Nov

30

Another Down Year for MPS Enrollment Predicted

Posted by: | November 30, 2009 | 1 Comment

The past and present foretell the future – at least that’s the case when it comes to the forecast by Milwaukee Public Schools officials for enrollment for next year. Look for another down year for the main roster of MPS schools and for more city kids to attend school in the suburbs and charter schools [...]

Nov

30

Eighth Circuit Reinstates ERISA Case Against Wal-Mart Involving Iqbal Plausibility Standard

Posted by: | November 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

A number of my ERISA friends have sent me the case of Braden v. Wal-Mart Stores, No. 08-3798 (8th Cir. Nov. 25, 2009).  The case involves a class action dispute, alleging breach of fiduciary issues in the way that Wal-Mart managed its profit sharing and 401(k) retirement plans: The gravamen of the complaint is that [...]

Nov

30

Copenhagen Conundrum

Posted by: | November 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

We are only a week away from the beginning of the highly anticipated global climate summit in Copenhagen.  I recently took part in a mock negotiation session (I represented Mexico), and I can attest to just how difficult it will be to reach any agreement at the summit – even, as has been suggested lately, [...]

Nov

30

Musings on Torture and the Saving of Lives

Posted by: | November 30, 2009 | 5 Comments

I was interested in Lisa LaPlante’s post on torture. It came hard upon my attendance at a conference on Christian Realism in which the matter of hard choices got quite the attention. My comment got so long that I’ve decided to make it a post. I offer it here in the interest of stirring up [...]

Nov

27

Seventh Circuit Criminal Case of the Week: More on Other Bad Acts Evidence

Posted by: | November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The Seventh Circuit had only one new opinion in a criminal case this week, and it is not one in which the court broke new legal ground.  In United States v. Harris (No. 07-4017) (Williams, J.), the court affirmed the defendant’s convictions for drug trafficking and unlawful gun possession.  The defendant raised various evidentiary objections on [...]

Nov

27

Open Quantity Contracts: Beyond Good Faith

Posted by: | November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Business concerns sometimes enter into sales agreements that do not specify a particular quantity to be sold.  This might be helpful, for instance, if a manufacturer would like to secure a commitment from a supplier to meet the manufacturer’s needs, but it is not certain what the needs will be.  These business relationships do not always work [...]

Nov

27

Federalism and Criminal Law

Posted by: | November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This is the fourth in a series of posts reviewing last term’s criminal cases in the United States Supreme Court and previewing the new term. Habeas corpus presents the classic federalism problem in criminal law: how can federal courts overturn flawed state-court judgments while maintaining due respect for state sovereignty and the autonomy of state criminal-justice systems?  But federalism issues [...]

Nov

27

Horace Scurry: Our First African-American Law Student

Posted by: | November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Horace S. Scurry was one of many fascinating individuals who passed through the Milwaukee Law School between the time of its founding in the early 1890’s and its merger with Marquette University in 1908.  He appears to have been the first African-American to join the ranks of that institution’s students. Details of Scurry’s life are [...]

Nov

25

Marking the Tenth International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Posted by: | November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

As I wrote about a year ago today, November 25th has been designated by the United Nations as “International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women” since 1999.  The date was selected to “commemorate the lives of the Mirabal sisters,” who were assassinated on November 25, 1960 during the Trujillo dictatorship (as explained more fully in [...]

Nov

25

Legal Education: “Both/And” not “Either/Or”

Posted by: | November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Lisa’s post on international law in legal education brought to mind an ongoing internet debate about the impact of the supposed demise of “Big Law” (large firms) on law schools. The argument is that, if large firms hire fewer lawyers, law schools won’t be able to command the same tuition or attract the same number [...]

Nov

25

Marquette University Law School in 1939

Posted by: | November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In 1938, Jim Ghiardi transferred to Marquette University after his sophomore year at Northern State College (now Northern Michigan University) in Marquette, Michigan.  A year later, Jim enrolled in the Marquette University Law School under a program that allowed Marquette students to count their first year of law school as the final year of their [...]

Nov

25

Men, Goats, and Torture

Posted by: | November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The fantastical movie The Men Who Stare at Goats, inspired by Jon Ronson’s non-fiction bestseller by the same title , arrived in theaters at a most auspicious time.   The movie deals with the topic of torture, just  as Guantanamo detainees await their transfer to stand trial in New York courts causing commentators to speculate on [...]

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