Afternoon Briefs: Jones Day explains redaction flub; lawyer copyrights daughter's crayon artwork
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Jones Day apologizes for redaction error that exposed grand jury info
Jones Day has taken responsibility for a redaction error and apologized to a federal judge who ordered the firm to show cause why it shouldn’t be sanctioned. Law360 had discovered that the redactions could be read by cutting and pasting the blacked-out sections into a new document. The error exposed confidential grand jury material. In a court filing Friday, Jones Day said the error was caused by the method of redaction, which involved Microsoft Word and printing to Adobe Acrobat. The firm said it should have used its redaction software. (The National Law Journal, Law360)
Lawyer copyrights his daughter’s crayon drawing
A First Amendment lawyer with controversial clients recently obtained a copyright victory for a “very special client”—his daughter, Natalia. Marc Randazza had asked then-9-year-old Natalia to create art work with a First Amendment theme after she informed him last year that the walls of his new office were too bare. She created a crayon drawing of a flag with the word FREEDOM across the stars and, in the white stripes, the phrase “Of Speech, Assembly The Press, Religion To Petition.” Randazza sought to register the copyright, but the application was denied as not sufficiently original. On Facebook, Randazza announced that he prevailed on appeal. (BuzzFeed News, Marc Randazza on Facebook)
Couples getting married in Virginia don’t have to list race, state AG says
Virginia will no longer require people getting married to list their race on marriage licenses, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring announced Friday. Herring said couples will be able to check “declined to answer” when asked about race. The announcement was welcomed by a lawyer who filed a Sept. 5 lawsuit challenging the state law that required the disclosure of race. But the lawyer, Victor Glasberg, said he wants to continue the litigation until the law is ruled unconstitutional. (The Washington Post)
Stormy Daniels loses bid to continue suit to void hush agreement
On Friday, a state court judge in California tossed adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ state court lawsuit seeking a declaration that her hush agreement with President Donald Trump is void. Judge Robert Broadbelt of Los Angeles said a federal judge’s March ruling that the federal suit is moot also applied to the state court action. The federal judge, James Otero, had ruled that the suit was moot because Trump agreed not to enforce the agreement. Broadbelt said Daniels could still submit a motion for attorney fees. (Law360)
