I watch Netflix. But then, when I watch their dramatizations, and enjoy them as I do, I realize one thing. They’re not real. They’re not documentaries. They’re entertainment. They’re shows written by screenwriters whose dialogue is made up, played by actors who know nothing about their characters, presenting stories that reflect whatever the producers and directors want them to present. They can be great TV, but they’re still just entertainment.

Not everybody gets this.

Before “Making a Murderer” aired, a Google search of his name “would have revealed two nondescript news articles about routine local crime,” he alleges in a lawsuit. Now it turns up hundreds of thousands. He and his family have received violent threats that “fill the capacity of 28 compact discs,” the lawsuit claims. (Mr. Colborn, who retired in 2018, declined an interview request.)

Continue reading →

Trump supporters rallied in Freedom Plaza as Marine One flew overhead, people in the crowd waving at their president and believing. They’re allowed to believe, just as Trump is allowed to enjoy the adoration of his most devoted supporters in his waning lame duck days. It’s not as if he would let any of them into Mar-a-Lago when he’s gone.

But true believers, for whom all the bluff of election fraud claims remains disconnected to all the courts, all the judges, all the Trump-appointed judges, who have rejected them, weren’t the only ones to step out for Trump. There was also a group of pathetic losers who call themselves Proud Boys, because losers always pick a name to make themselves feel better about being losers. Continue reading →

Not from Donald Trump, for whom the word grace is wholly unfamiliar. It’s not in his makeup to admit that he’s a loser, which is understandable given his toxic combination of ignorance and cynicism. After all, when one views the world as a game between liars and manipulators, only losers concern themselves with anything but not losing.

There was never any doubt by lawyers who weren’t intentionally delusional that the State of Texas’ attempt to get the Supreme Court, with two very conservative justices and three more nominated by Trump, would reject the case. Like the 50-plus other state and federal cases that failed miserably, it was doomed. And it was obvious that it was doomed. It was that bad, that devoid of merit on every level. And so the Supreme Court, a court as “friendly” as Texas and Trump could possibly hope for, crushed his dreams.* Continue reading →

What you’re about to read was written initially during the first lockdowns as an absurd mechanism of coping with the pandemic. I set it aside at the time as it didn’t seem right then to share it. I hope you enjoy it.—CLS

Carl checked his watch as he made his way to the jail doors. The time was 1:45. I should make my two o’ clock on time, Carl thought. Clients always appreciate punctuality.

Although times were different, Carl made a point to wear a fresh three-piece-suit and carry his leather briefcase to every client meeting. He firmly believed keeping up appearances gave clients a sense of safety in a world gone mad. Continue reading →

The San Diego Unified School District had a problem. Or at least it thought it had a problem.

In the first semester of the 2019-20 school year, the San Diego Unified school district board discovered that 20% of black students had received a D or F grade. In comparison, 7% of white students earned the same failing marks.

This reflected what’s called the “education gap,” that black students do worse than white students. This is where one might be inclined to ask the uncomfortable question, “Why?” But not San Diego. Continue reading →

Among his other duties, Zach Greenberg gives presentations for FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which has its offices in Philadelphia for reasons that elude me. In giving presentations, he might have to say some “bad” words to make his point. Except the Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted a version of the ABA’s model rule 8.4(g) to dictate that lawyer speech and conduct be sufficiently woke to avoid disbarment.

Plaintiff alleged specific examples of individuals filing disciplinary and Title IX complaints against speakers who were presenting on similar topics as those discussed by Plaintiff, which he alleges will “force[ him] to censor himself to steer clear of an ultimately unknown line so that his speech is not at risk of being incorrectly perceived as manifesting bias or prejudice.” Therefore, in addition to showing that the “chilling effect on his speech … is objectively reasonable,” Plaintiff has shown that he will “self-censor[] as a result.”

Continue reading →

Should publicly-traded companies on NASDAQ have a diverse board of directors? Sure. Why not? If they want to, and they should, but is that any of NASDAQ’s business? In what the Wall Street Journal calls a “publicity stunt,” NASDAQ has asked the SEC to approve its new diversity mandate.

If approved by the SEC, the new listing rules would require all companies listed on Nasdaq’s U.S. exchange to publicly disclose consistent, transparent diversity statistics regarding their board of directors. Additionally, the rules would require most Nasdaq-listed companies to have, or explain why they do not have, at least two diverse directors, including one who self-identifies as female and one who self-identifies as either an underrepresented minority1 or LGBTQ+. Foreign companies and smaller reporting companies would have additional flexibility in satisfying this requirement with two female directors.

Continue reading →

The old district attorney was a Democrat and a black woman, Jackie Lacey. As it turned out, identity wasn’t good enough to re-elect her, even as the same people demand that important government officials meet their demographic criteria rather than possess the ability to do the job well. So much for the assumption that being a woman of color is the defining characteristic for a position of power and authority. Lacey was defeated by one of the new breed of progressive prosecutors.

George Gascón, the former top prosecutor in San Francisco, seized the momentum swirling in the streets and honed his promises to reduce incarceration, tackle racial bias and reopen old police shooting cases that the incumbent had declined to prosecute. At his swearing-in ceremony on Monday, Mr. Gascón immediately put his plans in motion, announcing an end to seeking cash bail and other sweeping policy changes.

Continue reading →

Personal relationships notwithstanding, the life of a judge is of no greater inherent value than the life of anyone else. It’s sad to learn of a judge’s untimely passing, whether from COVID or a car accident, It’s sad to learn of a judge’s passing from natural causes. It’s the same sadness that does, or should, apply to the loss of any human life. But as United States District Judge Esther Salas writes, there is an additional concern when someone, litigant or lawyer, targets a judge for harm.

Then the doorbell rang. Daniel raced up the stairs. Seconds later, as I stood alone in our basement, my beloved son was shot to death. Mark Anderl, my husband of 25 years, was shot three times and critically injured. Continue reading →

In yet another example of asteroid strikes earth, women and minorites affected most, New York City public schools will reopen, which, the New York Times reports, exacerbates the “racial divide.”

But as some school buildings reopen this week, the mayor has found himself presiding over a starkly unequal school system in which many white families have flocked back to classrooms while most families of color have chosen to learn from home indefinitely.

That gulf is illustrated in a startling statistic: There are nearly 12,000 more white children returning to public school buildings than Black students — even though there are many more Black students than white children in the system overall.

Continue reading →