Legal Commentary: Blawg Review #14

Welcome to Blawg Review No. 14. I promised the editorial staff it would be ready by Saturday night, but yet here I am, late Sunday night, just finishing my battle with bad links and bad grammar. Blame it on a two-day long soccer tournament, an incredible March of the Penguins, and the irrepressible nature of attorneys to procrastinate. But while Thomas Jefferson might be a tough act to follow, I am ready for that challenge. Out-of-control grand juries, stupid congressional proposals, property rights on the Moon, and a one-woman crusade to establish the International Kissing Day are only some of the things previewed inside. So, let’s rock-n-roll.

SUPREME COURT & CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Last week, legal commentators continued to speculate about which Supreme Court justice is next to go. But it seems that A3G has found a very sensible way to predict a future retirement: just look at the justices' law clerk hirings.

Have Grand Juries abandoned their constitutional role of protecting individuals from unwarranted criminal charges to become a tool in the hands of prosecutors to get around Fourth Amendment protections? Jack Balkin at Balkanization answers "yes" and provides an excellent discussion of why Grand Juries have to be reigned in. Also, Norm Pattis at Crime and Federalism provides a very interesting analysis of the power of Grand Juries and the Judith Miller & Matt Cooper case.

Speaking of Judith Miller and Matt Cooper, Norm Pattis also provides a good overview of the case and, apparently, cancels his subscription to the Time Magazine in the process.

Is Congress bored because it solved all of the nation’s problems? That is the impression one might get from its fearless war on steroids in professional sports and the Terry Schiavo case. Well, Congress is at it, again. As David Gubransen reports at Preaching to the Perverted, the next target / victim of the Congressional misplaced energy is the power of judicial review.

ETHICAL ISSUES

Carolyn Elefant at My Shingle ponders whether it is ethical for a law firm to collect profit on the work it outsources to contract attorneys.

Diane Levin at Mediation Blog previews The Law Firm, an upcoming reality series involving attorneys and laments the negative perception of attorneys this show is likely to reinforce. While I share Ms. Levin’s sentiment, as far as our professional image goes, I am afraid that train left the station a long time ago. To reinforce this point, one only needs to remember how television depicts the most honorable group of attorneys - public defenders. The choices range from jerks or incompetents on Law and Order to harmless lunatics on Ally McBeal.

Nevertheless, we, at Blawg Review # 14, would like to do our part in improving the image of the legal profession. So, please be sure to check out these posts exemplifying the good attorneys can actually do. Here, Public Defender Dude discusses various concerns implicating the work of a public defender. Also, there is a very interesting take by Gabe at Handful of Sand about the role good JAG officers would play in preventing prisoner abuses, like those perpetrated at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

EMPLOYMENT LAW

George's Employment Blawg has a very comprehensive discussion about the legal dos and don’ts of conducting a background / reference check on a prospective employee.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Ron Coleman at Likelihood of Confusion is discussing, what else, the likelihood of confusion. This time, the precise topic of his discussion is whether it is permissible for a website selling a product of a particular company to use the trademark of that company to advertise the product and facilitate the sale.

Remember that scene from You've Got Mail, where Tom Hanks tells Meg Ryan that she does not own the phrase “Around the Corner”? It turns out that Tom might have been right. Please read this post over at Worldlab to find out why.

TORT REFORM

Earlier in this edition, we reviewed a post that criticized Congress. However, occasionally, even Congress gets it right. Or does it? Please read what Jonathan B. Wilson thinks about a swift decision by Congress to create the 9/11 compensation fund. Incidentally, if you find that topic interesting, I would also recommend checking out What Is Life Worth? The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11, written by the 9/11 Fund's Commissioner Kenneth Feinberg.

CONTRACT LAW

If you have a web log hosting GoogleAds and you ever wondered why one could not just click repeatedly on the ads to generate revenue for the site, please read Professor Eric Goldman’s post at Technology and Marketing Blog about why such actions landed Google in the hot water with advertisers.

Does it make any sense to name a baseball team “Brooklyn Dodgers of Los Angeles?” In the humble opinion of Blawg Review # 14, the answer is “not even if the team is from Southern California.” Apparently, the court of appeals in Orange County agrees. Please take a look at this post by Richard J. Radcliffe at Law Religion Culture Review about a recent appellate decision, in which the court held that the Angels could not fulfill its lease obligation to the City of Anaheim to include Anaheim in the team name by naming the team the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.”

SPACE LAW

Did your Property class bore you to a point of writing hypos about acquiring title to the Sea of Tranquillity by adverse possession? Then, you should check out Sam Dinkin’s post at Transterrestrial Musings about advancing the goals of space exploration by creating legally enforceable property rights on the Moon.

Speaking of space and law, if you are interested in finding out more about the legal developments pertinent to space exploration, you should check out Space Politics. This is a perfect place to find out about news, such as the $300 million lawsuit filed by the Russian astrologist Marina Bai against NASA for crashing one of the Deep Impact spacecrafts into a comet.

LAW & FITNESS

What do law and fitness have in common? As it turns out – more than you think.

Prof. Michael Madison at Madisonian Theory compares law school to an endurance contest and advises prospective law students to prepare for law school by keeping in shape.

Also, please read this post by Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise to find out why even the government thinks that “fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life.”

YOUR NEXT TRAVEL DESTINATION

…should not be the bull-running event at Pamplona, Spain, especially if your name is Christine Hurt. That seems like a very sensible bit of advise from Damnum Absque Injuria.

AND FINALLY

… I liked the International Kissing Day idea so much, I interrupted preparation of Blawg Review # 14 to go kiss my wife. Yeah, I know, I am boring. However, Prettier Than Napoleon is not. Please check out her Blawg, particularly since the author claims to be in the kitchen at this very moment, baking you a pie.

Well, all good things must come to end, and so has Blawg Review # 14. If I missed worthy submissions, I apologize. But here is your chance to prove me wrong. The next issue of Blawg Review will be hosted by Employment Blawg. Please be sure to send your submissions as early as you can. The folks at Blawg Review have all the gory details.

Over and out.

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