Law

Share Your Juror Narratives — A Bleg

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My new site, Jury Experiences, is up and running. The main idea behind the site is to create a central forum for juror narratives and related discussions. The site needs more user-generated content!

If you’ve ever served as a trial juror and are at all interested in writing about your experiences, and have not yet done so, please consider contributing a post to the Jury Experiences discussion forum. (If you want to post to the forum you will have to register first, but this is quick and easy to do.)

Thanks.

UPDATE: A commenter points out that the Jury Experiences forum registration system is a hassle that discourages reader participation. I agree entirely. I think the forum paradigm is inappropriate for many potential contributors for this reason, and am considering easier alternatives. Suggestions are welcome.

Imagine Insanity

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In reading Ginny’s post below as well as the posts and comments of the sites she links to, I note a strong presumption among most that in the case of mental illness we should err on the side of under-treating rather than risk over-treating someone. Dr. Jonathan Kellerman makes this observation:

Talk to anyone who’s tried to commit a dangerously violent child or parent for even a few days: A stranger with a law degree will show up at the hearing and paint you as a fascist. So it’s far too much to expect anything resembling a decisive approach to those whose level of threat remains at the verbal level.

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Mark Belnick to Speak at Men’s Leadership Forum of Chicago on Thursday

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Mark A. Belnick’s talk is entitled “General Counsel Under Fire”. He will speak about being criminally prosecuted for alleged misconduct as general counsel of Tyco — and being acquitted after a jury trial. He will also speak about his spiritual journey to the Catholic Church. Date: April 19, 2007; Time: 7:30am; Place: University Club of Chicago, Cathedral Hall, 9th floor, 76 E. Monroe St., Chicago IL 60603; Cost: $40.00. Previous speakers were Robert Novak and Sen. Sam Brownback, and were very successful events. Register here.

First Amendment Symposium

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This weekend past, a First Amendment Symposium was held at Loyola Law School in honor of esteemed alumnus Steven Shiffrin. It was attended by eminent constitutional law scholars, including Erwin Chemerinsky, Kurt Lash, and Eugene Volokh. The topic was commercial speech, particularly in the context of Kasky v. Nike, Inc., 27 Ca. 4th 939 (2002). I’ve broken down just a hint of the arguments that each of the distinguished speakers made.

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