Monday, June 30, 2014

Baseball on Trial: The Origin of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption

Nathaniel Grow (University of Georgia). Baseball on Trial (University of Illinois Press, 2014).

"The controversial 1922 Federal Baseball Supreme Court ruling held that the "business of base ball" was not subject to the Sherman Antitrust Act because it did not constitute interstate commerce. In Baseball on Trial, legal scholar Nathaniel Grow defies conventional wisdom to explain why the unanimous Supreme Court opinion authored by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, which gave rise to Major League Baseball's exemption from antitrust law, was correct given the circumstances of the time."


—Publisher's website

Friday, June 27, 2014

The Crusade for Equality in the Workplace: The Griggs v. Duke Power Story

Robert Belton (Vanderbilt University). The Crusade for Equality in the Workplace (University Press of Kansas, 2014).

"Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 eliminated much blatant discrimination, but after its enactment before Griggs, businesses held the view that a commitment to equality required only eliminating policies and practices that were intentionally discriminatory—the 'disparate treatment' test. . . . In Griggs v. Duke Power Co., the Supreme Court ruled that a 'disparate impact' test could also apply—that the 1964 Civil Rights Act extended to practices with a discriminatory effect. In tracing the impact of the Griggs ruling on employment practices, this book documents the birth, maturation, death and rebirth of disparate impact theory, including its erosion by later Supreme Court decisions and its restoration by congressional action in the Civil Rights Act of 1991."
The Crusade for Equality in the Workplace book jacket

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Inferno: An Anatomy of American Punishment

Robert A. Ferguson (Columbia University). Inferno (Harvard University Press, 2014).

"The book is potentially transformative not just because it offers policy makers some solutions to the litany of problems they face as they seek ways to reform our broken penal systems. It is transcendent because it posits that America needs a fundamentally revised understanding of the concept of punishment itself if it is to save its soul in these prisons . . . . This book forces prison officials and lawmakers to look inward and see within themselves the dark, unremitting reasons why things have gotten as bad as they have inside our prisons and jails. It says squarely to these political and legal and community leaders (and by extension to their constituents): in seeking to bring retributive justice to bear, in seeking to diminish the prisoner, you have also diminished yourself in ways you are unable or unwilling to admit . . . ."

—Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Fresh Water in International Law

Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (University of Geneva). Fresh Water in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2013).

"The regulation of fresh water has primarily developed through the conclusion of treaties concerning international watercourses. Yet a number of other legal regimes also apply to the governance of fresh water. In particular, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of fresh water to environmental protection. The development of international human rights law and international humanitarian law has also proven crucial for ensuring the sound and equitable management of this resource. In addition, the economic uses of fresh water feature prominently in the law applicable to watercourses, while water itself has become an important element of the trade and investment regimes. These bodies of rules and principles not only surface in an array of dispute settlement mechanisms, but also stimulate wider trends of institutionalization."
Fresh Water in International Law book jacket


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution: Hands Off My iPod

Matthew Rimmer (Australian National University College of Law). Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution (Edward Elgar, 2007).

"With a focus on recent US copyright law, the book charts the consumer rebellion against the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act 1998 (US) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (US). The author explores the significance of key judicial rulings and considers legal controversies over new technologies, such as the iPod . . . Google Book Search, and peer-to-peer networks. The book also highlights cultural developments, such as the emergence of digital sampling and mash-ups, the construction of the BBC Creative Archive, and the evolution of the Creative Commons."
Digital Copyright and the Consumer Revolution book jacket

Monday, June 9, 2014

Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality

Jo Becker. Forcing the Spring (The Penguin Press, 2014).

"A tour de force of ground-breaking reportage . . . Forcing the Spring  follows the historic legal challenge mounted against California's ban on same-sex marriage, a remarkable lawsuit that forced the issue of marriage equality before the highest court of the land. For nearly five years Becker embedded with the lawsuit's plaintiffs, was given free rein within the legal and political war rooms where strategy was plotted, and attended every day of the trial and every appellate argument. Based on singular access to the internal workings of this momentous trial—and enlivened by original interviews with the participants on both sides of the case, many speaking for the first timeForcing the Spring offers a gripping behind-the-scenes narrative with the lightning pace of the greatest legal thrillers."
Forcing the Spring book jacket 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Money: The Unauthorized Biography

Felix Martin. Money: The Unauthorized Biography (Alfred A Knopf, 2014).

"What is money, and how does it work? In this tour de force of political, cultural, and economic history, Felix Martin challenges nothing less than our conventional understanding of money. He describes how the Western idea of money emerged from interactions between Mesopotamia and ancient Greece and was shaped over the centuries by tensions between sovereigns and the emerging middle classes. He explores the extraordinary diversity of the world's monetary systems, from the Pacific island of Yap, where value was once measured by immovable stones, to the currency of today that exists solely on globally connected computer screens."
Money: The Unauthorized Biography book jacket


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Future of the Patent System

Ryo Shimanami (ed.) (Kobe University). The Future of the Patent System (Edward Elgar, 2012).

"In a rapidly changing world, the underlying philosophies, the rationale and the appropriateness of patent law have come under question. In this insightful collection, the authors undertake a careful examination of existing patent systems and their prospects for the future. Scholars and practitioners from Japan, the US, Europe, India, Brazil and China give detailed analyses of current and likely future problems with their respective systems, and outline possible responses to them."
The Future of the Patent System book jacket