Oral Argument

Why take the time to write show notes if whether I write them is already determined? We’re joined by Adam Kolber to talk about free will, moral responsibility, determinism, and criminal law.

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Special Guest: Adam Kolber.

We start with, among other things, some decidedly negative feedback. But then we’re joined by the endlessly fascinating Al Brophy to discuss the history of slavery, Nat Turner’s rebellion and its aftermath, Thomas Cobb and pro- and anti-slavery intellectuals and judges, whether we should revere our Constitution, and what to do with symbols and monuments to the cause of slavery.

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Special Guest: Al Brophy.

We start with some feedback and thoughts on the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, criminal law, and Christian’s brush with Upstream Color greatness. Also Joe’s thank-you notes. Then we’re joined by Mary Ellen O’Connell to talk about international law, weapons, hacking, Stuxnet, war, and killer robots. Mary Ellen maintains that the law we have is perfectly capable of dealing with what seem like new challenges.

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Special Guest: Mary Ellen O'Connell.

Should judges surf the web to scrutinize the truth of facts in front of them? With Amanda Frost, we discuss a recent case in which Judge Posner did just that. Some basic internet research cast serious doubt on a prison doctor’s medical opinion suggesting a prisoner did not need Zantac before meals to control a serious esophageal condition. While the websites Posner visited and cited did not control the outcome, they supported his conclusion that the evidence in the district court was insufficient to throw out the prisoner’s case.

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Special Guest: Amanda Frost.

We open the burgeoning mailbag. And oh what a bounty! Side A: 1. Georgia’s assertion of copyright over its annotated statutes. 2. Law school application, rankings, and preparation. 3. The utility for law of having a Ph.D. 4. Substantive due process and Lochner. 5. Would law school be better without the study of the Supreme Court or constitutional law? Side B: 6. Voting rights and proportional representation. 7. Whether we’ve had a fair discussion of the death penalty. 8. What makes legal writing good or bad? 9. Other podcasts. 10. Race and the law. 11. The utilitarian case for manual override of driverless cars. 12. Facebook’s ability to create “bad” desires and preferences. Drugs and entertainment. 13. The rogue Kentucky clerk and the difference between civil disobedience and sabotage or revolution.

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With Michelle Meyer, a scholar of bioethics and law and a longtime listener of this show, we talk about human testing and Facebook. There’s a lot to talk about, but it doesn’t dissuade us from our customary, introductory nonsense, this time including a gift from listener Michelle, Star Wars, Joe’s mangling of last names, and Joe — and this actually happened — eating dog food. If you hate fun and want to get right to the colloquium part of America’s Faculty Colloquium, it starts a little after 23 minutes in. Should corporations be able to experiment on its customers and employees without their consent? Don’t they all do that, and haven’t they always? Don’t we all do that? Does it matter whether Facebook is more like a burrito stand or a utility? Mmmm… burritos.

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Special Guest: Michelle Meyer.

With IP scholar Mark McKenna, we discuss a body of law we at least all agree should exist: trademark. Why is it essential? What are design patents? (Christian didn’t really know. But he opposes them nonetheless.) How do and should they differ from trademarks? Should there be a much shorter but partly functional protection for innovators’ identities as innovators? We discuss the example of Apple, Samsung, Android, and dilution.

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Special Guest: Mark McKenna.

Drones and robots are or soon will be watching you, driving you, delivering to you, and maybe even trying to kill you. They’re loud, nosy, deadly, useful, safe, and dangerous. There are many different kinds of them and many different kinds of us. What should we do when, say, a man shoots a camera-bearing drone out of the sky above his property? Or when a creditor remotely shuts down your car when you’re behind on your payments but, unfortunately, while you’re on the highway? For some answers and more questions, we chat with delightfully deep-thinking Frank Pasquale.

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Special Guest: Frank Pasquale.

Brandon Garrett is one of the leading scholars on the problem of getting it wrong in criminal cases. Eyewitnesses who believe they know what they do not know, suspects who confess to crimes they did not commit, and the actually guilty parties who go free when convict the innocent: why and how does this happen?

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Special Guest: Brandon Garrett.

Just Christian and Joe focusing on a few topics from listener feedback. Our discussion includes: BPA-free containers, Joe’s health, John Pfaff in the news on prison reform and mass incarceration, Pluto and seagulls, listener Anthony’s good news, the Church of Marijuana, religious exemptions, racist appointments, what “tuition” means, how to choose a law school, how to prepare for law school (we disagree), what law schools should be, and feedback we decide to delay.

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