Massey on M.B.Z. v. Clinton

Calvin Massey has just published an article titled, "M.B.Z. v. Clinton: Whither Jerusalem," 4 Charleston L. Rev. 87 (2011).

Carrillo on "The M Word"

Jo Carrillo has published an article titled, "The M Word: From Partial Coverture to Skills-Based Fiduciary Duties in Marriage," 22 Hastings Women's L. J. 101 (2011). Extra points to anyone who can guess how James Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice fits into Jo's analysis!

Carrillo on California Community Property

Jo Carrillo has just published CASES AND MATERIALS ON CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY PROPERTY (10TH ED.), with Hastings Professor Emeritus Gail Bird (Thomson Reuters/ West 2011).

Zitrin on the Problems with Bar Discipline

Richard Zitrin has published two op-ed pieces in The Recorder on the general subject of the problems with bar discipline. In the first, published September 19, titled, "Bar Discipline? How Bad? Really Bad," he tracks three cases in which the bar "abjectly" failed to discipline three bad lawyers. In the second, published October 3, titled, "Sometimes Bar discipline too aggressive," he argues that the State Bar as a whole, and the Office of Trial Counsel in particular, often operates out of "fear and self-protection," which leads to overprosecution of cases. There will be a third installment.

Lefstin on New Inventor Disclosure Requirements

Jeff Lefstin has published an essay on the disclosure provisions of the new patent reform act, "Preclusive Inventor Disclosure Under Leahy-Smith." The essay was just published on PatentlyO, which is the nation's most-read patent law blog.

Morse on Tax and the Love Molecule

You read that right: Susie Morse has published a blog post on the ASU Law Journal blog titled, "Tax Compliance and the Love Molecule." You'll just have to read it for yourself:

http://asulawjournal.lawnews-asu.org/?p=356

Marcus on Wal-Mart v. Dukes

Rick Marcus has published an article in the BNA Class Action Litigation Report titled, "Brave New World: Scrutinizing the Merits During Class Certification." Rick argues that Wal-Mart v. Dukes completes the Court's movement away from the 1974 ruling in Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, and that something approaching full discovery will now take place at the certification stage.

Hazard on Cy Pres Remedies

Geoff Hazard has published an article called "The Cy Pres Remedy: Procedure or Substance?," 45 U.S.F. L. Rev. 597 (2011) (keynote symposium address). Geoff argues that, although cy pres is usually conceptualized as a procedural matter, the nature of the substantive wrong alleged should be considered in determining the remedy.

Reiss on How French Operators Used Litigation to Avoid Universal Service Obligations

Dorit Reiss has published an article titled, "No Innocents Here: Using Litigation to Fight Against the Costs of Universal Service in France," 1 Creighton Int'l. & Comp. L. J. 5 (2011). Dorit chronicles the aftermath of the dismantling of the French government's monopoly in communications and sees parallels to deregulation in the United States. Here is the link: http://www.creighton.edu/law/students/internationalandcomparativelawjournal/cicljvolume1spring2011/noinnocentsherebyreiss/index.php

Little on Being a Reporter for a Law Project

Rory Little has published an article titled, "The Role of Reporter for a Law Project," 38 Hastings Con. L. Q. 747 (2011), which reflects on his experience as Reporter for an ABA Task Force proposing revisions to the Criminal Justice Standards for the Prosecution and Defense Functions. In the course of his ruminations, Rory relates valuable advice he received from Geoff Hazard, Director Emeritus of the American Law Institute, and offers some opinions about how a reporter ideally ought to function.

Marcus on the Balkanized American Legal Profession

Rick Marcus has published a chapter in The Landscape of the Legal Professions in Europe and the USA: Continuity and Change (Intersentia 2011). His chapter is titled, "The Balkanized American Legal Profession."

Obasogie Wins Franklin Prize

Osagie Obasogie has been honored with the Law and Society Association’s inaugural John Hope Franklin Prize for his article “Do Blind People See Race?” Social, Legal, and Theoretical Considerations” in Law & Society Review 44:3-4 (2010).

The John Hope Franklin Prize was established by the Law and Society Association to recognize exceptional scholarship in an article published within the previous two years on the subject of race, racism, and the law. Obasogie was presented with the award on June 4th at the Law and Society Association’s 2011 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Here is the abstract:

Although the meaning, significance, and definition of race have been debated for centuries, one thread of thought unifies almost all of the many diverging perspectives: a largely unquestioned belief that race is self-evident and visually obvious, defined largely by skin color, facial features, and other visual cues. This suggests that ‘‘seeing race’’ is an experience largely unmediated by broader social forces; we simply know it when we see it. It also suggests that those who cannot see are likely to have a diminished understanding of race. But is this empirically accurate?
I examine these questions by interviewing people who have been totally blind since birth about race and compare their responses to sighted individuals. I not only find that blind people have as significant an understanding of race as anyone else and that they understand race visually, but that this visual understanding of race stems from interpersonal and institutional socializations that profoundly shape their racial perceptions. These findings highlight how race and racial thinking are encoded into individuals through iterative social practices that train people to think a certain way about the world around them. In short, these practices are so strong that even blind people, in a conceptual sense, ‘‘see’’ race. Rather than being self-evident, these interviews draw attention to how race becomes visually salient through constitutive social practices that give rise to visual understandings of racial difference for blind and sighted people alike. This article concludes with a discussion of these findings’ significance for understanding the role of race in law and society.

Download a pdf of the full article.

Congratulations Osagie!

Shanske on California v. Amazon

Darien Shanske has posted a blog item on Zocalo about how states are now attempting to tax online retailers. Here's the link: http://zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2011/05/30/amazon-wars/read/nexus/.

Lambert on Citizens United and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Fred Lambert has delivered a symposium keynote address, to be published in the Hastings Business Law Journal, called "Citizens United After the Sino-American War: Zen and the Magic of Constitutional Interpretation." Here's a hint: the article takes place in 2018, Hastings no longer exists, Ash Bhagwat, David Faigman and Calvin Massey are voting members of the U.S. Supreme Court, and John Leshy is the non-voting Chief Justice. You'll just have to read it for yourself.

Keitner on Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Chimene Keitner has posted an item called, "Why Has DSK Not Asserted Immunity? Because He Can't," to the blog Opinio Juris. Here's the link: http://opiniojuris.org/2011/05/17/why-has-dsk-not-yet-asserted-immunity-because-he-can%E2%80%99t/