Law Review

[Qwertz]

Peacock-proud as I am of myself, I have been letting everyone know (oh so subtlly, of course) that I have made Law Review. For those of you who do not know, Law Review is a student-edited scholarly journal published by a law school. Most law schools, American or otherwise, publish one, and the students selected to edit for the Law Review got there either by extraordinary academic performance or extraordinary demonstration of writing ability. In other words, I am extraordinary!

But alas, I am not quite as extraordinary as I want to be. Each student selected for Law Review is expected nay, required to write a 50-60 page note or comment of publishable quality. A note analyzes a single case, while a comment summarizes an area of law. The best topics concern novel legal issues on which no one else has written. My problem arises because I have all sorts of vague ideas on what to write about, but no concrete ones. And topics are due next Friday. (And my Law Review uses Strunk & White, so I'm going to have to stop starting sentences with "and," "but," "or" or "however.") So, for those of you who are familiar with the genre, or even those who aren't, please offer some topic suggestions. Even if your ideas aren't exactly compatible or the sort of thing I'm looking for, they will help me to get ideas so I can decide on one by Friday.

Also, feel free to tell me how great I am for having made Law Review. Or how crazy I am because of all the work it will require.

-Q

[Groovenstein]

You are great for making law review. You are also crazy. Anyway, here's hoping that you take your academic successes and turn them into a wonderful career that allows you to offer me a job somewhere down the line!

If I think of anything interesting, beyond just mentioning noteworthy Supreme Court cases from this term, I'll let you know.

[Thales]

First of all, congratulations, Qwertz, I've heard of Law Review before and it's a great accomplishment.

As to subject matter, I'm not really sure how broad or narrow you can go, but what about the whole shebang? Write on rights theory, or, more specifically, Lockean rights theory, or Ayn Rand’s theory. Locke's idea that laws should maximize liberty is an interesting angle. Another idea if that doesn't work, how about the issue of eminent domain? That's been in the news lately, and you can write on some of the narrower cases. Or, what about how old laws are (or should be) grandfathered out and new ones ushered in? Laws regarding hitching your horse to a post outside a store are probably no longer useful, for instance.

There is also the issue of thinking about law in a principled way, rather than the ad hoc way it is done today, for instance, better integration of laws according to rights. Yet another idea is the notion that if ignorance of the law is no excuse, then the corollary to that ought be that laws should be understandable to the average man, an idea put forth by both Ayn Rand and Thomas Jefferson.

Those are just some thoughts that spring to mind.

Best of luck.

Edited August 25, 2007 by Thales

[DavidOdden]

Congratulations, great and crazy guy.

There are three top-of-head areas that would appeal to me (which has like no measurable relationship to your life, but whatever). One is literal truth. There's of course Bronston, some articles (63 S. Cal. L. Rev. 373, 77 Chi.-Kent. L. Rev. 87); also US v. DeZarn (1998 FED App. 0309P 6th Cir.) which presents an interesting exception to Bronston. Second is an ethics / law intersection question, whether defamation is "proper" from an Objectivist(-like) perspective on justifying law. Third is the problem of juries not understanding or applying the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard, especially whether instructions confuse jurors about what to do (78 Tex. L. Rev. 105 is the lead-in piece that I know about).

[dbc]

Q,

Congratulations! Whether you "graded on" or wrote on, making Law Review is an impressive academic achievement. (I could go on and on about how smart, insightful and down-right handsome you must be to have made Law Review; of course, I know these things only because I was an Articles Editor on my law school's Law Review. )

I remember how difficult it was for me in coming up with a topic for my Note. My advice is to start by reflecting on what topics within the law interest you. Affirmative Action? The Supreme Court released a remarkable opinion in PARENTS INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, PETITIONER v. SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 ET AL. 551 U.S. ____ (2007).

What about entanglement (via the First Amendment) and issues of standing? Try HEIN, DIR., ET AL. v. FREEDOM FROM RELIGION, ET AL.

No. 06-157. Argued February 28, 2007 -- Decided June 25, 2007.

Another one I liked: Freedom of Speech and regulation of campaigning: there is a federal law that "makes it a federal crime for a corporation to use its general treasury funds to pay for any “electioneering communication,” [] which [this law] defines as any broadcast that refers to a candidate for federal office and is aired within 30 days of a federal primary election or 60 days of a federal general election in the jurisdiction where that candidate is running". (From the Supreme Court's syllabus); FEC v. WISCONSIN RIGHT TO LIFE, INC.; No. 06-969. Argued April 25, 2007 -- Decided June 25, 2007

Check out U.S. Supreme Court Collection for links to these cases (and pretty much any other Supreme Court case you might ever be interested in).

Good luck.

Dan