Law & Humanities Blog #navbar-iframe { display:block } function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener("load", function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } skip to main | skip to sidebarLaw & Humanities BlogA blog about law, literature, and the humanitiesIs There a "CSI Effect"?Posted byChristine CorcosDonald E. Shelton, Eastern Michigan University, has published "The 'CSI Effect': Does it Really Exist?" in volume 259 of the National Institute of Justice Journal (2008). Here is the abstract. Many attorneys, judges, and journalists have claimed that watching television programs like CSI has caused jurors to wrongfully acquit guilty defendants when no scientific evidence has been presented. This so-called effect was promptly dubbed the "CSI effect," laying much of the blame on the popular television series and its progeny. This study of 1027 jurors found that 46 percent expected to see some kind of scientific evidence in every criminal case; 22 percent expected to see DNA evidence in every criminal case; 36 percent expected to see fingerprint evidence in every criminal case; and 32 percent expected to see ballistic or other firearms laboratory evidence in every criminal case. The findings also suggested that expectations for particular types of scientific evidence seemed to be rational based on the type of case. For all categories of evidence CSI viewers generally had higher expectations than non-CSI viewers but the CSI viewers had higher expectations about scientific evidence that was more likely to be relevant. Interestingly, potential jurors' increased expectations of scientific evidence did not translate into a demand for this type of evidence as a prerequisite for finding someone guilty. Jurors were more likely to find a defendant guilty than not guilty even without scientific evidence if the victim or other witnesses testified, except in the case of rape. On the other hand, if the prosecutor relied on circumstantial evidence, the prospective jurors said they would demand some kind of scientific evidence before they would return a guilty verdict.There was scant evidence in our survey results that CSI viewers were either more or less likely to acquit defendants without scientific evidence. Only 4 of 13 scenarios showed significant differences between viewers and non-viewers on this issue, and they were inconsistent. In the "every crime" scenario, CSI viewers were more likely to convict without scientific evidence if eyewitness testimony was available. In rape cases, CSI viewers were less likely to convict if DNA evidence was not presented.In both the breaking-and-entering and theft scenarios, CSI viewers were more likely to convict if there was victim or other testimony, but no fingerprint evidence. Although CSI viewers had higher expectations for scientific evidence than non-CSI viewers, these expectations had little, if any, bearing on the respondents' propensity to convict. Download the paper from SSRN here.Cross posted to the Seamless Web.Posted on8/20/2008 11:05:00 AM0commentsLabels:Law and TelevisionWhy Lawyers Should Read ShakespearePosted byDaniel J. Solove Michael P. Maslanka, the managing partner of Ford & Harrison in Dallas, has this article on Law.com about why lawyers should read Shakespeare. The article begins:Why do students still read Shakespeare? A conspiracy of finger-wagging, we-know-what's-best-for-you high school English teachers? No. It's his empathetic powers, making people see ourselves as we are -- rationalizations not permitted. Shakespeare has much to teach lawyers. Eschewing Judge Judy, his questions are penetrating: How should judges go about judging? Does the rule of law matter? Are mercy and justice mutually exclusive, or are they complementary?The article goes on to discuss Shakespeare's play, Measure for Measure.Posted on8/19/2008 11:45:00 PM1 commentsLabels:Measure for Measure,ShakespeareAssociation for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities Invites Applications for Dissertation AwardPosted byChristine CorcosJulien Mezey Dissertation AwardThe Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities invites submissions for its 2009 Julien Mezey Dissertation Award. This annual prize is awarded to the dissertation that most promises to enrich and advance interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of law, culture and the humanities. The award will be presented at the Association's annual meeting in Boston, April 3-4, 2009, hosted by Suffolk University Law School.The Association seeks the submission of outstanding work from a wide variety of perspectives, including but not limited to law and cultural studies, legal hermeneutics and rhetoric, law and literature, law and psychoanalysis, law and visual studies, legal history, and legal theory and jurisprudence. Scholars completing humanities-oriented dissertations in SJD and related programs, as well as those earning PhDs, are encouraged to submit their work. Applicants eligible for the 2009 award must have defended their dissertations successfully between September 1,2007 and August 31, 2008. Each submission must be accompanied by a letter of support from a faculty member.Deadline for nominations for the 2009 award: November 1, 2008. On or before that date, each member of the committee must receive by email thefollowing: 1) a letter of nomination that details the genesis, goal, and contribution of the dissertation; 2) a letter of support from a faculty member familiar with the work; 3) an