There are many reasons, often unstated, why the Supreme Court decides against granting certiorari to a case. But after Senate negotiations failed to produce a reform bill that included qualified immunity,* the last hope was that the Supreme Court would take up one of the cases before it to undo its own creation of a defense that had no statutory basis and  regularly produced outcomes that ran from the bizarre to the god-awful.

But in James v. Bartelt, the Court denied cert, with a dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor (See page 65 of the order list). Continue reading →

What would a place like Nextdoor—the neighborhood social media app designed to bring neighbors together—look like if it had a section for clarifications, updates, retractions, and amplifications? I took a moment to suss out how such a feature would look.

Richard Stepman of Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York would really appreciate it if neighbors stopped calling his son, Richard Junior, “Little Dicky.” While the joke was funny at last week’s block party, the name calling is getting old, and both Richards would prefer it stop. Continue reading →

Not being a fan or user of Tik Tok, and not being 12 years old or inclined to doing idiotic things because that’s what all the kids do, I have never engaged in a Tik Tok challenge, even though people I know have done so. Most did something silly, like pour ice over their heads because that’s certainly an important way to show the world that you’re against whatever nonsense it was about, not to mention hip. I did not. No one cared.

Police believe that it was a Tik Tok challenge that pushed Covington High School student Larrianna Jackson, 18, to whup her 64-year-old teacher. Continue reading →

The first I heard of the “incident” was a student’s twit that sounded concerning.

3 weeks ago, my prof. played a blackface video without any warning or discussion. In the weeks since, my university has struggled to respond. (The prof. has tenured.) I write this piece because it’s beyond time for this story to be in the public sphere.

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His trial counsel, Eric Nelson, was paid by the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, and likely not nearly as much as he should have been paid given how cases of this magnitude of seriousness and high profile play out. But it’s no longer footing the bill and the Minnesota Supreme Court has refused to provide Chauvin, convicted of murdering George Floyd for anybody living under a rock, with a public defender.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday denied Derek Chauvin’s request for a public defender as the former Minneapolis police officer prepares to appeal his murder conviction in the death of George Floyd.

Chief Justice Lorie Gildea signed an order that said Chauvin failed to prove that he qualifies for representation from a public defender, according to the Star Tribune. Continue reading →

Judge Robert Pitman spent 113 pages to reach a conclusion that had to be reached and yet defied clear judicial review through the mechanations of Texas’ preclusion of the State, itself, having any putative involvement in making it happen. Unless, of course, you consider enacting a law that was facially unconstitutional and providing the courtrooms, judges, clerks and people with guns that enforce any law or judgment in the usual course.

Judge Pitman used sharp language to criticize the law, known as Senate Bill 8, which was drafted to make it difficult to challenge in court by delegating enforcement to private individuals, who can sue anyone who performs abortions or “aids and abets” them. Continue reading →

Family law is a squishy area to discuss. Criminal defense is neat and tidy by comparison. In criminal law, it’s the client and counsel against the might of the government. Family law, by comparison, is an area where everyone’s expected to get along in an incredibly hostile environment.

Attorneys and clients who go through a Family Law case of any sort unknowingly walk into a metaphorical meat grinder. Marital dissolutions and child custody cases will suck the life out of the most battle-hardened lawyer, and leave all parties scarred and jaded for their efforts. Continue reading →

Is there some progressive rationale for the decision made by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx not to charge the young men who engaged in a shootout on the streets of Chicago? The only explanation proffered thus far is that they were “mutual combatants,” apparently meaning that they all chose to engage in a shootout with each other. Is that a defense to murder?

The brazen mid-morning gunfight, which left one shooter dead and two of the suspects wounded, stemmed from an internal dispute between two factions of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang, according to an internal police report and a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation.

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As criticism of the “new” new math being taught in the upper right hand corner of America simmers, and below it the eradication of any expectation that black students be expected to add and subtract to get a diploma festers, academics are trying to find better strategies to avoid the “soft bigotry of low expectations” and teach students sufficient skills to survive, if not thrive, in the future.

When Oregon governor Kate Brown signed a law in July that suspended math and reading proficiency requirements for high school graduation for three years, an uproar ensued. Republicans charged that the state had abandoned academic standards, while the Democratic governor’s spokesperson declared that the move would help benefit the state’s “Black, Latino, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, Tribal, and students of color.” Continue reading →

University of North Carolina law professor Carissa Byrne Hessick tells a very curious story in her new book, Punishment Without Trial: Why plea bargaining is a bad deal.” Carissa is in New York City to attend a criminal law conference at NYU, one I too was asked to speak at but begged off. She stayed a day extra in New York to spend with prolific twitter activist, Scott Hechinger, who took her to a Brooklyn criminal courtroom, where he schooled her.

“In this courtroom, the rule is no talking, no eating, no drinking, no using your cell phone, and no reading.” This message was delivered to me while I was sitting on a bench in a courtroom in Brooklyn one April morning. The message was delivered in a low voice by Scott Hechinger, an attorney with the Brooklyn Defender Services, who was sitting on the bench next to me.

“Why no reading?” I asked. Continue reading →