Jesse Choper Discusses Occupiers’ Constitutional Rights

-The Sacramento Bee, November 1, 2011 by Ed Fletcher
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/01/4022420/occupy-sacramento-lawyers-file.html

The federal lawsuit will hinge on whether the protesters can prove they’re being discriminated against…. “The critical issue was the reason for putting them out,” Choper said. “Was it to suppress the speech or” for other legitimate reasons.

-Rocket Lawyer, November 4, 2011 Hosts Eva Arevuo and Charley Moore ’96
http://podcast.rocketlawyer.com/legally-easy-episode-43-occupy-oakland-the-first-amendment-and-kim-kardashian-9808

“You do have a right to assemble freely and to petition the government. But no First Amendment right, no free speech right is absolute.”

Robert Berring Notes Changes in Legal Research

Slaw, October 31, 2011 by Robert Berring
http://www.slaw.ca/2011/10/31/legal-research-training%E2%80%99s-end/

In the 1980s many law students had never used a computer. As the databases took over, the class morphed. LEXIS and WESTLAW became the standard source of research for the students. Personal computers became ubiquitous. Laptops and smart phones soon followed. The Internet pushed us further. Now Google and Wikipedia rule the land.

Franklin Zimring Details NYPD Tactics to Reduce Crime

-OaklandNorth, October 26, 2011 by Tasion Kwamilele
http://oaklandnorth.net/2011/10/26/crime-expert-frank-zimring-suggests-oakland-adopt-new-yorks-crime-reduction-techniques/

Zimring said that the city’s expansion of its police presence and policing resources forced the crime rate down, and the productivity of the department increased substantially. The NYPD “went from being one of the softest to one of the most aggressive” police departments, he said.

-San Francisco Chronicle, October 30, 2011 by Franklin E. Zimring
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/30/INFK1LMB5J.DTL

The epic success of police in New York came at a time when the number of cops increased, their strategies of enforcement changed, and street police became much more aggressive.

Franklin Zimring Thinks Realignment Will Weaken Guards’ Union

The Salt Lake Tribune, October 26, 2011 by Don Thomson
http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/printerfriendly.csp?id=52791458

“The largest measure of their political impact was their financial clout,” Zimring said. “Every dime that goes to the local level should be seen as a threat to the guards’ union. Eventually, it will weaken it.”

David Onek Criticizes War on Drugs

Public Press, October 25, 2011 by Rina Palta
http://sfpublicpress.org/news/2011-10/qa-candidates-for-san-francisco-district-attorney-0

The War on Drugs has been a complete failure…. Locking people up because of an underlying mental health problem or underlying substance problem does not solve the problem whatsoever and is an extremely inefficient way to handle those problems.

Stanley Lubman Examines Chinese Law-Making

Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2011 by Stanley Lubman
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/10/25/a-glimpse-into-chinese-law-making/

Building a legal system is replete with deliberation over technicalities in any nation, but the enterprise is especially difficult in a huge country under authoritarian single-party rule, with traditions inconsistent with the rule of law, and which is undergoing dramatic social change.

Ethan Elkind Studies Feasibility of Energy Projects on Farmland

-E&E News, October 24, 2011 by Anne C. Mulkern
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/rss/2011/10/24/10 (requires registration)

“Proposed projects on farmland tend to spur opposition from agricultural interests worried about the loss of productive farmland in the state, as well as from endangered species advocates concerned about the destruction of farms that provide critical habitat for endangered and threatened species,” said Ethan Elkind, one of the authors of the study.

-Los Angeles Law Schools Examiner, October 24, 2011 by Seth Chavez
http://www.examiner.com/law-schools-in-los-angeles/how-to-harvest-clean-energy-from-degraded-farmland-ucla-law-berkeley-law

“It’s important to strike a careful balance between demands for food and energy,” said report author Ethan Elkind, research fellow at UCLA Law and Berkeley Law. “The state needs to preserve its prime farmland yet actively develop these projects on appropriate sites to meet our state’s energy needs.”

John Yoo Praises Justice Clarence Thomas

Wall Street Journal, October 21, 2011 by John Yoo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204485304576642963032597504.html?KEYWORDS=Berkeley

In his first two decades on the bench, Justice Thomas has established himself as the original Constitution’s greatest defender against elite efforts at social engineering. His stances for limited government and individual freedom make him the left’s lightning rod and the tea party’s intellectual godfather.

Barry Krisberg Explains Prison Realignment

The Sacramento Bee, October 21, 2011 by Andy Furillo
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/21/3992502/prison-realignment-reduces-time.html

“This law is just designed to say: Let’s be smarter. Let’s make sure that violent people are behind bars – that’s what we all want. And for the property offender, the drug offender types, let’s come up with a penalty that can be served at the local level and won’t cost as much.”

Alan Auerbach Urges Voters to Study Candidates’ Economic Plans

KQED-FM, October 21, 2011 Host Dave Iverson
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201110210900

“What are the potential benefits of this proposal, both in the short run, when we’re still in a weak economy, or the long run? Of course, the answers will differ whether it’s the opponents or the candidates giving the answer.”