Bound By Law

We'd like honor the comics of late Professor Keith Aoki.  Professor Aoki wrote legal comics even as a student at Harvard Law.  He recently translated his expertise in intellectual property and copyright law into a full published comic book with James Boyle and Jeniffer Jenkins.  You can read the expanded edition here:


http://www.thepublicdomain.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bound-by-law-duke-edition.pdf

Professor Aoki also studied, taught, and wrote about environmental issues, race issues, agriculture patents, and immigration.   From a bio on the Center for the Study of Public Domain website:

Keith Aoki is a longtime cartoonist who loves the late 1960s comic work of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Jim Steranko and earlier greats like Will Eisner, Chester Gould and Al Capp. He has also been influenced by the vibrant contemporary work of Robert Crumb, Scott McCloud, Art Spiegelman and Jamie Hernandez. In the mid-1980s, Aoki decided to leave the bohemian art demimonde to go to Harvard Law School. He is now Professor of Law at U.C. Davis King Hall School of Law, where he has taught since 2007, and specializes in the areas of intellectual property, local government law, globalization, and critical theory. Prior to U.C. Davis, he was the Philip H. Knight Professor of Law at the University of Oregon School of Law, which he joined in 1993. He has published law review articles in the Stanford, California, Iowa and Boston College Law Reviews and is author of the forthcoming book Seed Wars: Cases and Materials on Intellectual Property and Plant Genetic Resources

You can find another bio and list of Professor Aoki's publications on his page on the U.C. Davis website.

Thank you, Professor Aoki, for adding your creativity and love of comics to the study and discussion of law.

Child Trafficking / Prostitution in the U.S.

For those of you who missed WLSA and MJF's event a couple weeks ago on human trafficking, this video gives a quick look at one of the topics discussed: convicting victims.  The discussion could tie in with Professor Marshal's discussion of convicting victims and whether we should expect victims to uphold certain duties at our event a couple weeks ago.  It definitely echoes Professor Feld's description of the lack of services for juvenile vagrants and how the juvenile justice system has become the default means of removing juveniles from the streets at our event last semester.  I'm curious what you might think.

Should prostitution be criminalized?

Are there other means for responding to juvenile "delinquency" or vagrancy currently in place?  What might be the practical realities of creating other means?

What might the victims' duties be in cases of human trafficking?  Cooperating to reveal their pimps so that the perpetrators of traffickers can be brought to justice?

And, the tag beneath the video suggests that prostitution is organized crimes third largest industry.  How does that affect the way we treat trafficking in the U.S.?  The ways we could try to end it?

An upcoming event at the law school

Verdad, Justicia, y Reparación

Truth, Justice, and Reparation

A talk by Spanish Investigating Judge Baltasar Garzón

Monday, April 25

2:00pm

25 Mondale Hall

University of Minnesota, West Bank

Judge Baltasar Garzón served for many years on Spain's central criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, which has jurisdiction over the most important criminal cases in Spain, including terrorism, organized crime and money laundering, as well as universal jurisdiction for violations of international law. He first came to international attention in 1998 when he sought the extradition of former Chilean president, General Augusto Pinochet, from England to Spain for the alleged deaths and torture of Spanish citizens by his regime. 

In 2008, Garzón initiated an investigation into the crimes committed by the Franco regime in Spain. He has since been temporarily suspended from his position in the Audiencia Nacional, awaiting trial on accusations from right-wing groups of having exceeded his authority. Since May 2010, he has been working in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and he will shortly begin working as an advisor to the Organization of American States mission to Colombia.

Lecture in Spanish with simultaneous translation provided – reception to follow

Talk organized by the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese Studies and Political Science.

Co-sponsors include: European Studies Consortium, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Institute for Global Studies, Human Rights Program, Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change, Law School, Global Spotlight

Criminal Justice Concentration at UMN Law

The rumors are true: a criminal justice concentration is in the works, and very close to becoming available, at UMN Law School (our home institution).  It needs the approval of the Board of Regents, but we can likely expect that to happen in the Fall. 

Professor Frase shared some details about the concentration.  It currently requires Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, a Criminal Sentencing course, and 6 more elective credits.  Elective credits range across the school's large offering of criminal law courses and seminars.

If you're interested in the Criminal Justice Concentration, Professor Frase recommends that you take Criminal Procedure in the the Fall, if you haven't already.  Professor Frase and Professor Feld are both offering the course in the Fall, and it will be offered again in the Spring.

On a related note, there will also be a Criminal Law focused version of the required Professional Responsibility class, slated to run this Spring.

Superjail?

Superjail!, an adult swim animated series, seems to me like the Aqua Teen Hunger Force of prisons.  The series is a typical adult swim feature, but set in a maximum security volcano prison.  Though the inmates are an alarming bunch, the warden might be even more deranged.  The comedy is stupefying and often based on graphic cartoon violence.  What makes this interesting to me is the setting in a prison, albeit a somewhat psychedelic volcano prison, and its featuring inmates as characters.  I don't think this show is trying to make some sweeping social comment, but it is a representation of what we might view as normative in prison life, or at least acceptable in terms of how to talk about prisoners.  What does this show do in terms of the way it presents prisons?  In the way it depicts prisoners?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Read the Wikipedia article:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superjail

View episodes online:


http://video.adultswim.com/superjail/index.html

CJL posters!

Check out our event posters.  If I didn't make them myself, I might say they're pretty awesome!

Law and the Multiverse

It seems like some other folks have also picked up on the the nerdtastic combination of law and superheroes.  James Daily in Missouri and Ryan Davidson in Indiana created a comic-book based law blog that uses superhero lore to explore different legal issues.  Check it out:

http://lawandthemultiverse.com/

A New York Times article on the blog describes some of these legal themes:
"Is Superman’s heat vision a weapon? If so, would the Second Amendment protect his right to melt pistols and cook hamburgers with it?"
“What if someone is convicted for murder, and then the victim comes back to life?”
And "whether mutants are a legally recognizable class entitled to constitutional protection from discrimination."

What is your favorite article?

CJL Presents: Gangs in Minnesota

Time Wednesday, April 6 · 12:15pm - 1:20pm Location Room 50, Mondale Hall Hosted By Criminal Justice League, Co-Sponsored by the Law & Policy Student Association More Info Join gang task forces and data systems expert Dr. Julie Barrows and Don Rothstein from the MN Department of Corrections for a discussion of gangs in Minnesota prisons. The presenters have assured us that their talk is both exciting and eye-opening. We'll also serve you spaghetti for lunch! We hope you can join us on Wednesday.