Faculty in the News Archive 2001
12.03.01The Boston Globe In the midst of all the attention to the aftermath of September 11, another national tragedy almost occurred in New Bedford, Mass., Doriane Coleman reminded readers in an op-ed piece entitled "Columbine (almost) revisited." Three teenaged boys who had allegedly conspired to replicate the 1999 events at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., were arrested before doing any harm. But Coleman, who teaches children and the law at Duke Law School, wrote "to focus principally on averting such tragedies at this stage of the game is to miss the mark by a wide margin. The boys who killed in Columbine and who might have killed in New Bedford were deeply troubled long before they imagined and took action ... Indeed, among child development experts, there is little doubt that their underlying dysfunction is precisely what made them capable of such thoughts and acts. ... As we come together as a society in the aftermath of the recent terrorism, and as we begin to contemplate the ways in which we might become better citizens of the world, we must not forget that this new community we are forming offers previously unimaginable possibilities not only for our adult souls and bipartisanship in government. It also offers the possibility to revisit how we raise our children. This, in turn, provides the opportunity for us to cure the Columbine epidemic and truly to secure the nation's future."
10.14.01
The Washington Post Possible new role for grand juries in counterterrorism ... In tearing down the wall between federal grand juries and intelligence agencies, a proposal by Attorney General John Ashcroft would make it lawful for the CIA and the U.S. military to tap into the investigative might of the federal grand jury. The proposal would also remove the supervisory control of a federal judge, who under the current structure is the only person who can allow grand jury information to be shared. Duke University Law Professor Sara Sun Beale, a former Justice Department official who is an authority on federal criminal law and the grand jury, said a key question is whether routine sharing of grand jury evidence with the CIA will gradually convert the grand jury into an engine of political intelligence-gathering. "The grand jury was created to investigate criminal wrongdoing," Beale said. "It was given extensive authority to clear the innocent and discover evidence against the guilty." Historically, she said, judicial supervision and secrecy rules were integral parts of an official proceeding that can compel secret testimony and incarcerate uncooperative witnesses. "Now that we know the information that comes out at the end of the pipeline could be shared with intelligence agencies, how will the grand jury be used?" she asked.
10.13.01
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Execution dates set for three murderers ... Even though a new law in North Carolina gives death-row inmates the right to ask by Jan. 31, 2002 for a hearing to review any evidence of mental retardation, the N.C. Department of Correction scheduled three inmates’ executions for November and December 2001. Duke University Law School Professor James Coleman said that setting execution dates for those who probably would file for hearings under the new law was "slimy. The legislature obviously thought people on death row needed time to [ask for the hearing under the new law]. Basically, these dates cut off the time that these defendants would have."
08.21.01
The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.) Midway Airlines declares bankruptcy ... Midway Airlines' decision to not pay wages for its final pay period could hurt the airline's chances for recovery, said Steven Schwarcz, a Duke University law professor and founder of Duke's interdisciplinary Global Capital Markets Center. Current employees might not trust that the airline is going to treat them well in the future, he said. "It depends on the company. I've known companies that have made sure they paid the employees bacause they wanted to keep all of them and it was so important they wanted to make them feel [secure]," Schwarcz said. "Midway obviously made a decision."
08.17.01
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Penalties loom for Marine Corps officers in Osprey case ... Eight Marine Corps officers accused of altering the Osprey's maintenance records to hide the aircraft's deficiencies were due to receive penalties. Legal and military experts, including Scott Silliman, Executive Director of Duke Law School's Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security, said the investigation shows the Marine Corps can mete out discipline regardless of rank. Silliman, who spent 25 years as an Air Force lawyer, said that all military services understand that officers cannot be exempt from discipline. "The Marine Corps is fighting, fighting to get [the Osprey] funded, and the only way they can do that is to show the American people and Congress that they will not tolerate any dereliction in that program," Silliman said.
08.06.01
The New York Times A study's verdict: jury awards are not out of control ... Critics of the civil justice system have argued for years that reform is needed because of runaway punitive damage verdicts by juries. But a comprehensive study of nearly 9,000 trials across the country has found that judges award punitive damages about as often as juries and generally in about the same proportions. By showing that judges and juries generally have similar views of punitive damages, the study -- to be published in March in the Cornell Law Review -- suggested that juries may be far less arbitrary than is widely believed, said Neil Vidmar, an authority on jury issues at Duke Law School who was not involved in the Cornell research but was familiar with it. "It is novel," Vidmar said, "because the conventional wisdom is juries are irresponsible, incompetent and don’t know how to make an assessment."
07.21.01 and 07.29.01
Reuters News Agency Merrill Lynch settles anti-Blodget case ... Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. paid $400,000 to settle allegations that overly-bullish research by the company’s top Internet analyst, Henry Blodget, caused an investor to lose his shirt. The attorney for the investor has vowed to go after other high-profile Wall Street analysts. James Cox, a professor of corporate and securities law at Duke University, said analysts might be protected because the Blodget award arose from an arbitration proceeding and as such did not establish legal precedent. Still, the case may open the door for disgruntled investors looking for scapegoats and financial redress, he said. "The genie is out of the bottle now," Cox said. "People now know what is going on. This story hasn’t gone away."
In a story on the same topic July 29, Cox told the Chicago Tribune that though the Blodget case establishes no legal precedent, its outcome is likely to breed many
copycat claims. "It gets the juices flowing for investors who lost money in high-tech stocks, and there are lots of them out there," Cox said.
07.17.01 and 07.21.01
The News & Observer of Raleigh Crunch Time for Bank Deal ... Talking to the News & Observer of Raleigh about SunTrust Banks’ attempt to have the N.C. Business Court
in Greensboro invalidate the planned merger of Wachovia and First Union banks, Duke University Law Professor James Cox said it was difficult to predict how the five-year-old court
would rule. Because of its short history, the court has little experience handling large corporate mergers. "A ruling (in favor of SunTrust) would be a big, big step away from the body of
precedent," said Cox, a professor of corporate and securities law, "But with a court this young, precedent may not matter." The court rejected SunTrust’s argument against the merger, quashing
the legal challenge. In a follow-up story July 21, the News & Observer asked Cox for his reaction. "SunTrust was pushing a very big rock up a very big hill," he said.
