September 2017 – Page 4 – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog

Protecting the Great Lakes Starts with Caring About Them, Author Says

Post author:Alan J. Borsuk
Post published:September 7, 2017
Post category:Public Speakers at Marquette Water Law

As a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and author of a new, acclaimed book, Dan Egan has been deeply immersed (I suppose the pun is intended) in issues involving the Great Lakes for well over a decade. Few people can talk or write with the depth and breadth he can about a long list of lakes-related subjects, from Asian carp to lake levels to the history of use of the lakes.

But when he was asked on Wednesday, during an “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Marquette Law School, what people can do as citizens to help the lakes, Egan’s answer was, by his own description, “deceptively simple.”

Sure, get up to speed on the issues. Speak up to politicians and policy makers. But the first thing Egan recommended: “Take your kids swimming at the lake or take them fishing, if you have the means to. Make sure they have a relationship with the lakes so they care about the lakes as they get older.”

‘Click’ . . . You Just Agreed To Sell Your Privacy

Post author:Albert Bianchi
Post published:September 6, 2017
Post category:Computer Law Privacy Rights Public

We have all gone to a website and, in accessing the website’s services, have agreed to “terms and conditions” that include a litany of policies, including privacy policies governing how the company maintaining the website will use our personal information obtained while accessing the website. And let’s be honest, even as attorneys or soon-to-be-attorneys, many of us usually do not actually take the time to read the laundry list of items we are agreeing to just so we can obtain a 20% coupon. I know I’m guilty of regularly clicking “I agree” without reading every term and condition.

While we may think our assent to a website’s terms and conditions has little effect on our everyday life, our agreement does in fact matter, and not just for us but also for the company maintaining the website. For example, one such specific website that most, if not all, of us have used is Facebook. While, again, we likely have not paid very close attention to Facebook’s privacy policies such as its data and cookie policies, those policies explain that Facebook uses cookies or browser fingerprinting to identify users and track what third-party websites users browse. This use of cookies or browser fingerprinting is why you see ads for products or services that are, or at least should be, most relevant to you. Indeed, these processes are why I now regularly see ads for Nintendo products when on Facebook after having searched for and purchase Nintendo’s handheld 3DS video game system for my ten year old son.

New Cases on the Constitutionality of Long Sentences for Juveniles: The Graham Saga Continues

Post author:Michael M. O'Hear
Post published:September 5, 2017
Post category:Constitutional Interpretation Constitutional Law Criminal Law & Process Federal Criminal Law & Process Federal Sentencing Federalism Public U.S. Supreme Court

In Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), the U.S. Supreme Court barred the sentence of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for crimes committed by anyone under eighteen years of age. Grounded in the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment, the Court’s holding recognized only one exception: juvenile LWOP might be permissible in cases involving homicide.

Despite its seemingly straightforward character, the Graham holding has spawned considerable litigation in the lower courts over its scope and application. Two interesting appellate decisions from last month highlight some of the difficulties.

In the first, U.S. v. Mathurin, the Eleventh Circuit had to consider whether a 685-month prison term should be treated as the functional equivalent of an LWOP sentence for Eighth Amendment purposes.