Academic

Surfing the Net in Class

Posted on May 17, 2008
Saul Levmore, Dean of the University of Chicago Law School, has announced that the school will ban internet access in the classroom to eliminate internet surfing. Ian Ayres (Yale) agrees with this policy, as does Brian Leiter (Chicago). Kevin Yamamoto...

Scanners On The Streets Of London; Suspicion Not Required

Posted on May 16, 2008
A couple of weeks back, I blogged about the Canadian Supreme Court's decision to prohibit suspicionless dog sniffs in schools and bus depots. I was impressed with the Court's protection for individual liberty. England, it seems, is going in precisely...

Spiritualism and Will(s) in the Age of Contract

Posted on May 16, 2008
Christopher J. Buccafusco of the University of Chicago Law School has posted "Spiritualism and Will(s) in the Age of Contract" on ssrn. This is a really terrific piece. It's not everyday that you see a wills piece that is interesting...

CFP: Pedagogical Encounters in Law, Culture and the Humanities

Posted on May 15, 2008
Academics in law, culture and the humanities find the ?law? in a wide array of cultural sites ? from Victorian diaries, to Hollywood blockbusters, to children?s literature, to memorial architecture. This richness poses incredible opportunities but also daunting challenges for...

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Scott Skiles Meet Jim Chen: A Dean Who Doesn't Mince Words

Posted on May 15, 2008
You can't accuse Louisville's Dean Jim Chen of setting standards too low. It's hard not to respect the quality of his work, his work ethic, and perhaps most importantly, his deep unwavering commitment to scholarly productivity. Consider this quote from...

One To Watch . . .

Posted on May 15, 2008
Ok, so it might not be from the deep recesses of an unknown county courthouse, but its still one to watch . . . In a strange twist of timing, as the California Supreme Court readied its decision against discriminatory...

Who Appointed California's Supreme Court Justices?

Posted on May 15, 2008
Here's the skinny, in case you were wondering who appointed the judges deciding today's In re Marriage Cases case. Three of the four justices in the majority were appointed by Republican governors. Justice Ronald George, the author, was appointed by....

California Supreme Court finds that limitation of ?marriage? to opposite sex couples is unconstitutional under California constitution

Posted on May 15, 2008
Kudos to the California Supreme Court, which today ruled that the law?s limitation of ?marriage? to opposite sex couples is unconstitutional under the CA constitution. The Court found the limitation to be unconstitutional, even though California law permits same-sex couples...

Bush Administration still refuses to address the harm of greenhouse gases

Posted on May 15, 2008
After months of delay, under pressure from environmental groups, and under federal court order to decide, the Bush administration finally listed the polar bear as ?threatened? under the Endangered Species Act. ?Threatened? is a step down from ?endangered? under the...

No More Mister Softee: Sex Offenders Banned From Ice Cream Trucks

Posted on May 14, 2008
Nobody ever lost an election by adopting new punishment regulations for sex offenders. Yesterday, San Bernadino County (California) passed new legislation prohibiting those convicted of sex offenses from obtaining "roaming solicitor's licenses" - that is, they're banned from operating ice...

The Book Of Lists: Law School Faculty In Motion

Posted on May 13, 2008
There's a lot of law faculty movement that we've managed to document in the blogosphere. Sometimes we want to find it for practical purposes; other times, we're just curious. For everyone's convenience, here is a list of lists of law...

The Ronald Reagan McDonalds! (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Posted on May 13, 2008
While reading this review of Princeton University historian Sean Wilentz' The Age of Reagan over at Slate this morning, I saw a picture of President Reagan eating a big mac at ... the McDonalds on route 82 in Northport! You...

Welcome Guest Blogger Kathy Stanchi

Posted on May 12, 2008
We're very pleased to welcome our newest guest blogger, Professor Kathy Stanchi from Temple University's Beasley School of Law. Kathy has particular interests in law and feminism as well as issues in pedagogy, advocacy, and law school hierarchy. Best of...

Update: Minnesota School To Amend Pledge Policy, Erase Suspension

Posted on May 12, 2008
Calvin beat me to the punch with his insightful post on Monday regarding the pledge controversy that's been brewing in Minnesota. Below is an update on developments, adding my take on Barnette (which I apparently read a bit more broadly...

