Southern Poverty Law Center

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.22.19

* It's cliché to label this, "but their emails" right? [NY Times] * R. Kelly wants to see this sex tape. Let's presume it's for defense purposes. [TMZ] * Navigating the privacy waters between GDPR and CCPA. [Corporate Counsel] * Gordon Caplan has a court date with Aunt Becky. [American Lawyer] * While eDiscovery has been a thing for over a decade, a new study confirms that a lot of firms still don't understand it. [Legaltech News] * The SPLC removed its founder...folks around the work they do think that was the right move. Meanwhile, prepare for years of white supremacists going "I can't be criticized because SPLC had a sh [New Yorker] * Mississippi wants a law aborted next. [NBC News]

By Joe Patrice
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: 09.07.17

* Harvard Law School unveils new plaque recognizing the contributions of Isaac Royall’s slaves. [Smithsonian Magazine] * In an open letter, 47 high-profile conservatives, including Brent Bozell of the Media Research Center, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, blast the Southern Poverty Law Center for using the […]

By Joe Patrice
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 04.29.16

* Fanfic come to life! Allison Janney handles the White House press corps as C.J. Cregg. Can you catch all the West Wing references she throws out in under a minute? [The Decider] * Sure, people want a "sleep revolution," but it is only likely to garner ridicule in the legal profession. Aren't we lucky? [Law and More] * Salon's latest HOTTAKE suggests Bernie or Bust folks should vote for Donald Trump. Yes, it is that stupid. [Lawyers, Guns and Money] * Behind the IP fight that killed a fashion house revival. [The Fashion Law] * Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore is really pissed at the Southern Poverty Law Center because they filed an ethics complaint against him. I mean all he did was tell probate judges not to marry same-sex couples... [Wonkette] * U.S. military says U.S. military is not guilty of a war crime for bombing a Doctors Without Borders hospital. [Huffington Post] * The impact an eight-justice Supreme Court may have on climate change. [Green Biz]

By Kathryn Rubino
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 10.06.15

* While we're loath to continue giving this woman airtime, it turns out that infamous Kentucky clerk Kim Davis's law firm, Liberty Counsel, was recently declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This fits the overall narrative here quite nicely, don't you think? [Salon] * After 12 days of deliberation, the jury in the criminal trial of Dewey & LeBoeuf's former execs has shown no signs of reaching a verdict, but instead, signs of exhaustion. In fact, one juror needed medical attention because she deliberated too hard. [Am Law Daily] * This seems to be a common phrase lately: law firm mergers are breaking records again. Altman Weil says more firms announced mergers in the first three quarters of 2015 than in the first three quarters of any year in almost a decade. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg] * "I was left to reflect on what I would want in the face of my own death." Thanks to Governor Jerry Brown, California is now the fifth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The End of Life Option Act will take effect sometime in 2016. [Los Angeles Times] * If you're an undergraduate student who's planning to go to law school, then you better be building relevant lawyering skills. Master the art of bullsh*tting before you graduate and you'll be ahead of the game. [Law Admissions Lowdown / U.S. News & World Report]

By Staci Zaretsky