Monday, January 19, 2004
Notes to Note
This month's ABA Journal Online (via How Appealing) has an article about blawging titled Blogs as a Disruptive Technology which serves as both an introduction to blogging, particular as related to law practice, and predictions of their potential growth as tools.
On the academic side, for any other 1L's (or 1LE's, as in my case), here are some interesting articles I've found that provided good supplemental material to my current courses. You should be able to get these from Lexis or Westlaw, or the good old reliable law library. See my sideblog for occasional postings of other articles of interest to fellow law students.
"An Economic Theory of the Criminal Law," Richard A. Posner, 85 Colum. L. Rev. 1193, October 1985. Judge Posner takes Learned Hand's BPL formula from negligence liability and adapts it to assist in analyzing various approaches to criminal law and punishment systems. It can get a little weighty, but if you're pressed for time (aren't we all), gloss over the technical stuff just enough to get the idea, and stick with the discussions.
In "Positivism and the Notion of an Offense," (88 Calif. L. Rev. 335 [March 2000]), Claire Finkelstein takes a look at different methods of defining offenses, and the effects those changing definitions would have on Due Process, individual liberty and double jeopardy. She breaks her arguments down into very basic terms and discussions accessible to those of us new to the field.
The Hon. John C. Coughenour's "Canary In the Coal Mine: The Importance of the Trial Jury (26 Seattle Univ. L.R. 399 [Winter 2003]) is subtitled "Reflections on Russia's Revival of Trial by Jury: History Demands That We Ask Difficult Questions Regarding Terror Trials, Procedures to Combat Terrorism, and Our Federal Sentencing Regime." Judge Coughenour discusses the history of the jury system in Russian history, and compares the events surrounding each phase to events in US history and as they are unfolding today. He doesn't present any specific roadmaps for the future, but ends with a series of thought provoking questions which we will all hopefully keep in mind.
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On the academic side, for any other 1L's (or 1LE's, as in my case), here are some interesting articles I've found that provided good supplemental material to my current courses. You should be able to get these from Lexis or Westlaw, or the good old reliable law library. See my sideblog for occasional postings of other articles of interest to fellow law students.
"An Economic Theory of the Criminal Law," Richard A. Posner, 85 Colum. L. Rev. 1193, October 1985. Judge Posner takes Learned Hand's BPL formula from negligence liability and adapts it to assist in analyzing various approaches to criminal law and punishment systems. It can get a little weighty, but if you're pressed for time (aren't we all), gloss over the technical stuff just enough to get the idea, and stick with the discussions.
In "Positivism and the Notion of an Offense," (88 Calif. L. Rev. 335 [March 2000]), Claire Finkelstein takes a look at different methods of defining offenses, and the effects those changing definitions would have on Due Process, individual liberty and double jeopardy. She breaks her arguments down into very basic terms and discussions accessible to those of us new to the field.
The Hon. John C. Coughenour's "Canary In the Coal Mine: The Importance of the Trial Jury (26 Seattle Univ. L.R. 399 [Winter 2003]) is subtitled "Reflections on Russia's Revival of Trial by Jury: History Demands That We Ask Difficult Questions Regarding Terror Trials, Procedures to Combat Terrorism, and Our Federal Sentencing Regime." Judge Coughenour discusses the history of the jury system in Russian history, and compares the events surrounding each phase to events in US history and as they are unfolding today. He doesn't present any specific roadmaps for the future, but ends with a series of thought provoking questions which we will all hopefully keep in mind.
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Posted by Rogueslayer at 2:52 PM 
