Ipse Dixit

William Palmer (1824-56) was an English doctor found guilty of murder in one of the most notorious cases of the 19th century. Palmer was also known as the "Prince of Poisoners," and was called "the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey" by Charles Dickens. In 1856, Palmer was convicted of murdering his friend John Cook by strychnine poisoning in 1855. He was also suspect of poisoning his brother, his mother-in-law, and four of his children. Palmer's trial was a great spectacle that was covered by all of the newspapers of the day. He was represented by Mr. Serjeant William Shee and prosecuted by Alexander Cockburn and John Walter Huddleston, before Judge John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell. After his conviction, Palmer was executed by hanging on June 14, 1856 at Stafford Prison. Scholars dispute whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Palmer and whether the court's summation was prejudicial.

In 1958, Folkways Records released this dramatization of the trial as a 2xLP set. The trial transcript was edited and abridged by Bernard Rosenberg of the New York Bar. Rosenberg's script was adapted and directed by Wallace House, and performed by Eric House, Wendy Carter, Kenneth Buckridge, and Wallace House. Here is the tracklist:

The Prosecution

A1The Attorney General, Ishmael Fisher

A2Elizabeth Mills

A3William Henry Jones, Charles Newton

A4William Vernon Stevens, Dr. John Thomas Harland, Charles John Devonshire

B1John Boycott, John Myatt

B2Samuel Cheshire, Captain John Haines Hatton, George Bates

B3Thomas Blizzard Curling - Surgeon

B4Dr. Robert Todd, Sir Benjamin Brodie

B5Caroline Hockson, Francis Taylor - Surgeon

B6Dr. Alfred Taylor, Professor Robert Christison, Thomas Pratt - Solicitor, Thomas Smedon Strawbridge

The Defense

C1Defense Attorney

C2Thomas Nunneley - Surgeon

C3Dr. Francis Wrightson, Richard Partridge - Surgeon

C4Dr. George Robinson

C5George Myatt

The Summation

D1Attorney General

The Charge To The Jury

D2Lord Campbell

The Sentence

D3Lord Campbell

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Michael Nesbitt, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, discusses his article "An Empirical Study of Terrorism Charges and Terrorism Trials in Canada between September 2001 and September 2018," which will be published by Criminal Law Quarterly. Nesbitt begins by describing how Canada first adopted terrorism offenses in the wake of September 11, based on laws adopted in other common law countries. He explains how he created a comprehensive dataset of all the terrorism offenses charged or tried in Canada, and describes the observations and conclusions he drew from that dataset. Among other things, he observes that it suggest that the RCMP tasked with anti-terrorism have focused on Islamist terrorism to the exclusion of white nationalist terrorism. Nesbitt is on Twitter at @MichaelJNesbitt.

This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Lawprofblawg, an anonymous social media personality and law professor, discusses the article "Law Reviews, Citation Counts, and Twitter (Oh My!): Behind the Curtains of the Law Professor’s Search for Meaning," which was co-authored with Darren Bush and published in the Loyola University Chicago Law Journal. LPB begins by describing the symposium on legal scholarship in the age of social media for which this article was written. LPB continues by observing how the hierarchies of legal academy perpetuate privilege across a range of spectrums, including race, gender, and class. And LPB reflects on how we might be able to mitigate some of those hierarchies and promote a fairer and more egalitarian scholarly community. Lawprofblawg is on Twitter at @lawprofblawg.

This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Michael Steven Smith, an attorney, former board member at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the cohost of the nationally broadcast radio show "Law and Disorder," discusses his new book "Lawyers for the Left: In the Courts, In the Streets, and On the Air," which is published by OR Books. Smith's book profiles 23 lawyers associated with the political left, including: Charles Abourezk, Myron Beldock, Leonard Boudin, Haywood Burns, Bruce Wright, Ramsey Clark, Rhonda Copelon, Bill Goodman, Abdeen Jabara, Conrad Lynn, William Kunstler, Jim Lafferty, Holly Maguigan, Michael Ratner, Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Bill Schaap, Lynne Stewart, Jan Susler, Michael Tigar, Leonard Weinglass, Peter Weiss, Mel Wulf, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, and Victor Rabinowitz. He begins by describing his own experiences and how they led to the creation of the book. He reflects on the different lawyers he profiled, and their role in the progressive movement. And he discusses the relationship between lawyering and socialism.

