Excellent interview with international law expert on the lawlessness of Trump’s military attack on Venezuela. https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-brazen-illegality-of-trumps-venezuela-operation #LawFedi #Venezuela
#lawfedi
In addition, a couple of weeks ago I had occasion to look something up on CanLII (https://www.canlii.org):
"a non-profit organization founded in 2001 by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada on behalf of its 14-member law societies. Its mandate is to provide efficient and open online access to judicial decisions and legislative documents. By doing so, CanLII supports members of the legal profession in the performance of their duties while providing the public with permanent open access to laws and legal decisions from all Canadian jurisdictions."
I have been, in my lifetime, a disproportionately huge fan of CanLII. Free accurate information. What a great resource! Which now uses Gen AI. https://www.canlii.org/info/generative-ai.html
I wrote to them:
"Please tell me how to turn off AI-generated captions when I'm consulting your site.
My preference would be for CanLII to turn off AI-generated captions entirely for all users, actually, because CanLII is specifically a site people go to for facts. There is currently a reported problem of lawyers presenting things in court that aren't actually legally correct because AI makes shit up. I hate that CanLII of all sources is contributing to this problem.
I hate that by using CanLII and getting AI-generated captions, I'm depleting the environment for information that *needs to be fact-checked anyway.*"
They replied:
"At the moment, there isn't an option to disable AI enrichments, but your suggestion has been shared with the appropriate team for consideration."
One of many things I'm concerned about is the growing trend of people using Gen AI in law, presenting to clients and to courts their Professional opinion, which may or may not in fact be based on existing precedent, nobody checked.
This is coming up today because there's yet another case of contempt of court: https://beige.party/@adub/115820660155470327
I noted in the comments that someone's compiling an international database where someone presented incorrect AI law in court: https://www.damiencharlotin.com/hallucinations/
In my opinion it entirely undermines the legal system, which is theoretically based on precedent, meaning specifically "what that judge said in that prior case." Not "what judges might plausibly have said, in a format that looks like fact, as programmed by tech bros."
Generative AI, I would submit, makes a mockery of the law.
Ich wünsche der gesamten #LawFedi und #Verwaltungs-Bubble ein gesundes und erfolgreiches Jahr 2026! 🎉
Für alle, die morgen wieder an den Schreibtisch zurückkehren: Denkt daran, dass seit heute Nacht die neuen EU-Schwellenwerte gelten (#Bau: 5,4 Mio. € / Liefer: 216.000 €).
Startet gut in die erste Woche! ☕️
Linked below is the 2025 Year End Report on the Federal Judiciary
There, Chief Justice John Roberts pens an introductory essay highlighting the strides taken toward the establishment of a "more perfect union" throughout our history. He concludes, thus:
**... [I]t is worth recalling the words of President Calvin Coolidge spoken a century ago. “Amid all the clash of conflicting interests, amid all the welter of partisan politics, every American can turn for solace and consolation to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States with the assurance and confidence that those two great charters of freedom and justice remain firm and unshaken.” True then; true now.**
True now, eh, John???
You disgrace our noble calling.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/year-end/2025year-endreport.pdf
#uspol #law #lawfedi #SCOTUS
A Letters Blogatory Christmas post about the decidedly un-Christmasy Trump libel case against the BBC. #lawfedi
https://lettersblogatory.com/2025/12/25/comments-on-the-trump-v-bbc-libel-case/
I had an idea for a fun argument about interpreting a criminal law about driving while your license is suspended. So I got some help to look up the legislative history, and the change happened in a bill that was about vanity license plates.
These vanity plate concerns were so important that it seems they didn't make a single note about their update to *checks notes* a criminal law for putting poor people in jail. #lawfedi
Ok, that looks good. Now we seal this up and give it a shake and let the oil extraction commence. I’ll be back later, I’m going to wrap some presents and do some time entry (the #LawFedi folks know my pain here) 4/
#LawFedi This also feels true of legal work. A client who 'just pops' a contract in for AI review and then suggests you keep your review to the 'reference' analysis, hurts their cause.
@inkican https://mastodon.social/@inkican/115770639529842856
For Xmas, I sent SCOTUS a petition for certiorari. #LawFedi
CFPB to issue guidance about Earned Wage Access products.
#lawfedi #CFPB #consumerproection
The Second Circuit closes to the door to service of process by email in China (when the Hague Service Convention applies). This is an important decision. #lawfedi
All judges should be required to take at least two semesters of logic as a prerequisite.
All appellate judges should be required to also take at least one semester of the philosophy of law as a prerequisite.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
[stalks away muttering and throwing things]
*Fascinating and Frightning: Towards a #CromwellianFuture*
(1/n)
If tried by court-martial, senator accused of ‘seditious behavior’ would be deprived of several constitutional rights
#JoshuaKastenberg, University of New Mexico
The Department of Defense [#DoD] in late November 2025 announced that it would investigate U.S. Sen. #MarkKelly, a retired #Navy captain and #NASA astronaut, for what Secretary of Defense...
Based on reporting like this, regular people probably think there's some kind of vague crime wave happening and that the counties can't handle it. In reality, the most commonly charged crime in Washington State is "Driving While License Suspended in the 3rd degree," which usually means driving while having unpaid fines or unpaid child support. That is, most of the cases public defenders are being paid to work are bullshit that has nothing to do with promoting public safety.
https://www.lmtribune.com/local-news/asotin-county-seeks-relief-on-indigent-defense-21062374
I haven't posted much recently here, but I wanted to post this new article on AI arbitration. I argue that an award generated by an AI system, without human oversight or involvement, cannot be confirmed under the Federal Arbitration Act, on ordinary statutory interpretation grounds. #arbitration #ai #lawfedi
https://lettersblogatory.com/2025/12/13/the-robot-arbitrator-cant-issue-confirmable-awards/
Service-Post für alle Vergabestellen: Die neuen Werte sind da. Und ja, sie sind gesunken (Wechselkurs SZR/Euro).
Die "Magic Numbers" für 2026/2027:
🏗️ Bau: 5.404.000 € (statt 5,54 Mio)
🏛️ Liefer/DL (Bund): 140.000 € (statt 143k)
📦 Liefer/DL (Kommune): 216.000 € (statt 221k)
💡 Tipp: Prüft eure Vorlagen und Vermerke jetzt. Am 02.01. ist es zu spät.
#Vergaberecht #PublicProcurement #Verwaltung #LawFedi #Schwellenwerte
Remember Kilmar Abrego Garcia? Today, federal Judge Paula Xinis has granted his habeas corpus petition, ordering him released from ICE custody. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189/gov.uscourts.mdd.589189.111.0_2.pdf 1/ #LawFedi
The last Lawyer Ex Machina of 2025 is out: Disney shares IP and invest $1 billion in OpenAI, Fastcase sues Alexi, thinking about AI evidence (and AI glasses) in court, and more. #lawfedi #law #lawlibrarians #legaltech https://buttondown.com/LawyerExMachina/archive/happy-holidays-2025/
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