07.13.01
CNN Live Today Is Banning Deadbeat Dads From Having Kids Constitutional? ... The Wisconsin Supreme Court has banned David Oakley, who owes more than $25,000 in child support for
his nine children, from having any more kids during a five-year probationary period. CNN Live Today asked Duke Law Professor Doriane Coleman, to comment on the decision. Coleman
said she thought the court's sentence was "entirely appropriate" under the circumstances. " ... the government has, in the past, misused its authority to restrict the right of people to procreate,
just as it's misused its authority in other respects," she said. "But that does not mean that in this country we stand for an absolutely unfettered right to procreate." She added: "This is not a
case where he is unable to pay something toward the support of his children; it's a case where he has purposely declined to do so in circumstances where he can contribute something."
07.11.01
USA Today 'Deadbeat dad told: No more kids. Wis. court backs threat of prison ... In an unprecedented action against "deadbeat dads", the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Jul 10 ruled
4-3 that a man who owed $25,000 in child support could be ordered not to father any more children. If David Oakley, who already has had nine children with four women, fails to abide by the
condition, he faces eight years in prison. Dissenting justices emphasized the fundamental right to have children and said the action aganist Oakley was too drastic. Another noted it could lead a
woman to have an abortion to protect Oakley from prison. Duke University Law School Dean Katharine Bartlett, a specialist in family law, predicted the courts increasingly will face
such dilemmas over child support and privacy rights. "I think the culture is moving in the direction of support for more rigorous measures to enforce child-support orders," Bartlett told USA Today.
She said the Oakley case ultimately could influence other disputes over reproductive rights.
07.05.01
The New York Times Lack of Lawyers Hinders Appeals in Capital Cases ... Dozens of inmates on death row lack lawyers for their appeals, in part because private law firms are
increasingly unwilling to take on burdensome, expensive and emotionally wrenching capital cases, The New York Times reports. The situation has dire implications, the July 5 story said, because two
out of three appealed death sentences are set aside dues to errors by defense lawyers at the time of trial or because of prosecutorial misconduct. Duke University Law Professor James
Coleman is quoted, saying that the lack of competent counsel to handle capital cases was a significant factor in the American Bar Association's decision to call for a moratorium on
executions. Coleman, who teached criminal law and legal ethics, is past chair of the ABA's Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities.
06.06.01
The Dallas Morning News Judging Juries ... The Dallas Morning News observed in a June 6 article that jury consultants - experts who advise lawyers on which jurors to impanel and
which to strike - have become as commonplace in the courtroom as expert witnesses. Duke Law School Professor Neil Vidmar agreed. "The jury expert business has simply exploded,"
Vidmar, who has written on medical malpractice cases and the American jury and recently published a book, World Jury Systems (2000), told the Morning News. "They used to only pop up in the most
extreme criminal cases and everyone made fun of them as pseudo-scientists," said Vidmar, a Ph.D social psychologist. "Now, it's almost legal malpractice for lawyers not to hire them in big cases."
Vidmar and others noted that problems arise when jury consultants rely on stereotypes such as race, gender, age, income or some other factor to decide if a juror will be fair and open-minded.
"There are jury consultants who strike a juror because he is wearing a light blue or green sport coat instead of the dark blue or dark gray jacket, which they believe signifies strength or
authority," Vidmar said. "But it could just be that all the guy's dark blue and gray suits were at the dry cleaner, and he would make a great juror for them."
05.29.01
U.S. Law Week Core Chapters of Agency Restatement Gain ALI Approval ... The work of Duke Law School Professor Deborah DeMott on the American Law Institute's
Restatement (Third) of the Law of Agency project is recognized in a lengthy article in United States Law Week. DeMott has served as the ALI's project reporter since 1995. The
Institute granted provisional approval of Tentative Draft No. 2 of the restatement on May 17. The vote approved four chapters covering introductory matters, principles of attribution, creation and
termination of authority, and ratification. Left unapproved was a single section of the ratification chapter.
05.20.01
The News & Observer (NC) High-Tech Frisk ... Do police officers infringe on privacy rights when they conduct high-tech surveillance, as in the Oregon case where police used
thermal imagers to detect heat coming from the powerful lights Danny Lee Kyllo was using to grow marijuana in his home? The U.S. Supreme Court will soon address this issue when it hears the Oregon
case. Duke Law School Professors Bob Mosteller and Andrew Taslitz talked with the News & Observer about the implications of the case. "The
potential here is for Big Brother Action in which we're followed all of the time," Mosteller told the Raleigh newspaper, while noting that police have to date been fairly conservative in their use
of high-tech surveillance. "We think we're protecting ourselves from prying eyes when we go inside and shut the door. Technology threatens the efforts we make to stay private." Taslitz said the
Court's decision in the Kyllo case will signal its stance on new technology as it applies to Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure. "Technology is advancing faster
than our concepts of privacy," Taslitz said. "It's going to get more and more complex as technology develops.
05.17.01
Time.com Why Ashcroft Is Being Cautious Over McVeigh Execution ... Six days before the Timothy McVeigh was scheduled to be executed for his role in the Oklahoma City bomb blast
that killed 168 people, the FBI announced that it has discovered more than 3,000 documents that were not turned over to McVeigh’s defense team during the trial. James
Coleman, a professor of criminal law and legal ethics at Duke Law School, told Time.com: "Given the nature of this case, I don’t think they had any choice; the
government wants to eliminate any lingering question at all as to whether the trial was fair." ...link to the full text of
Coleman's interview with Time.com.
04.01.01
The New York Times Harry Potter and the Court Battle Over Creativity ... Legal challenges filed by the famous and little-known alike over the originality of creative works have
proliferated steadily over the last 20 years, partly because of the soaring value of intellectual property in a media-saturated culture. One recent example is the case of Camp Hill, Pa., homemaker
Nancy Stouffer, who asserts that Harry Potter, the fictional bespectacled boy wizard-in-training of the wildly popular Harry Potter children's book series, was her creation and not that of J.K.
Rowling, author of the Potter books. "These cases are more intense and more frequently encountered these days than in the past, driven by the increasing appetite on the part of all kinds of people
for intellectual property protection," said David Lange, a professor at Duke University School of Law, told the Times.
03.13.01
The Washington Post When Companies Go Bust, So Do Stockholders; Often, They're Left Out of the Money ... You'd be surprised how many investors think their stocks came with a
warranty. I've certainly been surprised by the inquiries I get from shareholders in troubled companies, particularly companies that have filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy law,
or that are on the verge of doing so. ... "The economic concept is that the shareholder is the residual risk bearer," said Deborah DeMott, a professor of corporate law at
Duke Law School. "If things go well, the shareholder benefits. In exchange for the upside, the shareholders take the risk that what they've invested will be lost if the company
fails." ...
