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Federal judge attacks right to counsel and seek redress
A dissent in a recent Fifth Circuit case exhibits a shocking disregard for the right of citizens to counsel and to seek redress from the government. In short, the owner of beachfront property in Texas is suing the state under the Takings Clause, claiming that a beachfront easement granted by Texas statutes constitutes a taking […]
Sidestepping taxes
Taxes can make hypocrites of us all. Men who exaggerate their income when they meet women will plead penury to the IRS. Families who think their home is priceless will call it a dump to the tax assessor. The “buy local” crowd will buy cigarettes off the back of a truck that just arrived from […]
Right On!
This blog post by Amber Taylor is the most sensible thing you can find out there on law schools and their curricula. I may be one of those lawyers who ceased actively practicing law after nine years to write full-time. But what the legal profession needs is law schools that teach students to be lawyers […]
This is cool
A free 120-page primer from the Federal Judicial Center on the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Appeals. Link to PDF
Unpublished Opinions
After the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved amending Rule 809.23 to permit citation to some unpublished opinions, they formed a committee to see how the new rule will work. It doesn’t take effect until July 1, and only opinions issued after that date can be cited. Nevertheless, as a member of that committee, I want to […]
Keep the Uniformity Clause
Years ago, one of the candidates for mayor of Milwaukee (not Mayor Tom Barrett) proposed that Milwaukee should charge long-term residents of their homes less in property taxes than newcomers. She thought it was terrible that retirees should have their property taxes go up when gentrification of the neighborhood occurs. Such ideas are good politics […]
Too high, too low, or just right?
State Representative Gary Sherman wants to amend the constitution, to do away with spring elections. Noting that voter turnout in November was 90%, but the spring election was only 19%, Sherman thinks its an embarrassment and undemocratic for only 19% of voters to select an office as important as Supreme Court Justice. I don’t see […]
Unintended Consequences
I recently accepted an appointment to represent a defendant charged with misdemeanor battery in a domestic violence context. It was my first such case in many years. Not much had changed, except for one thing. It is now a violation of federal law to possess a firearm if you have a DV misdemeanor conviction. Being […]
I am taking the toy away from the child
We have all been hoping for clean judicial elections this spring. But alas, the first filth has been flung, and much to my horror, it is my own work. Every January, I count the affirmances and reversals of circuit court judges in the Court of Appeals, and compile charts (PDF) showing the results. Before I […]
I am shocked
Recently, a poll question running here at the Law Journal asked whether readers thought judges should be required to disclose their reasons when they recuse themselves from a case. The result was a 50/50 split on the issue. I had expected that our readers would overwhelmingly vote no, for two reasons. First, requiring judges to […]
Am I missing something?
Congress has now passed, and President Obama has signed, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, effectively overturning the 2007 Supreme Court opinion in Ledbetter’s case, holding that employees could not sue under Title VII for discrimination that occurred more than 180 days earlier, on a theory that each new paycheck reflects the earlier […]
Racial stereotype or ageism?
A divided panel of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently vacated a sentence based on comments by the white sentencing judge that the court found could be construed as exhibiting racial bias against the black defendant. http://www.wicourts.gov/ca/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=35252 I will admit that the statements could be construed in this way. But I was struck by how [[...]
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Loading ...Legal News
- Wisconsin attorney loses law license, ordered to pay $16K fine
- Former Wisconsin police officer charged with 5 bestiality felony counts
- Judge reject’s Trump’s bid for a new trial in $83.3 million E. Jean Carroll defamation case
- Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by police
- The Latest: Supreme Court arguments conclude in Trump immunity case
- Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers
- Wisconsin Attorney General asks Congress to expand reproductive health services
- Attorney General Kaul releases update at three-year anniversary of clergy and faith leader abuse initiative
- State Bar leaders remain deeply divided over special purpose trust
- Former Wisconsin college chancellor fired over porn career is fighting to keep his faculty post
- Pecker says he pledged to be Trump campaign’s ‘eyes and ears’ during 2016 race
- A conservative quest to limit diversity programs gains momentum in states
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