Short Takes On the News

- It can apparently be a crime to videotape police in action, in public, in some jurisdictions.  Your crime may be wiretapping, or at least that's the excuse to suppress the activity.  So far as I know, there is no crime called angering a policeman.  ABC News has the story.

- The University of Texas will be presenting arguments in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals next month defending its use of race in its admissions policy at the undergraduate level.  The case appears to be a test case designed to revisit Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed the narrow use of race in admissions.  The Texas legislature passed a law guaranteeing admission to those in the top 10% of their high school class.  The result was a more diverse university class.  The two plaintiffs were just below the 10 % threshold.  The University was allowed (under current law) to use race as a factor in that circumstance.  The plaintiffs claim that this amounted to discrimination against them.  The University won at the trial level.  See Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 645 F.Supp.2d 587.  The Texas Tribune has more details about the suit and the appeal, with links to court documents.

- Indiana is facing suit by a former convict to overturn the "graduation from a law school requirement" before being able to take the bar.  Clarence K. Carter was a good enough jail house lawyer to impress one judge in his own proceedings.  The suit is a long shot.  More in the Indianapolis Star. 

- The Wall Street Journal weighs in with another dismal report that summer hiring is down significantly at law firms.  Sometimes I think articles such as these are just piling on at this point.  As Reagan would say, there you go again.

- The sexual harassment suit filed by Kyndra Rotunda against the George Mason Law School has been dismissed.  Our earlier coverage is here.  [MG]