Law X.0

Hudson v. Michigan Blog Update

A month ago I wrote a post entitled Where is the Hudson v. Michigan Blog – A Suggestion for Law Students. Here are some subsequent developments, which demonstrate three benefits of blogging: further blogospheric conversations, helpful comments from readers, and interaction with those involved in the actual case:

    

1. Several blogs discussed my idea further, including: 

• Corrections Sentencing: Case Blogging 
• Human Law: Where is the Hudson v. Michigan Blog? 
• Judging Crimes: Where Indeed? 
• Transnational Law Blog: Now is the Time for Law Students to Become Pioneers in the Legal Blogosphere 

    

2. One commenter to the original post added this thread from SCOTUSBlog to my two examples of blogs discussing Hudson v. Michigan.

    

3. David A. Moran, an attorney who argued the case of Hudson v. Michigan before the Supreme Court, commented to my post. He pointed out that he had written an article on Hudson for the Cato Supreme Court Review, which is an overview of the previous Supreme Court term that comes out once a year. The article is entitled “The End of the Exclusionary Rule, Among Other Things: The Roberts Court Takes on the Fourth Amendment.” Mr. Moran was kind enough to send me a preliminary version of his article, and I highly recommend it. The 2006 Review can be purchased here.

From Blog to Book: Saddam on Trial

I have received a complimentary copy of Saddam on Trial: Understanding and Debating the Iraqi High Tribunal. It was written by Prof. Michael Scharf and Prof. Greg McNeal of Case Western Reserve University School of Law, along with other contributors. A press release about the book is here. (Not that it’s relevant, but I went to Case for undergraduate.)

    

This is probably the very first time that a compilation of essays from a legal academic blog has been turned into a book. The essays first appeared at Grotian Moment: The Saddam Hussein Trial Blog, and have been edited and updated for the print publication.

    

It is very refreshing to see the contents of an academic blog being turned into (and thus recognized as) a scholarly publication. Of course I would argue that the Grotian Moment blog was a scholarly publication to begin with, contra this professor. Hopefully Saddam on Trial will become the first “blog-to-book” initiative among many in the 21st century legal academy. Readers who are interested in the Saddam trial can order the book here. 

   

Update: Originally I said that this was probably the first time essays from “an academic blog” had been turned into a book. I changed it to “a legal academic blog” because I was informed of at least one earlier example: the linguists at Language Log have turned many of their blog posts into a book entitled Far From the Madding Gerund. The book is advertised on the right margin of their blog. If readers know of any other examples of academic blogs becoming books, please let us know in the comments.

A New Blog on Law School Innovation

An exciting new blog has been launched, devoted to Law School Innovation. It is being headed up by Prof. Doug Berman of Sentencing Law and Policy fame, and will include other contributors as well. I sincerely hope that “LSI” provokes many beneficial discussions about how to modernize the current system of legal education. The initial posts and reader comments show a lot of promise, and are highly recommended: 

• A forum for discussing ... law school innovations
• Why shouldn't all law schools regularly host real oral arguments?
• Innovative law school courses
• If you build it, they will come...
• What law school year "works" best?

At Long Last, an Actual Job!

Just to let everyone know the good news: I’ve accepted a job offer from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, and will start this Monday. The OLSC is basically a government agency that researches and drafts statutes, and provides other services to the Ohio General Assembly.

   

The post-graduate limbo is over. Finally, law school is appearing to be worth it.