#LegalEthics Tidbit: Who was the first Massachusetts lawyer, and why was he disbarred?
On this day (June 27) in 1638, Thomas Lechford disembarked in Boston, becoming the first practicing lawyer in New England. About a year after arriving, he tried to plead a case to jurors outside of court, and he was "debarred," which meant he was banned from future Court appearances for clients. He gave up on the colonies and returned to England in 1641.
Aileen Cannon is an embarrassment. She doesn’t even try to go through the motions of being a judge, instead using her position to grandstand, to showcase her political views.
As I told my students at the end of term: a big challenge for rule of law is how lawyers committed to it should interact with judges and other attorneys who clearly are not. #LawFedi
@GottaLaff
Poll: in hindsight, which Supreme Court will be considered the worst in U.S. history? (Googling first is not just OK, but preferred! The answers aren't as simple as one might assume!) Choose up to two. #LawFedi
Some back of the envelope math suggests for #Trump to pull of his ridiculous "proposal" of eliminating income tax in favor of tariffs, the tariffs would have to average about 85%.
That's the base model #iPhone going from $799 to $1,478 (at least). Choose your other exemplar goods to do your own math.
The State of NJ disclosed recently its Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is reviewing if #Trump’s #convictions last month on 34 counts of business fraud violate a #law barring convicted #felons from holding #LiquorLicenses.
…Donald Trump is the sole owner of the 3 clubs in NJ that are under review. The names of businesses listed on the liquor licenses are all owned by a revocable trust of which Trump is the sole beneficiary.
Love it when the Fifth Circuit is reversed by a unanimous Supreme Court, especially this Supreme Court. #LawFedi Details here, gift access (hit the text link, not the picture) https://wapo.st/3Vl4jry
“Judge Aileen #Cannon is again ripping up the court schedule in #Trump’s classified #documents case – pushing some of the legal questions that have been before her for months even further down the road.” #legal
@GottaLaff The incoherent scheduling and delay aren’t even the most shocking aspects of Cannon’s latest decisions. Her ruling that people like Ed Meese and Michael Mukasey can participate in oral arguments over Jack Smith’s appointment as special prosecutor is outrageous. This gives people with no standing in the case a platform to air their views. #LawFedi
Do take the time to read #Alito ‘s letter, in which he cloaks his own misapplicof the recusal standard in a self-righteous assertion of his wife’s First Amendment rights. He is correct that she has these. He is wrong to think that her exercise of them does not raise questions about his own impartiality. https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/ae3feb5a-13a4-4f0f-9046-b61a530c40fb.pdf#LawFedi 1/
#Alito, who is avowedly motivated by political and ideological considerations - per his own public comments as well as his many law-free judicial opinions - has no standing to insist either that the hypothetical “reasonable person” is supposed to be free from commitments to #RuleOfLaw. 2/ #LawFedi
It makes zero difference whether #Alito had “nothing to do with” flying the U.S. flag upside down or with flying the “Appeal to Heaven” flag. Both were flown at his residences. This would give any reasonable person grounds to believe he condones the sentiments and ideas those flags represent. 3/ #LawFedi
#Alito’s letter explaining his refusal to recuse in Jan 6th cases includes false statements to Congress (18 USC §1001) Watch how credible Alito’s neighbor is in her first TV interview
⚖️ She contradicts Alitos account and cites the police report and another eye witness. The facts, eye witness, and police report show Alito is lying because the Alitos were flying the flag upside down in solidarity with the insurrection, when the Alitos' verbal attack on the neighbors occurred three weeks later.
Alito's lie about the pretext cast an even greater shadow because his consciousness of guilt over flying the flag in support of the overthrow of our government.
Argument with neighbors took place THREE WEEKS LATER.
Here’s an excellent article about important lawsuits just filed on behalf of Uvalde families who lost loved ones to a mass shooting there. The families, represented by the same attorney who represented the Sandy Hook families, are suing Daniel Defense, the maker of the AR-15 used by the shooter, as well as the publisher of Call of Duty video games and Meta. (I am quoted in the story.) https://wapo.st/3R1Y9LA#LawFedi#GunViolence
Though not serving as Trump’s attorney when he appeared as a witness today in Trump’s trial for criminally falsifying business records, Robert Costello is a lawyer, bound by New York’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Costello repeatedly showed his ethical unfitness, violating the most basic principles that inform the entire code. I’ve screenshot the very first paragraph of the entire code, highlighting the most pertinent phrases. 1/ #LawFedi#Ethics#LegalEthics
Congressional Democrats should unveil a “Judiciary Act of 2025,” here are some ideas short of expansion:
-Reform the Court’s jurisdiction
-Reform appellate procedure to fast track certain cases
-Set rules for Shadow Docket appellate procedure
-Create more appellate circuits
-Sets standards of behavior for what constitutes “good behavior” under A3
Mandatory reporting on finances, recusal decisions, etc.
Since we now know Alito was flying his flag upside down at the time, let’s review one of the plans the coup plotters had involving him.
This interview by criminal defendant Powell is interesting. It suggests that the purpose of the insurrection was to DELAY the electoral college certification to give #Alito time to intervene on this legal challenge. But, Powell says they didn’t anticipate Pelosi reconvening Congress that day.