Erin Murphy Explains Implications of Oakland Police Warrant Probe

The Oakland Tribune, September 30, by Harry Harris and Sean Maher
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_10603809

If the warrants were obtained illegally, the evidence gathered from the searches could be inadmissible in court, said assistant professor Erin Murphy…. “One school of thought is that if a warrant turns up illegal evidence, so be it; it doesn’t matter if the warrant was bad. But one of the major remedies we use to correct police when they overstep their bounds is (to) throw out the evidence,” she said.

Jesse Fried Argues for Government Clawback of Executive Bonuses

San Francisco Chronicle, September 29, by Jesse Fried
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/29/ED201385J9.DTL

“The cost of cleaning up Wall Street’s debacle must not fall entirely on taxpayers’ shoulders; those who profited from the derivatives casino should directly chip in. Clawing back executives’ bonus pay will also make future decision-makers think twice before taking similar financial gambles, reducing the likelihood that another generation of Americans will be asked to bail out Wall Street.”

Pamela Samuelson Clarifies Copyright Law’s Impact on Public Domain

New York Times, September 29, by Noam Cohen
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/media/29link.html

“The law is pretty clear that laws and judicial opinions and regulations are not protected by copyright laws,” said Pamela Samuelson, a professor at Boalt Hall School of Law…. “That isn’t to say that people aren’t going to try.” A favorite method of trying, as Ms. Samuelson and other legal scholars explain, is to copyright the accoutrements surrounding the public material.

Aaron Edlin Hedges His Bets on Financial Bailout

San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, by Sam Zuckerman
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/27/MN8F135EL0.DTL

“I’d give the government a 50 percent chance of stabilizing the markets,” Edlin said. “The reason for optimism is that there will be an enormous amount of money. The reason for pessimism is that nobody knows how the money will be spent.”

Jesse Fried Thinks Congress Incapable of Regulating Executive Pay

San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, by Susan Sward
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/26/BUHM135DL7.DTL

“Even though I have been a critic of executive compensation arrangements, my own view is Congress should not be trying to micromanage pay in these companies” receiving bailout monies, said UC Berkeley law Professor Jesse Fried….”Congress typically doesn’t know what it is doing when it comes to regulating executive compensation, and every time they have gotten involved in micromanaging CEO pay, they have made a much worse mess of things,” he said.

Jesse Fried Links Wall Street Meltdown to Executive Compensation

Wall Street Journal, September 27, by Phred Dvorak
http://www.wsj.com/article/SB122246504168980147.html

“I don’t think we can rule out the structure of executive pay as a causal factor of the meltdown,” said Mr. Fried. “A lot of the pay was based on bonuses based on year-to-year earnings.” That short-term focus caused short-term thinking, he argued.

Margaretta Lin Supports Redevelopment Plans for West Oakland Train Station

San Francisco Business Times, September 26, by Blanca Torres
http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2008/09/29/story7.html?b=1222660800^1706384&t=printable

“It’s going to be a multi-use center based all around this notion of community and economic sustainability, which includes the cultural heritage piece,” said Margaretta Lin, who … works for the East Bay Community Law Center. “This is an opportunity to capture for West Oakland residents the innovative things happening in Oakland.”

Jacob Hacker Notes Failure of Personal Responsibility Rhetoric

Boston Globe, September 26, by Ellen Goodman
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/09/26/the_tattered_ideology_of_personal_responsibility/

Now, as Jacob Hacker, the author of “The Great Risk Shift,” puts it, we are seeing that “the rhetoric of personal responsibility stops at the edge of the market…. People today are more concerned about big insecurity than big government,” says Hacker.

Kathryn Baron Reports on Success of California Continuation School, Alta Vista

The California Report, September 26, by Kathryn Baron

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R809261630/d

“Alta Vista stands out among California’s 519 continuation high schools. It’s one of 70 that meet the state standards to be called ‘model continuation schools.’ The rest of them, according to a recent study, are underfinanced, under-resourced, and underperforming.”

Franklin Zimring and David Sklansky Interpret Statute of Limitations Law in Gunderson Battery Case

The Times-Standard, September 26, by Thadeus Greenson
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_10564629

“The prosecution has a real problem,” said University of California Berkeley School of Law professor Franklin Zimring.… “That means that either the jury wasn’t aware of (the statute of limitations for misdemeanors), or that there’s somebody brilliant on the jury who found a way to reprimand the chief without really convicting him.”