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Oct 26

1 Comment

Occupy Oakland Gets Evicted

Posted 208 days ago by Mark Wilson

(Drafted yesterday evening) I’m writing this from Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the San Francisco Bay Area subway system. As I write, the Oakland City Center/12th Street station is closed due to a “civil disturbance” arising out of the Occupy Oakland protest. Early Tuesday morning, Oakland police raided Occupy Oakland’s tent city in Frank Ogawa Plaza, the heart of Oakland’s city government. The protest — now a sort of meta-protest — continues, which means my train won’t stop at 12th Street station.

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Oct 26

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Anonymous attacks Internet child porn

Posted 208 days ago by Marshall Thompson

Anonymous, one of the foremost hacktivist groups around, decided to clean up the Internet a bit last week by attacking websites and servers that either distribute or support the distribution of child porn. The loosely organized group of hackers has always had a soft spot for vulnerable groups of people and a feeling that they own the Internet, so this latest target makes sense.

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Oct 26

Occupy Wall Street and Voter Enfranchisement: Possibilities for 2012?

Posted 208 days ago by Najah Farley

Although Occupy Wall Street is not focused on the power of the ballot, given the focus on increasing economic equality, the movement could be used to mobilize the young people involved in the movement to add voter enfranchisement into their agenda, as efforts to disenfranchise voters disproportionately affect the economically disenfranchised.

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Oct 24

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Ninth Circuit stretches objective reasonableness standard

Posted 210 days ago by Jessica Jackson

Last week the Ninth Circuit addressed whether police officers could invoke the protection of qualified immunity in defense of an excessive force suit for tasing a woman who was seven months pregnant. Did the court’s ruling stretch the meaning of the objective reasonableness standard beyond recognition?

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Oct 24

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Ruling on Patents For Stem Cell Reseach: Europe’s Loss, America’s Gain?

Posted 210 days ago by Peter Dunne

The European Court of Justice has recently stated that no patent may be given for research which involves the destruction of human embryos. This post considers the consequences of the ruling for law and for science in the European Union, and looks to the possible opportunities it may create for lawyers, researchers and industry in America.

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Oct 21

Can (and Should) the Law Compel Compassion?

Posted 213 days ago by Sushila Rao

Video footage depicting a two-year old girl in China being run over twice by the same mini-van driver, and then once again by a light truck – while as many as 18 passersby ignored her plight – has sparked off the latest round of moral outcry and introspective reflection on modern societies’ lack of a sense of community. What role can the law play in structuring a more compassionate society?

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Oct 21

Qaddafi’s death and the aftermath

Posted 213 days ago by Najah Farley

Qaddafi’s death today marks a turning point in the Arab Spring.

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Oct 21

Democratic Legitimacy Deficits: The European Union and America

Posted 213 days ago by Peter Dunne

The concept of a “democratic legitimacy deficit” is well known to European lawyers. Now, two professors from Columbia University are questioning whether there is a similar deficit in American policy-making. This post compares the discussion in both legal systems, focusing particularly on the role which “accountability” has played in creating tension between the Union and its citizens.

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Oct 21

Failure To Communicate

Posted 213 days ago by Jake Laperruque

Without the ability to coordinate and share information, campaigns and powerful independent groups must pay twice over to acquire the same information through online services. While this disincentive will not stop secretly funded groups from continuing to play a role in elections, it does at least reward campaigns that base their strategy around direct funding and disclosure rather than reliance on outside organizations that lack transparency and accountability.

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Oct 20

Economic Diversity in the Federal Judiciary

Posted 214 days ago by David Yin

There’s been much talk about diversity on the bench, but there’s one kind of diversity that doesn’t exist: No truly poor people are appointed as federal judges.

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