Jan

20

Pop Culture and Ideology

Posted by: | January 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

It’s common to assume American popular culture leads only to mindless escape, but in a recent speech to Communist Party officials President Hu Juntao of China warned that American popular culture might have a much more dangerous effect. He noted that Transformers 3 was a top-grossing film in China and also that the songs of [...]

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Dec

13

Why the Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs by Great Athletes Still Bothers Us

Posted by: | December 13, 2011 | 3 Comments

The recent revelation that Milwaukee Brewer all-star Ryan Braun has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs once again raises the question of why such revelations bother sports fans so much. The answer lies, I believe, in the typical fan’s feelings about his or her lack of natural athletic ability.  It is one of the sad [...]

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Sep

27

Lawyer Jokes

Posted by: | September 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment

First, pop culture lawyers were heroes. Then, pop culture lawyers were devils. These two extremes capture most of what the world sees of lawyers—they are either pursuers or destroyers of justice based on the angle of perception or bias. However both of these extremes leave out a major aspect of every real American lawyer: their [...]

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Sep

27

Doing Better Than “Nailing and Jailing” in the Fight Against Violence

Posted by: | September 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment

As Milwaukee County Children’s Court Judge Joe Donald put it, “We do a very good job of trailing, nailing, and jailing.” But can Milwaukee do more when it comes to dealing with crime so that it can be prevented and the lives of those on the path to committing crimes turn out better? The good [...]

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Jul

25

The Law in Shakespeare’s Works

Posted by: | July 25, 2011 | 5 Comments

Last Friday I had the pleasure of listening to an interview on WPR with Stephen Marche, author of the book, How Shakespeare Changed Everything.* During the interview, Mr. Marche talked about how many English words were first used by Shakespeare.  Lawyers can thank Shakespeare for words like “negotiate”, “compromise”, and “circumstantial”.** The conventional wisdom is [...]

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Jul

6

R.I.P. Caylee Anthony

Posted by: | July 6, 2011 | 5 Comments

An Orlando jury decided on July 5 that Casey Anthony was not guilty of murdering her daughter Caylee, who was only two at the time of her death.   Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the courthouse after the verdict was announced, and local police worried if they would be able to protect the building from being [...]

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Jun

20

The Media and Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Posted by: | June 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

Last month I was contacted by the Italian newspaper Il Foglio and interviewed regarding criminal proceedings against Dominique Strauss-Kahn.  A French banker and head of the International Monetary Fund, Strauss-Kahn has been charged with sexually assaulting a maid for the $3000-a- night hotel suite in which he was staying in New York City.  To my [...]

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Jan

16

Was Oedipus Culpable?

Posted by: | January 16, 2011 | 4 Comments

As I noted in an earlier post on Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, I am (very slowly) working my way through the ancient Greek tragedies.  I recently finished the sequel to Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus.  One of the central questions in OC is the extent to which Oedipus was truly culpable for killing his father, King Laius, and sleeping with [...]

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Oct

17

Best of the Blogs: SVU, Carrots, and Yale Law

Posted by: | October 17, 2010 | 1 Comment

When I write the “Best of the Blogs” feature, I usually try to identify some common theme that ties together some of my favorite posts of the past week.  It doesn’t seem to be working this week.  I’ll leave it as a challenge to enterprising readers to see if they can connect the following dots [...]

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Oct

2

Lawyer-Comedian Summoned Before the Final Grand Jury

Posted by: | October 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Comedian-actor Greg Giraldo, 44, who recently died of a drug overdose, was a lawyer before he was a stand-up comic.  Belying his scruffy appearance and man-of-the-street manner, the New York native was a graduate of Regis (New York’s elite Jesuit High School), Columbia University, and Harvard Law School.  After a brief career in the New [...]

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Sep

29

Oprah v. Judge Judy

Posted by: | September 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment

I was intrigued by last week’s rankings of the most popular daytime television shows in America.  For the first time in over a decade, “Oprah” had fallen from the top.  Perhaps the appeal of the long-time queen of daytime television is in decline.  What replaced Oprah’s smarmy, ingratiating patter?  My goodness, the most popular daytime [...]

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Sep

18

Best of the Blogs: Trivial Pursuits Edition

Posted by: | September 18, 2010 | Leave a Comment

This week’s review of blog postings and news stories of note focuses on subjects that might seem trivial, but that interest me nonetheless. 1. Comic Books My brother and I had an extensive collection of comic books when we were growing up.  We even owned two (two!) mint editions of Conan the Barbarian number 1.  [...]

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