Education, If The Union Permits

The obvious failings of public sector unionism aside, the union representing graduate students and staff at the University of California, a local of the United Auto Workers because the Teamsters were too busy that day, has authorized a strike.

Not for pay. Not for benefits. For “free speech.”

The union, U.A.W. 4811, represents about 48,000 graduate students and other academic workers at 10 University of California system campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Its members, incensed over the university system’s handling of campus protests, pushed their union to address grievances extending beyond the bread-and-butter issues of collective bargaining to concerns over protesting and speaking out in their workplace.

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Why Does Cy Vance Pander?

In 2015, Cy Vance made a decision. His office, the New York County District Attorney’s office, would not prosecute Harvey Weinstein for the sexual assault of Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, despite their being a recording of Weinstein admitting his conduct.  Perhaps David Boies, who contributed $10,000 to Cy’s re-election campaign when he was running unopposed, had something to do with it. Perhaps not.

But now, Cy has seen the light. Continue reading →

But For Video: The Tragic Death of Roger Fortson

He was a 23-year-old active-duty airman, a patriot and, by all accounts, a good person. So why was Roger Fortson shot dead in the doorway to his apartment? Body cam showed the reason, at least from the point of view of the sheriff’s deputy.

As highlighted in the video, Fortson had a handgun in his hand. From the perspective of the deputy, he was there to address a “disturbance” in apartment 1401, Fortson’s apartment. Continue reading →

The Lists of the Cancelled

Remember when Moira Donegan created the “shitty media men” list as a way for women to hurl untested accusations, whether true or false, at anyone they wanted to smear? At least that list had the putative merit of accusing men of wrongdoing, even if their only wrong was being male. But is it a crime to be Zionist, to believe in the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state? Apparently, it is, at least to some.

Of course, without lists, how would people know who to hate, to shun, and round up when the time comes? Continue reading →

Despised Defendant Makes Bad NY Law

Bill Cosby’s conviction was reversed. More recently, Harvey Weinstein’s conviction was reversed. The takeaway in both cases, reversed for different reasons, is that the prosecution overstepped the law in order to make sure that these high profile defendants charged in the throes of #MeToo went down. You see, these were bad dudes. Everybody said so. And that’s reason enough to make sure they’re convicted.

And then their convictions were reversed. In New York, this was unacceptable to Democratic legislators, so a bill has been introduced to change the law. Continue reading →

Waiting For His Appeal Since 1996

Milwaukee criminal defense icon, Chris Van Wagner, sent over a decision by Seventh Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook in the case of Robert Pope, who in 1996 was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After his conviction, he filled out a form requesting an appeal. You’ll never believe what happened next.

After nothing happened for about 14 months, Pope sought aid from Wisconsin’s public defender, who replied that Pope first needed an extension from the court of appeals—which turned him down on the ground that he had waited too long. See State v. Pope, 2019 WI 106 ¶11, 389 Wis.2d 390, 936 N.W.2d 606 (Dec. 17, 2019) (recounting the 1997 decision). The court of appeals found that Pope had forfeited his appellate rights by not doing himself what the lawyer was supposed to do for him. Pope then asked the trial court for relief; it said no, given the appellate decision. “Since 1997 Pope has made multiple attempts to reinstate his appeal rights.” Id. at ¶12. All were unsuccessful until 2016, when the state acknowledged that Pope is entitled to an appeal and the circuit court entered an order to that effect. Continue reading →

Judges Only Have One Job

This time, the number was 13.

A group of 13 conservative US federal judges are vowing to not hire Columbia University law students or undergraduates because of how the school has handled pro-Palestinian demonstrations on its campus in recent weeks.

The judges sent a letter to Columbia President Minouche Shafik and the dean of Columbia’s law school Gillian Lester, on Monday, outlining their position and describing the Manhattan campus as “ground zero for the explosion of student disruptions, antisemitism and hatred for diverse viewpoints on campuses across the Nation.”

Whether you agree or disagree with the particulars of the judges’ condemnation of Columbia Law, a more basic question arises from this letter. As noted by Orin Kerr at VC, do judges have a role, any role, to play in this melodrama? Continue reading →

Judge Aileen Cannon Failed The Smell Test

To be sure, there is no legal doctrine requiring that the criminal prosecution of a candidate for president be tried in advance of election day. Not that there was any reason for such a doctrine to exist until now, but there is none. That said, the prior rulings by Judge Aileen Cannon appointing a special master to oversee the search warrant inventory, reversed with the back of the Eleventh Circuit’s hand across her snout, suggested one of two things.

Either Judge Cannon wasn’t up to the job of being a federal judge, which wouldn’t come as a major surprise given her stunning lack of experience and extremely thin qualifications when she was appointed by then-president Trump. Continue reading →