Comments for The Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy http://www.jlpp.org JLPP publishes articles, student notes, essays, book reviews, and other scholarly works that examine the intersections of compelling public or social policy issues and the law. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:03:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Contract Law in the Age of Smartphones: Do Smartphones Make for Smarter Consumers? by Scott Peppet http://www.jlpp.org/2011/10/04/contract-law-in-the-age-of-smartphones-do-smartphones-make-for-smarter-consumers/#comment-1475 Scott Peppet Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:03:10 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=368#comment-1475 I agree with much of the commentary here; hopefully the final version of the article (forthcoming at 59 UCLA L. Rev. 2 (2011)) addresses these concerns adequately. For those interested in this, it's important, I think, to recognize a point I try to push in the piece: smartphones are just the beginning, tech-wise. As our physical reality gets increasingly augmented by digital information, these issues become thornier and even more interesting. For a relevant update to the discussion, the <a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/google-to-sell-terminator-style-glasses-by-years-end/" rel="nofollow">NYT is reporting that Google is apparently about to launch "heads up display" glasses for consumers</a>--something that I discuss in the article but that many believed would be 3-5 years out. My goal in the article is to encourage contract scholars--as Hillman and Rachlinski have done so well elsewhere--to consider the impacts of these new developments. I agree with much of the commentary here; hopefully the final version of the article (forthcoming at 59 UCLA L. Rev. 2 (2011)) addresses these concerns adequately.

For those interested in this, it’s important, I think, to recognize a point I try to push in the piece: smartphones are just the beginning, tech-wise. As our physical reality gets increasingly augmented by digital information, these issues become thornier and even more interesting. For a relevant update to the discussion, the NYT is reporting that Google is apparently about to launch “heads up display” glasses for consumers–something that I discuss in the article but that many believed would be 3-5 years out. My goal in the article is to encourage contract scholars–as Hillman and Rachlinski have done so well elsewhere–to consider the impacts of these new developments.

]]> Comment on My Life as an Undocumented American by Miriam http://www.jlpp.org/2011/12/01/my-life-as-an-undocumented-american/#comment-1443 Miriam Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:12:58 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=575#comment-1443 Thank you for sharing you story. It is inspiring and uplifting to see the human side of this debate. I live it everyday but you have overcome so many obstacles I have yet to. I believe accounts like yours are the key to bridge that gap between those that sit and judge not having any experience with undocumented youth to those that have. It will change a lot of perspectives on this issue and shed a positive light on those who are ignorant to it. Thanks again and good luck in everything you do! Thank you for sharing you story. It is inspiring and uplifting to see the human side of this debate. I live it everyday but you have overcome so many obstacles I have yet to. I believe accounts like yours are the key to bridge that gap between those that sit and judge not having any experience with undocumented youth to those that have. It will change a lot of perspectives on this issue and shed a positive light on those who are ignorant to it. Thanks again and good luck in everything you do!

]]> Comment on Jury Representativeness: It’s No Joke in the State of New York by Nicole Waters http://www.jlpp.org/2012/01/20/jury-representativeness-its-no-joke-in-the-state-of-new-york/#comment-1422 Nicole Waters Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:40:04 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=652#comment-1422 I think this post is a great way to start the conversation about what else courts can do to improve the representativeness of the pool. I think the main issue raised by Professor Hans compels us (researchers, legislators, policy makers) to dig deeper into what the issue is for each of the jurisdictions to find out what would be the most effective response. Indeed, there is county-by-county variation in NY (as you would expect). That said, courts respond to the issues in many ways (some more effective than others). Some issues courts must address are: transportation (lack of public transportation, clear directions on how to get to the courthouse, long distances to travel for some geographically vast counties); on-call practices (asking jurors to call in after 6pm and then quickly make day care, job, life plans for the following morning, and what it really means to be “on-call”); follow-up practices (whether there is a second notice sent – the NCSC’s Center for Jury Studies has found ~50% increase with this simple approach; and undeliverable addresses may be due to delivery problems with the post office, or more likely, highly mobile citizens in which case up to date and key source lists are important. Difficult economic times emphasize the importance of increasing utilization rates (that is the rate at which jurors are used by the court and not left waiting in the assembly room). The NCSC has worked with many local courts with how best to improve low utilization rates. As Kirk Sigmon (previous reply post) notes, unused jurors leads to frustration. Thus, courts must work to correct this impression of jury duty so that showing up for jury duty DOES mean you will be needed for a trial and that your time is valuable. I would also urge us all to consider how best to use new technology to communicate more efficiently with potential jurors – e.g., a text message to alert those who they are needed, providing a lead time of ~2 hours. That is just the tip of the iceberg, but there are certainly new ways to use technology to track, inform, and call jurors. The use of technology in the courts has always lagged behind our general public, but I suggest now is the time to start exploring ways to improve the system. I think this post is a great way to start the conversation about what else courts can do to improve the representativeness of the pool. I think the main issue raised by Professor Hans compels us (researchers, legislators, policy makers) to dig deeper into what the issue is for each of the jurisdictions to find out what would be the most effective response. Indeed, there is county-by-county variation in NY (as you would expect). That said, courts respond to the issues in many ways (some more effective than others). Some issues courts must address are: transportation (lack of public transportation, clear directions on how to get to the courthouse, long distances to travel for some geographically vast counties); on-call practices (asking jurors to call in after 6pm and then quickly make day care, job, life plans for the following morning, and what it really means to be “on-call”); follow-up practices (whether there is a second notice sent – the NCSC’s Center for Jury Studies has found ~50% increase with this simple approach; and undeliverable addresses may be due to delivery problems with the post office, or more likely, highly mobile citizens in which case up to date and key source lists are important.

