Franklin Zimring Questions Effectiveness of Sex Offender Laws

The New York Times, Bay Area Blog, April 13, 2010 by Gerry Shih
http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/after-another-murder-another-proposed-law/

Franklin Zimring, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, told The New York Times that sex offender laws were sometimes nothing more than a barometer of public opinion. “They’re a plebiscite on sex offenders, and no one likes sex offenders,” Professor Zimring said. “It’s not like they have a lobbying group.”

Jeff Selbin Defends Critical Role of Law School Clinics

Los Angeles Daily Journal, April 13, 2010 by Jeff Selbin
http://www.dailyjournal.com/ (requires registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

Why should the practicing bar care about the vitality and independence of law school clinics? First, clinics are sites of effective law student training. Second, clinics provide critical legal assistance to underrepresented clients. Finally, these periodic assaults on clinics threaten fundamental values of the legal profession and the justice system itself.

Christopher Hoofnagle and Jennifer Lynch Raise Privacy Risks of Social Networking

The Daily Californian, April 9, 2010 by Katrina Escudero
http://www.dailycal.org/article/108991/concerns_persist_after_facebook_settlement

“Consumer privacy issues have taken on a new importance with the rise of social networking,” Hoofnagle said. “The problem is that existing regulatory structures are convinced that privacy issues are institutional. We think of entities such as phone companies as the privacy threat, but with social networking, we are the threat because we reveal too much.”

“What we have to worry about is search histories, pictures and documents that can easily get linked to your e-mail account,” Lynch said. “That info can be used by Google to market you personally, but more importantly, if the U.S. government requested that information from Google, they could easily be granted access to it.”

Jesse Choper and Susan Gluss Discuss the Politicization of Goodwin Liu’s Nomination

The Daily Californian, April 9, 2010 by Kaori Zinke
http://www.dailycal.org/article/108998/boalt_professor_liu_faces_republican_criticism_

According to Boalt Hall spokesperson Susan Gluss, Liu is being held to a different standard than prior nominees. “Professor Liu has probably made the most complete disclosure of any nominee in recent times,” she said in an e-mail. “Liu is highly-respected by leading scholars on both sides of the political aisle for his integrity, independent-thinking, and fairness. This political skirmish doesn’t change that at all.”

Some say that his nomination has become politically charged, including Boalt Hall Law Professor Jesse Choper. “The Republicans have latched on to this as a major matter,” he said. “I certainly don’t think he merits the kind of reaction that’s been produced by those who are opposing him. It’s unfortunate the judicial appointments have become so politicized.”

Pamela Samuelson Questions Photographers’ Copyright Suit against Google

-The Wall Street Journal, April 8, 2010 by Scott Morrison
http://bit.ly/bH96LJ (requires registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

“Google does not make available any of the visual material that might be in the books, unless the copyright holder has agreed to it,” said Pamela Samuelson, a digital copyright expert at University of California at Berkeley. “I don’t really think this lawsuit has as good a chance as the authors’ lawsuit.”

-Information Today, Inc., April 15, 2010 by Nancy Herther
http://bit.ly/bTFlt3

“Google has a better fair use defense in this case than in the Author’s Guild case, and it will be difficult to certify a class here because Google is not displaying photos or other visual images unless they believe they have permission, which maybe they do under contracts with publishers,” Samuelson notes.

Daniel Farber Opines on Supreme Court Justice Stevens’ Career and Possible Retirement

-Talking Points Memo, April 7, 2010 by Christina Bellantoni
http://bit.ly/9rW6le

“It would be hard for Republicans to explain how they voted to confirm [Kagan] for solicitor general without hesitation but she is now unacceptable,” UC Berkeley law professor Daniel Farber, who clerked for Stevens early in his career, told me in an interview…. Farber would like Pamela Karlan of Stanford, whose name arose on a long list last year. She is “outspokenly liberal” and because she is outspoken, “she would clearly get a big fight,” Farber said.

-San Francisco Daily Journal, April 12, 2010 by Daniel A. Farber
http://www.dailyjournal.com/ (requires registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

Most of what you’ve heard about Justice Stevens is true. He’s brilliant and unassuming, yet self-confident. What’s less clear is whether he’s a “liberal,” as he is often called. He spent many years as an antitrust lawyer, and antitrust lawyers are great believers in the virtues of competition in the free market. Instead of searching for the politically comfortable outcome, he has always approached cases as fascinating legal puzzles.