This Day in Legal History: Weimar Republic Born
On July 31, 1919, the Constitution of the German Reich was signed in Weimar, Germany, marking the birth of the Weimar Republic. This constitution established a full democracy in Germany, introducing a President, Parliament, and an independent judiciary to govern the nation. It was a groundbreaking document, making Germany the first nation to grant women the right to vote, thus setting a precedent for gender equality in Europe. The Weimar Constitution aimed to create a balance of power, with the President holding significant authority, including emergency powers, while the Parliament, or Reichstag, was responsible for legislation.
The Constitution also enshrined civil liberties, including freedom of speech, press, and assembly, and sought to create a welfare state with provisions for unemployment benefits and worker protections. Despite these progressive elements, the Weimar Republic faced numerous challenges, including political extremism, economic instability, and societal divisions. These issues ultimately undermined the Republic, leading to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933, which brought an end to the Weimar era.
The Weimar Constitution is often studied as a significant yet flawed attempt at democracy in a turbulent period of German history, highlighting both the potential and vulnerabilities of democratic governance. This event underscores the importance of stable political and economic foundations in maintaining a democratic system.
Law school graduates typically pay over $1,000 to take the bar exam, but this fall, they have a chance to earn $1,500 by participating in a beta test for the National Conference of Bar Examiners' (NCBE) new NextGen Bar exam. This revamped exam, set to debut in July 2026, is seeking about 2,200 participants from the 46,000 taking the 2024 bar exam for an October trial run. Researchers will use the prototype to compare results with the current exam and to develop a new national score scale. The trial will also evaluate the effectiveness of individual questions and assist jurisdictions in setting their passing scores.
The NextGen Bar exam, developed in response to criticisms that the existing test doesn't reflect actual law practice, aims to be more skills-oriented and less reliant on rote memorization. It will be nine hours long, split over two days, compared to the current exam's 12 hours. The new exam will be administered on computers instead of paper. So far, 21 jurisdictions plan to adopt the new exam between July 2026 and July 2028. The prototype test will be conducted in 32 states on October 18-19 or October 25-26, with sign-ups from August 19-29, targeting graduates from both ABA-accredited and non-ABA-accredited law schools, including first-time and repeat bar takers.
Bar exam officials offer law grads $1,500 to beta test revised exam | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalin...)
Meta Platforms has agreed to a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas to resolve a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally using facial-recognition technology to collect biometric data from millions of Texans without their consent. This settlement, announced on July 30, 2024, is the largest ever reached by a single state. The lawsuit, filed in 2022, was the first significant case under Texas' 2009 biometric privacy law, which allows for damages of up to $25,000 per violation. Texas claimed that Facebook, Meta's subsidiary, captured biometric data billions of times from user-uploaded photos and videos via the "Tag Suggestions" feature, which has since been discontinued.
Meta, while pleased with the settlement, continues to deny any wrongdoing and is considering future business investments in Texas, such as developing data centers. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the settlement, emphasizing the state's commitment to holding major tech companies accountable for privacy violations. This agreement was reached in May, just weeks before a trial was scheduled to begin. In a similar case, Meta paid $650 million in 2020 to settle a biometric privacy lawsuit under Illinois law. Meanwhile, Google is currently contesting a separate lawsuit in Texas over alleged violations of the state's biometric law.
Meta to Pay Record $1.4 Billion to End Texas Biometric Suit (2) (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigat...)
Meta to pay $1.4 billion to settle Texas facial recognition data lawsuit | Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/technology/cy...)
The Senate passed landmark legislation aimed at making social media platforms safer for children, marking significant congressional action to regulate the tech industry for the first time in over 25 years. In a bipartisan vote of 91-3, sena...
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