Franklin Zimring Criticizes Anti-Rave Bill

San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2010 by Marisa Lagos
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/23/BAV11GUFRV.DTL

“The expression in legal analysis is ‘overbroad,'” said UC Berkeley law Professor Frank Zimring. “The problem is it sweeps innocent people up with not-so-innocent people. The problem of combining prerecorded music and a time period because you are worried about teens taking drugs is that it would also apply when there are no teenagers, or apply when there are no drugs.”

Jesse Choper Returns to California Horse Racing Board

San Francisco Business Times, December 22, 2010 by Steven E.F. Brown
http://bit.ly/gJq1Aj

Saving and promoting the local racing industry is a tall order for the board. “It is an industry that is having real challenges,” Choper said. “The competition for the gambling dollar has been greatly increased, beginning with the lottery. It used to be the only legal gambling around.”

Brian Carver Explains Libel Law that Protects Internet Sites

The New York Times, December 18, 2010 by Stephanie Rosenbloom
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/us/19date.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=berkeley&st=nyt

The Communications Decency Act absolves Internet service providers of liability because the sites are not considered the publishers of the information on their pages—their members are. The reasoning is that sites would not be able to operate if they were responsible for everything posted by their users. Lawyers have tried to get around this law, but “they usually fail,” said Brian Carver.

Jason Schultz Argues for Fair Use in Copyright Case

Las Vegas Sun, December 15, 2010 by Steve Green
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/dec/15/judge-focuses-question-fair-use-copyright-lawsuit/

“CIO’s use of the article expanded public knowledge about immigration enforcement without cannibalizing the market for the original work,” Schultz wrote. “In fact, there is no market for the work at all because it is owned by Righthaven, a company that does not publish news stories, but files copyright infringement lawsuits based on assigned copyrights as its exclusive business model.”

Barry Krisberg Lends Cautious Support to Youth PROMISE Act

Youth Today, December 15, 2010 by John Kelly
http://w.youthtoday.org/view_article.cfm?article_id=4504

“I have serious problems with the compromise with exposing youth to prosecution,” he said, but “I believe those provisions will fall apart because they’re unworkable” in the actual practice of prosecuting crimes…. Meanwhile, he said, most states are facing budget shortfalls and tough choices about cuts to youth services. “If there’s a way to get some federal funding to communities to do good things, I’m for it.”

Holly Doremus Applauds Stronger NEPA Guidelines

Environmental NewsStand, December 7, 2010
http://insideepa.com/ (registration required; go to H:\Law School in the News\In the News 2010\News Clips for article)

“Overall, this guidance is a very positive sign that CEQ is flexing its White House muscles, and an excellent start at standardizing quality NEPA implementation. If followed, it will go a long way toward reining in overuse of categorical exclusions,” writes Holly Doremus.

Sarah Lawrence Analyzes Data Showing Drop in Palo Alto Crime

-California Watch, December 15, 2010 by Ryan Gabrielson
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/violent-crime-plunges-former-murder-capital-7480

“This community needs to realize they’ve come a really long way,” Sarah Lawrence, program director at the Berkeley center and co-author of the study, said in an interview Tuesday. “I think, overall, there’s a positive story here.”

-KCBS News, December 15, 2010 by Betsy Gebhart
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2010/12/15/study-shows-sharp-decline-in-east-palo-alto-crime/

Research director Sarah Lawrence credits East Palo Alto Police Chief Ron Davis and his parolee programs. “He has a re-entry program that he’s working with some parolees, and I think it’s one of the first in the state where his officers are working directly with parolees and they’re partnering with the state on providing jobs.”

-KALW News, December 15, 2010 by Rina Palta
http://informant.kalwnews.org/2010/12/explaining-east-palo-altos-dramatic-crime-drop/

Davis says the Berkeley report is part of the solution: simply knowing what the actual trends, demographics, and numbers are for victims and perpetrators of crime makes for better decision-making. Sarah Lawrence, one of the report’s authors, says that’s the reasoning behind the project, “getting the city and citizens on the same page and understanding what’s actually happening.”

Steven Weissman Sees Benefit in Tapping Mexico’s Renewable Energy Sources

Daily Journal, December 14, 2010 by Fiona Smith
http://bit.ly/erOxvN (registration required; go to H:\Law School in the News\In the News 2010\News Clips for article)

“You can see why some potential sins are being forgiven, at least for out-of-country facilities, if they deliver their power into the California grid,” Weissman said. “You’re not only getting the greenness, you’re getting the kilowatt hours.”

John Yoo Challenges Gitmo “Myths”

The Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2010 by John Yoo and Robert J. Delahunty
http://on.wsj.com/fGPcwL

Contrary to the Gitmo myth, innocent teenagers and wandering goat herders do not fill the base. Last May, an administration task force found that of the 240 detainees at Gitmo when Mr. Obama took office, almost all were leaders, fighters or organizers for al Qaeda, the Taliban or other jihadist groups. None was judged innocent. All of this is having an impact on Congress, which this week voted overwhelmingly to de-fund any effort to shut down the Gitmo prison.