abstract, outline, and the first chapter of the dissertation); 4) contact information for the nominee.All materials should be sent to each of the following:Professor Jodi Dean, jdean@hws.eduProfessor James Martel, jmartel@sfsu.edu Professor Martha Umphrey, mmumphrey@amherst.eduAward finalists will be notified by December 1. At that point, they should be prepared to send a physical and electronic version of the entire dissertation to each of the committee members. The winner will be determined by early February and invited to the April meeting of the ASLCH. ASLCH will pay travel and lodging costs.Questions should be addressed to Jodi Dean, jdean@hws.eduPosted on8/18/2008 12:24:00 PM0commentsLabels:Awards and ScholarshipsThe "Discourse of Madness"Posted byChristine CorcosIan Ward, University of Newcastle, has published "The Rochester Wives," in Law & Humanities, v. 2 (2008). Here is the abstract.During much of the nineteenth century England was gripped by periodic 'lunacy scares'. In large part, these scares addressed a more particular concern regarding 'wrongful confinement'. There was a narrower jurisprudential concern here; one which focussed on the relative lack of legal regulation in such circumstances. As the century progressed the demand for reform of this regulatory provision grew ever louder. There was also a rather larger, essentially cultural, concern; which framed the evolving shape of a distinctive 'discourse' of madness. The purpose of this article is to examine these two concerns, and perhaps most importantly their relation. It will do so moreover through a particular investigation of the Rochester 'case'; as it found literary expression in the novels of Charlotte Bronte and Jean Rhys. The article is priced.Posted on8/12/2008 03:39:00 PM0commentsLabels:Bronte,RhysFilm and Historical NarrativePosted byChristine CorcosDaphne Barazk-Erez, Tel Aviv University, has published "The Law of Historical Films: in the aftermath of Jenin Jenin," at 16 Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, 495(2007). Here is the abstract.Filmmaking and the narration of history have been engaged in a complex relationship ever since the early days of filmmaking. Many films tell stories unfolding in previous times or about actual historical events, and their narration of history is often criticized as inaccurate, fictitious, or even intentionally misleading. When a highly publicized film suggests a controversial narrative of a certain chapter in history, a debate usually follows in the public arena, be it as part of the ongoing intellectual discourse or even in a political context. At times, however, the public debate is translated into legal terms. The article focuses on the difficulties confronting the attempt to apply legal regulation to historical films argued to be false—either by using private law causes of action, such as defamation and infringement of privacy, or by recourse to administrative censorship powers. The recent and highly controversial film Jenin, Jenin by the Israeli-Palestinian actor and filmmaker Muhammad Bakri, which professed to tell the story of residents of the Jenin refugee camp during an Israeli military operation, is used as a case study. In general, the courts insist on avoiding decisions on historical facts even when dealing with serious arguments about distortions in specific films. The article supports this judicial policy on the grounds that courts and governments should refrain from restraining freedom of speech based on arguments of truth and falsity. Yet, it also points to the inevitable disadvantages of this viewpoint given that the marketplace of ideas, particularly in the debate around realistic film making, is controlled by actors who have the power to shape collective memory.Download the paper from bepress Legal Repository here.Posted on8/07/2008 02:01:00 PM0commentsLabels:Barazk-Erez,History and Film,Law and Film,Law and HistoryBatman and George W. BushPosted byChristine CorcosAndrew Klavan writes in the Wall Street Journal that Batman, at least as he is portrayed in the new film The Dark Knight, and George W. Bush have a lot in common. "There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past." This contention has caused comment in the blogosphere. See reaction at Slashfilm.com, Verum Serum, and Thompson on Hollywood, among other sites. Interesting.Cross-posted to The Seamless Web.Posted on8/06/2008 02:32:00 PM0commentsLabels:Law and Film,Law and Popular CultureThe Uses of NarrativePosted byChristine CorcosDoron Menashe, University of Haifa, Research Authority, and Hamutal Esther Shamash, have published "Pass These Sirens By: Further Thoughts on Narrative and Admissibility Rules, " in International Commentary on Evidence, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2007. Here is the abstract.Fact finders assess the relative plausibility of stories presented by comparing them to narratives which have gained general acceptance, some of which are hegemonic narratives. In doing so, they run the risk of choosing a narrative that does not accurately represent the historic truth of events in suit, as a narrative with which to compare the stories offered by parties. Once fact finders choose an inappropriate narrative, they may commit the narrative fallacy and choose to grant increased weight to evidence that coheres with the inappropriate narrative, and to disregard evidence that does not, rather than discard the narrative when subsequent evidence tends to show that it is inappropriate. Admission