Month: November 2011
Forcing Treatment to Force Execution
In 1986, the Supreme Court officially barred carrying out a death sentence on an inmate who had gone insane on death row—a rule that has long been part of the common law. Modern treatments are effective at eliminating many symptoms of insanity. So should we allow states to forcibly medicate inmates in order to execute them?
Nov 2011
Writing For a Jury of Your Peers
Would you be interested in seeing another law journal at Cornell? In this post, Mystyc Metrik describes some relative pros and cons of both the traditional student-edited law journal and peer-reviewed journals.
Nov 2011
Human Rights for Immigrant Children and the NY State DREAM Act
Crossing the border, underage and unaccompanied, and the implications on human rights. Aryah Somers discusses the politics and human rights issues stemming from the migration of immigrant children.
Nov 2011
A Tale of Two Criminals
If you’ve poked around the internet the past month, you might have come across the image below. The meme juxtaposes two news articles to highlight the questionable retributive values behind American criminal law. But some people are crying hoax about this viral phenomenon—are they correct?
Nov 2011
9/11’s Impact on U.S. Immigration Policy
Muzaffar Chishti discusses the biggest reorganization of the federal government since the end of World War II, September 11th.
Nov 2011
Open, Notorious, and Continuously Occupied: A Claim for Adverse Possession
Is the sanctity of land ownership at odds with adverse possession? Professor Laura Underkuffler discusses the intricacies and controversy surrounding the doctrine of adverse possession.
Nov 2011
The Right to Own Nothing
Kirk Sigmon discusses Electronic Arts’ “Origin” digital distribution platform and why digital distribution licenses for games can spell danger for customers.
Nov 2011
Resistance and Recantation: Ruminations on the Execution of Troy Davis
Professor Blume argues that that the resistance of those involved in the initial prosecution of defendants to admitting mistakes can be made and the suspicion of recanted testimony ultimately led to the execution of Troy Davis, even though substantial doubt was raised as to his guilt.
Nov 2011
The “Right to Record” becomes “The Right to Remain Silent”
Can your cell phone get you 15 years in prison? In some states, if you use it to record the police, it can. Adam Kobler looks at the law behind recording the police.
Nov 2011
Black Swan and the Ugly Ducklings
Unpaid internships are a rite of passage in the film industry, but Lisa Schmidt looks at two Black Swan interns who claim those coffee runs were against the law.
Nov 2011