This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Steven Lubet, Edna B. and Ednyfed H. Williams Memorial Professor of Law and Director of the Fred Bartlit Center for Trial Advocacy at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, discusses his book "Interrogating Ethnography: Why Evidence Matters," which is published by Oxford University Press. Lubet begins by describing ethnography and ethnographic research practices. He explains why he became concerned about the factual accuracy of some of the claims made by ethnographers, and how ethnographic research practices contributed to his concerns. He describes how he investigated claims made in a range of different ethnographic works, and uses evidentiary practices from litigation as a metaphor for how ethnographers could more effectively evaluate the factual accuracy of the evidence they gather. He points to several simple practices, like fact-checking witness accounts, that would increase accuracy. He closes by reflecting on the reception of his book by ethnographers. Lubet blogs at The Faculty Lounge and his scholarship is available on SSRN.

This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Cathy Hwang, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Utah College of Law, discusses her new article Faux Contracts, forthcoming in the Virginia Law Review. Professor Hwang explains how term sheets function differently than other kinds of contracts. She explains how the corporate merger and acquisition process resembles dating and how important it is for people to build relationships of trust. Hwang is on Twitter at @CathyHwang47

This episode was hosted by Benjamin Edwards, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law. Edwards is on Twitter at @benpedwards. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Michalyn Steele, Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, discusses her new article “Indigenous Resilience,” forthcoming in the Arizona Law Review. Prof. Steele begins the discussion with a discussion of resilience theory and an explanation of how resilience differs from robustness or endurance. She then take the listener through a history of indigenous resilience in the face of often destructive Federal Indian policy from the treaty era to the self-determination era. She closes by discussing principals of resilience central to the nations of Haudenosaunee Confederacy and what everyone can learn from those principles in addressing urgent problems such as climate change, crises in governance, and determining how to best care for the vulnerable.

This episode was hosted by Maybell Romero, Assistant Professor of Law at Northern Illinois University College of Law. Romero is on Twitter at @maybellromero.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Jessica M. Silbey, Professor of Law and Co-Director, Center for Law, Innovation and Creativity at Northeastern University School of Law, discusses her essay "Photocopier," which will be included in the book "A History of Intellectual Property in 50 Objects," edited by Claudy Op Den Kamp and Dan Hunter, and published by Cambridge University Press. Silbey begins by describing the book project and explaining how she got involved in it. She then recounts the history of the invention of the photocopier, and the different people and companies involved in its creation. She reflects on the social impact of the photocopier, and its ironic relationship to intellectual property. And she closes by discussing how this essay relates to her other scholarship, especially her work on communities of photographers. Silbey is on Twitter at @JSilbey.

This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Sarah Wasserman Rajec, Associate Professor of Law at the College of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law, discusses her new article The Property Law Misfit in Patent Law. She argues that in various circumstances, the animating principles of patent law are best served by departing from otherwise frequent reliance on property law analogies. In her article, Professor Rajec engages with a growing literature that revisits patent law’s place within property law. Using recent Supreme Court patent decisions that range in subject matter from remedies to commercial law to administrative adjudication, she concludes that property law is a useful starting point in patent law questions, but that the eventual answers often lie elsewhere. Professor Rajec’s article is forthcoming in the Cardozo Law Review. She is on Twitter at @SarahRajec.

This episode was hosted by Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Associate Professor in the School of Law and Associate Professor in the Dwight Look College of Engineering at the Texas A&M University. Professor Vishnubhakat is on Twitter at @emptydoors.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Cortney E. Lollar, James and Mary Lassiter Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law, discusses her article "Reviving Criminal Equity," which will be published in the Alabama Law Review. Lollar begin by describing what equity is and how it historically intersected with and moderated the common law. She explains equity's original role in criminal law, and why that role gradually diminished. She observes that conventional wisdom holds that equity no longer has a place in criminal law, but that judges nevertheless do apply equitable principles in some criminal law contexts. She explains how equity can improve the administration of the criminal law, and argues that we should encourage judges to apply equitable principle in criminal cases, when appropriate. Lollar is on Twitter at @ProfLollar.

This episode was hosted by Brian L. Frye, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky College of Law. Frye is on Twitter at @brianlfrye.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.