of prejudicial evidence may trigger the use of inappropriate narratives that are hegemonic, or at least prejudicial, leading to inaccurate fact finding. Seen in that light, despite arguments to the contrary made by Robert Burns and by Ronald Allen, further relaxation of admissibility rules towards a free proof system would be undesirable. Download the entire paper from SSRN here.Posted on8/01/2008 12:48:00 PM0commentsLabels:Law and Literature,Menashe,Narrative,ShamashLaw in Eighteenth Century English LiteraturePosted byChristine CorcosRebecca Probert, University of Warwick School of Law, has published "Examining Law Through the Lens of Literature: The Formation of Marriage in Eighteenth-Century England," in the journal Law & Humanities (forthcoming). Here is the abstract.This article examines what eighteenth-century novels and plays can tell us about the formation of marriage both before and after the Clandestine Marriages Act of 1753. It shows how the practices and, perhaps more crucially, the assumptions, of fictional characters were consistent with legal sources of the time, and that such primary sources fundamentally undermine many modern analyses of the making of marriage. The entire text is available through subscription.Posted on8/01/2008 12:42:00 PM1 commentsLabels:Law and Literature,ProbertThe Non-Autonomy of LawPosted byChristine CorcosJames Boyd White, University of Michigan Law School, has published "Establishing Relations between Law and Other Forms of Thought and Language," forthcoming in 1 Erasmus Law Review (2008). Here is the abstract.The law does not, and could not, exist in an intellectual or linguistic vacuum. No one believes that the law is or should be impervious to other languages, other bodies of knowledge. In this sense the argument about the 'autonomy' of law is an empty one: law cannot be, should not be, perfectly autonomous, unconnected with any other system of thought and expression; yet it plainly has it own identity as a discourse, it own intellectual and linguistic habits, which it is our task as lawyers to understand and develop. It follows that an essential topic of legal thought is the proper relation between law and other forms of thought and expression - a topic that is important, difficult and full of interest. In this paper, Professor White compares three ways in which the law is related to other fields: translation (as in the use of expert testimony), disciplinary imperialism (as in law and economics), and comparison of modes of thought and expression (as in law and literature). Download the article from SSRN here.Posted on7/28/2008 11:42:00 AM0commentsLabels:Law and Literature,WhiteLiterature and Comparative LawPosted byChristine CorcosBarbara Pozzo, University of Insubria, Department of Law and Economics of Firms and Persons, has published "A Suitable Boy: The Abolition of Feudalism in India, in volume 1 of the Erasmus Law Review (2008). Here is the abstract.This article focuses on law and literature as a challenging tool in teaching courses in comparative law. Certain representative novels may provide important analytical instruments, especially in approaching legal systems that do not belong to the Western legal tradition but that involve a set of values profoundly rooted in a specific conception of society. In these instances, literature is used as a key in understanding the social impact of particular legal institutions, the nature of which seems difficult for European scholars to comprehend. This is particularly true in cases such as those in India, where the legal system is composed of different layers: the traditional, the religious and that of the colonial period.The article examines a concrete literary example offered by Vikram Seth in his novel A Suitable Boy, in which the author deals with the debate about peasants property in the form of land and about the abolition of the zamindari system, which had been introduced in India by the Mughals to collect land taxes from the peasants. It was continued by British rulers during the colonial period, but after independence in 1947 the system was abolished and the land was turned over to the peasants. To Westerners, the abolition of the zamindari system would seem to have been a sign of real independence and of the will to abolish feudalism. Nevertheless, the abrogation did not prevent the emergence of farm suicides in India, which have occurred since the middle of the 1990s. Seth's novel allows us to witness firsthand the events that took place during the period when the law that put an end to the zamindari system was passed and to see with new eyes the genuine impact of such a reform. Download the article from SSRN here.Posted on7/28/2008 11:37:00 AM0commentsLabels:Comparative Law,Law and Literature,Pozzo,SethCall For PapersPosted byChristine CorcosCall for Papers/Abstracts/Submissions (Re-posting)7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & HumanitiesJanuary 9 - 12, 2009Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & SpaHonolulu Hawaii, USA Submission Deadline: August 22, 2008 Sponsored by:University of Louisville - Center for Sustainable Urban NeighborhoodsThe Baylor Journal of Theatre and Performance Web address: http://www.hichumanities.orgEmail address: humanities@hichumanities.org The 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities will be held from January 9 (Friday) to January 12 (Monday), 2009 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The conference will provide many opportunities for