Thomas Frampton Questions UC Ruling on Student Conduct

-The Daily Californian, September 23, 2011 by Thomas Frampton
http://www.dailycal.org/2011/09/23/128404/

The university explained that Mr. Desai simply failed to allege “facts which, if true, would constitute a violation of law or University policy.”  This is something one might expect from a Berkeley official in 1963 but not 2011. It’s a position that should be repugnant to everyone in the university community, regardless of their political affiliation.

-The Daily Californian, September 29, 2011 by Aaida Samad
http://bit.ly/qDk2Lo

“I think the University has all but admitted … that they’ve badly mishandled the student disciplinary process for the past several years,” Frampton said in the email. “If those concessions are to have any meaning, though, the University needs to prove itself willing to make whole those students harmed by University officials’ wrongdoing.”

Daniel Farber Wins Accolades in Justice’s New Book

The New York Times, September 30, 2011 by Lawrence Hurley
http://nyti.ms/qPES8R

Stevens, now 91, recalls that when the government first petitioned the court to overturn the Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that had halted construction of the almost completed dam, one of his law clerks sent him a memo dismissing the arguments as “feeble.”  That clerk was Daniel Farber, who is now a well-known environmental law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Barry Krisberg Opines on California Prison Policies

-HealthyCal, September 29, 2011 by Heather Tirado Gilligan
http://www.healthycal.org/archives/5939

“Political rhetoric – especially tough-on-crime rhetoric – is what got California into its corrections problem in the first place,” Krisberg said. “In our zeal to punish offenders, we’ve punished ourselves,” he said, citing the significant chunk of the state budget that goes to prisons.

-Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2011 by Alexa Vaughn
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/29/nation/la-na-prison-guards-20110930

But within public and private systems, some guards think their actions have no consequences because the process for punishing them is so convoluted, said Barry Krisberg. “Screenings are a good start, but what we need is far better training in terms of what the expectations of the jobs are, better supervision to identify potential problems and ways to deal with complaints about their behavior,” Krisberg said.

-National Public Radio, September 29, 2011 by Richard Gonzalez
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/29/140901846/californias-new-prison-policy-has-some-skeptics

The state’s plan is called “realignment.” It shifts certain functions from the state to the counties, says Barry Krisberg….  “With a state with 58 counties and the diversity of California,” he said, “what we’re going to see is 58 varieties of realignment.”

Ty Alper Faults Capital Punishment

Daily Kos, September 28, 2011 by Ty Alper
http://bit.ly/unag7M

I’m not naïve about the power and relevance of innocence in this context. The fact that we cannot correct a wrongful conviction once a person is executed is among the many reasons to question the wisdom of capital punishment.

Jason Schultz Says Music Suit a Catalyst for Copyright Reform

Reuters, September 28, 2011 by Erin Geiger Smith
http://bit.ly/q78knl

“The system is outdated,” said Jason Schultz…. “While Tenenbaum is an imperfect―and unsympathetic defendant―he is a vehicle for bringing copyright law up to speed. “It’s a real case and a real guy that’s been run up for [real] money,” said Schultz. A court will eventually make a decision on the issue of appropriate copyright damage, he said. “We’re trying to help them make the right one.”

Jesse Choper Clarifies Anti-Discrimination Law SB 185

Fox News, September 27, 2011 by Joshua Rhett Miller
http://fxn.ws/rigDmH

Though Proposition 209 bans awarding admissions decisions based on race and ethnicity alone, S.B. 185 would allow admissions officials to view ethnicity as part of the student’s background as a whole, Jesse Choper, a UC Berkeley law professor told The Daily Californian.

Christopher Edley, David Sklansky Praise Goodwin Liu

Los Angeles Law Schools Examiner, September 27, 2011 by Seth Chavez
http://exm.nr/qddIGn

Edley praised Liu for his “patience, clarity, organization, humor, a balanced temperament, and good listening skills.” Edley said “there was no one on the faculty more widely respected or more genuinely admired for his fairness, collegiality, and good judgment.”

Sklansky said he was impressed with Liu’s “powerful intellect but also with his character:  his decency, his open-mindedness, and his evenhandedness.”

Stanley Lubman Comments on Constitutional Reform in China

The Wall Street Journal, China Realtime Report, September 26, 2011 by Stanley Lubman
http://on.wsj.com/mYkQxC

Even if debate persists about the role of the courts in referencing the Constitution, serious reforms are unlikely to appear soon.  If courts are to be given a greater voice on rights-related matters, major changes in China’s governance would be required that don’t seem possible in the current political climate.

Daniel Farber Discusses ‘Diversity Bake Sale’

The Daily Californian, September 26, 2011 by Jason Willick
http://bit.ly/qLvVsk

According to UC Berkeley School of Law Professor Daniel Farber, if the group actually sold cupcakes at different prices to students of different races, then their conduct would not be protected under the First Amendment because “a general rule against racial discrimination in commercial transactions should be valid.”