Violence

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 08.05.19

* Two back-to-back mass shootings were committed by domestic terrorists this past weekend, killing at least 29 people with dozens more injured. Lawmakers must do something, anything about America's gun problem. [Wall Street Journal] * Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claims that he "saved the Supreme Court for a generation" by denying Judge Merrick Garland a confirmation hearing because those shouldn't be held during presidential election years -- unless the president up for election is Donald Trump. [Bloomberg] * In other news related to Senator McConnell, he's currently recovering from fracturing his shoulder this weekend, but plans to "continue to work from home" on not doing anything about gun control. We'd offer some thoughts and prayers, but you know how meaningless those are. [CBS News] * Per this D.C. judge, the Trump administration's latest move to bar those who did not cross the border at a designated port of entry from seeking asylum violates the Immigration and Nationality Act. How many strikes will it take for this one to get appealed to SCOTUS? [CNN] * Louis Vuitton wants to keep senior in-house attorney Andowah Newton's sexual harassment claims in arbitration, while she'd prefer to have her voice be heart in court under New York's new #MeToo law. [Big Law Business] * Spinderella, sue it up one time: the famous DJ is suing Salt-N-Pepa alleging not only that the group failed to pay her hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties, but that she was underpaid for appearances and sometimes wasn't even paid at all. [Showbiz CheatSheet]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non Sequiturs: 04.21.19

* What's the future of Elizabeth Prelogar, the beauty queen turned Harvard Law School grad turned Supreme Court clerk turned Team Mueller member? Not clear, except that it's blindingly bright. [Ozy] * How often do you see this? A federal judge praises counsel -- specifically, J. Christian Adams of the Election Law Center, Douglas R. Cox of Gibson Dunn, Michael E. Rosman of the Center for Individual Rights, and local counsel Mun Su Park -- for their "conscientious billing practices." [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason] * Another Lawyerly Lair of Jonathan Schiller, of Boies Schiller Flexner fame: a stunning modern retreat on Martha's Vineyard, designed by his son, architect Aaron Schiller (whose firm also did the new BSF offices in Hudson Yards). [Martha's Vineyard] * Amicus brief of the month: a compelling -- and, sadly, entertaining (see the Appendix) -- analysis of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's utterly incoherent approach to supposedly "immoral or scandalous" trademarks, filed by William Jay and Goodwin Procter on behalf of law professors Barton Beebe and Jeanne Fromer. [Supreme Court of the United States] * Here's a clear and concise explanation of the "Rule of 80," taking "senior status" as a federal judge, and what this all means for the ideological balance of the judiciary, courtesy of Ed Whelan. [Bench Memos / National Review] * How should we think about President Donald Trump's branding of the press as "the enemy of the people"? Negatively, to be sure -- but let's also keep in mind that the media is not a monolith, as First Amendment lawyer Charles Glasser helpfully reminds us. [Daily Caller] * Stephen Cooper survived a stabbing -- then went on to defend violent criminals for many years as a federal public defender. [Alabama Political Reporter] * Cooper argues that we need to be less punitive and more thoughtful in our treatment of offenders -- and Joel Cohen seems to agree, defending an unusual but wise sentence recently handed down by Judge Valerie Caproni (S.D.N.Y.). [New York Law Journal]

By David Lat