03.09.01
The News & Record (NC) Remove politics from redistricting, law professor argues ... An independent panel should draw North Carolina's new congressional districts, says an
attorney who has challenged the fairness of those boundaries for almost a decade. "If we don't have something like that we're going to have more gerrymandering," Robinson Everett
told the Greensboro Kiwanis Club on Thursday. Politicians contort, or gerrymander, districts to favor certain races, political parties and politicians, he said. Everett, a professor at Duke
University Law School, has repeatedly argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that the 12th District is unconstitutionally drawn to include a disproportionate percentage of black voters. The
district snakes from Greensboro to Charlotte ...
03.06.01
The News & Observer (NC) -- Point of View A tool for fixing inequality ... As George Bernard Shaw observed: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the
support of Paul." And, indeed, self-interest has over the years been a reliable predictor of views on most tax policy questions, for most taxpayers. It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, to hear
that several of the master capitalists of our era -- George Soros, Warren Buffet and David Rockefeller, for example -- are opposed to the attempt to repeal "the death tax," as critics now call the
federal estate and gift taxes. Their families would be spared literally billions of dollars if this part of the Bush tax plan is enacted. But in an altruistic display of public spirit, they point
out that the estate and gift taxes serve a useful purpose: They retard the development of a powerful class of ultra-wealthy whose membership is determined by heredity rather than merit. ...
Richard Schmalbeck is a professor of the Duke University School of Law.
03.05.01
Time Crime and Punishment: The Supreme Court's death-penalty decision is a red herring ... The Supreme Court of Canada has handed authorities in Washington State a choice worthy of
Solomon -- in reverse. If they want to try two young Canadians for murder, they will have to promise not to execute them. Otherwise Atif Rafay and Sebastian Burns, who have spent the past six years
in a Vancouver jail fighting extradition to the U.S. could very well go free. The court's Feb. 16 decision left death-penalty opponents in both countries overjoyed. "The U.S. is now isolated on the
continent," exulted Duke University law professor James Coleman, who notes that Mexico requires similar assurances from the U.S. before it will extradite murder suspects. ...
03.05.01
The Christian Science Monitor How just is U.S. military justice? ... In the high-tech military of the 21st century, the captain of a nuclear-powered U.S. naval vessel can throw a
sailor in the brig with nothing but bread and water to sustain him. A soldier on leave who robs a bank can be prosecuted in the Army as well as by the state. An airman who commits a capital offense
can be given the death penalty by a jury of just five people. And a Marine Corps captain could be in big trouble for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman." Is "military justice" an
oxymoron? ... "In many ways, it's a lot more progressive than many of the civilian systems," says Robinson Everett, a senior judge of the U.S. Court of Military Appeals and
professor of law at Duke University in Durham, N.C. ...
03.03.01
The News & Record (NC) Critics attack Easley over clemency issue ... Ernest Paul McCarver, his life saved at least temporarily by a last minute stay from the U.S. Supreme
Court, moved from the shadow of the execution chamber Friday to his old cell off Central Prison's death row. Meanwhile, legal scholars, educators and death penalty opponents sharply criticized Gov.
Mike Easley for refusing to grant clemency to McCarver, a man described by psychologists as having the mind of a child. ... "This has to be very significant," said Jim Coleman,
Duke University law professor. "I think the court might be about to say that our evolving standard of decency has reached the point that it is cruel and unusual to put to death the
mentally retarded." ...
03.01.01
The News & Record (NC) Lawyers ask Easley to halt execution ... Lawyers for Ernest Paul McCarver, who is scheduled to be executed at 2 a.m. Friday, pleaded Wednesday with Gov.
Mike Easley to spare McCarver's life - at least until the General Assembly votes on a bill to outlaw executing people with mental retardation in North Carolina. ... In a letter to Easley urging
clemency for McCarver, Duke University law professor Jim Coleman said the jury in 1992 sentenced McCarver to death even though it found that McCarver's IQ was "in the lower range
of borderline intellectual functioning." Coleman emphasized to Easley that McCarver's jury also determined that he was mentally or emotionally disturbed and that his capacity "to appreciate the
criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was impaired at the time of his offense." Coleman told Easley that it is "difficult to rationally reconcile those
findings with the jury's unanimous decision to sentence Mr. McCarver to death. Coleman was a member of the legislative study commission that recommended abolishing the death penalty for people with
mental retardation. He told Easley that permitting McCarver's execution to be carried out while legislation likely to be enacted is "indefensible." ...
02.27.01
National Public Radio -- Morning Edition President Bush and many Republicans in Congress favor repeal of the estate tax, which they refer to as the 'death tax.' It requires payment
of inheritance tax on large estates. The rate can be as low as 18 percent or as high as 55 percent of the estate's value. ... Richard Schmalbeck: If the estate's just barely into
the taxable range, there are things that you can do using the marital deduction that may get you just below the threshold. So if you're talking about a couple that has maybe a $2 or $2.5 million,
they can probably avoid paying any transfer taxes at all if they are careful about what they do and get good advice. ...
02.25.01
The News & Record (NC) Debate swirls as execution date looms; a law to prohibit putting the mentally diabled to death may come too late for Ernest Paul McCarver, scheduled to
die Friday ... Psychologists say Ernest Paul McCarver has the mind of a 10- or 12-year-old child, younger even than his "little princess," the 13-year-old daughter he hopes to see Thursday, the day
before the state executes him. ... Duke Law professor Jim Coleman, who also was a member of the study commission, said it would be a "travesty of justice and a tragedy to permit
this execution to take place just as the legislature is about to carry out the will of the people of North Carolina who do not want to execute the mentally retarded." ...
02.09.01
The Charlotte Observer Charities, Universities Worry Loss of Estate Tax Will Reduce Donations ... Some Carolinas colleges are worrying that President Bush's plan to eliminate the
estate tax may cost them in donations. Abolishing the tax would allow the wealthiest Americans to keep more of their money in the family when they die. Currently, the well-to-do often leave their
inheritances to charity, to spare their heirs the tax of up to 55 percent on the largest estates. ... "Colleges and cultural institutions are very worried about this -- but they're quietly
worried," said Richard Schmalbeck, a tax law professor at Duke University. "They're in a real pickle when it comes to lobbying about this because their benefactors
want this change to happen." ...
