I am teaching Criminal Law this semester and have struggled with how to move beyond the standard casebook vision that every criminal case goes to a jury trial and then has some fascinating appellate issue to review.  Under this standard approach, it is tough to structure classroom discussions around the realities of criminal practice, such … Continue reading Self Defense and Restorative Justice →

Like so many people around the world, I have spent the last several days watching in horror the pictures and images from Japan.  And, like so many people around the world I have worried about the safety of those I care about.  After two days of no news, I connected with a dear friend via … Continue reading Apology, Facebook, and Japan →

There is a joke from Belarus about the difference between a Belarusian optimist and a Belarusian pessimist.  The Belarusian pessimist says, “oh, this is as bad as it could possibly be, it couldn’t get worse than this.”  The Belarusian optimist says, “Oh, yes it can, it can get much worse.”  I have to admit, the … Continue reading An Egyptian Optimist? →

The Texas legislature is considering a proposal to allow deferred adjudication plea bargains for first time driving while intoxicated cases.  Under the proposal all first time DWI offenders would be eligible to have their case dismissed after a guilty plea and after a standard amount of time if they complete basic requirements (such as pay … Continue reading Mothers Against Case Backlogs? →

A recent study found that a third of students “stretched the truth” on anonymous teacher evaluations.  A full 20% said they lied on the comments section of the evaluations.  These lies went both ways: to help professors they liked and to hurt professors they didn’t like.  Although a larger percentage of students reportedly lied about professors … Continue reading Really? They lie? →

Richard Holbrooke, a career diplomat who is perhaps best known for his role in the negotiations that ended the war in Bosnia, died on Monday, December 13, 2010.  At the time of his death Mr. Holbrooke was the special representative for the Obama Administration for Afghanistan and Pakistan.   To read more about his career see … Continue reading Negotiator, Diplomat, Richard Holbrooke →

Last week’s Economist published an interesting article about a new book, American Grace, written by Professors Robert Putnam and David Campbell.  According to the Economist, the book discusses religious unity in the United States and why religion does not tend to be a serious point of conflict within the United States despite the fact that we … Continue reading The Aunt Susan Theory →

Proposals for the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association  are due this week, on Wednesday, December 8, 2010.  The meeting will be in San Francisco on June 2-5, 2011.       For more information see:  http://www.lawandsociety.org/ann_mtg/am11/call.htm

We commonly think this about our counterparts in conflicts.  Unfortunately the statistics about mental illness in the USA are such that we may not be wrong.  A study just released by the Substance and Mental Health Service Administration states that nearly 20% of adult Americans “experienced mental illness in the last year.”  Of that number … Continue reading “But He is Crazy!” →

Professor Richard Reuben from the University of Missouri-Columbia sent this update and link: For those who expressed interest in reading symposium papers or watching a webcast of the ADR and Rule of Law symposium, these resources are now available on the symposium web site  http://law.missouri.edu/csdr/symposium/rol/webcast.html