Jonathan Simon Considers Mehserle Defense in BART Shooting High-Risk

The Oakland Tribune, April 30, 2010 by Paul T. Rosynsky
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_14984803

If manslaughter remains an option, the jury could find Mehserle guilty of the crime but with a lesser penalty. Without manslaughter as an option, the jury will be forced to make a stark choice resulting in a longer prison term or no prison term at all, said Jonathan Simon, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. “This will force a choice,” Simon said. “It’s high-gain, high-risk.”

Aaron Edlin Supports Economist Janet Yellen’s Nomination to Federal Reserve

Bloomberg Businessweek, April 30, 2010 by Vivien Lou Chen
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-30/yellen-anti-inflation-credentials-defended-by-gramley-blinder.html

“You can’t put her in a box,” said University of California professor Aaron Edlin, who has known Yellen for 22 years and worked with her on the Council of Economic Advisers. “If dove means she cares about people who are unemployed, I suppose you can say she’s a dove. But it’s not the case that she doesn’t care about inflation.”

Kenneth Bamberger and Deirdre Mulligan Advocate for Multi-Stakeholder Privacy Policies

National Telecommunications and Information Administration, April 29, 2010 by Lawrence E. Strickling
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/presentations/2010/InternetSociety_04292010.html

As privacy scholars Deirdre Mulligan and Ken Bamberger (University of California, Berkeley I-School and Law School) recently wrote, this type of dynamic, hybrid system in which both private and public stakeholders participate may well yield actual privacy practices that are more responsive to evolving consumer privacy expectations than would a traditional rulemaking system.

Franklin Zimring Says African-American on Asian Homicides Rare, But Tensions Real

New America Media, April 29, 2010 by Aaron Glantz
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7a54346b5af80c001d6b898dd2598f55

“Oakland’s recent high year for homicide was 2006, with 149 killings. All but six victims were black or Hispanic,” noted Frank Zimring, who directs the Center for Studies of Criminal Justice at UC Berkeley. While the race of every perpetrator is not known, Zimring guesses that there was at most one homicide with a black offender and an Asian victim. “The resentment is probably not rare, but the victimizations are,” he said.

Andrea Russi Answers Legal Questions in “Gizmodo” Case

The Wall Street Journal, Digits, April 27, 2010 by Shira Ovide
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/04/27/qa-legal-questions-in-the-iphone-case/?KEYWORDS=Berkeley

“There’s a penal code section, California penal code 485, which says if you find lost property and you have some ability to find out who the owner is, you have an obligation to do that. I think the guy who found the phone and knew whose phone it was, could be charged with theft. Gizmodo, I think, could be charged with receipt of stolen property. In order to charge them, [Gizmodo] would have to know the phone was stolen.”

Joan Hollinger Notes New Regs That Require Adoption Agency Disclosure

The New York Times, April 27, 2010 by Pam Belluck
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28adopt.html

Those regulations were developing as the Harshaws’ adoption was proceeding, and at most agencies, “the atmosphere was definitely an emphasis in getting what could be obtained and making sure that they disclose that,” said Joan H. Hollinger, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is serving as an expert witness for the Harshaws. Agencies were also focused on “preparation of adoptive families for what they might encounter,” Professor Hollinger said.

Cymie Payne Examines Impact of ICJ’s Environmental Ruling

The American Society of International Law, April 22, 2010 by Cymie R. Payne
http://www.asil.org/insights100422.cfm

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced its judgment in a high-stakes environmental dispute between Argentina and Uruguay…. This judgment is a significant step forward in the ICJ’s jurisprudence on environmental law and on shared watercourses. The Court recognized environmental impact assessment as a practice that has become an obligation of general international law in these situations. It further found that general international law does not prescribe the scope or content of such assessments.