David Sklansky, Goodwin Liu Comment on Judicial Nomination

-San Francisco Chronicle, September 1, 2011 by Bob Egelko
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-09-01/bay-area/29952247_1_goodwin-liu-law-clerk-justice-carlos-moreno

He is someone who “listens to and understands the views of people he disagrees with,” said David Sklansky, a UC Berkeley law faculty colleague.

Questioned at Wednesday’s hearing, Liu drew a distinction between a scholar’s task “to be provocative, innovative and creative, and to work on the edges of the law,” and a judge’s duty to put personal opinions aside.

-Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2011 by Maura Dolan
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0901-goodwin-liu-20110901,0,2622495.story

In response to a question, Liu said that being an academic required him to be provocative, creative and often critical, whereas a judge’s “personal viewpoints have no role.”

-The Sacramento Bee, September 2, 2011 by David Siders
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/02/3879439/jerry-brown-calls-goodwin-lius.html

“I stood in this rotunda many times, perhaps even on days, governor, when you were hard at work just a few paces away,” Liu said. “But I never imagined that our paths would cross quite like this.”

David Caron Notes Climate Change Impact on Artic Claims

Capital Public Radio, Insight, September 1, 2011 Host Jeffery Callison
http://www.capradio.org/news/insight/2011/09/01/insight-capitol-chat–tom-murphy–climate-change-vs-the-law–sound-advice-classical

“There are rules about how nations may make claims in the area. In the past, all the issues in the Arctic were dormant because of the ice. It may be that they could have claimed, but they really weren’t in a rush to do so. As it melts, what was dormant is now very active. I think it’s an exaggeration to say that they are somehow moving towards conflict. But they are being energetic, in fact, working together to figure out who has a proper claim to what.”

Stanley Lubman Examines China’s ‘Ordinary’ Lawyers

The Wall Street Journal, China Real Time Report, August 31, 2011 by Stanley Lubman
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/08/31/dont-overlook-chinas-ordinary-laywers/

There is a relatively small number of activist Chinese lawyers (commonly referred to as “rights protectors”) who specialize in representing Chinese citizens whose rights are violated by government agencies…. Some of them have received much publicity because they are often known to suffer severely and brutally at the hands of police and government authorities. But what about the rest of the country’s 200,000 lawyers?

Goodwin Liu Sails Through Confirmation Hearing

-The Recorder, August 31, 2011 by Kate Moser
http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202513073481

“As a scholar, the job is primarily to be provocative, to be innovative, to be creative, and to work at the edges of the current law,” Liu said. “As a judge, the impulse, I think is different.”

-San Jose Mercury News, August 31, 2011 by Howard Mintz
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_18798616

“I never thought the words nomination and confirmation could be separated by a mere 36 days,” Liu said after the vote. “It has been a long journey for my family and me.”

-The Huffington Post, August 31, 2011 by Paul Elias
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/31/goodwin-liu-california-supreme-court_n_944275.html

“This has to be the most peaceful and enjoyable judicial appointment conference in the country,” Liu said to laughter from about 100 spectators who filled the state Supreme Court chamber to watch the hearing.

Herma Hill Kay Recounts Liu’s Clerkship With Justice Ginsburg

San Francisco Chronicle Politics Blog, August 31, 2011 by Bob Egelko
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=96546

Before Liu joined the Berkeley faculty in 2003, Kay said, she called an old friend, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for whom Liu had clerked in 2000. Kay said Ginsburg told her that “his work on her dissent in Bush v. Gore had been ‘exemplary.’”… “She said he was one of the best law clerks she ever had,” Kay said. “She didn’t know if she could have managed to get through the struggle within the court over that case if he hadn’t been there to help lend a steady hand.”

Alan Auerbach Analyzes Gov Brown’s Jobs Plan

The Sacramento Bee, August 31, 2011 by David Siders
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/31/3873672/jerry-brown-talks-jobs-now-that.html

“To a large extent, jobs in California are hostage to jobs in the United States,” said Alan Auerbach, an economist at UC Berkeley. “You can’t separate the California economy from the U.S. economy. That’s really beyond the governor’s reach.” Still, Auerbach said, through broad policy initiatives a governor “can essentially force an industry to grow.” He cited as an example Brown’s signing in April of legislation requiring California utilities to obtain one-third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

Franklin Zimring Disagrees With Oakland Mayor’s Policing Policies

San Francisco Chronicle, August 30, 2011 by Chip Johnson
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/30/BAS31KTC6V.DTL

Professor Franklin Zimring, a recognized expert on crime, said Quan’s plans are based on resources the understaffed Oakland Police Department doesn’t possess…. A curfew is an effective tool for street management and, contrary to the mayor’s opinion, there is “no legal barrier to a legitimately imposed curfew,” he said.