Monthly Archives: October 2010

Kate Jastram Discusses Australian Refugee Law

The Australian Financial Review, September 24, 2010 by James Eyers
http://bit.ly/au7zj1 (Link no longer active. Go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

A professor of law at the University of California in Berkeley, Kate Jastram, said governments had been unwilling to distinguish between forced migrants and those moving voluntarily. “There is a conflation of asylum seekers, terrorists, and a whole category of other persons, which is not helpful and doesn’t lead to good policy choices,” she said.

David Sklansky Examines Constitutional Regulation of Police

Balkinization, September 24, 2010 by David Sklansky
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2010/09/constitutional-regulation-of-police-in.html

The police share crime fighting and order maintenance duties with a proliferating array of public and private agencies, and the boundaries are blurring between policing and a range of other things—immigration enforcement, probation and parole supervision, mental health policy, family law, and school discipline, for starters…. We need ways to think about and to address the blurred boundaries between law enforcement … and the growing range of other agencies and governmental functions that pool their resources and their legal powers with the police.

Robert Merges Reflects on Seminal Patent Law Paper

States News Service, September 22, 2010
http://corporate.lexisnexis.com/news (Link no longer active. Go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

“On the Complex Economics of Patent Scope” was a breakthrough piece of scholarship that has helped shape the debate over the patent law’s influence on technological innovation. The article concluded that patent law should strive to preserve competition for technological improvements, even at the expense of eroding incentives for pioneer firms to some extent…. In one of the conference’s anticipated highlights, Merges will present his own reflections on the article he co-wrote in 1990, along with thoughts on how today’s patent system is shaping technological advancement.

Michael Bamberger Wins Battle Against Overly Broad Sex Laws

The Am Law Daily, September 20, 2010 by Zach Lowe
http://bit.ly/aL7xsN

Bamberger is back in the news today, and once again it’s for winning a major court battle on behalf of groups concerned about the implications of what sound at first like sensible laws aimed at protecting minors…. The two laws struck a collection of bookstore owners and publishing associations as far too broad, even though state officials insisted that the laws would only be applied to “hard-core pornography,” Bamberger says. (He notes that the language of the statute doesn’t use the words “hard-core pornography.”)

Christopher Hoofnagle Describes Online Tracking Tools Cited in Lawsuits

-The Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2010 by Jennifer Valentino-Devries and Emily Steel
http://bit.ly/dqtirq

The tools cited in the suits are part of an “arms race” in tracking technologies, said Chris Hoofnagle, director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology’s information-privacy programs. Some users, uncomfortable with tracking, now routinely block or delete cookies. “There are some in the industry who do not believe that users should be able to block tracking, so they are turning to increasingly sophisticated tools to track people,” he said.

-The New York Times, September 20, 2010 by Tanzina Vega
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/technology/21cookie.html?_r=3&src=busln

Chris Jay Hoofnagle, 36, one of the authors of a University of California, Berkeley, study about Internet privacy and Flash cookies that has been used in several of the legal filings, said the recent spate of suits pointed to a weakness in federal rules governing online privacy. “Consumer privacy actions have largely failed,” Mr. Hoofnagle said. The lawsuits, he added, “actually are moving the policy ball forward in the ways that activists are not.”

James Rule Thinks Banks Disregard Consumer Protection Laws

Counter Punch, September 17, 2010 by James Rule
http://www.counterpunch.org/rule09172010.html

Disagreements inevitably occur—with cell phone companies, internet service providers, even the gym you’ve signed up with for a monthly fee. As every consumer will have noticed, many service providers are enormously easy to communicate with when one wants to open an account—and virtually impossible to reach, when something goes wrong…. There has to be an easy, cost-free way for customers to pull the plug on such arrangements, when their bank accounts are hemorrhaging, and no one at the other end is listening.

Daniel Farber Finds Prop. 23 Legally Flawed

Earth Day Network, September 17, 2010 by Barbara Grady
http://earthday.net/blog/2010/09/17/all-eyes-on-california/

“Since most significant climate policy efforts in California are linked to AB 32, its suspension could lead to legal and regulatory confusion,” said UC Law Professor Daniel Farber, another author of the Berkeley report. If the November measure passes, existing greenhouse gas regulations could also be put on hold, or in the least subject to legal challenges, he said.

Molly Van Houweling Leads in Sports and Law

UC Berkeley News, September 16, 2010 by Michael Barnes
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/09/16_vanhouweling.shtml

“When I win a race that I’ve been training for over an entire season, or publish an article that I’ve been thinking about for years, I can look back and see how the ultimate success was the result of lots of small efforts (and some wrong turns) over time. In both realms, it is important to remember the bigger picture, but also to enjoy the journey even if it sometimes leads nowhere.”

Stephen Rosenbaum Criticizes School District’s Denial of Sex-Harassment Claim

The Oakland Tribune, September 16, 2010 by Doug Oakley
http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_16096096

“I am surprised that he has not been terminated or transferred to an administrative position,” Rosenbaum said. “And I’m not satisfied that he remains on campus.” Rosenbaum appealed the district’s finding of inappropriate behavior, only to receive what he called a “terse and dismissive” letter from Superintendent Bill Huyett denying his appeal.