Richard Frank Wants California to Focus on Cap-and-Trade Options, Not Legal Constraints

Carbon Control News Blog November 23, 2009
http://ee.iwpnews.com/index.php/ccn/show/experts_cite_legal_barriers_for_californias_cap_and_trade_program/ (may require registration; go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips for article)

Rick Frank, another EAAC member who is executive director of the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at the University of California-Berkeley School of Law, suggested that the committee “be a little wary of focusing too much on the legal constraints,” and rather advance what it considers to be the best policy recommendations and leave potential legal hurdles to CARB staff.

Kenneth Bamberger Raises Questions about Financial Risk Management

JOTWELL, Corporate Law, November 23, 2009 by Caroline Bradley
http://corp.jotwell.com/better-or-worse-risk-management-through-technology/

Bamberger argues that choices about the interpretation of law should not be made by “private third-parties invisible to regulators.” He asks: “how does the technological instantiation of law-elaboration through implementation fare in light of the public law norms of accountability, effectiveness and legitimacy that traditionally govern the exercise of delegated discretion?”

John Yoo Sees No Benefit in 9/11 Trial, Only Risks

The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 22, 2009 by John Yoo
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20091122_Closing_Arguments__No_clear_benefit_to_holding_9_11_trial_in_New_York.html

It certainly doesn’t help those who are already protected by the Bill of Rights and can be tried in civilian courts. If anything, their rights are at risk, not just by a failure to convict terrorists who killed almost 3,000 people, but by the inevitable judicial compromises that must balance the requirements of a fair public trial with the demands of protecting wartime secrets. Those compromises will no longer be limited to the special context of military courts in wartime, but will become part of the law that governs all Americans.

Alan Auerbach Thinks Tax Increases Alone Won’t Solve Budget Shortfall

San Francisco Chronicle, November 22, 2009 by Wyatt Buchanan
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/22/MN2V1AO1D2.DTL&type=printable

UC Berkeley professor of economics and law Alan Auerbach said extending the tax increases is an obvious place for lawmakers to look for a solution. “But that is only part of the solution. Where the rest of it comes from who knows?” said Auerbach…. He predicted the Legislature would “muddle through” the problem with spending cuts and tax increases.

Elisabeth Semel Explains Impact of Jury Selection on Death Penalty Cases

KALW News, November 18, 2009 by Rina Palta
http://kalwnews.org/blogs/rinapalta/inside-courts-day2-jurors-du-jour

“From a defense attorney’s standpoint, Semel said, “you end up with a jury that’s not only able to impose the death penalty, but people who are for the death penalty tend to be more pro-prosecution” and presumably, more likely to convict in the first place. In a society increasingly opposed to the death penalty, you’re excluding from juries some 40 or 50 percent of people who would be otherwise qualified,” she said.

Jamie Rowen Argues Courts Play Essential Role in Redressing War Crimes

San Francisco Chronicle, November 18, 2009 by Jamie Rowen
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/18/EDG91AM0FI.DTL

Something odd has happened in the United States. Not only did government lawyers create the legal fiction of enemy combatant and claim that torture—widely held to be a jus cogens crime (meaning there is no excuse)—is justifiable, now certain lawmakers are questioning the validity of a court of law to redress mass human rights violations. These lawmakers are undermining decades of jurisprudence that defines war crimes and provides the legal foundations for international criminal justice.

Stanley Lubman Discusses Chongqing China Corruption Cases

The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2009 by Stanley Lubman
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/11/17/stanley-lubman-chongqing-criminal-trials-underscore-dangers-of-corporatist-state/tab/print/

Arrests of wealthy businesspersons for being in cahoots with bureaucrats is no novelty, but the multi-million dollar scale of the many illegal casinos in Chongqing run by the sister-in-law of the Judicial Bureau chief is more brazen. It is the extent of the links among bureaucrats, businesses and gangsters involved in this case that merits special attention.