Preetinder Bharara

Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 05.26.17

Ed. note: Above the Law will not be publishing on Monday, May 29, in honor of Memorial Day. We'll see you on Tuesday, May 30 -- which is when we plan to issue our latest ATL Law School Rankings. * A Texas police chief is under investigation for allegedly calling a woman a "black bitch" after an altercation in a Walmart parking lot. The police chief was giving his 14-year-old daughter driving lessons at the time, and I'm comfortable drawing a straight line from the police/father's behavior to 53% of white women voting for Donald Trump. [The Root] * I think this link has something to do with art. Potentially, there's a lawsuit about somebody who copies art? I really don't know. Somebody at Above the Law sent me a link about art, told me to put it here, but didn't summarize the relevant art facts to me, and... well, I'm just not going to muster the focus to read a whole story about art. [Jezebel] * Joel Cohen, Judge Jed S. Rakoff, and Judge Richard Posner debate "alternative facts," because this is now an issue in our crumbling society. [Slate] * Long Island family awarded over $8 million because cops Tased disabled man four times. [New York Law Journal] * Preet Bharara says recently elected Montana Congressperson, Greg 'The Body-Slammer' Gianforte, would "face deportation" if he was an immigrant. [The Hill] * Most respectable publications are reporting on Trump's embarrassing performance in Europe. Do you think that has filtered all the way down to the white supremacist media that is in charge of the country? [Breitbart]

By Elie Mystal
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 12.09.16

* President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of labor, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, is a critic of the Obama Administration's regulation in this area (and he's a former litigator, interestingly enough). [Washington Post] * Judge Bill Pryor (11th Cir.), a top SCOTUS contender in a Trump Administration, is beloved by conservatives -- but confirming him could be a battle. [Bloomberg BNA via How Appealing] * The Arkansas Supreme Court rules that married lesbian couples can't put the names of both spouses on their children's birth certificates. [WSJ Law Blog] * SEC enforcement chief Andrew Ceresney will leave the agency by the end of this year; where might he wind up? [Law.com] * Governor Andrew Cuomo met with the feds in connection with the corruption case brought against some of his former aides. [New York Times] * Michael Jordan's latest court victory -- in an IP case in China. [Bloomberg] * Alabama prisoner Ronald Smith is executed after the Supreme Court denies a stay, leaving SCOTUS review of the state's unique "judicial override" system for another day. [New York Times via How Appealing]

By David Lat
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 01.12.16

* Based on reading the oral-argument tea leaves, it sounds like the Supreme Court is about to school the teachers' unions (and public-sector unions more generally). [How Appealing] * Ring in the new year by making the register ring: a slew of Biglaw firms have secured (presumably lucrative) engagements working on the proposed $32 billion merger between drug makers Shire Plc and Baxalta Inc. [American Lawyer] * By a vote of 82-6, and after a wait of more than 400 days, the Senate just confirmed Judge Luis Felipe Restrepo to the Third Circuit, making him the first Hispanic federal judge from Pennsylvania to sit on that court. [Associated Press] * Good news for fantasy-sports fans: it's not (yet) "game over" for DraftKings and FanDuel, thanks to a stay issued by a New York appellate court. [Bloomberg News] * And bad news for student-loan-saddled law grads (like our own Shannon Achimalbe) who were hoping that SCOTUS might make it easier to discharge such debts through bankruptcy. [Wall Street Journal via ABA Journal] * Does Sean Penn face legal risk for his interview of El Chapo, the infamous Mexican drug lord? [ABA Journal] * A former federal prosecutor just secured a six-figure settlement and reinstatement from the Justice Department. [National Law Journal] * U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara -- who came so, so close to winning Lawyer of the Year honors -- announced that Governor Mario Cuomo is off the legal hook for his controversial shutdown of the Moreland Commission, a panel aimed at investigating public corruption. [Law360] * Avvo is starting to roll out a service featuring fixed-fee, limited-scope legal services through a network of attorneys (and Bob Ambrogi has the scoop). [Law Sites] * Professor Peter J. Henning explores the implications of the end of the government case against hedge fund magnate Steve Cohen. [DealBook / New York Times]

By David Lat