Osha Neumann quoted in Berkeleyside, July 10, 2014
“I don’t see why they would want to take an action that would involve the removal of people’s property without notice. I hope that’s not what they are contemplating.”
The California high-speed rail debate—kicking things off
Ethan Elkind report cited in The Atlantic, July 9, 2014
Here are three analyses worth a serious read…an analysis by law school teams from UCLA and Berkeley, which concentrated on the project’s effects in the poorest and most polluted part of the state, the central San Joaquin Valley.
Mass incarceration on trial
Jonathan Simon quoted in Inside Higher Ed, July 9, 2014
“Most people feel that prisons are a necessary evil. But when people learn about the inhumane conditions that persisted in California for more than a decade, they are genuinely disturbed and recognize that inhumane conditions undermine the moral legitimacy and public safety purpose of prisons.”
In deal to cut corporate taxes, shareholders pay the price
Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, July 8, 2014
The sand in the eye for the shareholders is that Congress tried to halt the tide of inversions about a decade ago. Lawmakers amended the tax code to provide that executives of companies like Medtronic that went abroad would have to pay a tax on their stock compensation. The tax is at the same capital gains tax that Medtronic’s shareholders will have to pay in connection with the transaction.
Suddenly Europe’s far right loves human rights courts
Andrew Guzman and Katerina Linos write for The Huffington Post Blog, July 8, 2014
We see no perfect solution to the problem of human rights backsliding. This is not good news, but it is surely better to recognize the risk than to ignore it. Turning a blind eye to the potential for backsliding and assuming that international agreements and courts can only lead to improved human rights is surely more dangerous than acknowledging the fact that reality is more complex.
Why we still need affirmative action for African Americans in college admissions
Richard Rothstein writes for The Washington Post, July 3, 2014
In recent years, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been one of the few leading public figures, on or off the Court, unabashedly willing to challenge Roberts’s colorblindness. In a case decided in April, she gained a new ally in Justice Sonia Sotomayor for an uncompromising defense of affirmative action…. Ginsburg has called for race-conscious policy to offset the still-enduring effects of slavery and the subsequent unconstitutional exploitation of its descendants under Jim Crow
Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling elicits range of Berkeley reactions
Kenneth Bamberger quoted in The Daily Californian, July 2, 2014
“The decision goes to suggest that a corporation could claim they don’t believe in medical intervention and deny medical care to employees,” Bamberger said. “Corporations might say they aren’t going to follow the health care and equality laws that oppose their religious beliefs.”
Delhi born scholar becomes dean of top US law school
Sujit Choudhry quoted in India TV News, July 2, 2014
“What’s distinctive about Berkeley Law is its culture,” he was quoted as saying. “It’s got hustle and drive and innovative people willing to experiment and try new things, which seems very much rooted in Berkeley’s identity as a public university.”
How the Supreme Court changed America this year
Daniel Farber writes for Politico Magazine, July 1, 2014
Overall, there was a clear trend toward a country that looks a little less like Barack Obama’s America and a little more like Mitt Romney’s. This is an America where corporations have the right to religious freedom, public employee unions have fewer rights to collect dues, the EPA has a little less power to regulate greenhouse gases and wealthy donors are subject to fewer constraints on their political contributions.
Sujit Choudhry chosen as dean of top US law school
Sujit Choudhry quoted in EDU Tech, July 1, 2014
“When I went to law school 20 years ago there weren’t many Indian kids growing up in North America who considered law. The way in which legal education had been viewed relative to other opportunities at home (in India) had kind of carried over to North America.”