Nov

25

Memo To The New Justices: That’s Not How We Do Things On The Court

Posted by: | November 25, 2009 | 2 Comments

At last month’s Conference on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the panel discussing the Court’s business law cases during the 2008-2009 term began with an observation and a question.  The panel noted that there were three business law cases in which the votes of the Justices split on a 5-2 basis.  These cases were Farmer’s Automobile [...]

Nov

24

The Mystery Of Eugene Scott: MU Law School’s First (?) African-American Male

Posted by: | November 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

Although the career of Mabel Raimey, the first black woman to attend Marquette Law School is well documented — see Phoebe Williams’ wonderful article in the  Marquette Law Review — we do not know with certainty the name of the first African-American male. For the post-1908 period, when the Milwaukee Law School became part of [...]

Nov

23

Lenity and Mandatory Minimums

Posted by: | November 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This is the third in a series of posts reviewing last term’s criminal cases in the Supreme Court and previewing the new term. Three of last term’s criminal cases dealt with mandatory minimum sentencing statutes, as do two of the new term’s.  The frequency with which these cases reach the Supreme Court underscores how ubiquitous [...]

Nov

23

Constitutional View, Not Catholicism, Behind Scalia’s Opinions on Abortion

Posted by: | November 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

As a Catholic whose views are in line with those of Pope Benedict XVI, US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia personally opposes abortion. But what explains his opinions in every abortion-related case that has come to the court since Scalia became a justice in 1986 is not his Catholicism but his “originalist” interpretation of the [...]

Nov

22

Seventh Circuit Criminal Case of the Week: A Second Amendment Blockbuster (or Maybe Not)

Posted by: | November 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

So, the Heller revolution may have legs after all.  In District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008), the Supreme Court breathed new life into the moribund Second Amendment, holding that there is indeed an individual right to bear arms.  Heller seemed to mark a major shift in Second Amendment jurisprudence and cast a shadow [...]

Nov

22

Christian Realism, Subsidiarity, and the Economic Crisis

Posted by: | November 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Over the weekend, the the Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy at the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis hosted a conference entitled “Realism in Christian Public Theology: Catholic and Protestant Perspectives.” It was an interdisciplinary conference bringing together law professors, theologians, ethicists and political scientists. I spoke on Friday, [...]

Nov

21

Should We Abolish Copyright in Academic Journal Articles?

Posted by: | November 21, 2009 | 1 Comment

Some years ago, when I was on the Marquette Law Review editorial board, my responsibilities included obtaining a rudimentary copyright release from authors whose articles we had agreed to publish.  In fact, I signed the form myself when I published my Note.  If we did not obtain the release, we would not publish the article.  [...]

Nov

20

Google Law

Posted by: | November 20, 2009 | 4 Comments

Earlier this week Google announced a slew of new products (check out the official Google Blog for a full list). Of particular interest to lawyers was the addition to Google Scholar that allows searches for federal and state court decisions. This in itself is nothing new, as many websites currently offer access to federal court [...]

Nov

20

Work Email: “I Always Feel Like … Somebody’s Watching Me”

Posted by: | November 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment

No, this post is not about the singer Rockwell or that annoying Geico commercial, but about whether you should just assume that your boss monitors your email. A new Wall Street Journal article suggests that is what exactly may be happening, but now there is some push back from employees and their advocates: Big Brother [...]

Nov

19

Lessons from my Grandmother

Posted by: | November 19, 2009 | 3 Comments

It has been ten days since my grandmother’s funeral and I have been, if not enjoying this past week, definitely enjoying telling stories about her life and her influence on her grandchildren.  She died at age 99, laying down to take a rest because she did not feel well — the Torah writes that those who die [...]

Nov

19

Mainstreaming International Law in Legal Education

Posted by: | November 19, 2009 | 6 Comments

This week is “International Education Week”, a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote “programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States.”  Schools and other educational institutions around the country [...]

Nov

18

The Tierneys and the Law

Posted by: | November 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity last month to be involved in the presentation by our National Sports Law Institute of its Master of the Game Award. The NSLI has given out this award, over the years, to such distinguished individuals as Hank Aaron, Donna de Varona, Bob Harlan, Al McGuire, Bud Selig, and Bart Starr. This [...]

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