When junk science about sex offenders infects the Supreme Court

Ira Ellman cited by The New York Times, Sept. 12, 2017

A few years ago, Ira Ellman, a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley, and Tara Ellman set out to find the source of that 80 percent figure, and what he found shocked him. As it turns out, the court found that number in a brief signed by Solicitor General Ted Olson. The brief cited a Department of Justice manual, which in turn offered only one source for the 80 percent assertion: a Psychology Today article published in 1986.

Chemerinsky brief argues Trump’s pardon of Arpaio is void

Erwin Chemerinsky, Michael Tigar, and Jane Tigar brief cited by ABA Journal, Sept. 12, 2017

The trio argue the pardon is void for three reasons. First, the brief argues the pardon is not authorized by Article II’s grant of pardon power for “offenses against the United States.” … Second, the amicus brief argues that the pardon violates the principle that Article III courts have a duty to provide effective redress when a public official violates the Constitution. Third, the brief argues that Article III courts have inherent power to enforce their orders “and this power exists outside and beyond legislative empowerment and executive whim.”

An ex-Guantanamo detainee rebuilds his life in France

Laurel Fletcher quoted by Al Jazeera, Sept. 11, 2017

“When you have those incidents that are regularly cropping up, I think it activates people’s fear,” Fletcher says. She believes it’s a normal “visceral response” to support strong action in the wake of “terrorist attacks” – and that’s why Guantanamo may be experiencing a resurgence in popularity, despite evidence that its methods fail to make the public safer, she says.

A dishwasher, a garbage man, a gas station attendant: UC Berkeley professors talk their first jobs

Malcolm Feeley quoted by The Daily Californian, Sept. 11, 2017

“My first sustained full time job was after my freshman year in college. I took some time off, hitchhiked from Texas to Idaho, and hired on with the US Forest Service for several months.  I was part of a crew that systematically walked through quadrants in the forest to pull up plants that spread a disease that kills White Pine trees.”

Offering free computers, a small L.A. school district enrolled Catholic school students from Bakersfield

Stephen Sugarman quoted by Los Angeles Times, Sept. 10, 2017

If the students were receiving a full day of secular schooling, the arrangement might comply with state law. … “But where’s the day of substantial non-religious education?” he said. Without meeting that standard, Sugarman said, “it’s not a bona fide distance learning school.” School districts only qualify for state funding for students who are “genuinely enrolled,” Sugarman said.

UC Berkeley faculty members clash on free speech, controversial speakers

john a. powell and Erwin Chemerinsky quoted by The Daily Californian, Sept. 8, 2017

“I don’t think (free speech) is a defining issue in the country. I think the defining issue in the country is white supremacy,” powell said during the panel. “We are fighting a civil war, and the South is winning.”

“The only way to make sure we’re protecting our speech for tomorrow is to protect the speech we don’t like today,” Chemerinsky said during the panel.