Steven Davidoff Solomon interviewed by Daily Journal (registration required), Nov. 19, 2015
“This is a milestone case and will set the standards of when banks are held liable and what their conduct should be,” he said.
Pfizer-Allergan merger is latest sign of deal makers’ silly pills
Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, Nov. 14, 2015
Pfizer wants to acquire Allergan not to build a better business by bringing together the makers of Botox and Viagra, but because the move will lower its taxes.
International Criminal Court has spent $1 billion but managed only two convictions in 10 years
John Yoo quoted in The Washington Times, Nov. 15, 2015
During the Sunday talk, the terrorist attacks in Paris were fresh on everyone’s mind. Mr. Yoo used the horrific events Friday to note that peace and human rights never have been fulfilled through a European-style system like the ICC. “The greatest protector of human rights has been the United States and the United States military,” he said.
Campus researchers find flaws in Indian government’s response to sexual violence
Roxanna Altholz quoted in The Daily Californian, Nov. 15, 2015
“The goal of the report is trying to put together puzzle pieces,” said Roxanna Altholz.
9th Circuit panel reverses judge’s decision declaring state death penalty unconstitutional
Franklin Zimring and Jesse Choper interviewed by Daily Journal, (registration required), Nov. 13, 2015
Zimring noted that the effort was not for naught, as its “legacy in relationship to death penalty politics is likely to be substantial.” While all previous attempts to “slow down the death penalty” had been procedural and incremental, this case was a “big picture, comprehensive attack,” he said.
“If I were a 9th Circuit judge, I’d have done the same thing,” said Jesse H. Choper. … “While the systemic delays may ultimately be unconstitutional, only the United States Supreme Court can say so.”
Who will forge the rules in the South China Sea?
Henry Scheiber quoted in Marketplace, Nov. 13, 2015
There’s a lot on the line over whose rules prevail, according to Harry Scheiber, director of UC Berkeley’s Law of the Sea Institute. “It’s possible that there is a vast economic benefit not just in control of fisheries and food security, but there’s also the possibility of enormous—the word incalculable is sometimes used—potential resources of oil and gas in that area.”
The war on campus sexual assault goes digital
Keith Hiatt quoted in The New York Times, Nov. 13, 2015
The site asks students to submit just one piece of identifying information to match their attackers: a link to the assailant’s Facebook page. … “That almost builds in a deterrent to reporting,” says Keith Hiatt, the director of the technology program at the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. “You start to envision the consequences that could arise from reporting.”
After the one-child policy: What happens to China’s family-planning bureaucracy?
Stanley Lubman writes for The Wall Street Journal, China Real Time blog, Nov. 12, 2015
The need for a sweeping birth-planning apparatus will remain, even if the scope of its impact—including forcing abortions and sterilizations, and the imposition of ruinous fines and punishments—may be lessened.
House Judiciary Committee hears concerns from Silicon Valley about copyright law
Brianna Schofield cited in Techdirt, Nov. 10, 2015
Brianna Schofield, from Berkeley, pointed to research showing that companies that actually review DMCA takedowns are now rejecting between 40 and 60% of them as bogus takedowns, designed to censor content, rather than legitimate copyright claims.
How much to pay a director? There’s no clear answer
Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, Nov. 10, 2015
Director pay is one area in which pay for performance may not even be the best idea. It could give directors incentive to encourage a company to take outsize risks. Since directors are usually protected from the downside and unlikely to be held liable, missteps might end up hurting shareholders.