academicians and professionals from arts and humanities related fields to interact with members inside and outside their own particular disciplines. Cross-disciplinary submissions with other fields are welcome. Topic Areas (All Areas of Arts & Humanities are Invited):*Anthropology *American Studies *Archeology *Architecture *Art *Art History *Dance *English *Ethnic Studies *Film *Folklore *Geography *Graphic Design *History *Landscape Architecture *Languages *Literature *Linguistics *Music *Performing Arts *Philosophy *Postcolonial Identities *Product Design *Religion *Second Language Studies *Speech/Communication *Theatre *Visual Arts *Other Areas of Arts and Humanities *Cross-disciplinary areas of the above related to each other or other areas. Submitting a Proposal: You may now submit your paper/proposal by using our online submission system! To use the system, and for detailed information about submitting see: http://www.hichumanities.org/cfp_artshumanities.htm To be removed from this list, please click the following link: http://www.hichumanities.org/remove/ or copy and paste the link into any web browser. Hawaii International Conference on Arts & HumanitiesP.O. Box 75036Honolulu, HI 96836 USATelephone: (808) 542-4385Fax: (808) 947-2420E-mail: humanities@hichumanities.orgWebsite: http://www.hichumanities.orgPosted on7/28/2008 11:32:00 AM0commentsLabels:Call for PapersCall For PapersPosted byChristine CorcosIsraeli Law and Society Association, Annual MeetingGlobal, Regional, and Local: Law, Politics, and Society in Comparative PerspectivesInternational Conference, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, December 24-26, 2008CALL FOR PAPERSThe Program Committee of the International Annual Conference of the Israeli Law and Society Association (ILSA) invites scholars conducting research on any aspect of Law and Society to submit proposals for individual papers and organized panels. Panels and papers devoted to the main theme of the conference - "Global, Regional, and Local: Law, Politics, and Society in Comparative Perspectives" - are especially invited. Other topics relating to the field of law and society in its broader meaning are also welcome.Proposals should be accompanied by an abstract of 300 words as Word email attachment (include title of paper, name and email address of author/s with the text of the abstract). Organizers of panels should collect abstracts from the panel participants and submit them together with a description of the panel. Graduate students should submit a letter from their thesis supervisor in support of the proposal, together with the abstract.Proposals should be submitted by email to the Program Committee at:gbarzil@u.washington.eduThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by August 15th, 2008. Selected papers will be integrated into a special volume of "Hamishpat" [translated as THE LAW] (published by the Law School, College of Management) after a process of peer-review evaluations. Call for articles will be sent by the journal in due time.Program CommitteeChair:Gad Barzilai--Jackson School, LSJ, Political Science, Law, University of Washington.e-mail: gbarzil@u.washington.eduThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://faculty.washington.edu/gbarzil/Members:Michal Alberstein-- Law, Bar Ilan Universitye-mail: malberst@mail.biu.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://www.law.biu.ac.il/rashi.php?id=74Daphne Barak-Erez-- Law, Tel Aviv Universitye-mail: barakerz@post.tau.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://www.law.tau.ac.il/Heb/?CategoryID=357&ArticleID=351 Guy Davidov--Law, Hebrew University, Jerusalem. e-mail: guy.davidov@huji.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://law.huji.ac.il/segel.asp?staff_id=95&cat=409&in=409Malcolm Feeley--Center for the Study of Law and Society, UC Berkeley.e-mail: mmf@law,berkeley.eduweb site: http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/profiles/facultyProfile.php?facID=37Khalid Ghanayim, Law, University of Haifae-mail: khalidg@law.haifa.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://law.haifa.ac.il/faculty/faculty_index.asp?a=1&pos=&fname=&fType=personal_page&lang=heb&lec_id=27&show=4Yifat Holzman-Gazit-- Law, College of Management, Rizhon Le'Tzion.e-mail: gazity@mail.biu.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web-site: http://law.colman.ac.il/heb/Default.htmPnina Lahav--Law, Boston Universitye-mail: plahav@bu.eduThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://www.bu.edu/lawlibrary/facultypublications/lahav.htmlhttp://www.bu.edu:80/law/faculty/profiles/bios/full-time/lahav_p.htmlAssaf Meydani-- Political Science, The Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffoe-mail: asaf_mm@gbrener.org.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it web site: http://works.bepress.com/assaf__meydani/Benny Shmueli, Law, Shaarei Mishpat, Hod Ha'Sharone-mail: shmueli@mishpat.