Robert Bartlett Questions Winklevosses’ Latest Legal Move

Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2011 by Jessica Guynn and Carol Williams
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-winklevoss-20110412,0,3506898.story

“If it is the case that the idea for Facebook was truly stolen from them, then they had a claim to pursue. But they chose to settle that claim,” UC Berkeley law professor Robert Bartlett said. “As an armchair psychologist, it seems to me they are motivated by the disappointment and anger that led to their first claim. That anger, I think, had to come to an end when they decided to settle with Facebook.”

Robert MacCoun Reacts to New Findings of Judicial Bias

Nature News, April 11, 2011 by Zoë Corbyn
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110411/full/news.2011.227.html

“It is hardly the first empirical demonstration of ‘extra-evidentiary bias’ in judges’ decisions, but it is a particularly striking one because the biasing factor is seemingly innocuous and so patently irrelevant to the case at hand,” says Robert MacCoun, who studies law and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Franklin Zimring Criticizes Sex Offender Law

Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2011 by Victoria Kim and Sarah Peters
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sex-offender-ban-20110406,0,2962934.story

Franklin Zimring, a UC Berkeley law professor, said the law was overly broad and misdirected…. “It’s trying to solve a problem nobody knows exists,” he said, adding that laws imposing restrictions on sex offenders are snowballing because they are politically popular. “Who’s going to lose votes being against child molestation?” he said.

David Onek Gives a Nod to Journalist Sy Hersh

SF Weekly, April 6, 2011 by Peter Jamison
http://bit.ly/exeKCH

Does Hersh’s support signal that Onek might just follow through on his vows to let some more sunshine in at 850 Bryant? “I’ll let you be the judge of that,” he says. “All I can say is that I have tremendous respect for Sy Hersh, as a person and as a journalist.”

Daniel Farber Calls for Reduced Energy Consumption

Forbes, April 6, 2011 by William Pentland
http://blogs.forbes.com/williampentland/2011/04/06/global-warmings-consumption-paradox/

Society needs to consume less of everything from automobiles to air conditioning if it wants to confront climate change, according to Daniel Farber…. In Farber’s view, the mechanics of “reducing consumption” encompasses a tectonic shift away from consumption-driven capitalism toward a “post-consumerism” model of economic growth that promotes a more robust concept of social welfare.

Neil Popovic and Ethan Elkind Call Climate Change a Human Rights Issue

New University, April 5, 2011 by Maxine Wally
http://www.newuniversity.org/2011/04/news/climate-concerns/

“We need resources for assessments and planning; we need help charting a future,” Elkind said. “We need to protect existing, local resources, local water supply, promote retrofitting and realize we are all connected in this.”

It is a problem felt by many, bringing about the humanitarian aspect of this issue. “The way it affects people really resonates with others because they can identify with it and can imagine how it feels,” Popovic said.

Holly Doremus Questions White House Review of EPA Mining Guidelines

-The Huffington Post, April 5, 2011 by Marcus Baram
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/05/tokyo-electric-knew-radia_n_845021.html

The EPA has announced that it will delay finalizing its guidance memorandum on Clean Water Act permitting for mountaintop removal mining projects, pending review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The move worries those “hoping the Obama administration won’t completely cave to regulated interests,” says Berkeley Law professor Holly Doremus.

-Greenwire, April 7, 2011 by Manuel Quinones
http://www.eenews.net/gw/ (registration required; go to H:\Law School in the News\In the News 2011\News Clips for article)

Doremus maintains an agency guidance does not need review by the executive branch. “What [White House officials] are supposed to be reviewing is new legal burdens. A rule is something that imposes new legal burdens,” she said in an interview. “All this guidance does is say, look at all the existing laws and regulations, this is how we are going to enforce them.”

-The Charleston Gazette, Coal Tattoo, April 7, 2011 by Ken Ward Jr.
http://bit.ly/dMKQXw

In a post on the group’s blog, Holly Doremus, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley, outlined some serious concerns: Why is the White House really involved? Because since the mid-term elections it has been only too willing to bend to big-money attacks on regulatory agencies.