What the Seventh Circuit Did During Your Summer Vacation

seventh-circuit51Part One: Supervised Release

It’s been an eventful summer at the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. In addition to deciding high-profile cases involving same-sex marriage and the validity of Wisconsin’s “Act 10” legislation, the Court has issued noteworthy opinions addressing criminal sentencing procedure and the law of evidence.

Seemingly out of the blue, the Court has signaled a new willingness to take a closer look at the imposition of supervised release conditions in federal criminal cases. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and probation officers will all be required to “up their game” in response to this new scrutiny.

Continue ReadingWhat the Seventh Circuit Did During Your Summer Vacation

Welcome to Jonathan Koenig

koenigI’m very pleased to announce that Marquette Law Adjunct Professor Jonathan Koenig will be writing a series of posts for the blog on two of his areas of interest, federal sentencing and supervised release, with the first post to come later this morning. Prof. Koenig is Appellate Division Chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He has been a federal prosecutor for twelve years and argues frequently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He currently teaches Appellate Writing and Advocacy.

Continue ReadingWelcome to Jonathan Koenig

A Global Survey on the Study of International Law

In the United States, public international law is not an important part of legal education. By my count, only eight schools require their students to complete a course on the subject: Florida International, Harvard, Hofstra, UC-Irvine, Michigan, Nebraska, Washington, and Washington & Lee. Everywhere else, international law is purely elective. Insofar as relatively few students tend to choose this elective, we have a legal profession made up of individuals who lack formal training on topics like treaty interpretation, human rights law, and international organizations.

Is this common in other countries or another example of American exceptionalism? To answer that question, I conducted a global survey of the study of international law. The results, which are available in the form of an interactive world map at PILMap.org, show the frequency with which law schools and governments around the world require individuals to study public international law en route to obtaining a law degree. By clicking on individual states, you can look at summary statistics and details about the curricula of specific law schools.

Continue ReadingA Global Survey on the Study of International Law