02.04.01
The New York Times U.S. Decides Not to Prosecute 4 Officers Who Killed Diallo ... Justice Department officials said yesterday that they would not prosecute the four New York City
police officers who shot Amadou Diallo to death two years ago, closing the criminal phase of a racially charged case that provoked a citywide debate on aggressive police tactics. ... But legal
experts said the standards for winning a federal criminal conviction in a civil rights case were usually more stringent than those faced by state prosecutors. Reckless conduct on the part of the
officers is not enough, lawyers said. It must be proved that the officers willfully deprived Mr. Diallo of his 14th Amendment right that guarantees that a person's life should not be taken without
due process. ... "In constitutional terms," said William Van Alstyne, a professor at Duke University Law School, "what one is looking for is a case that is not
just a murder or brutality case -- there are thousands of those in state courts -- but one with something particular in which the nation as a whole has an interest." ...
01.28.01
The Washington Post Stockholders last in line in bankruptcy ... You'd be surprised how many investors think their stocks came with a warranty. ... The people most likely to receive
money in a bankruptcy proceeding are creditors, companies or individuals who have lent money to the troubled firm. The people least likely to get anything are the shareholders. They're not
creditors. They're owners. "The economic concept is that the shareholder is the residual risk bearer," said Deborah DeMott, a professor of corporate law at Duke Law
School. "If things go well the shareholder benefits. ... In exchange for the upside, the shareholder takes the risk that what they've invested will be lost if the company fails." ...
01.24.01
The Washington Post Spurred by the release of 13 inmates from Illinois' death row, the state Supreme Court has set some of the nation's most rigorous standards of training and
experience for defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges handling capital cases. Under rules that take effect in March, the lead lawyer on each side must have at least five years of criminal
litigation experience and must have worked on at least two murder trials; prosecutors must let defense attorneys know quickly if they intend to seek the death penalty; and judges who might preside
over capital cases must attend training seminars every two years. ... "When Illinois establishes standards like this, I think that it says to other states this is necessary to avoid the kinds of
problems that Illinois has had," said Jim Coleman, a law professor at Duke University who studied the death penalty for the American Bar Association. ...
01.17.01
Centre Daily Times Pennsylvania Doctors Raise Furor over Lax Medical Malpractice Laws ... Medical malpractice crises have occurred before, although mostly on a national level. The
catalyst was the same then as it is in Pennsylvania now: the rising cost of malpractice coverage or the difficulty of obtaining that coverage, said Clark Havighurst, a professor of
law at Duke University School of Law. The debate in Pennsylvania over medical malpractice seems divided along the same lines as elsewhere: physicians, health-care providers and
insurance companies vs. plaintiff attorneys and consumers, Havighurst said. ... With plaintiff attorney's fees contingent upon favorable verdicts, many say they can't afford to take on malpractice
claims with potential awards of less than $100,000, said Neil Vidmar, a professor of law at Duke University School of Law. ...
01.12.01
The Washington Post Rivals of Microsoft Corp. have retained Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to help support the Clinton administration's case that the software giant broke
antitrust law and should be split in two to restore competition in the marketplace. ... Separately, American Online has hired Walter Dellinger, a former solicitor general for
President Clinton, to work on the case. ... Dellinger, a partner at O'Melveney & Meyers, served as solicitor general in 1996 and 1997 and was a key member of Vice President Gore's legal team
that fought for a manual recount of votes in several counties in Florida. He also teaches constitutional law at Duke University Law School. ...
01.10.01
Investor's Business Daily Fireworks over digital music to go off in Washington, D.C. ... You might expect a music-technology conference addressing topics like copyright law and
Internet song-swapping to meet in glitzy Hollywood or wired Silicon Valley, not starchy Washington, D.C. But the first Coalition for the Future of Music Policy Conference will be held Wednesday and
Thursday on the shores of the Potomac, not the Pacific, in a sign of the growing federal role in the debate over who controls the intellectual property in the Napster age. ... "Both Silicon Valley
and La-La Land are turning their attention to Washington because Washington has the ability to significantly mess things up," said James Boyle, a Duke University
law professor and critic of the 1998 law, who will speak at the conference on Wednesday. ...
01.10.01
National Journal's Technology Daily Intellectual Property: Panelists say Napster alters copyright, debate ... The explosive growth of Napster and other technologies that permit
users to swap digital music files has begun to change the political dynamics governing the quite controversial topic of how copyright law should apply on the Web. But that point was perhaps the
only one upon which the different factions in the copyright debate could agree Wednesday at a panel on the state of the digital music industry. ... "The importance of Napster is not the legal
arguments but the importance of its" 51 million users, James Boyle, a professor at Duke University Law School, said at the Future of Music Coalition's first annual
conference at Georgetown University. "You wouldn't have gotten Sen. Orrin Hatch up here two years ago without" them, he said, referring to the earlier keynote speaker, who is chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee. ...
01.07.01
The Dallas Morning News A model for reform; Judge's ideas sparked changes in Arizona's jury system and calls for change in Texas and other states ... Imagine being forced to take a
college course you didn't want and knew nothing about. It could take a few days or several weeks - no one knew for sure. There would be several speakers, some using technical language you didn't
understand. You couldn't take notes, ask questions or consult your classmates. Then at the end, there'd be a test that required everyone to give the same answers - or no one could go home. That's
how recently retired Arizona Judge Michael Dann describes traditional jury service. "It makes no sense. Jury duty is totally foreign to the way we act and think as human beings," he says. So, at
Judge Dann's urging, Arizona courts five years ago began a bold experiment in hopes of changing all that. ... "Jurors who have a better understanding of the facts and the law deliver more informed
and more accurate verdicts," says Duke University law professor Neil Vidmar, a student of the Arizona project since its inception. ...
01.04.01
National Public Radio - Morning Edition Republicans uneasy about creation of international criminal court ... Among the foreign policy challenges facing President-elect George W.
Bush is the controversy over creation of a new International Criminal Court. Over the New Year's weekend, President Clinton signed a treaty setting up a permanent war crimes tribunal, but
Republicans say the treaty is flawed beyond repair. Professor Madeline Morris was interviewed. ...link to
audio
12.29.00
The Herald-Sun (NC) N.C. gains 13th congressional seat ... North Carolina's population soared 21.4 percent this decade, winning the state a 13th congressional seat that could
bolster representation for the Triangle and other urban areas. ... The census figures and supposed urban growth also could put to bed the long-running judicial issue of minority districts, which
has come before the U.S. Supreme Court four times in the last eight years. The Justice Department after the last census ordered more minority representation in the congressional voting blocs of
North Carolina, putting the state on a judicial collion course with Duke University law professor Robinson Everett. ... "The message I think is clear that what they need to do is
avoid focusing on race and instead on political subdivisions," he said. "With 13 seats instead of 12, the odds are better that there will be more diversity and more opportunity." ...