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view itweb-site: http://www.mishpat.ac.il/main.asp?lngCategoryID=2895Dr. Amnon Reichman, Haifa Universitye-mail: reichman@law.haifa.ac.ilThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view itweb-site: http://law.haifa.ac.il/faculty/heb/reichman.htmPosted on7/28/2008 11:31:00 AM0commentsLabels:Call for PapersKafka's Knowledge of LawPosted byChristine CorcosArnold Heidsieck, University of Southern California, has published "Fictional and Non-Fictional Uses of Administrative, Civil, and Criminal Law by Kafka and His Friends." Here is the abstract. Kafka studied these three branches of law with several then-prominent academic teachers. But it was his extra-mural association with the legal philosopher Oskar Kraus that gave him a firm grasp of how modern liberal law emerged from the Aristotelian, Roman, and Judeo-Christian concepts of natural and rational law. Download the entire essays from SSRN here.Posted on7/24/2008 12:42:00 PM0commentsLabels:Heidsieck,Kafka,Law and Literature,Law and PhilosophyPublication OpportunityPosted byChristine CorcosJoachim Linder, editor of the online journal IASL Online, invites those interested to submit titles for review in the journal, and to indicate whether they would be interested in reviewing those publications. Reviews in English are welcome. His contact information is email@joachim-linder.de.Posted on7/23/2008 11:18:00 AM0commentsLabels:Law and Film,Law and Literature,Law and Popular Culture,Law and TelevisionStella Rimington and Liz CarlylePosted byChristine CorcosNPR has this essay about Stella Rimington, the first woman director of Britain's MI5, and her books featuring intelligence officer Liz Carlyle.Posted on7/23/2008 11:12:00 AM0commentsLabels:Law and Literature,RimingtonLife Meets TVPosted byChristine CorcosColin Miller, of EvidenceProfBlog, has this interesting blogpost about Kathy Reichs as an expert witness, in the notorious Ohio nun killer case, State v. Robinson. Dr. Reichs is the author of the Temperance Brennan mystery stories and the inspiration for the Bones television series. Reminds me of another recent life meets tv case: the one in which the prosecution's expert witness mentioned a Law & Order episode that Andrea Yates watched. The problem: no such episode. Eventually, Mrs. Yates's conviction was overturned. Along with the now-documented "CSI" effect, can we doubt that tv's dramatic riffs affect jurors?Posted on7/17/2008 01:13:00 PM0commentsLabels:CSI,Forensic Anthropology,Kathy Reichs,Law and Order,Law and Popular Culture,Law and TelevisionMystery Writer Julie Smith on NPRPosted byChristine CorcosJulie Smith, the author of a number of crime novels set in New Orleans (and in San Francisco) discusses the difficulty of taking up writing again after Hurricane Katrina in this interview with NPR.Here's more about Smith's writing.Louise Claire, De-Mythifying Julie Smith, 1(7) Bookcase 14-17 (October 1995).Frederick Isaac, Investigator of Mean Rooms: A Profile of Julie Smith, 15 Clues: A Journal of Detection 1-11 (Spring/Summer 1994).The Julie Smith interview is part of NPR's series on Crime in the City. Other mystery writers who contribute thoughts on their favorite cities are Sarah Graves, Robert B. Parker, Michael Connelly, Laura Lippmann, John Burdett, and Donna Leon. A book you might find interesting if you like to read mysteries about places you plan to visit is Nina King's Crimes of the Scene (St. Martin's Press, 1997), which lists mysteries by geographic location.Posted on7/15/2008 02:06:00 PM0commentsLabels:Donna Leon,John Burdett,Julie Smith,Laura Lippmann,Law and Culture,Law and Literature,Law and Popular Culture,Michael Connelly,Robert B. Parker,Sarah GravesA Paper on British FilmPosted byChristine CorcosSteve Greenfield and Guy Osborn of the University of Westminster, and Peter Robson of the University of St. Andrews have published "Genre, Iconography, and British Film," forthcoming in volume 36 of the University of Baltimore Law Review. Here's the abstract.This article uses the categorization of 'Britishness' to identify both the canon of British law films and attempts that have been made to encourage and protect the British film industry. In addition the article reengages with thee genre debate utilizing the notion of iconography. Download the article from SSRN here.Posted on7/15/2008 02:03:00 PM0commentsLabels:Law and FilmThe Importance of Choosing Literary References WiselyPosted byDaniel J. Solove Over at WSJ blog, Dan Slater writes about a Fair Housing Act case involving a condo association that prohibited all objects in hallways. A Jewish resident challenged the rule under the Fair Housing Act because his mezuzah was removed, claiming the rule discriminated against his religion. The 7th Circuit held for the condo association, concluding that the rule was "neutral with respect to religion" since it applied to all objects. In dissent, Judge Wood noted a very unwise use of a Shakespearian reference in the Defendants' brief:Indeed, especially given the fact that the question in this case is whether a trier of fact could conclude that the defendants were intentionally discriminating against the Blochs, it was shocking to read at the end of their supplemental brief that “[t]hroughout this matter, Plaintiffs have been trying to get their ‘pound of flesh’ from Defendants due to personal animosity between Lynne and Frischholz.” Perhaps the defendants have not read Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice lately and thus failed to recall that the play is about a bitter Jewish moneylender, Shylock, who agreed to loan funds to a man he loathed (Antonio—who spit on him because he was Jewish) only upon a promise that if the loan was not paid in time, Shylock would be entitled to carve a pound of flesh from Antonio. At the end of the play, after the disguised Portia defeats the contract by pointing out that Shylock is not entitled to shed any blood while he takes his pound of flesh, Shylock is punished by losing half of his lands and being forced to convert to Christianity. This is hardly