BOOKS-ON-LAW/From the Editors - July 2001; v.4, no.5
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JURIST: Books-on-Law is edited by Ronald K.L. Collins and David Skover of the Seattle University School of Law

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From the Editors ———————————————————————
This Month’s Issue

This month, Books-on-Law offers a strikingly rich vein of reviews – a larger number than usual (nine reviews and one reply), spanning a wide spectrum of topics (from international intervention and tobacco regulation to tax fraud and the history of miscegenation), and featuring some familiar and some totally new contributors. There is more than enough here to mine – so, you are welcome to visit this issue as frequently as needed to inspect it all.

We begin the issue with two reviews on governmental regulation – the first of the tobacco industry and the second of the pornography industry. Joseph Page examines an historical account, authored by a former FDA Commissioner, of the government's battle against "big tobacco." Then, Robert Delahunty casts a critical eye on the second edition of a celebrated book defending pornography – which itself is defended in a reply by Marjorie Heins. Robert Peck follows with his take on the story of the Supreme Court's redefinition of religious free exercise. Next, Virginia Brown Keyder compares two books on international law and the use of force. The direction changes radically as Tinsley Yarbrough evaluates a reinterpretation of the New Deal Court's constitutional jurisprudence. One of our more frequent contributors, Dennis Patterson, examines the degree to which legal theory is connected with general philosophy. Thereafter, another familiar reviewer, Janet Spragens, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the tale of America's "great tax dodge." Two of our new contributors then close the issue. Donald Doernberg considers a life history of Supreme Court Justice James Iredell, and Peter Wallenstein reflects on the tri-centennial history of miscegenation law in America.

Disagree with a review? Talk back to the reviewers. We invite your input.

Looking for a new law-related book? Check the selection listed in our Book Notices.

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Third Anniversary (2000-2001 Index)

With this issue, Books-on-Law celebrates its third year of online publishing.

For the last two years, we have posted an index of reviews and related items featured in Books-on-Law. Publications during our first year of operation were summarized in the 1998-1999 Index and those during the second year in the 1999-2000 Index. We are pleased to update things with an index covering May 2000 to July 2001. And, if you can't find something indexed, try our Books-on-Law search engine.

Since May of 2000, Books-on-Law has published 77 original contributions – in a variety of formats, covering a variety of books, and featuring a variety of contributors.

Variety of Formats

A diversity of book reviews may be our stock-in-trade, but our creativity does not stop there. We've run special issues (including a law & economics issue and several women & law issues), an interview in audio and transcript forms, opposing "perspectives" on a controversial book, and a two-part Judges' issue featuring 12 federal and state jurists from a single state (surely a first ever for any legal publication):

Variety of Books

We have tried to vary our selection of topics, with reviews on books concerning:

Free Speech

Dedicated as we are to the First Amendment, a good number of our reviews have dealt with recently published books on freedom of speech. The range of topics has included:

Women & the Law

Running special issues on Women & the Law and Women's History, we were able to publish on numerous topics:

Law & Economics

A surprising bounty of trade books on law & economics published over the past year enabled Books-on-Law to feature its very first special issue on law & economics, which contained reviews on these topics:

Jurisprudence

Books on jurisprudence always have been given a serious airing in Books-on-Law, and last year's publications proved no exception:

Variety of Contributors:

From May of 2000 to July of 2001, the following individuals contributed to Books-of-Law in a variety of capacities – as reviewer, respondent, interviewee, or contributing editor:

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An Ending & A Beginning

This celebratory issue is tinged, however, with a note of sadness for us. Regrettably, this is the last letter that we will be writing as the Editors of Books-on-Law.

We have delighted in creating and launching the site, and in sponsoring some 225 reviews of legal scholarship over the past three years. Now, however, we have several other major projects to attend to – among them, a forthcoming book on the obscenity trials of Lenny Bruce, called Comedy on Trial, packaged with a CD containing rarely heard Bruce routines and original interviews with Bruce's lawyers, prosecutors, and supporters. All in all, we thought it best to step down as Editors at a time when Books-on-Law is very robust.

Like all enterprises, this one will continue to thrive with new leaders full of energy and ideas. The unbounded promise of Books-on-Law is still to be realized – and we urge you, our readers, to stay tuned for new beginnings.

We have been honored with the contributions of many. We are especially grateful to those who have been indispensable to the creation and smooth operation of Books-on-Law for the past three years – Bernard Hibbitts (the director of JURIST), the University of Pittsburgh Law School and Seattle University Law School (our institutional sponsors), Steven Pacillio (our Technical Assistant), Nancy Ammons (our Administrative Assistant), the Members of our Board of Editorial Consultants, Mary-Christine Sungaila (our Contributing Editor), the university and trade press marketing staffs who supplied our review copies, and our many dedicated and talented reviewers and commentators.

And, we are grateful to you, our readers, who have faithfully returned to our site month after month.

Thank you all for a very stimulating and exciting three years.

Ronald K.L. Collins & David M. Skover, Editors, Books-on-Law
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JURIST: Books-on-Law™ is edited by Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover of the Seattle University School of Law.

Board of Editorial Consultants: Raj Bhala, George Washington University Law School; Miriam Galston, George Washington University Law School; Kermit Hall, Utah State University; Yale Kamisar, University of Michigan Law School; Lisa G. Lerman, Catholic University of America School of Law; Christine Littleton, University of California at Los Angeles Law School; David M. O’Brien, University of Virginia Department of Government and Foreign Affairs; Judith Resnik, Yale Law School; Edwin L. Rubin, University of Pennsylvania Law School; Steven H. Shriffrin, Cornell Law School; Nadine Strossen, New York Law School; David B. Wilkins, Harvard Law School.

Administrative Assistant for Books-on-Law: Ms. Nancy Ammons
Technical Assistant for Books-on-Law: Steven Pacillio, Esq.

© Ronald K.L. Collins and David Skover, 2001.

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