Bisharat on Obama's Jerusalem Promise

George Bisharat published an op-ed in the June 17, 2008, San Francisco Chronicle titled, "Obama's Missteps." George criticizes Obama for his promise, made before the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, that Jerusalem must remain the "capital of Israel" and must "remain undivided."

Keitner on Boumediene

Chimene Keitner has been invited to participate in an online symposium on the Supreme Court's recent decision in Boumediene v. Bush. Here's the link: http://www.opiniojuris.org/posts/chain_1213336401.shtml. Chimene's first post observes that Justice Kennedy's opinion favors function over form and is limited to territories over which the United States has "de facto sovereignty."

Marcus on Procedural Reform

Rick Marcus has published two pieces on procedural reform. The most recent is called "Modes of Procedural Reform," 31 Hastings Int. & Comp. Law Rev. 157 (2008)(available from HeinOnline). Rick offers a typology of reform modes (e.g., judicially-driven, legislative, expert-driven, borrwed from abroad, top-down vs. bottom-up). He then examines the actual history of American procedural reform and concludes that the particular mode of reform employed has had less than a profound effect on success. In the end, after looking at other countries' experiences with procedural reform as well, Rick suggests we may be left with a "grab bag" of factors determining prospects for success.

The other piece is called "Confessions of a Federal 'Bureaucrat': The Possibilities of Perfecting Procedural Reform," 35 Western State Univ. L. Rev. 103 (2007)(available from HeinOnline). This piece comments on a paper by Glenn Koppel in which Koppel argues that the "Golden Age" of federal procedural rulemaking is over, and that a multistate apparatus ought to be created to develop new procedures in state courts. Rick doubts the plausibility of this proposal and further suggests that federal rulemaking may still have some utility -- as is illustrated by the states having largely followed the federal lead on E-discovery.

Bisharat on Presidential Politics and Israel

George Bisharat has published an op-ed in the June 12 Houston Chronicle titled, "Where's Healthy Debate on U.S. Policy Toward Israel?" in which he criticizes both John McCain and Barack Obama for what he sees as "pandering" to the pro-Israel lobby.

Bisharat on the "Fallacy of Islamic National Suicide"

George Bisharat published an op-ed piece in the June 9 Los Angeles Times called, "The Fallacy of Islamic 'National Suicide.'" He argues that this type of thinking could be used to justify more preemptive military action.

Hastings Shines at Law & Society Conference

Dorit Rubenstein Reiss, Chimene Keitner, Karen Musalo, and Joanna Weinberg all presented papers at the recent Law & Society Conference. Dorit presented a paper titled, "Participation and Administrative Law: Getting the Benefits on the Cheap," in a panel on "Voice in the Law: Talking About and Responding to Laws and Regulations." Here's the link: <http://convention3.allacademic.com/one/lsa/lsa08/index.php?click_key=1&cmd=Multi+Search+Search+Load+Publication&publication_id=236982&PHPSESSID=75bea73b84da66e55cfb9b5d9e84a50b>
Dorit also presented a paper titled, "Litigating as Delay Tactic: Universal Service in France," in a panel called "Regulatory Governance -- Regulation and Markets: Untangling Relationships." Here's the link: <http://convention3.allacademic.com/one/lsa/lsa08/index.php?click_key=1&cmd=Multi+Search+Search+Load+Publication&publication_id=236980&PHPSESSID=75bea73b84da66e55cfb9b5d9e84a50b>
Karen Musalo presented a paper on U.S.-Canada Refugee Policy in a panel called, "Refugee Law and Policy in the United States and Canada in Historical and Comparative Perspective." Here's the link: <http://convention3.allacademic.com/one/lsa/lsa08/index.php?click_key=1&cmd=Multi+Search+Search+Load+Publication&publication_id=237194&PHPSESSID=75bea73b84da66e55cfb9b5d9e84a50b>
Chimene Keitner presented her article "Conceptualizing Complicity in Alien Tort Litigation" (forthcoming in the Hastings Law Journal) in a panel called, "Challenging the National/International Distinction."

Joanna Weinberg presented a paper titled, "Democratic Science and Stem Cell Politics: Creative Tensions in Pursuit of a Moving Target." Joanna also chaired two panels, "Managing Health As A Public Good: Risks, Panics, and Accountabilities" and "The Politics of Regulation."

Radhika Rao participated in a roundtable called, "Reproducing Inequality: Law, Procreation, and Parenting in the 21st Century."

One of Ethan Leib's co-authored papers was presented (although he was not there himself): "Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties."

My source tells me that Dorit's work "got rave reviews"!

Bisharat on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The entire last week George Bisharat has been debating UCLA's Judea Pearl regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Los Angeles Times web site. Here's the link: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-dustup-may12-16,0,6574359.storygallery.