the reference someone should choose who is trying to show that the stand-off about Hallway Rule 1 was not because of the Blochs’ religion, but rather in spite of it.Cross-posted at Concurring OpinionsPosted on7/11/2008 08:21:00 PM0commentsLabels:Merchant of Venice,ShakespeareThe Engaged Lawyer On FilmPosted byChristine CorcosLance McMillian, John Marshall Law School, Atlanta, has published "Tortured Souls: Unhappy Lawyers Viewed Through the Medium of Film." Here is the abstract.Lawyers are unhappy. So bad is the situation that scholars have even asked, "Can one be a lawyer and a happy human being at the same time?" Culturally, the existence of unhappy lawyers is not an unknown phenomenon. Case in point: the portrayal of tortured attorneys through the medium of film. This Article focuses on nine such lawyers: Ned Racine, Michael Clayton, Frank Galvin, Reggie Love, Paul Biegler, Sam Bowden, Arthur Kirkland, Jan Schlichtmann, and Atticus Finch. Similarities between lawyers in reel life and real life quickly emerge. The legal profession should pay attention to these common struggles. Attorneys in film have much to teach. Their most lasting lessons point the way for the modern lawyer to reclaim a satisfying and fulfilling legal career. Through the movies, lawyers old and new can freshly discover the secrets for lasting success: doing what one loves, devoting oneself to a noble end, and refusing to compromise ethically. That great cinema contains enduring truths and insights should not be surprising. The best films help us to learn something more about ourselves. Learning without action, however, soon melts away. When trapped in unhappiness, it is the individual who must act and make choices consistent with that person's core values. Movies can rekindle our ideals. But only we can make those ideals a reality. Download the paper from SSRN here.Posted on7/07/2008 12:49:00 PM0commentsLabels:Law and Film,McMillian"The worst day in the art studio is still better than the best day in the law firm"Posted byChristine CorcosHere's more about Nathan Sawaya, former attorney turned LEGO artist. CNN features him in this story.Posted on7/06/2008 04:09:00 PM0commentsLabels:Law and Art,Law and Culture,SawayaNew British Legal Drama Causes CommentPosted byChristine CorcosA new British legal drama is causing a whirlwind of commentary among barristers. Peter Moffat's Criminal Justice debuted Monday, and immediately caused debate for what some members of the bar consider its indictment of the legal system. An article in the Guardian documents the reactions that some lawyers have to the week-long series. In particular, the head of the Bar Council, "Timothy Dutton QC, has taken a dim view of the way barristers in the programme, particularly in the second episode, are portrayed as underhand, unprincipled and overly aggressive." Mr. Moffat, who also wrote the wonderful series Kavanagh QC for John Thaw (Morse), replied, "It is about time the Bar faced the fact that like every other profession it has brilliant and fair-minded practitioners, those of average ability, and the violent, dishonest and stupid all working within it." Ouch. Seriously. Read more reviews and discussion in The Independent, The Times, and the Mirror.Here's a clip.I certainly hope the BBC exports Criminal Justice to the US soon, or else makes it available on VHS or DVDs. Yes, I still buy tapes, when I can get them. I continue to be unhappy with what I consider to be the relatively high rate of defective DVDs that I encounter: they're unplayable ("disc error"); or the disc skips or stalls, or the images are distorted from time to time. These discs are EXPENSIVE, and store return policies can be difficult.Posted on7/03/2008 07:56:00 AM0commentsLabels:Law and Popular Culture,Law and TelevisionCall For PapersPosted byChristine CorcosCall for Papers and WitnessThe University of Toledo College of Law is pleased to announce a universal and interdisciplinary conference on Saturday, October 25, 2008 in Toledo, Ohio on the subject of: 1808: Fighting for the Right to Dream Scholars are invited to come to Toledo and bear witness and discuss 1808.1808 was the year of the abolition of the importing of slaves into the United States. In this bicentennial year, how should we think about 1808? What does 1808 say to us? What will be said about 1808 in 2108? The papers and witness being invited in this call for papers are about the meanings of 1808. Those meanings might be found in the life of a slave in the United States at that time such as Barbary. Born in 1787 in Africa and sold into slavery in 1800 in North Carolina to the Harrison family (of Founders and Presidents fame), Barbary was enslaved, black and twenty-one in 1808. How do we keep slave stories such as her story alive?Those meanings might be found in 1847 in the founding of Liberia and Liberia’s history. Or in the Civil War. Or in Reconstruction. Or in Jim Crow. Or in 1908, year of birth of the late Justice ThurgoodMarshall whose life was dedicated to fighting for the right to dream. Or in a picture in a courtroom in Norman, Oklahoma in 1948 of Ada Sipuel dreaming of being a lawyer. Or in the mass movements of the civil rights and human rights movements. Or in 1968 with the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and other momentous events. Or in a more recent rededication of efforts to achieve, protect and preserve civil and human rights for all.Those meanings might be found in Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Australia