Difficult economic times emphasize the importance of increasing utilization rates (that is the rate at which jurors are used by the court and not left waiting in the assembly room). The NCSC has worked with many local courts with how best to improve low utilization rates. As Kirk Sigmon (previous reply post) notes, unused jurors leads to frustration. Thus, courts must work to correct this impression of jury duty so that showing up for jury duty DOES mean you will be needed for a trial and that your time is valuable.

I would also urge us all to consider how best to use new technology to communicate more efficiently with potential jurors – e.g., a text message to alert those who they are needed, providing a lead time of ~2 hours. That is just the tip of the iceberg, but there are certainly new ways to use technology to track, inform, and call jurors. The use of technology in the courts has always lagged behind our general public, but I suggest now is the time to start exploring ways to improve the system.

]]> Comment on ObamaCare Recusal by briana http://www.jlpp.org/2012/01/10/obamacare-recusal/#comment-1396 briana Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:53:45 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=614#comment-1396 It's not embarassing when we the people have decided to make "Obamacare" a formal term. The english language is constantly changing and evolving. We made "aint" a word and now the same has happened with "Obamacare". Learn to embrace it. It’s not embarassing when we the people have decided to make “Obamacare” a formal term. The english language is constantly changing and evolving. We made “aint” a word and now the same has happened with “Obamacare”. Learn to embrace it.

]]> Comment on 9/11′s Impact on U.S. Immigration Policy by Billy http://www.jlpp.org/2011/11/17/911s-impact-on-u-s-immigration-policy/#comment-1395 Billy Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:12:43 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=543#comment-1395 Dear Jlpp, I was wondering on a similar note,, What?s is Australia?s immigration policy and what effect does that have on the market? Thx. Dear Jlpp,
I was wondering on a similar note,, What?s is Australia?s immigration policy and what effect does that have on the market?
Thx.

]]> Comment on SOPA: What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing by On the need for SOPA & PIPA in copyright enforcement http://www.jlpp.org/2012/02/07/sopa-what-is-it-good-for-absolutely-nothing/#comment-1388 On the need for SOPA & PIPA in copyright enforcement Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:44:29 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=677#comment-1388 [...] SOPA: What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing (Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy Blog) [...] [...] SOPA: What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing (Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy Blog) [...]

]]> Comment on One Book, Two Books, Redbook, Bluebook by Kirk Sigmon http://www.jlpp.org/2011/12/27/one-book-two-books-redbook-bluebook/#comment-1385 Kirk Sigmon Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:59:29 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=596#comment-1385 Following along from the above, I've personally created an automatic bluebooking system called <a href="http://citeuslegalus.com/" rel="nofollow">Citeus Legalus</a> to expedite the whole Bluebooking process. Following along from the above, I’ve personally created an automatic bluebooking system called Citeus Legalus to expedite the whole Bluebooking process.

