Articles Posted in Publication Announcements and Reviews

Chappell, James. The Golden Years, How Americans Invented and Resisted Old Age. Basic Books, 2024 (publication date November 19, 2024).

James Chappell’s The Golden Years provides a compelling and incisive examination of the history of aging in America from the 19th century’s radical yet unrealized visions for reparative pensions to the contemporary decline of collective policy frameworks supporting older adults. Chappell’s narrative is richly detailed and deeply thought-provoking, offering both a historical chronicle and a critique of the evolving relationship between aging, public policy, and societal expectations.

Chappell shines a light on the early idealistic efforts to repair lives disrupted by war and slavery in the post-Civil War era. These movements, though ambitious, were thwarted by political deadlock and systemic inequalities. The author paints a vivid picture of how old-age support became a prominent issue, yet remained mired in compromises that excluded many, particularly African Americans. The 1935 Social Security Act—a cornerstone of the New Deal—marked a turning point, but its benefits were initially restricted to industrial workers, leaving agricultural and domestic laborers, disproportionately Black, on the sidelines.

About Jurimetrics Journal:

The Jurimetrics Journal is published quarterly  “Jurimetrics is the oldest and most widely circulated peer-reviewed journal in its field and is proud to be the official journal of the American Bar Association Science & Technology Law Section. Currently, the journal is housed at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University (ASU Law) and cosponsored by ASU Law’s Center for Law, Science and Innovation (LSI). An LSI Center faculty fellow advises the Jurimetrics executive board and editorial staff. The journal provides scholars and researchers with a wealth of thoughtful articles. It is frequently cited in opinions of state and federal courts, legal treatises, textbooks, and scholarly articles in a wide range of other journals. These distinctions support Jurimetrics’ claim of being the premier peer-reviewed journal of law, science, and technology.”

From the Spring 2024 issue:

David Badertscher Honored at the 14th Annual FellowshipLIFE Foundation Gala

David Badertscher, a resident of Fellowship Village in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, and former resident of Westfield, and publisher of the Criminal Law Library Blog was honored at the 14th Annual FellowshipLIFE Foundation Gala. The event took place at the Heidrich Hotel in New Brunswick, where David was recognized with the following citation:

David Badertscher, Fellowship Village Gala Honoree Citation:

During the week ending November 15, 2024 we have received listings of 7 Government and Administrative Law Summaries,  9 Constitutional Law summaries, 21 Criminal Law Summaries,   1 Medical Malpractice Summary, and 1 Intellectual Property Summary.    We plan is to continue posting opinion summaries, under corresponding areas of law, weekly whenever possible in order to keep blog readers updated.  To gain access to these case summaries, click on the corresponding links below:

Opinion Summaries Posted for Week Ending  November 15, 2024:

Criminal Law Opinion Summaries

The following is a discussion of the book Gitlow v. New York: Every Idea an Incitement. In his study, Marc Lendler opens up the world of American radicalism, traces the origin of the incorporation doctrine, which was addressed for the first time in this case, and the ebb and flow of Gitlow as a precedent through the Cold War and beyond.  Gitlow v. New York: Every Idea an Incitement is a book for our time.

In 1919 American Communist Party member Benjamin Gitlow was arrested for distributing a “Left Wing Manifesto,” a publication inspired by the Russian Revolution. He was charged with violating New York’s Criminal Anarchy Law of 1902, which outlawed the advocacy of any doctrine advocating for the violent overthrow of government. Gitlow argued that the law violated his right to free speech, but he was still convicted. He appealed  the decision; however, five years later the Supreme Court upheld his sentence by a vote of 7-2.

Throughout the legal proceedings, much attention was devoted to the “bad tendency” doctrine—the idea that speakers and writers were responsible for the probable effects of their words—which the Supreme Court explicitly endorsed in its decision. According to Justice Edward T. Sanford, “A state may punish utterances endangering the foundations of organized government and threatening its overthrow by unlawful means.”

Following the introduction of Chat GPT3.5 to the public on November 30, 2022, there have been growing concerns about how the emerging AI revolution can be utilized to reimagine and , if necessary, reinvent new technologies capable of preserving our democracy– as we enter another technological, economic, and political crossroads in our society. Sharing these concerns, I have been  searching the literature hoping to discover institutionally backed efforts dedicated to addressing them. Recently, I learned about the publishing by the Stanford Digital Lab of The Digital Papers: Artificial Intelligence in America, Volume 1 of a projected ongoing series. Learning of this publication, I immediately went to Amazon and ordered my own copy. The following is my Overview of this first volume:

In the late 18th century, the Federalist Papers emerged as a groundbreaking series of essays advocating for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay—under the pseudonym “Publius”—articulated a vision for governance that reflected the challenges of their time: an unstable political landscape, shifting economic forces, and burgeoning democratic ideals. Fast forward to the 21st century, the world again finds itself at the intersection of disruptive change where the political, economic, and technological forces at play call for a similar intellectual effort to chart a way forward.