and the Pacific. What does 1808 mean to the world?This call for papers is interdisciplinary and universal. Scholars from around the world interested in presenting are invited to submit one to two page abstracts for papers on the conference theme on or before August 15, 2008 to ben.davis@utoledo.edu.Scholars from around the world who may have difficulty getting visas to the United States or attending should advise of their interest on or before August 15, 2008 to ben.davis@utoledo.edu. Overseas scholars and those unable to attend may provide a video witness of up to 10 minutes in length. Toledo is located in Northwestern Ohio about 50 minutes by car south of Detroit, Michigan. Participants may find the easiest connections through Detroit though planes do fly also into Toledo airport. October 25, 2008 will be a particularly interesting time to visit as Toledo is the center of the universe during most recent U.S. Presidential elections because of the crucial role that Ohio plays as a swing state.Organizing Committee: · Anthony Baker, Professor, American Legal History, NormanAdrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina· Pamela Bridgewater, Professor of Law, American University,Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C.· Benjamin Davis, Associate Professor of Law, University ofToledo College of Law, Toledo, Ohio· Roy Finkenbine, Professor of History and Director of the BlackAbolitionist Archives, University of Detroit – Mercy, Detroit, Michigan· Chrisarla Houston, Director of the Legal Writing Program andAssistant Professor of Law, Florida A & M University College of Law, Orlando, Florida· Vernellia R. Randall, Professor of Law, University of DaytonSchool of Law, Dayton, OhioPosted on6/25/2008 11:10:00 AM0commentsLabels:Call for PapersNew Publications in Law and the HumanitiesPosted byChristine CorcosSome new and newer law and humanities titles.Boulhosa, Patricia Pires, Icelanders and the Kings of Norway: Mediaeval Sagas and Legal Texts (Boston: Brill, 2005).Chaplin, Susan, The Gothic and the Rule of Law, 1764-1820 (NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).Clary, Amy, Textual Terrain: Wilderness in American Literature, Law, and Culture (Dissertation, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, 2005).Cormack, Bradin, A Power To Do Justice: Jurisdiction, English Literature, and the Rise of Common Law, 1509-1625 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007).Eighteenth-Century Fiction (Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 2006).Freeman, Micahel D. A., Law and Popular Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).Glover, Susan, Engendering Legitimacy: Law, Property, and Early González EchevarrÃa, Roberto, Love and the Law in Cervantes (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005).Haglin, Adam Reid, Russia, Dostoevsky, and Judicial Reform (Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Makato, 2005).Harris, Sharon M., Executing Race: Early American Women’s Narratives of Race, Society, and the Law (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2005).Hegel, Robert E., and Katherine Carlitz, Writing and Law in Late Imperial China (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007).Hepburn, Allan, Troubled Legacies: Narrative and Inheritance (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007).Hutson, Lorna, The Invention of Suspicion: Law and Mimesis in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama (NY: Oxford University Press, 2007).Kezar, Dennis, Solon and Thespis: Law and Theater in the English Renaissance (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007).King, Lovalerie, Race, Theft, and Ethics: Property Matters in African American Literature (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007).Klotz, Lisa-Jane, Suspicion Is No Proof: Legal Proof and Probability in Practice and Fiction in Early Modern England (Dissertation, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2006).Lockey, Brian, Law and Empire in English Renaissance Literature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).Macpherson, Heidi Slettedahl, Courting Failure: Women and the Law in Twentieth-Century Literature (Akron, OH: University of Akron Press, 2007).Mukherji, Subha, Law and Representation in Early Modern Drama (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).Rosenshield, Gary, Western Law, Russian Justice: Dostoevsky, the Jury Trial, and the Law (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005).Scase, Wendy, Literature and Complaint in England, 1272-1553 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).Sheen, Erica, and Lorna Hutson, Literature, Politics, and Law in Renaissance England (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).Travis, Jennifer, Wounded Hearts: Masculinity, Law, and Literature in American Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005).Warren, Joyce W., Women, Money, and the Law: Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Gender, and the Courts (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005).Posted on6/20/2008 03:11:00 PM0commentsLabels:Law and Culture,Law and Literature,Law and Popular CultureRobert Johnson and CopyrightPosted byChristine CorcosOlufunmilayo Arewa, Northwestern University Law School, has published "Borrowing the Blues: Context and the Copyright of Robert Johnson," as Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 08-19. Here is the abstract.In 2004, Eric Clapton released the DVD-CD Sessions for Robert J and