New White Paper from "Human Rights First"

In Pursuit of Justice: Prosecuting Terrorist Cases in the Federal Court, is a new paper from the organization Human Rights First.

This paper presents "some much-needed practical information on how the U.S. criminal justice system has worked in the past and should work in the future... This White Paper gives a detailed demonstration of the strengths and capacities of the federal criminal justice system to try individuals accused of terrorism and other threats to national security."

On the 100 Most Creative Moments in American Law

Thinking About Law and Creativity: On the 100 Most Creative Moments in American Law, by Robert F. Blomquist, Valparaiso University School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series. Draft article is available here: http://abajournal.com/files/100CreativeMoments.pdf

From the abstract: "In most cultural contexts creativity is viewed as an unalloyed virtue. Law is different: given the inherently conservative and slow-moving pace of legal evolution, innovation in the law is viewed by many observers as problematic. Yet American revolutionaries, constitutionalists, legislators, chief executives, judges, administrators, scholars and activists have creatively changed the law for over two centuries in mostly positive ways with some admittedly questionable innovations. This article makes a bold new proposal - the articulation and ranking of America's most creative legal moments - designed to energize and clarify our synoptic thinking about the nature of legal creativity."

California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban

The article may be found here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080515/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage
and here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/15/BAGAVNC5K.DTL

The case is In re Marriage Cases, S147999 and the ruling is here: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S147999.PDF, all 172 pages of it.

Prof. Hartnell's Newest Article

Helen Hartnell's new article, Living La Vida Lex Mercatoria, has been published in the XII N.S. Uniform Law Review at 733-760 (2007).

As many of you already know, this journal is the highly regarded bilingual Uniform Law Review / Revue de Droit Uniforme, which is the oldest and most widely read journal in the world on the harmonization and unification of law, published by Rome-based UNIDROIT (i.e., the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law). UNIDROIT is currently an independent international organization, and was founded in 1926 as a specialized agency of the League of Nations.

Prof. Benedetto's New Article

Professor Michele Benedetto has a new article on the immigration court system, Crisis on the Immigration Bench: An Ethical Perspective, 73 Brooklyn Law Review (2008). Here's the abstract from SSRN:

The troubled status of the immigration court system has garnered much attention from scholars, appellate judges, and even the United States Attorney General. This article suggests a new lens through which to examine the acknowledged crisis in immigration courts: judicial ethics. Because the term judicial ethics encompasses a broad array of principles, the article narrows its focus to bias and incompetence on the part of immigration judges in the courtroom.

Immigration judges operate as a unique judiciary under the Executive Branch of government. An examination of the modern immigration court system, including inadequate disciplinary procedures for immigration judges, reveals that the existing structural crisis has substantial implications for judicial ethics. Evidence of biased and incompetent judicial conduct has been found in statistics showing inconsistent decisions and cases reviewed by circuit courts. Recognizing the breadth and severity of the problem, the Attorney General proposed new ethical Codes of Conduct for immigration judges in June 2007. However, the proposed Codes are weakened by their lack of specificity and enforceability. Accordingly, the article recommends reforms designed to encourage unbiased and competent judicial behavior. Implementation of these reforms will initiate the process of restoring the ethical integrity of the immigration bench.

Who Says the Law Isn't Funny?

Check out these cases for a chuckle, and practice your online retrieval skills at the same time:

"Once upon a time, in lands far, far away, lived strange but cuddly creatures that became involved in a struggle for identity." Selmon v. Hasbro Bradley, Inc., 669 F.Supp. 1267 (S.D.N.Y.,1987).

The farting doll case: JCW Investments v Novelty, Inc. Inc., 482 F 3d 910 (7th Circ 2007).

"Who you gonna call?" Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254, 572 N.Y.S.2d 672 (N.Y.A.D.,1991).

U. S. ex rel. Mayo v. Satan and his Staff, 54 F.R.D. 282 (1971).

May Construction Scheduled

To install the two unisex restrooms on the floor above the plaza level, plumbing must be installed this summer.
On Monday, May 5th, the ceiling panels in the back law library staff offices and meeting area will be removed. This should not affect library patrons, as most construction is to take place after hours.
On Monday, May 12th, the plaza level computer lab, Room P-90, will be reconfigured. Five computers will be moved out, and a temporary wall installed, creating a smaller lab. A number of computers and printers will remain, but we anticipate sending overflow lab patrons to the 4th floor computer labs, or to the law library basement computer lab, in room B-4.
The ceiling in the plaza level lab will be removed, and the plumbing installed. The plaza computer lab will return to its original configuration by the end of the year.