LAW SCHOOL EXAMS 12/3/02 Tips and samples Get quality tips on taking law school exams from law professors and study experts, and check out exams administered at law schools across the country on a wide range of subjects. MORE LAW SCHOOL EXAMS
WORLD LAW 12/2/02 Kenya: investigated the Mombasa hotel bombing JURIST's Kenya service takes the spotlight this week as investigators sift through the wreakage of a bombed hotel in Mombasa frequented by Israeli tourists and investigate a failed missile attack on an Israeli plane taking off from the Mombasa airport. Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Government of Kenya has issued an official statement. MORE WORLD LAW
LESSONS FROM THE WEB Dec. Can Law Be Taught Effectively Online? Educational technology specialist and former law professor Kathy Marcel looks at legal education, see some missed opportunities, and offers some pointers for effective online pedagogy. MORE LESSONS
FAMOUS TRIALS Dec. Nuremberg war crimes trials This month, from the JURIST archives - as the United States contemplates the possibility of putting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on trial for war crimes, University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor Douglas Linder takes a look back at the first, greatest and grimest war crimes proceeding: the 1945 trial of Nazi war leaders at Nuremberg. MORE FAMOUS TRIALS
THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY... Delaware ratified the US Constitution
On this day in 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the new United States Constitution. Read Delaware's ratification instrument.
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PATENT LAW... Canadian Supreme Court rules Harvard "cancer-mouse" not patentable
A severely split Canadian Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday (Chief Justice Beverley McLaughlin and three other Justices dissenting) that a cancer-prone mouse developed by Harvard University researchers was not patentable as a "manufacture" under the Canadian Patent Act. Read Harvard College v. Canada. The mouse had previously been accorded patent protection in the US, Europe and Japan. Opponents of the patent had argued in the Canadian courts that patenting of this lifeform could pave the way for patenting other bio-technological products, up to and including human clones. The 1869 law under which the ruling was made may now be revisited by the Canadian Parliament. MORE ON JURIST: IP & PATENTS NEWS
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INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS... Afghanistan's Bonn Agreement, one year later
Human Rights Watch issued a report Wednesday on the year-old Bonn Agreement, wherein representatives of several different anti-Taliban Afghan factions and groups established a roadmap and timetable for establishing peace and security in Afghanistan, reconstructing the country, reestablishing some key institutions, and protecting human rights. Review the terms of the Bonn Agreement and read HRW's briefing paper Afghanistan's Bonn Agreement One Year Later: A Catalog of Missed Opportunities. MORE ON JURIST: WORLD LAW: AFGHANISTAN
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THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY... 21st Amendment ends Prohibition
On this day in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, ending the ban on the legal sale and importation of alcohol that had been introduced in 1919 by the 18th Amendment. Learn how the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers helped bring about Prohibition's repeal.
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Wednesday, December 04, 2002
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW... Federal judge rules Padilla lawfully detained but has right to counsel
US District Judge Michael Mukasey ruled Wednesday that suspected "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla has been lawfully detained by the military as an "enemy combatant" but has the right to meet with counsel. Review the 102-page ruling in Padilla v. Bush[PDF]. MORE ON JURIST: PADILLA "DIRTY BOMBER" CASE
Noted 1:43 PM | #
US SUPREME COURT... Today's docket
The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments Wednesday in these cases:
Scheidler & Operation Rescue v. NOW [anti-abortion protests, racketeering, private suits, Hobbs Act]. Read the case summary from Northwestern University; official docket entry from SCOTUS; briefs from FindLaw.
Chavez v. Martinez [qualified immunity, law enforcement, interrogations, 5th Amendment]. Read the case summary from Northwestern University; official docket entry from SCOTUS; briefs from FindLaw.
Also, read case analyses by DC appellate attorney and Supreme Court observer Sam Heldman, who predicts that the Supreme Court will reverseOperation Rescue and reverseChavez. MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT
Noted 6:45 AM | #
THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY... FDR establishes Federal Alcohol Control Administration
On this day in 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt established the Federal Alcohol Control Administration (FACA) by executive order under the National Industrial Recovery Act just prior to the formal end of Prohibition. FACA was charged with guiding legitimate wineries and distilleries under a system based on brewers' voluntary codes of fair competition. It effectively vanished from history after just twenty months, when President Roosevelt in August 1935 signed the Federal Alcohol Administration (FAA) Act, lodging alcohol regulation exclusively with the US Treasury Department, where it currently remains under the jurisdiction of the present-day Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, soon to became the Tax and Trade Bureau under the terms of the 2002 Homeland Security Act.
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Tuesday, December 03, 2002
US SUPREME COURT... Court overturns Illinois Supreme Court preemption ruling
The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine, 1-706 [preemption, Federal Boat Safety Act], reversing and remanding to the Illinois Supreme Court. Read the Syllabus and the Court's Opinion by Justice Stevens. Review a case summary from Northwestern University. MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT
Noted 3:52 PM | #
US SUPREME COURT... Today's docket
The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments Tuesday in these cases:
Meyer v. Holley [Fair Housing Act, liability]. Read the case summary from Northwestern University; official docket entry from SCOTUS; briefs from FindLaw.
Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services v. Keffeler [foster children, Social Security benefits]. Read the case summary from Northwestern University; official docket entry from SCOTUS; briefs from FindLaw.
Also, read case analyses by DC appellate attorney and Supreme Court observer Sam Heldman, who predicts that the Supreme Court will reverseMeyer and reverseKeffeler. MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT
Noted 6:45 AM | #
THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY... Statute of Westminster passed
On this day in 1931, the UK Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster, under which the British dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland gained complete legislative independence; the statute received royal assent and came into force on December 11.
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Monday, December 02, 2002
US SUPREME COURT... Court takes U. Mich. affirmative action admissions cases
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in six cases, including two involving affirmative action admissions policies at the University of Michigan. The Court granted certiorari in the Law School case Grutter v. Bollinger, 02-241, and granted cert. on the first question presented by the petitioner in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts case, Gratz v. Bollinger, 02-516. University of Michigan officials (including Law School Dean Jeff Lehman) issued several statements in response to the grants. Read more about the admissions cases from the University of Michigan and the Center for Individual Rights. Other cases granted cert. Monday were:
Lawrence v. Texas, 02-102 [criminalization of homosexual sodomy].
Inyo County, CA v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of Bishop Community, 02-281 [criminal evidence, tribal sovereign immunity]. Read the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling[PDF] appealed from.
US SUPREME COURT... Today's docket
The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments Monday in these associated cases:
U.S. v. White Mountain Apache Tribe [tribal land, government liability, fiduciary breaches]. Read the case summary from Northwestern University; official docket entry from SCOTUS; briefs from FindLaw.
U.S. v. Navaho Nation [tribal land, government liability, fiduciary breaches ]. Read the case summary from Northwestern University; official docket entry from SCOTUS; briefs from FindLaw.
Also, read case analyses by DC appellate attorney and Supreme Court observer Sam Heldman, who predicts that the Supreme Court will reverseWhite Mountain and reverseNavaho Nation. MORE ON JURIST: US SUPREME COURT
Noted 6:30 AM | #
THIS DAY IN LEGAL HISTORY... John Brown hanged
On this day in 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for murder and treason in the wake an unsuccessful attack on the US armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Read John Brown's last speech to the court at his trial, and review Daniel C. Draper, Legal Phases of the Trial of John Brown.
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