Friday, May 27, 2016

Bill Clinton appointed as “special prosecutor” to investigate Ken Starr [Updated Below]

In a long-delayed but ironic turn of events, Baylor University has just appointed former United States President Bill Clinton to serve as “special prosecutor” in the internal probe of its alleged mishandling of sexual allegations.  According to Baylor sources, Clinton will be investigating Kenneth Starr — the university’s former president who has since been stripped of that title but remains employed in other capacities.  One of Clinton’s directives, sources say, is to determine what Starr knew, when he knew it, and what actions he took with regard to allegations that certain student athletes had committed sex-related misdeeds.  Decades earlier, of course, the roles were reversed: Starr led a multi-year, multi-million dollar investigation ostensibly into Clinton’s Whitewater real estate transaction; however, that investigation quickly shifted from real estate to Clinton’s sexual indiscretions while in office.  The investigation eventually culminated in the so-called Starr Report, also known as “Kenneth Starr’s $70 million bag of garbage.”

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Hiatus and Bar News

Blogging Hiatus
Sorry, all, for my recent lapse in posting.  The good news is that I've signed another contract with Prometheus Books, the publisher of my first book with Amy Kushner, But They Didn't Read Me My Rights! Myths, Oddities, and Lies About our Legal System.  This time, I'll be publishing a book about the Avery and Dassey convictions featured in the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer.  The book will dive into Wisconsin's irrational criminal law and procedure in much more detail than the filmmakers were able to do.  The book is finished -- thus explaining my lapse in posts -- but I'm in the process of editing it before turning it over to Prometheus; therefore, it will be a while before I get back to posting.  But in the meantime, check out my bar-bashing Wisconsin Law Journal article that explains the ridiculousness of our state bar's continued opposition to our ethics rule 1.9 petition.  Also, read Attorney Rob Henak's latest response to the bar as well.  Our original petition and brief, and all subsequent filings, can be found at the petition's homepage.  And finally, congrats to the Irreverent Lawyer for his amazing efforts battling the Arizona Bar.  Arizona, like Wisconsin, has a mandatory bar.  Last year, the Irreverent One's bill to dismantle the bar fell one vote short in the house.  This year, he passed the house and cleared all committee hurdles in both houses, falling only five votes shy in the state senate.  Thanks to the Irreverent Lawyer, the Arizona Bar is scrambling for its life and could be a thing of the past in the next couple of years -- something the Wisconsin Bar should keep in mind as it continues to try and suppress its memberships' basic free speech rights.