12.24.00
The News & Observer (NC) Hog farms face class-action foe ... These two dozen trial lawyers have humbled cigarette makers, diet drug companies and other corporate behemoths with
multimillion dollar product liability lawsuits. Their decision in September to target a new foe - the pork industry - has already sharpened the conflict over the industry in North Carolina. Fifteen
law firms specializing in class actions promise a barrage of lawsuits in the coming months that they say would reform the way factory hog farms are run. The lawyers say the industry has illegally
polluted water and air, mistreated animals and violated the sanctity of rural communities from the plains of eastern North Carolina to the hills of northern Missouri. ... Duke law professor
Thomas B. Metzloff, an expert in mass tort law, said by banding together the law firms gain two things: ample money to fight long battles against rich corporations, and collective talent.
"Essentially, what these lawyers do is create a joint venture," Metzloff said. "There's a lot of risk. It takes a while to win. You don't see any money for a while, so financial staying power is
important. You send a signal to the other side: You can't intimidate us. You can't wait us out. You can't outspend us until we give up." ...
12.19.00
Fulton County Daily Report Election Teams Rated Lawyers of Year; Bush, Gore Groups Honored by National Law Journal ... Before Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist let oral arguments
begin on Dec. 11 in what would be the culminating appeal in the 2000 battle for the White House, he thanked the lawyers for "exemplary briefing under very trying circumstances." The chief justice
isn't usually so complimentary, but he knew good lawyering when he saw it. So did we. Throughout the five-week election ordeal, despite complaints about lawyers hijacking the election, lawyers
acquitted themselves admirably-the reason the National Law Journal named the Bush and Gore legal teams Lawyers of the Year. ... William Van Alstyne, a noted constitutional law
scholar at Duke University Law School, read most of the briefs in the litigation and says that the overall quality was "astoundingly good." "I read lots of briefs in the Supreme
Court every year, and most lawyers have a minimum of 60 days to prepare, and on average, they are not as good as these," he adds. ...
12.17.00
The News & Record (NC) Electoral College prepares to meet; an unusual presidential contest has put more attention on the state's 14 electors ... Without the Electoral College,
the man Elaine Marshall supported for president this year would be heading to the White House instead of pondering his career options. Even so, the North Carolina secretary of state, a longtime
Democratic Party loyalist, steadfastly supports the select group of men and women who this week officially choose the nation's 43rd president. At noon Monday, electors nationwide will convene at
their respective capitols and, barring any rogue vote, confirm Republican George W. Bush as president-elect. The meetings typically pass unnoticed but might get more attention this year,
considering the election results. ... William Van Alstyne, a Duke University constitutional law professor, said arguments in favor of abolishing the Electoral
College "underwhelmed" him. He said the turmoil this election did not necessitate oblitertaing a process that has worked for two centuries and ensures that presidential candidates campaign in at
least some places outside of the populous Northeast and California. ...
12.14.00
The News & Observer (NC) Scholars say high court damaged itself - and Bush ... Several area scholars warned Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that ended the
presidential race could undermine public confidence in the high court and in George W. Bush's presidency. ... Duke University law professor Christopher Schroeder agrees. He said he
doesn't buy the justification in the ruling, in which Rehnquist compares the Florida high court to state courts in the South during the days of segregation, when federal courts intervened to
prevent miscarriages of justice due to racism. "It's especially disturbing to me that these are the same justices who declare acts of Congress unconstitutional because they tread too much on
states' rights," Schroeder said. But fellow Duke law professor William Van Alstyne disagrees, saying this is not a typical federalism case. The justices had to interpret state law
to see whether the Florida legislature had met constitutional requirements in the selection of its presidential electors, he said. Van Alstyne said the fact that seven justices had concerns about
equal protection in the recount shows the ruling wasn't partisan or unreasonable. Without uniform guidelines on a recount, Van Alstyne said, "you get utter arbitrariness. That's the denial of equal
protection." ...
12.14.00
The Palm Beach Post (FL) Lawyers urged Gore to fight on; the vice president decided not to press the issue ... Six bottles of champagne occupy a refrigerator shelf in a
walk-through kitchen adjoining Dexter Douglass' law office. "It's a sad event. We are pretty-well disbanded," Douglass said Wednesday. He teamed with attorney David Boies to champion Vice President
Al Gore's lawsuit contesting the Florida presidential vote. ... Professor William Van Alstyne of the Duke University School of Law agreed that the majority
opinion, in an aside, told Florida justices that time had run out for any recount that would comply with state law. But he, too, disagreed with the court's view on the deadline. "I think there is a
legal wiggle room on remand so that the Florida Supreme Court can say that they don't read the statute as per the court's (majority opinion)," he said. Van Alstyne suggested that even the Dec. 18
deadline is "consequential, not fatal" because Florida's electoral votes would then become an issue of Congress to settle. ...
12.13.00
Scripps Howard News Service Fla. laws may mean pro-Democratic reform laws ... The Supreme Court may have resolved the 2000 presidential election in ways that in the long run may
open the nation's voting system to reforms that help Democrats more than Republicans, experts predict. ... For Democrats, the possible brights side to the Supreme Court ruling is that antiquated
voting systems may be updated because they're not only inequitable but unconstitutional, says Duke University law professor Tom Rowe. "The main beneficiaries may be less-affluent
areas that tend to have less voter-friendly technology, which will likely yield gains for the apparent losers in Tuesday's decision - the Democrats," Rowe predicts. ...
12.12.00
National Public Radio -- All Things Considered Bitterness and sarcasm enter into debate over school vouchers in Cleveland, Ohio ... In Cleveland, supporters of school vouchers are
promising to challenge a federal court ruling that struck down the city's voucher program. The court's decision yesterday reflected the divisions among the public at large. Many Americans see
school vouchers as either the biggest threat or the greatest hope for millions of poor schoolchildren. ... The law, though, is not always as clear-cut, says Tom Metzloff, a law
professor at Duke University. But it's important for a court's judgment to be seen as the result of courteous, respectful and civil debate, says Metzloff. "School vouchers, the
whole area of governmental support of religious programs is tricky business, and I think everyone expects judges to respect each other's positions." ...link to audio
12.11.00
The Washington Post No 'Crisis' Yet From Electoral Uncertainty, Say Legal Scholars ... Americans found themselves in a new place this weekend, confronting what many public figures
called "a constitutional crisis" brought on by conflicting court decisions and continued doubt about the outcome of last month's presidential election. But legal scholars from all points on the
ideological spectrum said it was too soon to declare a true constitutional crisis, one that threatened the ordinary functioning of the government or put one branch of government in open,
irreconcilable conflict with another. ... A more liberal scholar, Christopher H. Schroeder of Duke University Law School, who served in the Clinton
administration's Justice Department, said a constitutional crisis arises when "one of the branches of government decides not to acknowledge and accede to . . . the legitimate authority of another
branch of government"--not the case here, Schroeder said. ...
