They’re just lawyers who get a paycheck from the government. They’re still lawyers subject to the Code of Professional Responsibility. They’re lawyers, and as lawyers, are subject to the Code of Professional Responsibility. So why is it that the Departmental Disciplinary Committees and their lead counsel have essentially ignored any grievances over their conduct?

Years ago, my buddy and officemate at the time, Dan Arshack, as president of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, when it still mattered, created a committee to grieve prosecutors and judges. It was created to overcome one of the biggest obstacles, that these were people we would have to deal with over and over. There is no faster way to make an enemy for life than filing a grievance against someone, and so defense lawyers were reluctant to do so in their own name. Plus, it usually came off as vengeful, sour grapes at times or just petty. Continue reading →

Thoughts and prayers are heartwarming. Platitudes are great for rallying the troops to a cause. But you know what they don’t do? Fix anything. What does that take, money?

Along with the repeal of the camping ban, Mr. Adler and the all-Democrat city council appropriated more than $73 million for homeless-related services in 2020, a record for the city. It was so much money that the city had trouble spending it. By December Austin had doled out only 57%, or $42.3 million, which still amounted to tens of thousands of dollars per homeless person. Yet the problem kept getting worse.

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A law student at Rutgers did something law students do. The student quoted a passage from a 1993 New Jersey Supreme Court decision, State v. Bridges (1993), that included the N-word. That word, together with some of the other worst epithets, can be found in over 10,000 decisions. It can be found in the New York Times. It can be found pretty much everywhere. But does it need to be said?

Black students at Rutgers Law School are petitioning for a policy against the use of racial slurs after an incident in which a white student quoted a racial slur directly from a 1993 legal opinion during a professor’s virtual office hours, The New York Times reported.

The petition also calls for apologies from the student, who has not been identified, and the professor, Vera Bergelson, who told the Times she did not hear the word spoken and would have corrected the student if she had. Continue reading →

Roads and bridges need to be maintained or they fail. This is an uncontroversial point, and it includes all manner of physical plant necessary to maintain a functioning society. But it is, by definition, limited to our durable physical plant, an investment in the structures, things, that will be there for us in the future. So what’s the big deal about including daycare as part of our infrastructure?

Like many progressives, I like the Biden administration’s plan to invest in infrastructure, but really love its plans to invest more in people. There’s a good case for doing more to improve physical assets like roads, water supplies and broadband networks. There’s an overwhelming case for doing more to help families with children.

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Daniel Humm has a three Michelin Star restaurant in Manhattan called Eleven Madison Park. It’s kind of a big deal restaurant, and diners pay dearly for the privilege of eating there. Dinner for two can easily cost $500. More if you get wine. Humm announced that when he reopens, it will be meatless, fishless, animalless food. He will forego the ingredients upon which his fame and fortune were established in favor of veggies, and he needs to let his future patrons know why.

It is time to redefine luxury as an experience that serves a higher purpose and maintains a genuine connection to the community. A restaurant experience is about more than what’s on the plate. We are thrilled to share the incredible possibilities of plant-based cuisine while deepening our connection to our homes: both our city and our planet.

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Ed. Note: Following is a post by the inimitable Skink, who’s sandwiched between 27 trials and a newly appointed kid federal judge who had never been inside a courtroom before. 

The Food and Drug Administration, them that brings us vaccines, medicines, medical devices and even says what pet food is okay, found themselves a demon a few days ago, and it sort-of rhymes with “alcohol.” You probably guessed:

“Banning menthol—the last allowable flavor*—in cigarettes and banning all flavors in cigars will help save lives, particularly among those disproportionately affected by these deadly products. With these actions, the FDA will help significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities experienced by communities of color, low-income populations, and LGBTQ+ individuals, all of whom are far more likely to use these tobacco products,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, M.D. “Together, these actions represent powerful, science-based approaches that will have an extraordinary public health impact. Armed with strong scientific evidence, and with full support from the Administration, we believe these actions will launch us on a trajectory toward ending tobacco-related disease and death in the U.S.”

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I’m bad with names. I’m so bad with names that for a year in college, I only dated women named “Sue” so I wouldn’t get in trouble. I can remember faces, people, things we did and things that happened, but I just can’t pull a name out of the mush in my head when I need to. It can be very embarrassing when someone I know comes over and I need to introduce them, but can’t recall their name. My practice has become to just admit my failing and ask for help. Most people laugh at me for my inability to remember names and life goes on.

There seems to be a lot more people with unusual names these days. By unusual, I mean not the typical popular names that all the kids had when I was growing up. John and Mary are still around, of course, as are Jordan and Tiffany, but the other day I wrote about a woman with an apostrophe in the middle of her name. I have no idea what it was doing there, but there it was.* Continue reading →

Prefatory note: my hacker contact, BlueDragon72, who totally isn’t TechDirt’s Tim Cushing, sent me this today. I think y’all will like this. –CLS

May 1, 2021
FROM: Templeton, Roy ([email protected])
TO: Belichick, Bill ([email protected])
SUBJECT: QB Problem

Dear Coach Belichick: Continue reading →

The Texas Tornado, Mark Bennett, poses a question that probably won’t be popular with many youngish lawyers, not because he doesn’t have a point, but because they’ve never given it much thought and instead cling to the dogma that’s been drilled into their noggins.

We have to prove democracy still works.

—President Joe Biden, in an Address to a Joint Session of Congress, April 28, 2021.

When did democracy ever work?

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It was only a life in being ago that a bachelors degree in liberal arts was the key to the American Dream. It was a rigorous course of study, deeply steeped in classical literature and philosophy, that provided a student with the best thought of the past to be applied to the world they would soon enter.

It was about thinking. It was also an opportunity, not an entitlement, and it was commonplace for the dean to give an opening talk to students: Look to your left. Look to your right. One of you will not be here to graduate. Failure was not merely an option, but a guarantee. Some of you would not be up to the task. Some would fail. Don’t let it be you. Continue reading →