John Yoo quoted in Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2013
“Law enforcement alone means the nation lies vulnerable to attacks on soft targets and must expend enormous resources to catch the killers afterwards. A preemptive strategy based on intelligence and the use of force overseas seeks to prevent such attacks further from our shores.”
Christopher Hoofnagle quoted in The New York Times, April 22, 2013
Enforcement is at a turning point, Mr. Hoofnagle said, and fines could blossom, especially if a tech company’s privacy violation caused serious harm. “We’re still working out as a society what the harms are for privacy violations, and we’re not likely to see hundreds of millions of dollars in fines unless blood is spilled,” he said. “But you can see how that could happen.”
Franklin Zimring cited in San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 2013
Zimring, a professor of law at the UC Berkeley School of Law, has offered an inside look at the effectiveness of public policy as enshrined in our laws. His 2012 book, “The City That Became Safe,” chronicled how New York City cut its crime rate by 80 percent. How? Effective policing. He’s looked at the causes of gun violence (too many guns on the street) and the roots of American capital punishment.
Franklin Zimring writes for the San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 2013
Ours is now a republic of seat belts, air bags, padded steering wheels, interstate highways, tough and high-priority drunk-driving enforcement and traffic safety legislation. But behind all of this was the game-changing creation of government efforts to make cars, drivers and roads less dangerous. It is probable that the cumulative impact of all these changes has saved more than 1 million lives just in the 11 years after the turn of the century. A government program that has saved more than a million lives in just 11 years? Why is this one of the best-kept secrets of modern life?
Franklin Zimring and Justin McCrary cited in Berkeley Patch, April 20, 2013
Zimring’s recent book, “The City That Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control,” traces the declining crime rates in New York City. The book has been hailed as the most important work in criminology in recent memory. Zimring concludes that “The only obvious candidate to take credit for the city’s crime decline—was policing.”
Professor McCrary’s recent study reveals that an increased police presence has consistently been found to reduce crime. His study deems Oakland the 24th most under-policed of the 242 largest cities in the United States, and concludes that every dollar spent on increasing police in Oakland would generate $2.90 in reduced victimization costs.
Barry Krisberg quoted in The New York Times, April 20, 2013
Barry Krisberg, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and an expert on California’s prisons who testified in the 2011 Supreme Court case, said it was unlikely the state would succeed in its appeals because of that 2011 ruling. “He can’t win these cases,” Mr. Krisberg said, referring to the governor. “In my view, it’s nearly impossible to go to the same Supreme Court and within a year ask them the same question.”
David Gamage quoted in TaxAnalysts, April 19, 2013 (registration required)
“Making them ineligible for credits makes the affordability exemption much higher,” said David Gamage of the University of California, Berkeley. The Department of Health and Human Services could provide a hardship exemption from the mandate for RPIs, he added.
David Gamage quoted in NBC Bay Area, April 19, 2013
“Essentially the idea is if you don’t buy health insurance you’re increasing costs for the whole health care system,” said Gamage…. “On your tax forms you will have to certify that you have insurance that qualifies from some source,” said Gamage. “And if you don’t you will be assessed a penalty, the individual mandate penalty.”
John Yoo writes for The Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2013 (registration required)
Moscow announced its travel ban in response to American sanctions on 18 Russian officials involved in the 2009 death of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer in Moscow…. By placing American officials and others on a sanctions list, Vladimir Putin is replaying the old Soviet game of claiming a moral equivalence with the West.
David Caron is quoted in The Independent, April 17, 2013
“Dickson Poon’s gift comes at the right time for a global community that seeks new and effective approaches to numerous challenges facing humanity – each of which transcends the borders of any particular state. I very much look forward to helping bring the collective excellence of King’s College London and the legal community to bear on the most pressing issues of the day.”