12.10.00
The News & Observer (NC) The will to give ... Triangle charities are downright nervous about Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Bush has already declared his opposition to the estate
tax, commonly known as the "death tax." Pundits predict his election would almost certainly lead to the passage of a bill, the Death Tax Elimination Act, that would phase out the tax by 2010. The
bill made it through both houses of Congress during the summer before it was vetoed by President Clinton. ... According to a study done by two Duke University professors, Richard
Schmalbeck and Charles Clotfelter, the amount of "deferred giving" - money donated to charities through wills and trusts - would fall 24 percent to 44 percent if the
estate tax did not exist. With deferred giving totaling about $ 15.6 billion in 1999, that would reduce charitable donations by $ 3.74 billion to $ 6.86 billion, Shmalbach said. Most people,
Shmalbach said, respond to "price incentives" when they decide how much to give to charities. Given the choice between leaving $ 1 million to charity or just $ 450,000 to their children after the
55 percent tax is imposed, donors will often choose the former. "The tax is punitive enough that it really does encourage serious giving," said Shmalbach, a professor at the Duke University School
of Law. ...
12.10.00
The Washington Post Slim Majority Raises Fear of Court Partisanship ... Before yesterday, the Supreme Court had received extensive advice, then praise, for taking a careful,
moderate and unanimous approach to the sensitive legal questions it considered in connection with this year's hung election for president. Then yesterday, five justices abandoned that approach,
staking out a position that opened the court to accusations of intemperate partisanship as the majority stayed the vote count in Florida and signaled its willingness to decide the 2000 election in
favor of George W. Bush. ... Professor Christopher Schroeder of Duke University's School of Law, who worked in the Clinton administration's Justice Department,
called the five-member majority "imperialist" in its willingness to impose its views on other branches of government and jeopardizing the court's legitimacy. ... William Van
Alstyne, a professor at Duke, noted yesterday that under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, the court struck down two dozen federal statutes during the '90s, more than any court in
American history in a comparable period. He recalled three big cases in 1997 handed down in three consecutive days that struck down provisions of the Brady gun-control bill, the entire Religious
Freedom Restoration Act and the entire Communications Decency Act, all three passed by substantial congressional majorities. ...
12.06.00
University Wire Court ruling in U. Washington case could impact U. Michigan lawsuit ... While the University of Michigan anxiously awaits a decision in one of the cases challening
the use of race as a factor in admissions, the 9th Circuit of Appeals has upheld the use of race in admissions at the University of Washington Law School. ... Legal experts and lawyers from each
side in the University case were careful to note that the 9th Circuit's decision does not dictate what action the federal district court in Detroit takes. "I think it has some general impact,"
Duke University law professor Jerome Culp said. "It certainly gives judges a different interpretation of the law." Culp also said in the past the 9th Circuit has been the most
overruled circuit by the Supreme Court. ...link to article
12.04.00
The New York Times Contesting the Vote: The Vice President ... Vice President Al Gore remained determined today to press on with his legal case in Florida, holding a high-level
legal strategy session that included Walter E. Dellinger III, the former acting solicitor general of the Clinton administration and a highly respected constitutional scholar. ...
Dellinger, who is a law professor at Duke University and has been mentioned as a possible United States Supreme Court nominee in a Gore administration, has met previously with Gore
at the vice president's residence to discuss the election. ...
12.03.00
The Dallas Morning News Texas case roils health-care waters; spurned doctor takes on Humana Health Plans after complaints on physician system, peer review ... John Paul Schulze was
reared in the medical school tradition of following patients from the cradle to the grave. So when Humana Health Plans of Texas terminated him as a provider, cutting 700 to 800 people from his
care, he did something most doctors don't. He sued and won. The nearly $20 million verdict capped a two-year legal battle by Dr. Schulze to clear his name after Humana accused him of providing
substandard care, including not reading an EKG properly. ... Clark Havighurst, a professor in health-care law at Duke University, says the decision could have
far-reaching effects on the way peer reviews are conducted, making them more legalistic. "It greatly increases the burden of proof a plan needs to get rid of physicians," Havighurst said. "It could
also empower physicians against health plans, giving health plans less authority." ...
12.01.00
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer Historic Hearing, Political Wrap ... A panel of legal scholars assess the arguments and questions from today's Supreme Court hearing on the Florida
election controversy. Professor Christopher Schroeder was a guest. ...link to transcript and
audio
12.01.00
The Daily News (NY) Rendezvous with History: Supremes get case on making presidents ... When the U.S. Supreme Court convenes at 10 o'clock this morning, experts expect an intense,
grueling argument among legal titans who will be fighting the case of their lives. ... Yesterday, both sides filed briefs arguing the latest showstopper maneuver in the battle: whether the Florida
Legislature has the power to name the electors sent to the Electoral College. Could the Supreme Court weigh in on that, or even dabble in the myriad other issues being fought in Florida? Yes, said
William Van Alstyne, professor of law at Duke University. "It's always possible - if a majority of the court were convinced that these are substantial federal
questions." ...link to article
11.30.00
The Boston Globe Dedicing Death, as Fame Turns to Infamy the Role of Celebrity Debated in Murder Trial of NFL Player Carruth ... In a crowded courtroom, Rae Carruth's actions and
his fame are both under scrutiny. If the jury believes the prosecution's theory that Carruth masterminded the killing of his pregnant girlfriend so he wouldn't have to pay $5,000 a month in child
support, the former Carolina Panthers football player could become the first American celebrity to be sentenced to death ... "You just have to wonder if Carruth's celebrity status will undermine
the prosecution's decision to seek the death penalty," said Jim Coleman, a law professor at Duke University in Durham, N.C. ...
11.28.00
The Herald-Sun (NC) Attorneys argue 12th district in high court ... The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday that the shape of North Carolina's 12th Congressional District, now
occupied by Rep. Melvin Watt, violates a 1993 Supreme Court ruling that districts drawn to bolster minority representation may violate the rights of whites. ... The 12th District is 46 percent
black, down from the 57 percent black majority of 1996 when the even more misshapen district meandered through 160 miles of North Carolina, in some places stretching no wider than the highway. ...
