Dec

9

Learning (At Last) to Value Water

Posted by: | December 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In 1774, Ben Franklin said, “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of the well.” “He was wrong,” author Robert Glennon told an audience of about 100 Tuesday at the Alumni Memorial Union at Marquette University.  Even as  wells and water supplies move ominously closer to dry in parts of the United States, the [...]

Dec

7

Punishment Permitted for Both Attempt and Conspiracy in Seventh Circuit

Posted by: | December 7, 2009 | 3 Comments

Police found marijuana hidden in a car that Maurice Crowder and a colleague tried to ship from Arizona to Illinois.  Crowder was then charged with, convicted of, and sentenced for two crimes: attempted possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy, both in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846.  Sounds like double-dipping, right?  After all, both crimes of [...]

Dec

7

Are There Any Tories On Tory Hill?

Posted by: | December 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In a few months, the Marquette University Law School community will pack up and move to its new building, located on Tory Hill.  Perhaps this is a good time to consider whether any actual “Tories” will reside there.  This is doubtful, because American political thought does not have a history of embracing the Tory philosophy.  [...]

Dec

7

Milwaukee Sheriff’s Religious Presentations to Deputies Violated Establishment Clause

Posted by: | December 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Interesting public employment case. Here are the facts of Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs’ Association v. Clarke, 08-1515 (7th Cir. Dec. 4, 2009): Despite complaints from other employees, the [religious group, the] Centurions, made presentations during 16 roll calls between May 9 and May 16, 2006, during which they distributed the flyers and books featured at the [...]

Dec

6

Primetime Crime

Posted by: | December 6, 2009 | 4 Comments

The identifying and catching of criminals continues to dominate the peak hours of primetime network television, but a change has taken place in the make-up and methods of the crime-stoppers.  Gone are the hard-nosed detectives who occupied the squad room in “NYPD Blue” and physically battled crime in the rougher parts of town.  The recent [...]

Dec

5

The Wisdom of Children

Posted by: | December 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment

With another great story about children, a shout out to my RA Erica Hayden for this lovely example of mediation told to her by a friend about her ten-year-old daughter: “Emily” came home from school one day and told her mom how she helped two girls make up with each other after a bad fight.  [...]

Dec

5

Seventh Circuit Criminal Case of the Week: New Format

Posted by: | December 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment

For the past several months, I have posted each weekend on the “Seventh Circuit Criminal Case of the Week.”  It has become increasingly clear to me, however, that this is not the most effective way of covering the court: some weeks, there are no opinions of real legal significance, while other weeks there are multiple [...]

Dec

4

Leading More Parents to Be Teachers’ Allies

Posted by: | December 4, 2009 | 2 Comments

Every now and then someone says something that really sticks with you. About a year ago, I had a conversation with Harriet Sanford, president and CEO of the NEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the huge, nationwide teachers union. The foundation has made Milwaukee a major focus in recent years, giving more than $2 million [...]

Dec

4

A Decade-Old Statute Pays Dividends for REIT Investors and Their Attorneys

Posted by: | December 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Perhaps real estate investors and their attorneys have reason to be cautiously optimistic: economic reports released this week indicate signs of life in the real estate market.  As reported by the Associated Press, the National Association of Realtors saw increases in pending home sales for the ninth straight month.  And for the first time in [...]

Dec

3

Are the Court’s Unexpected Sixth Amendment Revolutions Coming to an End?

Posted by: | December 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This is the sixth and final in a series of posts reviewing last term’s criminal cases in the United States Supreme Court and previewing the new term. When it comes to the constitutional rights of criminal defendants at the Supreme Court, the conventional story of the past half-century goes something like this: Responding to the embarrassing state of [...]

Dec

2

MPS Politics: Visits to Two Different Decks

Posted by: | December 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Two sessions bearing on the future of Milwaukee Public Schools took place simultaneously Tuesday night, and each drew about 75 people who care about education in the city. Beyond that, it’s hard to think of much the two events had in common. At one, pretty much everybody thought that the way MPS is run is a [...]

Dec

1

Two Views of Constitutional Rights: Anti-Badgering Versus Informed Consent

Posted by: | December 1, 2009 | 2 Comments

This is the fifth in a series of posts reviewing last term’s criminal cases in the United States Supreme Court and previewing the new term. You can tell there are no Wisconsinites currently on the Supreme Court — otherwise, the Justices would not treat “badger” as such a bad word.  In an earlier post, I discussed the Court’s [...]

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