"Down And Out In Borough Park": The Kosher Soup Kitchen

Posted on May 12, 2008
The NY Times has a touching story about a rare kosher soup kitchen in Brooklyn. The issue of finding acceptable food for religious poor folks isn't new or limited to Jews; New York Muslims face the same challenges. It's certainly...

Secret Student Code Busts Socratic Method?

Posted on May 12, 2008
Well, this is my first post ever on a blog. Thank you to those at the Faculty Lounge for giving me a (temporary) platform. I hope you don?t regret it. As my first post, I thought I?d share something interesting...

The Law VAP List: Visiting Professors 2008-09

Posted on May 12, 2008
Right now, our data is far more limited than for lateral visitors, but I'm pleased to present the first iteration of our list of law school visiting assistant professors for 2008-09. Keep in mind that this list includes people who...

Instapundit, Amazon, And The Morality of Lesbians

Posted on May 11, 2008
OK, I'll admit it. I was just visiting Amazon to look at their 50% off sale on cookware - after seeing a link at Instapundit. And like any shopper, once I'd decided against the Calphalon wok, I wandered down some...

Progress and Property: Landscape Art in Antebellum America

Posted on May 11, 2008
My time in Tuscaloosa is rapidly drawing to a close. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending graduation and on Thursday I'm going to give a lecture on the relationship between landscape art and property law in the years leading...

Legal Services Outsourced To India

Posted on May 11, 2008
The Washington Post reports today about the outsourcing of legal services to attorneys in India. This can't be unexpected news; costs are much lower in India. And since much of the work product can be delivered instantly, via email, the...

Bob Barr For President? Dems Cross Fingers

Posted on May 10, 2008
For months he's been tinkering with the idea, and now he may be ready to take the plunge. Bob Barr, a former Congressman from Georgia, could end up as this year's Libertarian presidential candidate. Wouldn't it be interesting if he...

In re Phyllis Schafly

Posted on May 10, 2008
Amidst all the discussion about Washington University in St. Louis awarding an honorary degree to Phyllis Schlafly, I think it's time to dust off a post from back in 2005 at co-op. I wrote about a visit of Ms. Schlafly...

Is Starbucks Seattle's Best Coffee?

Posted on May 10, 2008
I may be the last person to the party on this one, but until this very morning, I thought that Seattle's Best Coffee was a competitor of Starbucks. It kinda made sense. Starbucks has the Barnes and Noble Cafe account....

In Defense of Law School Publicity

Posted on May 10, 2008
It's common practice around the legal blogosphere to make fun of literature that law schools send around to promote their students, faculty, and alumni. I actually enjoy reading the literature--it gives me a sense of what other people are doing;...

Must A Librarian Be...A Librarian?

Posted on May 09, 2008
Mike Madison has a very interesting post up about Harvard Law School's recent decision to hire Berkman Center for Internet and Society Executive Director John Palfrey as the director of the law library. Palfrey, who has deep experience in information...

Truly Useful Law School Courses

Posted on May 09, 2008
As a faculty advisor, one of my jobs is to approve the courses my first-years plan to take next fall. Law students are fairly conservative and risk-averse in their choices, so usually I see the standard set of courses: Evidence,...

Coerced Symbolic Speech: Students Suspended for Failure to Stand During the Pledge of Allegiance

Posted on May 09, 2008
A Minnesota public school has suspended several junior high school students for their failure to stand during a voluntary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Here is a news account. Note that the students were not suspended for failing to...

101 Classroom Uses for a Call Phone

Posted on May 08, 2008
For the lover of useful lists, Tracy McGaugh's building a great one over at Millennial Law Prof: 101 Classroom Uses for a Cell Phone. Link to MLP above or below to join the discussion. Here's what Tracy has to say:...

Turkey: For the Greener Good

Posted on May 08, 2008
Its no secret that I love most things Turkish. And that I'm a pretty committed environmentalist. So a report this week from The Eurasia Daily Monitor caught my eye. It talks about a series of free speech setbacks that are...

Wilkes University Names Prescott Dean of Planning Effort

Posted on May 08, 2008
Wilkes University has appointed Widener University Law Professor Loren D. Prescott Jr. dean for the Wilkes University Law School Planning Initiative. Prescott will submit a final plans for the law school for the trustees to consider in April 2009. Thanks...

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