Category Archives: Uncategorized

Victim’s Rights Trump Innocence

At Slate, Mark Joseph Stern reached the only conclusion that any reasonable person could reach.

When a victim’s brother can single-handedly imperil the exoneration of a man whom prosecutors already set free, we have abandoned any pretense that an expansive conception of victims’ rights can coexist with a fair criminal legal system.

He’s talking about the Maryland appellate court’s vacatur of the nolle prosequi of Adnan Syad, the focus of the podcast “Serial,” It wasn’t the state that appealed, but the victim’s representative, her brother. The court held that the brother was given inadequate notice such that he was unable to be personally present in court, although he was present by Zoom. Apparently, Zoom is good enough for a defendant not to be prejudiced at trial, but not for a victim’s rep to be “present” for a hearing in which he has no right to be heard. Continue reading →

Title IX Outside The Jurisdiction

The opportunity to study abroad is a wonderful experience for most students. But bad things can happen there as well as here, and when they do, who is liable?

In 2020, Plaintiff Jane Doe attended Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Calvin University offered a study abroad program in the Philippines with Silliman University, a private university in Dumaguete, Philippines. Silliman University selected some of its students to serve as “buddies” for the Calvin University students. Near the end of the
program, the students attended a dinner on the Silliman campus. After the dinner, the Silliman students invited the Calvin students to a local bar and club. One of the Silliman students laced or spiked Plaintiff’s drink and later escorted her back to the hotel where he
sexually assaulted Plaintiff.

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What Does a Law School DEI Dean Do?

It costs money to have deans. They need offices. Staff, Curtains, And they get paid. One would assume, then, that the juice was worth the squeeze and when they come to work Monday morning, they have a job to do. The janitor sweeps the floors. The bursar signs the checks. But what does the DEI dean do when her driver drops her off at the law school?

[H]ow could it be that well-trained DEI Deans at elite institutions can have such a fundamentally flawed vision of the purpose of an academic institution? And what are these DEI staff teaching law students? Indeed, Steinbach doubled-down on her position in the WSJ: Continue reading →

Short Take: Does Levi’s Have The Answer?

Moments ago, I trashed the post I wrote about Levi’s announcement that it plans to use AI generated models in order to provide its customers with greater diversity.

Fashion brand Levi Strauss & Co has announced a partnership with digital fashion studio Lalaland.ai to make custom artificial intelligence (AI) generated avatars in what it says will increase diversity among its models. Continue reading →

Short Take: Everybody Else On The Block

Despite the facts that Peter Moskos got his Ph.D. from Harvard and teaches at John Jay College of Coppery and Shoe Repair, he’s got a point. A good point. An important point. It begins with a twit showing a video of shooting in what otherwise appears to be a quiet, well-maintained suburban residential street.

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Talk is Cheap, Dean Martinez

It’s not that I’ve argued (or implied, for those unconstrained by reality) that the students who engaged in mob action to silence intemperate Judge Kyle Duncan should be “punished.” But I have argued that there must be consequences for what happened there. It’s not enough that they be sternly admonished, and if they do it again, be even more sternly admonished.

At some point, and that point is usually obvious early on, students realize that the rules are malarkey and the worst that comes of violating the rules is they have to suffer an anti-tummy rub. Granted, the lack of validation is routinely considered deleterious harm by children these days, but they’ll survive with or without puppies and Play Doh. Plus, they get to call themselves “survivors” and all their friends and allies send them thoughts and prayers. Continue reading →

With The Bank’s Permission

Not too long ago, I opened a new business account at Citibank. I already had a business account there for more than 30 years, but they were offering some promo for a new account, so Dr. SJ told me to do it and she must be obeyed. But when I tried to open the account, I was told by the branch manager that I had to prove that I was a lawyer, even though my other account was captioned “counselor at law.” I was annoyed, but pulled out my state-issued bar card. Not good enough, I was informed.

I told her to check the New York State bar registration website. Nope, she officially replied. It was my job to prove it to her, not her job to figure it out. What she wanted was for me to bring in my bar admission certificate, the huge framed monster issued by the state court upon my initial admission that hung on the wall of my office for decades to impress potential clients with its fancy writing and gold seal. I tried to explain the levels of absurdity to her, but she didn’t care. “It’s the law,” she informed me. Continue reading →

Will Amici Help or Hurt?

Years ago, I served as the amicus chair for the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. With surprising regularity, issues arose that could have significant impact on the state of the law that would impact not only the parties in a specific case, but the practice of criminal law in general. When we learned of these cases, we cranked up the amicus machine to get our two cents in. Sometimes, it was because the issue at stake was too important not to get involved. Other times, it was because the lawyers involved weren’t up to snuff, and we didn’t want to lose on an important issue because the defendant was represented by a mediocre (or worse) lawyer. Continue reading →