The Chronicle-Telegram, June 1, by Brad Dicken
http://www.chroniclet.com/2008/06/11/burge-executes-changes-to-lethal-injection/
While the three-drug cocktail may appear to offer a peaceful death to witnesses because the condemned is paralyzed, there’s no way to know for certain if there is suffering, Alper said…. “The question is whether we want to risk an execution being botched just so the people watching an execution are spared seeing the body’s natural reaction to death,” said Alper.
Marketplace Money/American Public Media, May 30, hosted by Tess Vigeland
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/30/sec_investment_ranking/
“The ratings agencies played a big role in putting investment-grade stamps on a lot of these mortgage-backed securities, and so the questions about how they went about rating these structured finance products—which by the way are really about sort-of repackaged mortgages, sliced, diced and julienned in a way that makes some aspects of them safe and some more risky—is going to be a real issue.”
Wall Street Journal Online, May 29, by Bobby White
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121203076000928541.html
The problems Oakland faces may be common among major cities across the U.S. which are similarly short staffed and strapped for cash, making them ill-equipped to handle a host of new technologies being deployed, says Jennifer King…. “ShotSpotter, like other law-enforcement technology out there, is predicated on the idea that there’s a coordinated approach to fighting crime,” says Ms. King. “City lawmakers, community leaders and the police need to work together to make it work.”
WWL AM/FM (New Orleans) May 28, hosted by Garland Robinette
http://tinyurl.com/5auba2
“There are many, many people who would rather go to China—where of course you’re adopting both cross-racially and with another ethnic group—than to deal with public child welfare agencies. And it’s because for all people—whether black, or white, or Hispanic, or Native American—public child welfare has historically not been very user-friendly, has not invited people to come and learn about the kinds of children who need parents. Which is why I feel so strongly that you have to begin by a very broad recruitment effort. Children are not condemned to a bad life because they happened to be in foster care.”
San Francisco Daily Journal, May 27, by Laura Ernde
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Elisabeth Semel, director of the Death Penalty Clinic … said she hopes the court recognizes the importance of allowing appeals courts to fully explore questions of juror bias. “You would think a court would want every tool at its disposal to conduct a full inquiry,” Semel said. “It’s kind of like telling a fighter to go into the ring with his hands tied behind his back. It deprives the court of valuable information.”
Contra Costa Times, May 24, by Carl Steward
http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_9371559?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
Former Cal chancellor Ira Michael Heyman’s speech to NCAA delegates back in 1987 offered keen insight to keeping college sports under control…. Would he be interested in updating his ’87 views? “I’m played out on the subject,” he said.
-San Jose Mercury News, May 22, by Howard Mintz
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“George saw the historical moment and seized it,” said Boalt Hall School of Law Professor Stephen Barnett, an expert on the court who at times has criticized George. “The decision took a great deal of courage and leadership.”
-San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, by Wyatt Buchanan
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/23/BAIQ10RM4S.DTL
“It could be considered improper for the court to hold its decision for what are essentially political reasons.”
-Legal Newsline, May 30, by Chris Rizo
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/213060-ten-ags-ask-california-court-to-stay-gay-marriage-ruling
“This case will clearly have an effect on other states, so it would be appropriate that they would file amicus briefs,” said Barnett…. “After considering this case for a few years, California is not about to withhold its decision to give other states time to think about it.”
San Francisco Daily Journal, May 20, by Jill Redhage
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“It’s not something you would do unless you had a specific career goal in mind, or unless you were looking to pursue an academic career in law,” said Jason Shepherd, an administrative assistant for UC Berkeley School of Law’s advanced degree programs.
-San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, by Deborah Saunders
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/20/EDVT10N2DQ.DTL
Rick Frank told me, “If Proposition 98 passes, it will be the property-rights and eminent-domain lawyers full employment act.”
-Contra Costa Times, May 25, by Richard Frank
http://www.contracostatimes.com/berkeleyvoice/ci_9271750
“Both propositions are vague as to when state government would be able to condemn property to prevent criminal conduct (e.g., crack houses) or protect public health and safety interests from hazardous waste sites.”
-KTVU Evening News, May 27, by Jim Vargas
[Link not available]
“Proposition 98 goes far beyond what is being advertised as the ‘save my home’ initiative … Water storage projects, water transfer projects, flood control measures and the like would all be threatened and perhaps impossible if Proposition 98 were to be enacted by the voters.”
-San Francisco Daily Journal, May 28, by Richard Frank
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“Californians can expect a great deal of litigation over the initiatives. A successful Proposition 98, in particular, promises to be the subject of numerous lawsuits that will likely be needed to resolve definitively the scope and meaning of that measure. Conversely, if both Propositions 98 and 99 are defeated at the polls, it can be safely predicted that California’s longstanding legal and policy debate over eminent domain, rent control and property rights will continue well past June.”
-ABC7-TV News, May 29, by Dan Ashley
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=6173232
An independent analysis by the University of California Center for Environmental Law and Policy found confusing language in both propositions…. “My sense is that if Proposition 98 is enacted, we will see a great deal of litigation to address a number of the key ambiguities in that measure,” says Richard Frank with the Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
The Boston Globe, May 18, by Drake Bennett
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/18/my_space/?page=full
The extraterrestrial property regime envisioned by … Robert Merges … would have one key condition: A portion of the total available property would be set aside for a period of time to give developing nations a chance to catch up and to bid once they’d reached the point at which they were technologically and financially able.