The plaintiff, Duke University Law School professor Robinson O. Everett, appeared in the Supreme Court Monday to argue that the district was drawn to accommodate race to an
inappropriate degree. ... Attorney Walter Dellinger, speaking in defense of the state, argued that the legislature's drawing of the boundaries had been motivated by politics, not race. "These are
reliably Democratic precincts in what otherwise is a Republican area of North Carolina," he said. ...link to
article
11.30.00
The Herald-Sun (NC) Duke professors host election discussion on Web ... As the U.S. Supreme Court takes up arguments in the contested presidential election, Duke University
law professors are seizing a teaching moment, not only for their students but for all the school’s alumni. During the school’s "first experiment in continuing education on a
moment’s notice," professors Christopher Schroeder, William Van Alstyne, Jefferson Powell and Thomas Rowe discussed the case and its possible outcomes. The
hour-long discussion with more than 75 law students was broadcast over the Internet. Each professor discussed one aspect of the situation, from questions the Supreme Court will consider, to whether
the case should even be heard by that court, to what could happen in the Florida Legislature or Congress.
11.25.00
The News & Observer (NC) UNC, Duke law students probe case ... A local group of law students is looking into a Johnston County case in which a Goldsboro man was convicted in a
1997 attempted murder and armed robbery even though another man confessed to the crime. ... The Innocence Project, a joint endeavor of the UNC and Duke Univeristy
law schools, began last year to enlist law students to investigate claims of innocence. The students read dozens of letters from inmates and select a handful of cases to pursue. ...
11.10.00
The News & Observer (NC) No cause for panic, legal scholars say ... Forty years ago, Richard Nixon accepted his narrow loss to John F. Kennedy, explaining later in his memoirs
that he did not want to "subject the country" to a protracted recount at a time of international instability. Vice President Al Gore has taken another route. On Thursday, he decided he would not
accept his apparent razor-thin defeat to Texas Gov. George W. Bush in Florida's presidential vote - at least, not until charges of voting irregularities and possible fraud are heard. ... At least
one law scholar said he wasn't sure the suits filed Thursday by Palm Beach County residents would prevail. The residents are seeking recourse, including a new vote, because a confusing ballot may
have caused them to vote for Pat Buchanan rather than Gore. "That's one of life's 'can't helps,' " said William Van Alstyne, a Duke University law professor,
referring to the mix-up. Because ballots are anonymous, it would be impossible to positively match the claims of the residents with the ballots each one punched in the voting booth. Furthermore,
Van Alstyne said, it would be unfair to give voters in Palm Beach County another chance to vote knowing the outcome of the election and what rides on it. "There's no way to recreate the vote on
Nov. 7," he said. ...
11.10.00
The New York Times The 2000 Election: The Timetable ... Dec. 18, the day that presidential electors are to meet in 50 state capitals and the District of Columbia, may produce a
political crisis if Florida's 25 votes are still in dispute. But the crisis will not be constitutional, scholars say, for the Constitution enables a president to be chosen even if a big state like
Florida does not vote. Some commentators have suggested that the election would be thrown to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives if neither Vice President Al Gore nor Gov. George W.
Bush of Texas gets a majority of the 538 electors for whom Americans voted on Tuesday. But the Constitution requires only that a winning candidate have the votes of "a majority of the whole number
of electors appointed." If Florida's votes are not resolved by then, or if a legal restraining order bars Gov. Jeb Bush from filing a certificate listing Florida's electors, then Mr. Gore has
enough votes from other states, if current vote totals stand and if his electors keep their pledges, to reach a majority of the 513 electors for whom Americans voted on Tuesday. ... Walter
Dellinger, a professor of law at Duke University, said the reason the Constitution requires the votes of only a majority of those electors actually appointed to elect a
President was that in the earliest days of the Union a state might neglect to appoint electors, and there was no reason for the process to be held hostage by that omission. ...
11.06.00
The News & Observer (NC) Fatal fall case presents difficulty ... No one disputes the basic facts of the case -- that a Shaw University student leapt out of a dorm window to his
death after a confrontation with several men. But legal experts say Wake County prosecutors still face a challenge in convincing a jury that the beating not only caused Antwan Merritt to jump but
also that his alleged attackers should have known death was a possible result of their actions. ... Duke University law professor Jim Coleman explained that if someone takes action
that weakens a person's resolve, such as threats or torture, and the victim then takes some deadly action on his or her own, the preson who created those cirumstances can be held responsible for
the death. Then it becomes a question of whether the assailants knew the risks. ...
11.06.00
The News & Observer (NC) Moratorium backers receive little help from politicians ... If public opinion is moving toward support for a death-penalty moratorium, as moratorium
supporters believe, political leaders are not in front of the parade. Gov. Jim Hunt, who could not stop the executions planned for this year, says he sees no need to halt them. In the case of
Michael Sexton, who is scheduled to be executed this week, Hunt has not yet made a decision on clemency or a reprieve in light of a legislative study commission's look at the death penalty's
application in the state. No Republican or Democratic candidate for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general or state Supreme Court supports a moratorium. ... "Public officials avoid the
issue," said Duke University law professor Jim Coleman, who was chairman of the American Bar Association committee that passed a moratorium resolution in 1997. "They don't address
the problems with inadequate counsel and race. They don't deny these things happen, but they don't discuss them." ...
11.06.00
University Wire Duke crowd discusses execution's future ... Since 1973, over 80 inmates -- including three from North Carolina -- have been released from death row because later
evidence proved their innocence. Last Friday, the North Carolina Central University School of Law hosted "A Town Meeting: The Death Penalty Moratorium Movement in North Carolina" to disuss capital
punishment and current flaws in the legal system which might allow the courts to sentence innocent people to death. ... James Coleman, a Duke University law
professor, agreed that there is also a socio-economic imbalance in death penalty cases because some people cannot afford private defenders and must use "chancy" public defenders. "Some of them are
getting good counsel and some are not, and that's a major factor," he said. "It might be that the quality of counsel doesn't make the difference ... but if it's the lucky people who are getting
off, not the worst people, then we need to fix the problem." ...
11.07.00
National Public Radio - Morning Edition NPR's Nina Totenberg previews arguments in today's Supreme Court case, which poses a fundamental challenge to federal regulatory powers. At
issue is whether Congress acted within the Constitution, when it ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the Clean Air Act of 1970 by setting clean air standards based on public
health. Professor Chris Schroeder was a guest. ...link to audio
10.31.00
The New York Times Rod Autrey, a Republican city councilman in Charlotte, N.C., is a supporter of the death penalty in a state where it has long been entrenched. But even in
reiterating that support, Mr. Autrey urged the Council in September to approve a resolution favoring a moratorium on executions in North Carolina. The Council adopted the measure, which calls for a
two-year halt while steps are taken to ensure that capital punishment is administered justly. ... In the past, "there was only one position on the death penalty in North Carolina that mattered,
which was that you supported it, period," said James Coleman, a Duke University law professor who has studied in the history of the death penalty in the South and
was a member of the A.B.A. committee that first called for a moratorium. "There was no room for discussion. That's why I find what is happening now both extraordinary and encouraging." ...