]]> Comment on One Book, Two Books, Redbook, Bluebook by Coleen Barger http://www.jlpp.org/2011/12/27/one-book-two-books-redbook-bluebook/#comment-1369 Coleen Barger Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:00:43 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=596#comment-1369 The American Association of Law Libraries developed a "universal citation" system in the late nineties. For a PDF of the original publication, go to http://www.aallnet.org/Archived/Publications/AALL-Publications/universal-citation-guide.pdf. It's now in a second edition, published by Hein, http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/products/pub-universal.html. To my knowledge, no court has embraced it and no law schools teach it. The American Association of Law Libraries developed a “universal citation” system in the late nineties. For a PDF of the original publication, go to http://www.aallnet.org/Archived/Publications/AALL-Publications/universal-citation-guide.pdf.
It’s now in a second edition, published by Hein, http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/products/pub-universal.html.
To my knowledge, no court has embraced it and no law schools teach it.

]]> Comment on The Right to Own Nothing by Cass http://www.jlpp.org/2011/11/15/the-right-to-own-nothing/#comment-1329 Cass Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:26:20 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=531#comment-1329 I am happy to see a reflection on the legal ramifications of EA constantly pushing the envelope on what ethic and decency actually constitute. If any other sellers of a car or a chair that you'd pay fully would tell you they could come anytime to take it away "since you don't use it" or because you send them an angry letter, they would clearly be deemed as acting illegally. Don't forget the matters of -Paying for a product you actually never own! -EA being able to ban at will anyone they please out of their Origin games -Planning the obsolescence of their games at will (They don't support most of their own 2008 and older games, what makes you think they will support your 60$ games in a couple of years?) -Giving the words "Customer Support" a ridiculously ineffectual connotation: they are basically laughing at your face pretending ignorance -Preferring to pay corporate trolls that hype their product than giving real solution to their problems -And invasion of privacy through spyware.... I had no problem with Maxis, EA, even Origin at the start. Than for once I needed them and they properly told me to get lost. Good. So Steam it is. I am happy to see a reflection on the legal ramifications of EA constantly pushing the envelope on what ethic and decency actually constitute.

If any other sellers of a car or a chair that you’d pay fully would tell you they could come anytime to take it away “since you don’t use it” or because you send them an angry letter, they would clearly be deemed as acting illegally.

Don’t forget the matters of
-Paying for a product you actually never own!

-EA being able to ban at will anyone they please out of their Origin games

-Planning the obsolescence of their games at will (They don’t support most of their own 2008 and older games, what makes you think they will support your 60$ games in a couple of years?)

-Giving the words “Customer Support” a ridiculously ineffectual connotation: they are basically laughing at your face pretending ignorance

-Preferring to pay corporate trolls that hype their product than giving real solution to their problems

-And invasion of privacy through spyware….

I had no problem with Maxis, EA, even Origin at the start. Than for once I needed them and they properly told me to get lost.

Good. So Steam it is.

]]> Comment on Of Bathrooms and Bullycides: How Not to Protect LGBT Youth from Harassment by Kirk Sigmon http://www.jlpp.org/2012/01/26/of-bathrooms-and-bullycides-how-not-to-protect-lgbt-youth-from-harassment/#comment-1305 Kirk Sigmon Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:11:12 +0000 http://www.jlpp.org/?p=641#comment-1305 If only more school administrators read posts like this. It seems as if recent academic attempts at furthering LGBTQ rights as of late have insulated the LGBTQ community more than it has integrated them, and that's really not the direction we need to be going as a society. This sort of behavior is going to do little but produce a legion of gay and lesbian students that feel isolated and disconnected from society. Incidentally, this whole issue is not restricted to the LGBTQ community -- schools nationwide seem to have a paranoia about allowing students to express opinions (be they controversial or not), to the point where schools have <a href="http://www.askthejudge.info/school-bans-breast-awareness-t-shirts/11670/" rel="nofollow">banned breast cancer awareness t-shirts</a> because they were (I suppose) offensive. If schools have a policy of routinely dissuading students from expressing relatively benign opinions, the LGBTQ community is unfortunately going to have a hard time getting their opinions out in the open. If only more school administrators read posts like this. It seems as if recent academic attempts at furthering LGBTQ rights as of late have insulated the LGBTQ community more than it has integrated them, and that’s really not the direction we need to be going as a society. This sort of behavior is going to do little but produce a legion of gay and lesbian students that feel isolated and disconnected from society.

Incidentally, this whole issue is not restricted to the LGBTQ community — schools nationwide seem to have a paranoia about allowing students to express opinions (be they controversial or not), to the point where schools have banned breast cancer awareness t-shirts because they were (I suppose) offensive. If schools have a policy of routinely dissuading students from expressing relatively benign opinions, the LGBTQ community is unfortunately going to have a hard time getting their opinions out in the open.

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