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How A 'Cruel And Unusual' Felon Voting Ban Fell Apart

·42 min·2 clips

The Fifth Circuit said Mississippi’s lifetime felon voting ban is cruel and unusual punishment.

Pro Se opens with Amber McKinney circling back to an earlier topic. The update is Morrison Foerster's diversity fellowship. That program had been sued over its eligibility rules. Its earlier version was aimed at law students from historically underrepresented groups, including students of color, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities. The firm has now changed the criteria. The new standard looks for a demonstrated commitment to diversity in the legal profession. Amber, Alex Lawson, and Haley Knoth then step back and talk through why firms are trying to find a middle ground instead of simply ending the programs. From there, the show pivots hard into AI copyright litigation. The hosts say there are several other suits already out there and probably more to come. They focus on a proposed class action brought by Sarah Silverman and two other authors. The complaint targets OpenAI and Meta. Its basic claim is that the companies used copyrighted books without consent, credit, or compensation. The show frames the dispute as a permission fight, even if the technology behind it is anything but simple. They note that OpenAI has already filed a motion to dismiss Silverman's case, so the litigation is still at an early stage. The episode then loosens up into the show's usual banter. There is a book-club detour, a defense of Cavalier and Clay, and a traffic-court story that turns into a swearing joke. The show signs off with credits, a reminder to leave a written review, and a pointer to law360.com/podcast for more coverage.

As heard by us

A brisk legal roundup that moves from diversity-fellowship changes to AI copyright litigation, with some book-club banter.

The episode opens on lawsuits aimed at law firm diversity fellowships, with Morrison Foerster adjusting eligibility after being sued. It then broadens into the larger field of AI copyright litigation, where the claims center on copyrighted works being used without consent,…

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Why you'd press play

You want the week's legal pressure points, minus the courtroom fog.

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