Carrillo on Consumer Rights in a Multilingual Housing Market

Jo Carrillo has just published an article called Translation for the Latino Market Today: The Rights of Consumers in a Multilingual Housing Market, which appears at 11 Harv. Latino L. Rev. 1 (2008). Here's the abstract:

The Federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) requires lenders to disclose the full cost of credit to borrowers. In the case of linguistic minorities, California law goes one step further. Under California Civil Code section 1632, lenders are required to provide unexecuted translations of loan documents to consumers whose language of proficiency is Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean. Recently, the Northern District Court of California has read this language to apply to mortgage loans originated by real estate brokers. This Article considers the needs of consumers in a multilingual housing market and then offers a sketch of California Civil Code section 1632, which is important consumer protection legislation. Despite its technical uncertainties (and there are a few), section 1632 represents an important step toward affirming the economic, legal, and civil rights of consumers who, by virtue of their language proficiencies, are vulnerable in credit markets.

Wang on Grading

Bill Wang has just published an essay entitled, "The Injustice of Reducing the Number of Levels in a Grading System," 57 J. Leg. Ed. 423 (Sept. 2007)(available from HeinOnline).

Revised Spring Speaker Schedule

This is the revised schedule for speakers for the remainder of Spring 2008 (note, some people have been moved around):

3/19, 12:40 p.m.: James Sloan, Lecturer in Law, University of Glasgow

3/25, 3:40 p.m.: David Wilkins, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law, Harvard (campuswide lecture)

3/26, 12:40 p.m.: David Wilkins, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law, Harvard (faculty colloquium)

3/31, 3:40 p.m.: Yifat Holzman-Gazit, College of Management, Israel

4/2, 12:40 p.m.: Reza Dibadj, Professor of Law, USF

4/9, 12:40 p.m.: Hadar Aviram, Professor, Hastings

4/16, 12:40 p.m.: Tony Sebok, Professor, Cardozo Law School

4/21, 3:40 p.m.: Adam Scales, Professor, Washington & Lee Law School

4/23, 12:40 p.m.: Benjamin Spencer, Professor, Washington & Lee Law School

All events will be in the ARC.

Mattei and Nader on "Plunder" and the Rule of Law

Ugo Mattei and Laura Nader (Professor of Anthropology, UC Berkeley) have just published "Plunder: When the Rule of Law is Illegal" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008). Here is the abstract:
"Plunder examines the dark side of the Rule of Law and explores how it has been used as a powerful political weapon by Western countries in order to legitimize plunder -- the practice of violent extraction by stronger political actors victimizing weaker ones. Mattei and Nader provide global examples of plunder: of oil in Iraq; of ideas in the form of Western patents and intellectual property rights imposed on weaker peoples; and of liberty in the United States. They challenge traditionally held beliefs in the sanctity of the Rule of Law by exposing its dark side, and ultimately dare to ask the paradoxical question -- is the Rule of Law itself illegal?"
Ugo will be presenting the book on March 31 at the Italian Academy, Columbia University; on April 1 at the Yale Law School and then at the Yale Department of Anthropology; on April 2 at the Boston University Law School; and April 3 at the Harvard Law School.

Leib and Mark on Electoral College Reform

Ethan Leib and Hastings 3L Eli Mark have posted a commentary entitled "Democratic Principle and Electoral College Reform," 106 Mich. L. Rev. First Impressions 105 (2008). Leib and Mark argue that invoking "high-minded" democratic principles in the context of state-based Electoral College reform is inappropriate; such an enterprise is inevitably political. Here's the link: http://michiganlawreview.org/firstimpressions/vol106/leibmark.pdf.

Park on the Purpose of the Confrontation Clause

Roger Park has published a symposium piece called "Is Confrontation the Bottom Line?," at 19 Regent L. Rev. 459 (2006-07)(available from HeinOnline). In it, he argues that the Supreme Court would be better off trying to identify the underlying goals of the Confrontation Clause instead of simply saying (in essence) that "the purpose of confrontation is confrontation."

Little on State Law and the Fourth Amendment

Rory Little has filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the American Bar Association in Virginia v. Moore, No. 06-1082. The question presented in Moore is "whether it is unreasonable to arrest a person when there is probable cause to believe that a minor offense has been committed, but state law prohibits an arrest for that offense unless there are circumstances that would reasonably support arrest (such as danger or likelihood of non-appearance)?" Rory's brief is posted at http://www.scotusblog.com/.

Carrillo on David Carlson's "Sovereign Selves"

Jo Carrillo has published a review of David J. Carlson's Sovereign Selves: American Indian Autobiography and the Law in Vol. 25 of the Journal of Law and History (2007). Here is the link: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lhr/25.2/br_34.html