Feb

28

Rethinking Indeterminate Sentencing

Posted by: | February 28, 2011 | 1 Comment

My new article, “Beyond Rehabilitation: A New Theory of Indeterminate Sentencing,” is now available here on SSRN.  The article grew out of my interest in the revival of early-release opportunities that has occurred over the course of the past decade.  This revival has the effect of making sentencing less determinate in many jurisdictions — it [...]

Feb

25

The Early-Release Renaissance: Reflections and a Legislative Update

Posted by: | February 25, 2011 | 2 Comments

As I indicated in an earlier post, I’ve been collecting information on new legislation around the country that expands early-release opportunities for prison inmates.  By my count, we are now up to at least 36 states with such legislation in the past decade.  These legislative initiatives, along with other factors, have probably contributed to the [...]

Feb

25

What’s Your Favorite Legal Quotation?

Posted by: | February 25, 2011 | 3 Comments

It’s time for another in our semi-regular series of questions posed to Marquette Law faculty: What’s your favorite legal quotation? I’ll go first. There are a number of quotations that I could choose from, from cases (“The common law is not a brooding omnipresence in the sky”), apocryphal anecdotes (“Your honor, ten dollars wouldn’t pay [...]

Feb

22

Constitutional Rights in Action

Posted by: | February 22, 2011 | 2 Comments

All eyes are on Wisconsin these days.  Governor Scott Walker unveiled details of his budget repair bill on February 11; the bill itself is 144 pages, but provisions that immediately captured attention were those that remove the collective bargaining rights of most state and local employees.  By Monday, February 14, when the bill was introduced, [...]

Feb

21

Brevity in Lincoln’s Writing

Posted by: | February 21, 2011 | 1 Comment

Professor Julie Oseid examines Abraham Lincoln’s writing in her article The Power of Brevity:  Adopt Abraham Lincoln’s Habits, 6 J. ALWD 28 (2009).  Based on her review of Lincoln’s writing, Oseid recommends that lawyers use his “habits of writing early, visualizing audience, and ruthlessly editing.”  (page 29) Oseid starts with the premise that “[t]he goal [...]

Feb

21

The Power of One, Part Three: Lawyer as Advocate

Posted by: | February 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Note: This is the third installment in a four-part series of blog posts; you’ll find part one here, and part two here. Popular media most frequently depict lawyers in an advocate role.   Specifically, the media shows a lawyer parading in front of a jury, pounding on a lectern and giving a grand oratory performance.  These, [...]

Feb

19

Catholic Principles of Good Stewardship of the Physical World

Posted by: | February 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment

Catholic belief includes both the terms “dominion” and “stewardship” in discussing the relationship of human beings to the physical world.  Lucia A. Silecchia definitely prefers “stewardship.” Drawing especially on papal encyclicals, including those of Pope John Paul II and the current Pope Benedict XVI, Silecchia said in the Simmons Lecture at Eckstein Hall on Thursday that stewardship [...]

Feb

17

Mediation Tournament a Great Learning Experience

Posted by: | February 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

Two weeks ago I had to opportunity to compete in a mediation tournament. This tournament involved three rounds where each student rotated from round to round playing an attorney, a client, and a mediator. Being a participant and working with my fellow teammates has increased my understanding and skills as an attorney and a mediator.   In [...]

Feb

17

Public Service Conference to Consider Consumer and Community Financial Protection

Posted by: | February 17, 2011 | 1 Comment

Please join us for “New Directions in Consumer and Community Financial Protection,” the 2011 Marquette University Law School Public Service Conference.  We have an outstanding lineup of speakers, including Greg Zoeller, the Attorney General of Indiana and co-chair of the National Association of Attorneys General Consumer Protection Committee; Charles Harwood, the Deputy Director for Consumer [...]

Feb

16

Racial Disparities in the Federal Death Penalty: Uncovering the Key Role of Geography

Posted by: | February 16, 2011 | 1 Comment

The federal death penalty is plagued by two important types of disparity.  One is racial: as of last year, nearly half of federal death row inmates (28 of 57) were black.  The other is geographic: out of the 94 federal districts, just 16 have produced 75 percent of the death sentences, and nine have produced nearly [...]

Feb

15

The Persistence of Legal Error

Posted by: | February 15, 2011 | 2 Comments

When I was in my first semester of law school, I was given a short memo assignment involving some principle of Connecticut contract law. I quickly found a case stating the relevant rule of law—every contract needs consideration, or something. But it quoted an earlier case. Being a good historian, I knew I couldn’t just [...]

Feb

14

Will MPS Get Squeezed Extra Hard?

Posted by: | February 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

We’re entering uncharted territory when it comes to school issues statewide. I think it was clear from pretty far back that Gov. Scott Walker and Republican leaders in the Legislature were going to push for state employees and for teachers across the state (who are not state employees, but the state can influence their job [...]

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