The BLS Advocate

Inter Alia: June Legal News Recap

This month’s news is brought to you by the letter J. J is for June, John Roberts, and jobs. Three cheers for the letter J!

Brooklyn Law School

● BLS ranks 7th in unemployment. That is, if you trust math and statistics (I’m skeptical). [WSJ].
● Wedding Bells! [NYTimes].
● Moody’s assigns BLS’ bonds Baa1 rating. [Reuters].  (This might be a story in the future.)
● Worried about jobs? Grow a mohawk. Tats a plus. [NYTimes].

National

● FCC not happy about the Supreme Court’s decision about “indecency” fines for wardrobe malfunctions and provocative images. [LA Times].
● Free speech vs. abortion rights reaches Maryland court. [BusinessWeek].
● Wired.com recaps decisions from the Court’s 2011-2012 term. [Wired].
● Following Arizona ruling, local enforcement dubious about implementation of SB 1070. [NPR].

New York

● City firefighter discrimination case continues in 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. [Reuters]
● $40 million hate crime suit dismissed for improper service. [WashingtonPost]
● Peter Madoff pleads guilty to fraud charges. [NYTimes].

___

Boyan Toshkoff,’14, also contributed to this list

Inter Alia: Monthly Legal News Recap

• BLS bids farewell to the Class of 2012; EDNY Chief Judge Carol Bagley Amon cracks a few good jokes before imploring grads to pick up their phones when their mothers call.
• The NYC chapter of the Guild  honors Cristina Lee, ’12, and Emily Jane Goodman, ’68, among others.
• Mike Scala, ’12, makes it onto the Congressional ballot for NY’s 5th District. [Scala for Congress]

Inter Alia: April Legal News Recap

• Community Group Brings City to Court Over Leaky Light Fixtures in Schools. NY1
• Appeal Filed in NYLS Suit Dismissal. Law360
• Chief Judge Lippman Announces New 50-hour Pro Bono Requirement for Bar Admission in NY, Starting in 2013. NYLJ

Inter Alia: Monthly News Recap

Candlelight Vigil photo courtesy of Dong Joo-Lee, '12

At BLS, March came in like a lion and out like a lamb. Feil roared with laughter as students bid on activities with their professors at the BLSPI auction on March 1st, while this past week the school courtyard grew quiet when supporters gathered with the Black Law Student Association for a candlelight vigil in support of justice for Trayvon Martin.

Here’s what happened in between:

Auction photo courtesy of BLSPI

BLS

• IPLA Guest Speaker: Christopher Soghoian
• BLSPI’s Race and the Law Week
• Adam Kubota, ’14, wins the prize at the Art Law Association’s Spring Exhibition
• 8th Annual Barrister’s Ball
• New BLSConnect Launch
• Nicholas Allard named New Dean
• ILS’ Around the World Party

New York

• NY Court of Appeals rules against cash-only bail. Dog the Bounty Hunter rejoices. Syracuse.com

• Paul Clement in the house! EDNY judge upheld NLRB’s right to sue without quorum. Reuters

• NYCLU challenges NYPD’s “Clean Halls’ program. NY1

• NYLS suit brought by former students dismissed. Silver lining: being unemployed, students have plenty of free time to plan their appeal. Bloomberg

• After dealing with congressional redistricting, EDNY judges may have to settle the revised state legislature district challenges, too. Reuters

• DSK is claiming diplomatic immunity. Incroyable! AP

National

• Illegal immigrant, and potential DREAM Act beneficiary not allowed to file civil rights complaint against ICE agent. Fox

• SCOTUS upholds right to challenge EPA. NYTimes

• A headline that speaks for itself: “Supreme Court: Lawyers must do good job on plea bargains.” USA Today

Tech

• Yahoo sued Facebook for alleged patent infringements. Guess they haven’t seen “The Social Network.” ArsTechnica

• Congress now balancing civil liberties and security with Cybersecurity Bill proposals. I can haz privacy? HuffPo

Lastly, there’s been noise about a healthcare law…
Check out the poll on the front page of the Advocate and guess the outcome.

Inter Alia: This Week in Legal News

In this new feature, 1L Erin Erturk summarizes major legal developments from the past week.

New York

• 2nd Circuit overruled removal of Bank of New York Mellon v. Walnut Place, LLC to federal court, applying the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. {NY Law Journal}

• 2nd Circuit heard oral arguments in Lynne Stewart’s appeal of her lengthened jail sentence—a result of her “standing on my head” comment– invoking her right to free speech. {NY Times} {WSJ}

• Brooklyn federal judge steps in for state legislature over congressional redistricting. {WSJ}

• Brodie, first Afro-Caribbean born judge to sit in U.S. district court, confirmed to EDNY. {Reuters}

Nation

• Supreme Court granted cert to hear game-changing affirmative action case in Fisher v. University of Texas. {DB}

• Judge Martin’s “Zombie Mohammed” decision on violation of an atheist’s First Amendment rights questioned. {CNN}

• D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decides graphic warning labels on tobacco products violate free-speech rights. {Reuters}

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

• The Senate defeated the Blunt amendment, which would allow employers to opt of provisions in the health care law providing free birth control. [Politico] President Obama calls Georgetown student, Fluke, speaking out on reproductive rights, called “slut” by Limbaugh. {Politico} {Reuters} {Fluke’s testimony} [pdf]

• 63% of voters favor the free birth control policy. {Reuters}

• 72% say Individual Mandate is unconstitutional. {Gallup Poll}

Immigration

• District Judge blocks Arizona Immigration Law [pdf] “Day Labor” rule; prohibits police from enforcement, stating law violates constitutional rights rather than achieves purported purpose of increasing traffic safety. {MSNBC}

• Arizona v. United States, Arizona’s challenge to 9th Circuit ruling in U.S. v. Arizona that S.B. 1070 is unconstitutional [pdf], will be before the Supreme Court in April. {SC.gov} [pdf]

• 11th Circuit Court of Appeals set to hear Alabama and Georgia immigration enforcement laws. {Atlanta Journal-Constitution}

International

• Armenian Genocide law struck down by French Constitutional Council. {BBC}

• Supreme Court addresses whether or not corporations are liable for human rights violations in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum and Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, drawing comparisons to the Citizens United ‘personhood’ debate. {NY Times} {Guardian} {HuffPo}

• Google Privacy Plan in violation of European laws? {NY Times}

• UN not convinced by Syrian referendum approving a new constitution. {NP}