Franklin Zimring Suggests Changes to Airline Security Procedures

San Francisco Chronicle, November 24, 2010 by Kevin Fagan and Will Kane
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/24/MNI81GGK9D.DTL&type=printable

Frank Zimring, a UC Berkeley law professor who studies behavior under stress, said complaints about the enhanced security measures aren’t likely to go away soon. “What bothers people about the body scan machines is that they are not just looking at your metal keys, they are looking at your twoosie,” Zimring said. “So all of a sudden we’re being observed in another way that makes people feel very vulnerable.” It’s worse with pat-downs, he said, because that creates an uncomfortable power situation…. Zimring said passengers might be more tolerant of body-scan machines if they were redesigned to show a less invasive image of the body.

Pamela Samuelson Encourages WIPO to Reform A/V Copyright Law

Communications Daily, November 23, 2010 by Louis Trager
http://www.warren-news.com/cdtrial.htm (requires registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

There’s a good deal of support for an agreement on protecting audio-visual works…. The work plan “makes limitations and exceptions” to copyright a legitimate discussion topic and raises their profile, said Pamela Samuelson, director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology…. She encouraged WIPO to look into whether additional limits and exceptions should be created to increase “balance” in the law and “restore legitimacy to copyright.”

Robert Merges Comments on Oracle Copyright Victory Against SAP

The New York Times, November 23, 2010 by Verne G. Kopytoff
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/24oracle.html

“This is pretty dramatic,” said Robert P. Merges, a technology law professor at University of California, Berkeley. He said it sent a loud message to companies to pay attention to any signs of copyright infringement. “It’s a game-ending home run type of result. It will tell people ‘Hey, we need to be careful.'”

Wayne Brazil Says UCPD Needs to Respond Faster to Complaints

The Daily Californian, November 23, 2010 by Madeleine Key
http://www.dailycal.org/article/111325/ucpd_fails_to_follow_up_on_complaints_punctually

“The law generally believes that the longer the period between an event and the examination of it, the more difficult it is to feel confident that the reviewing entity has understood accurately what happened,” Brazil said. “Documents are lost. Memories fade. These risks increase with the passage of time.”

Franklin Zimring Questions Criminal Charges in ‘Bullycide’ Cases

The Crime Report, November 21, 2010 by Bernice Yeung
http://thecrimereport.org/2010/11/21/going-after-the-cyberbully/

When it comes to more serious criminal charges, like murder or manslaughter charges that have been called for in some bullycide cases, “you either had to be negligent or intended the harm before you can be criminally liable for it,” Zimring says. “If you’re saying that hurt feelings and deception were intended [through the bullying], well, hurt feelings and deception are two dishes often served during adolescence, and sometimes the scope of cyberspace makes things worse, but I’m not sure that’s going on a lot [in terms of the law].”

Christopher Edley Thinks White House Needs to Confront Republicans

Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2010 by Peter Nicholas
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-struggles-20101121,0,6992944.story

“You can’t build bipartisanship on preemptive concessions,” Edley said in an interview. “These are bullies who can’t be appeased.” Edley, who also served on Obama’s transition team advisory board, added: “Too much time was squandered pursuing bipartisanship—far beyond the point of a good-faith effort. Repeating the same hopeful approach would be tragic. They need to be open to bipartisanship, but there needs to be a demonstrated interest from the other side.”

John Yoo Criticizes Civilian Trials for al Qaeda

The Wall Street Journal, November 20, 2010 by John Yoo
http://online.wsj.com/home-page (requires registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

The near-total acquittal of an al Qaeda agent by a New York jury this week should, at a minimum, be the last gasp for President Obama’s misguided effort to wage the war on terrorism in the courtroom. But it should also spell the end for a broader law-enforcement approach that interferes with our effective prosecution of the conflict. The best course now is simply to detain al Qaeda members, exploit them for intelligence, and delay trials until the end of hostilities.

Jennifer Moreno Wants Texas to Reveal Source of Lethal Drug

The Wall Street Journal, November 19, 2010 by Nathan Koppel
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704170404575624723380067744.html

“This is information the public has a right to know,” said Jennifer Moreno, an attorney with a death-penalty legal clinic … which had filed a request with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to disclose the information. “We need to know where [thiopental] is coming from to make an assessment about the quality of the drug and whether it will be effective,” she said.

Megan McCracken Questions Legality of Lethal Injection Drug

-NPR, Morning Edition, November 19, 2010 by Kathy Lohr
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/18/131428930/oklahoma-execution-plan-stirs-controversy

“Some states have announced that they have an adequate supply of sodium thiopental,” said Megan McCracken, Eighth Amendment counsel at the Death Penalty Clinic…. “Other states have had trouble obtaining the drug and have either turned to other states to get it or, as we’ve learned recently, have had to seek it from a foreign source, from another country.”

-The Arizona Republic, November 29, 2010 by Michael Kiefer
http://bit.ly/fXDDBz

“Today’s announcement that U.K. officials have recognized that it is illegal to import non-FDA approved drugs into this country is an important step in the right direction,” she said. “However…. the onus is now on the courts in the U.S. to require total transparency in upcoming executions to ensure that the drug used to anesthetize prisoners before they are executed is a legal, approved, and effective drug.”

Stephen Rosenbaum Files Complaint in Berkeley Sex-Harassment Case

The Daily Californian, November 18, 2010 by Gabby Fastiggi
http://bit.ly/hRDXYp

“While we understand the privacy and employment-related due process protections afforded an employee … an equitable or effective process should inform the complainant of the investigation’s anticipated corrective action beyond a vague ‘taking appropriate personnel action,'” Rosenbaum stated in the complaint.