouldn’t let the sh*tstorm that your job creates for you make you a terrible person. Rise above. [Katz Justice]
* Evaluating the potential legal claims of Charlie Sheen’s former paramours. [Personal Injury Law Blog]
* Attention law students: start networking now. Yes, even if it makes you look like a B-school tool. [Law and More]
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Non-Sequiturs
Non-Sequiturs: 10.26.15
* More bar exam results! Which school saw its passage rate take a 15 point hit? [Bar Exam Stats]
* This is the right way to break up a protest at Planned Parenthood: with a smiling clit cartoon. [Slate]
* How we can rethink the history of slavery and the Constitution. [Berkeley News]
* Maybe Judge Stevens is onto something — the Supreme Court to take on the issue of racial bias in jury selection. [Gawker]
* Hillary wants to keep marijuana illegal — is this her version of she “didn’t inhale?” [Al-Jazeera]
* Kickstarter class actions. What hell hath we wrought? [Associates Mind]
* In this corner we have the Oregon Attorney General. In the other we have vitamin giant GNC. Who will win this battle royale? Not so fast — it’s a trick question since one side’s dietary supplements were laced with illegal drugs. [Vox]
* The latest in The Atlantic’s series on the Reconstruction. [The Atlantic]
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Legal Ethics
Is This Judge Doing A Better Job Of Being The Defense Attorney Than The Defense Attorney?
Did this judge do the right thing?