the CD Me and Mr. Johnson, which paid homage to Robert Johnson, one of Clapton's greatest musical influences. Clapton is not alone in his reverence of Robert Johnson. The ascension of Robert Johnson to the status of preeminent representative of early recorded blues traditions reflects broader trends in the creation and reception of blues music in the twentieth century. Johnson's position decades after his death is a startling contrast to the circumstances of his short life and the contexts within with he lived and performed. Robert Johnson was a poor African American itinerant blues musician who died in obscurity under mysterious circumstances in 1938 at a country crossroads near Greenwood, Mississippi. Johnson was one of a number of musicians who made their way through the Mississippi Delta during the time period of his life and death. The legend of Robert Johnson, however, surpasses that of his musical contemporaries: Robert Johnson is the most well known bluesman of his era today. From his humble beginning and obscure death, Robert Johnson later emerged to become one of the biggest influences on rock and roll music, particularly through musicians in Great Britain, many of whom like Eric Clapton, count Robert Johnson as one of their greatest influences. Robert Johnson was one of the first 12 members inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Robert Johnson is far more famous in death than he could ever have envisaged during his lifetime. The story of Robert Johnson is thus an important one for the history of music, particularly in relation to the development of blues music traditions and the rock and roll traditions that emerged from blues. The story of Robert Johnson is also an important one for copyright. Treatment of many blues musicians of Robert Johnson's era represent an early example of continuing tensions in the application of copyright to a broad range of living musical traditions. Copyright treatment of blues musicians also reflects the difficulties inherent in the application of copyright as a property rule to musical forms, including blues, which are characterized by pervasive borrowing. The reality of musical borrowing is often insufficiently acknowledged in discussions of copyright and music. The intersection of copyright, Robert Johnson's music and blues more generally can reveal something of how copyright law treats creative processes that reflect significant amounts of borrowing. Further, the contexts of application of copyright law to blues, as well as more generally, reflect the continuing influence of hierarchies of culture and power that have long shaped copyright law and its application. Download the paper from SSRN here.Posted on6/20/2008 02:13:00 PM0commentsLabels:Arewa,Eric Clapton,Law and Music,Robert JohnsonA Walking Tour of the Naked CityPosted byChristine CorcosThe New York Times features a walking tour of the city as seen through the eyes of Weegee (Arthur Fellig), the legendary photographer, who provided many notable pix, including crime scene photos. See also this article in today's issue. A new book devoted to his work, Weegee and the Naked City, is available from the University of California Press.Posted on6/20/2008 10:09:00 AM0commentsLabels:Law and Popular Culture,PhotographyCall For Papers: Catholic Social Thought and the LawPosted byChristine CorcosCALL FOR PAPERS SYMPOSIUM ON CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT AND THE LAW CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT AND CITIZENSHIP Villanova University School of Law October 11, 2008 On the eve of the 2008 election, Villanova University School of Law's sixth annual symposium on Catholic social thought will take up the question of citizenship and political participation. Every four years, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops releases a document entitled "Faithful Citizenship," and the media engage in speculation about the "Catholic vote." The Bishops assert that "responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in public life is a moral obligation." After visiting America, Alexis de Tocqueville worried that Christianity neglected the duty of citizenship while also arguing that religion was the first of America's political institutions. But Catholic social thought arguably lacks a coherent account of citizenship. As John Coleman, S.J., complained in the pages of Commonweal over 20 years ago, "Christianity has not adequately adumbrated or embodied the moral ideal of the citizen in its social ethics or popular preaching." Among the questions to be addressed by the symposium are the responsibilities of citizenship in Catholic social teaching, the relationship between faithful citizenship and voting, the role of the American Catholic Church in public life, the duties of public officials, and the historical development of citizenship in Catholic social thought. The Symposium will bring together legal scholars, political scientists, theologians, and philosophers to explore the implications of citizenship for Catholic legal theory. PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Articles presented at the Conference will be considered for publication in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought, a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal published by Villanova University. Please submit paper proposals by July 1, 2008, or requests for more information to: CONTACT: Dean Mark A. Sargent Email: MAILTO: |
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