The Digitalist Papers: Artificial Intelligence and Democracy in America takes inspiration from the spirit of the Federalist Papers, yet it aims to address an even more complex landscape. The technological revolution now driven by artificial intelligence (AI) offers immense potential to reshape every aspect of human life—from how we communicate to how we govern ourselves. As Hamilton, Madison, and Jay once grappled with how to mold governance to fit the emerging United States, today’s thought leaders must confront the challenge of integrating AI into existing democratic institutions. This is the goal of the Digitalist Papers series: to explore the possibilities of AI’s impact on democracy and to consider how governance structures must evolve to preserve and enhance democratic values in this era of unprecedented technological change.

On Thursday September 19 2024, at 12:30-17:30 EDT (16:30-21:30 UTC) Columbia Global Freedom of ExpressionThe University of Alabama School of Law, The University of Minnesota Law School, and Columbia Law School present a book launch ‘Disinformation, Misinformation, and Democracy‘ at Columbia University in NYC.

As the US presidential election approaches and half of the world’s population heads to the polls in this “super-election year” of 2024, Cambridge University Press has published ‘Disinformation, Misinformation, and Democracy: Legal Approaches in Comparative Context, in which legal scholars from around the world explore the global threat to democracy posed by false information through a comparative legal analysis. This hybrid event gathers co-editors, contributors, and other special guests at three thematic sessions, examining solutions from the perspectives of government regulation, media self-regulation, and the role of civil society.

(ALL TIMES EDT = UTC-4)

12:30 – 1:45pm Framing the Problem
Ron Krotosynski, Co-editor / John S. Stone Chair, Director of Faculty Research and Professor of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law
Andras Koltay, Co-editor / Research Professor, University of Public Service (Budapest) / Professor of Law, Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Budapest)
Andie Tucher, H. Gordon Garbedian Professor of Journalism and Director of the Communications Ph. D. Program, Columbia Journalism School
Moderator: David Pozen, Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law, Columbia Law School.

2:00 – 3:30pm National and transnational regulatory approaches
Artur Pericles Lima Monteiro, Resident Fellow, Information Society Project, Yale Law School
Bernát Török, Director, Institute of the Information Society, Ludovika University of Public Service (Budapest)
Ahran Park, Associate Professor, School of Media & Communication, Korea University, South Korea
Moderator: Jeremy Kessler, Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

3:45 – 5:00pm Social groups and institutions, outside government
Charlotte Garden, Co-editor, Julius E. Davis Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota
Anya Schiffrin, Director of the Technology, Media, and Communications specialization, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Katie Fallow, Senior Counsel, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University
Moderator: Costanza Sciubba Caniglia, Anti-Disinformation Strategy Lead, Wikimedia Foundation

ATTEND IIN PERSON https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launch-disinformation-misinformation-and-democracy-tickets-1004689632737

Livestream provided by the Internet Society U.S .New York Chapter

LIVESTREAM https://livestream.com/internetsociety/cgfoe-disinfo

PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/3zr58YD

TWITTER #disinformation #misinformation #democracy @ColumbiaGFoE @UofMNLawSchool @UALawSchool @ColumbiaLaw @knightcolumbia @columbiajourn
,
MASTODON  #disinformation

SIMULCASTS
https://twitter.com/ISOC_Live
https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive
https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/

ARCHIVE
https://archive.org/details/cgfoe-disinfo

FROM BILL GATES:

I’m excited to announce my new book, Source Code, which will be published next February. It’s a memoir about my early years, from childhood through my decision to leave college and start Microsoft with Paul Allen. I write about the relationships, lessons, and experiences that laid the foundation for everything in my life that followed.

I’ve been in the public eye since my early twenties, but much of my life before then isn’t well known. Over the years, I’ve often been asked about my upbringing, my time at Harvard, and co-founding the company. Those questions made me realize that people might be interested in my journey and the factors that influenced it.

Election administrators and their staff, spread throughout thousands of voting jurisdictions in the United States, perform a core service dedicated to maintaining and preserving our democracy. Their work has become significantly more difficult, as our contentious politics have clouded much of what they do with misunderstanding and distrust. These challenges have made clear that election administrators may, and typically do, lack the full range of resources they need.

As election officials gain both increasing  public visibility and scrutiny, it has become increasingly obvious that the time has come for identifying the ethical standards unique to the election administrator profession. It is essential to identify national standards for election officials that provide guidance  in the administration of voting throughout the United States.  It is therefore encouraging to learn that  the American Law Institute (ALI) has provided a forum, released to the public on January 29, 2024, for a working group developing such standards, resulting in a report Ethical Standards for Election Administration

The report sets out seven principles, discussed in detail, along with the basis for each. It is the hope of the working group that these principles provide the professional election administration community with a common vocabulary for communicating the moral underpinning of their work; assist in the training of the next generation of officials; and help guide officials in carrying out their responsibilities when the law does not supply the answer and public scrutiny is keenest. These principles also supply the grounds for specific standards of conduct that reflect these principles and put them into practical effect.

Contact Information