Livenote.com Web site
www.livenote.com
“More than 98 percent of all federal civil cases are resolved without a trial. Therefore, a deposition may wind up being the real ‘trial’ in the case.”
Robert Barr Honored With Scholarship
San Francisco Daily Journal, June 16, by Jill Redhage
http://www.dailyjournal.com [Registration required]
UC Berkeley School of Law has created a scholarship to honor Robert Barr, a patent lawyer and the executive director of the school’s Center for Law and Technology.
Jesse Choper Predicts Gay Marriage Boom Before Referendum
ABC World News, June 15, by Laura Marquez
http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=gay%20marriage&from=0&to=9&type=video
“You have nothing to lose, and you have something that can be gained. So I would expect that we have a very substantial marriage business here in California over the next several months.”
Christopher Hoofnagle Explains ISP’s Move to Target Online Users for Ads
NPR, All Things Considered, June 12, by Cyrus Farivar
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91436209
At its core, Charter [Communications’] initiative is about money, says Chris Hoofnagle, a privacy law expert. “ISPs have to find a way to become profitable,” says Hoofnagle. “And they need to find ways to generate revenue on top of merely connecting people to the Internet.”
Jesse Choper Responds to Senator Leahy’s Criticism of Supreme Court
UPI, June 11
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/06/11/Leahy_criticizes_Supreme_Court_rulings/UPI-61461213231898/
Professor Jesse Choper said there is “some basis” for Leahy’s remarks. Since U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired in 2005 and Samuel Alito was appointed, there has been a tendency on the court to be more “conservative” in their rulings, Choper said. Whether it’s for good or ill that the high court has been ruling on the side of businesses is “in the eye of the beholder,” he said.
Maria Echaveste Cancels Graduation Speech Due to Labor Dispute
The Press-Enterprise, June 11, by Douglas Quan
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_N_keynote12.42e4a55.html
A former senior White House and U.S. Department of Labor official who was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at one of UC Riverside’s commencement ceremonies this weekend has pulled out over an ongoing labor dispute. Maria Echaveste … was supposed to address graduates from the psychology, sociology, religious studies and women’s studies departments.
Franklin Zimring Notes Inconsistency in National Crime Rates
US News and World Report, June 11, by Emma Schwartz
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2008/06/11/crime-rates-shown-to-be-falling_print.htm
Unlike in the late 1980s and ’90s, when the crack epidemic sent crime rates up across the board, there “isn’t a consistent set of national trends” these days, says Frank Zimring.
Elisabeth Semel Supports Ohio Judge’s Ruling to Alter Lethal Injection Dosage
The New York Times, June 11, by Adam Liptak and Adam B. Ellick
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/us/11death.html?_r=3&sq=Berkeley&st=nyt&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Elisabeth A. Semel … welcomed Judge Burge’s ruling. “It is likely to reduce the risk of executions that cause suffocation and excruciating pain,” Professor Semel said.
Franklin Zimring Interprets Crime Trends
San Francisco Chronicle, June 10, by Demian Bulwa
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/10/MNHS115PSG.DTL&type=printable
“What you have now is real divergence.… Some cities are doing very well, others are doing very badly. That’s what you’d expect, but it’s not what we lived with for 15 or 20 years.”
Steve Sugarman Explains Stanford’s Decision to Drop Letter Grades
San Jose Mercury News, June 9, by Lisa M. Krieger
http://www.mercurynews.com [Registration required]
“For many years now, Berkeley and Stanford students seeking high-paid jobs with big law firms seem to have little difficulty getting offers.… At schools like ours, only a small share of positions seem to require being more or less in the top 10 percent of the class.”