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Daily Archives: June 17, 2018

Polarized Justice? Changing Patterns of Decision-Making in the Federal Courts

Kritzer, Herbert M., Polarized Justice? Changing Patterns of Decision-Making in the Federal Courts (May 5, 2018). University of Minnesota Law School, Working Papers, May 5, 2018. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3187627
“This article examines the question of whether there has been a pattern of increasing partisan polarization in decisions by federal judges. After an initial section briefly discussing the general issue of partisan polarization in American politics, the analysis draws on several extant data sources to present evidence of concerning polarization for each of the three levels of the federal courts. That analysis shows increasing, and quite significant, polarization in the behavior of the justices of the Supreme Court, although that is not true for decisions dealing with economics issues and regulation. Much of the change reflects who presidents have been appointing to the Court. For the Court of Appeals and the federal district courts, there is also evidence of increasing differentiation between appointees of the two parties’ presidents. Given the more routine nature of cases below the Supreme Court, the gaps and the change at the lower levels are much less. Again, the nature of the changes varies with the types of cases and those changes significantly reflect who is being appointed to the courts.”

New on LLRX – The Case of the Torn Presidential Record and the Future of Its Library

New on LLRX – The Case of the Torn Presidential Record and the Future of Its Library– Brandon Wright Adler addresses the destruction of Presidential documents and records brought to our attention this past week in a rather startling article published by Politico – “The president’s unofficial ‘filing system’ involves tearing up documents into pieces,… Continue Reading

Justice Department Threatens Investigation of Investigation (of Investigation)

POGO: “The fight between the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and the Department of Justice continues to build, but there’s a new twist: A top DOJ official has reportedly promised to request lawyers for the House of Representatives investigate the Committee’s staff for unspecified misconduct. CNN reported Tuesday that Deputy Attorney General Rod… Continue Reading

The June 12 Trump-Kim Jong-un Summit

Via EveryCRSReport.com: The June 12 Trump-Kim Jong-un Summit – June 12, 2018 “On June 12, 2018, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in Singapore to discuss North Korea’s nuclear program, building a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, and the future of U.S. relations with North Korea (known officially as the… Continue Reading

Legal Analytics vs. Legal Research: What’s the Difference?

Law Technology Today: “Legal analytics involves mining data contained in case documents and docket entries, and then aggregating that data to provide previously unknowable insights into the behavior of the individuals (judges and lawyers), organizations (parties, courts, law firms), and the subjects of lawsuits (such as patents) that populate the litigation ecosystem. Litigators use legal… Continue Reading

Rampant Pregnancy Discrimination in America’s Top Companies

Rampant Pregnancy Discrimination in America’s Top Companies  – “Throughout the workplace, pregnancy discrimination remains widespread. It can start as soon as a woman is showing and often lasts through her early years as a mother. The New York Times reviewed thousands of pages of court and public records and interviewed dozens of women, their lawyers… Continue Reading

Study finds strongest, most potent predictor of sexual harassment is essentially the culture of the company

HufffPo – “When sexual harassment happens, it’s easy ― and not wrong ― to blame individual perpetrators, i.e., the “bad men.” And over the past couple of years, lots of men have been fired, demoted, arrested and publicly shamed for various acts of sexual misconduct. But a major study from the National Academies of Sciences,… Continue Reading