The backstory is convoluted. What happened at Chi Phi Fraternity at Cornell University on the night of October 19, 2024 is unclear. It could have been a gang rape. It could have been a woman who voluntarily engaged in drug- and alcohol-fueled sexual conduct with multiple male students, who subsequently regretted her actions and either wants to get money out of Cornell or exact revenge on the men.

What is known is that the woman, proceeding pseudonymously, has sued Cornell under Title IX for failing to pursue her claims, which prompted the Tompkins County prosecutor to reopen a case that had been dropped at the time. The woman went to the Cornell Police Department to make a complaint. Her statement failed to allege that she was forced to ingest drugs or engage in nonconsensual sex. In other words, it didn’t allege anything criminal. When it was forwarded to the district attorney, there was no basis to proceed. Continue reading →

Perhaps it was on college football? Maybe Saturday Night Live? Or it could have been Fox News Sunday, where the administration thought it worthwhile to use government funds, a euphemism for the monies you and I (well, at least I) pay as taxpayers, to put commercials on the television. But they’re not political ads, according to Trump. They’re public service ads.

What public service did this remind you of? But it gets worse. Continue reading →

By a 6-3 majority, the Supreme Court stayed the temporary restraining order prohibiting the implementation of the government’s modified SAVE system to determine eligible voters. In its per curiam opinion, it hardly seems like much of a big deal.

Lest there be any doubt, section 1373(c) requires DHS to respond to inquiries from state and local agencies “seeking to verify or ascertain the citizenship or immigration status of any individual.” Considered alongside section 1373’s “notwithstanding” clauses, section 1373(c) appears to contemplate an information-sharing regime like the modified SAVE program. In light of these provisions, this Court is likely to reverse the District Court’s holding that the federal defendants violated the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and the APA.

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Friends, this weekend feels different.

No, I’m not just talking about the cooler temperatures since it’s fall now (Thank you Jesus, I was sick of the “Satan’s Asshole” temperatures we’ve had all summer). I’m talking about this weekend’s big game in college football between the number 1 Texas Longhorns and my beloved Tennessee Vols.

It’s not just that this will be true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s first real SEC test. It’s not just that it’s the #1 and the #14 teams in the country facing off to see who’s better. It’s not even that the President will be in town in all of his own personal orange glory.

This is basically the movie “300” in real life, friends. Continue reading →

Ed. Note: Chris Halkides has been kind enough to try to make us lawyers smarter by dumbing down science enough that we have a small chance of understanding how it’s being used to wrongfully convict and, in some cases, execute defendants. Chris graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and teaches biochemistry, organic chemistry, and forensic chemistry at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.

Ed. Note 2: A reader has kindly provided a postmortem picture of one of the victims. It is horrific and disturbing. I’ve added it in, but if you do not want to see it, do not scroll down.

The murder of three women in March of 1960 at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois had gone cold when Chester Weger confessed under dubious circumstances. Shortly thereafter, he recanted. The recent publication of the book Murder at Starved Rock: How the System Framed an Innocent Man by Jim Ridings and a petition for executive clemency are reasons to examine the events again. One of many reasons to have concerns over Weger’s confession is that it is not consonant with some of the forensic facts. Continue reading →

District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, granted a 14-day temporary restraining order against Trump’s ban of CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House. The decision was based on the Fifth Amendment denial of due process, Trump having neither given the news outlets notice of why he was banning them nor an opportunity to be heard. Judge Kelly emphasized that the order is temporary.

It’s unclear that such notice could have been given, as there is nothing to show that Trump gave any thought to his ban before the words emitted from his mouth or Natalie Harp’s fingers as she typed up Trump’s Truth Social twit, wherein he explicitly based the ban on his displeasure at their negative reporting of him. Trump calls it fake news because it makes him feel bad, and news that isn’t what Trump wants to hear is fake. Continue reading →

After announcing at his hourly presser that he was banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House because he didn’t like what they said about him, the five networks that make up the White House pool consortium, including Fox News, decided to suspend coverage of Trump. What this means is that Trump’s every public act and utterance will no longer flood the airwaves and social media. Does a president exist if he’s not on air?

What does the TV pool actually do?

The activities of TV pool correspondents depend on the president’s schedule. If the president stays at the White House, they may attend meetings in the Oval Office or other parts of the White House accompanied by their camera crews. While the camera operators gather footage, the correspondents often shout out questions for the president after the official proceedings have concluded.

On overseas presidential trips, the TV pool correspondents rush between news conferences, diplomatic photo-ops, dinners and more. They also travel on Air Force One and ride in motorcades.

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The ploy is obvious. Trump’s next venture into building a monument to himself (because who else will, duh) is built on the shakiest of foundations. His claim that it was long ago approved by Congress is flimsy, bordering on spurious. A 250-foot-tall arch that blocks everything around it isn’t a pair of 166-foot columns explicitly designed to frame Arlington National Cemetery without interfering with the view of the Lincoln Memorial or the Lee Mansion, and Trump knows that he’ll never get approval to build his homage to himself.

Plan B has just dropped.

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Out of the blue, Trump twitted that he’s banning CNN, MSNOW and Politico from the White House, with “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.”

Calling critical and unflattering media coverage “fake” has long been a ubiquitous Trump tool to persuade the MAGA faithful to ignore reality and believe him instead. Trump, and others in his administration like Hegseth and FCC chair Brendan Carr, have tried desperately to silence or chill speech that fails to please and support Trump’s claims of greatness. Continue reading →

My kids have a school dance tonight. It’s my son’s first of middle school and one of the last my daughter will see at this particular grade level. And of course, because I’m a sucker for this sort of thing, I’m chaperoning everyone.

The school has a very interesting schedule for dances. Sixth graders come an hour before everyone else is allowed in. They dance and holler for an hour and none of the other kids are even in the building. After that first hour, the sixth graders are shuffled out and the seventh and eighth grades arrive for the big dance.

Personally I’m a fan of this system. Sixth grade is a weird enough age for kids. They don’t need to be mixing with their older peers at a dance. Does this make me a prude? Answer: Yes, and I’m quite comfortable with that, thank you very much. Continue reading →