10.27.00
The News & Observer (NC) 'Sinners' and the death penalty ... It's hard to leave a production like Raleigh Ensemble Players' "Never the Sinner" without a lot to stew over. REP
hopes to make it even harder on Sunday. After its matinee, the company will invite the audience to remain for a panel discussion about the death penalty. The panel will include actor and riminal
lawyer Seth Blum; Sister Joan Jurski, head of the Office of Peace and Justice for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh; A. Ayesh, a Muslim; and Duke University Law School professor James
E. Coleman Jr., immediate past chair of the American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. ... "If we educate the public and engage the public in discussions
about the difficult issues surrounding the death penalty, about those who kill, and about the cirumstances that give rise to such violence," he said, "perhaps, we can make some progress, without
the tragedy of an innocent person being executed, which may be the only thing that gets some irresponsible politicians to pay attention to these very serious problems." ...
10.22.00
The Cincinnati Enquirer Suit claims sports unequal ... It started with a softball field about 2 miles from Boone County High School. Chrissi Egan, a 15-year-old sophomore who
lettered in softball, noted the field's location behind an elementary school. She and the other players must find their own transportation to and from the field, whether it's for practice or games.
And there are no lights or dugouts, no locker rooms, restrooms or press boxes. Not so for Boone High's all-boy baseball team. Its diamond is on school grounds. Its field has lights, dugouts, locker
rooms. There are even members of the press in its press boxes. All sports aren't treated equally, but is this discrimination? ... "There's a growing culture of sports in this country, and there's a
lot of children and parents invested in these issues," said Paul Haagen, a Duke University sports law professor. "A lot of sports programs have been run by men,
particularly "good ol' boys.' You're just getting people who were behind the curve doing what they've always done and not responding to the law." ...link to article
10.22.00
The Dallas Morning News A poor reflection: A number of minority, lower-income jurors doesn't mirror county population ... Day in and day out, Dallas County courts are relying on a
jury system that fails to meet a key legal standard of fairness, a survey and related research by the The Dallas Morning News show. The citizens reporting for jury duty at the county's
courthouses are disproportionately white, older and wealthier than the overall population - despite a constitutional requirement that prospective jurors represent a cross section of the community,
the survey reveals. ... "How can we say our justice system is working when we see one class of people - older, white, upper-middle-class citizens - always sitting in judgment of the other classes
of people?" asks Duke University law professor and jury expert Neil Vidmar. ...
10.21.00
The New York Times Appeals court reinstates ruling to allow some school prayers ... A federal appeals court has reinstated a ruling that permits student-led prayer in public-school
assemblies and classrooms, after the United States Supreme Court ordered in June that the ruling be reconsidered. The ruling, first issued in July 1999 and reinstated by United States Court of
Appeals for the 11th Circuit here on Thursday, allows students to initiate and lead prayer in a classroom, assembly or football game, as long as school officials do not force them to do so or
participate in any way. It upheld the practice in the schools of DeKalb County, Ala., in which students led Christian prayers over the intercom and before graduations and other school events. ...
Walter Dellinger, a constitutional scholar at Duke University Law School, said there was enough "loose language" in the Santa Fe decision that it could be
construed as allowing the Alabama practices. "This is right on the edge of the Santa Fe decision," Mr. Dellinger said, adding that it was not particularly unusual for a lower court to reinstate a
ruling that had been set aside by the Supreme Court. ...
10.15.00
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) The McSorley case that shook the NHL has other pro leagues wondering where the fault line is between acceptible violence and criminal assault. ...
Sports need violence. Without tackling, pro football is the flag variety played by fraternities. Without hard fouls, pro basketball is simply a layup drill. Without the high-and-tight pitch,
baseball is T-ball. Without hitting, hockey is ice dancing with the Romanian judge the deciding factor in who wins. ... Paul Haagen, a professor of law at Duke University's
Center for Sports Law and Policy, said McSorley's trial has not defined the line so much as reminded athletes that one exists. "It's a reminder to sports that whatever license it is that
society is granting to them it is not the right to maim outside of the rules of the game," Haagen said. "What I think is quite clear is that there are certain forms of violence that are always
unacceptable, even in sport, and a deliberate attempt to injure is in accordance with that." ...
10.10.00
The New York Times - Letters to the Editor On Climate Control ... A climate policy that addresses methane and other greenhouse gases in addition to carbon dioxide is not a new
idea; it is the current policy (Debate Rises Over a Quicker Climate Fix," Oct. 3). Prof. Richard B. Stewart of New York University and I proposed this comprehensive approach in 1989. We showed that
the comprehensive approach protects the climate much more effectively, by preventing the cross-gas shifts that would result from piecemeal regulation of one gas alone, and that it sharply reduces
the cost of climate protection, by giving countries the flexibility to focus on restrictions where they are least costly. The comprehensive approach became a centerpiece of United States policy in
both the Bush and Clinton administrations, and it was adopted at the Rio Convention in 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Dr. James E. Hansen, the NASA climate specialist, now emphasizes the air
quality benefits of controlling gases besides carbon dioxide. The plant fertilization benefits of carbon dioxide may offer a further reason to abate other gases more significantly. The
comprehensive approach matches the regulatory system to the climate system. It is a win-win solution: more environmental protection at less cost. -- Jonathan Wiener, professor,
Duke University School of Law and the Nicholas School of the Environment
10.03.00
The Globe & Mail (Canada) Britain adopts law enshrining human rights ... historic and 'long overdue' legislation fails to go as far as Canada's Charter ... For the first time
in its history, Britain has an official Human Rights Act, enshrining in law the right to life and to fair trial, as well as the right to privacy and freedom of expression. ... But unlike Canada's
1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the new British law isn't part of a constitution and doesn't allow judges to throw out existing legislation. "It's a lot like the old Canadian Bill of Rights,"
Michael Byers, a law professor and expert on human rights at North Carolina's Duke University, said in a telephone interview. "It's not a constitutionalized
charter like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." ... "The British government has been reluctant to surrender very much control so, while wanting to be human-rights friendly, they haven't
been willing to go the full distance and do what the Canadian government did in 1982," said Prof. Byers, who trained in Canada and used to teach at Oxford University. ...