Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Infocrime: Protecting Information through Criminal Law

Eli Lederman, Infocrime: Protecting Information through Criminal Law (Edward Elgar 2016).

"It has often been said that information is power. This is more true in the information age than ever. The book profiles the tools used by criminal law to protect confidential information. It deals with the essence of information, the varieties of confidential information, and the basic models for its protection within the context of the Internet and social networks.

Eli Lederman examines the key prohibitions against collecting protected information, and against using, disclosing, and disseminating it without authorization. The investigation cuts across a broad subject matter to discuss and analyze key topics such as trespassing and peeping, the human body as a source of information, computer trespassing, tracking and collecting personal information in the public space, surveillance, privileged communications, espionage and state secrets, trade secrets, personal information held by others, and profiling and sexting."
 
Publisher's description

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Founding Acts: Constitutional Origins in a Democratic Age

Serdar Tekin (Ege University), Founding Acts: Constitutional Origins in a Democratic Age (Univ. of Pennsylvania 2016).


"Founding Acts explores the relationship between constitutional claims of popular sovereignty and the practice of constitution-making in our pluralistic age. Serdar Tekin argues that the process of making a constitution, or its pedigree, is as morally and politically significant as its content. Consequently, democratic constitution-making is not only about making a democratic constitution but also about making it, as much as possible, democratically.

Tekin develops two overarching arguments in support of this claim. First, citizen participation in the process of constitution-making is essential to the democratic legitimacy of a new constitution. Second, collective action, that is, the political experience of constructing public life together, is what binds diverse people into a democratic peoplehood. Bringing into dialogue a wide range of canonical and contemporary thinkers, Tekin examines historical realities extending from revolutionary America and France to contemporary South Africa and Germany." 

Publisher's description

Friday, December 16, 2016

The American Supreme Court

Robert G. McCloskey (Harvard), revised by Sanford Levinson (University of Texas), The American Supreme Court (6th ed. 2016).

"As in prior editions, McCloskey’s original text remains unchanged. In his historical interpretation, he argues that the strength of the Court has always been its sensitivity to the changing political scene, as well as its reluctance to stray too far from the main currents of public sentiment. In this new edition, Sanford Levinson extends McCloskey’s magisterial treatment to address developments since the 2010 election, including the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding the Defense of Marriage Act, the Affordable Care Act, and gay marriage."

Publisher's description

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Government at Work: Policymaking in the Twenty-First-Century Congress

Sunil Ahuja & Robert Dewhirst (eds.), Government at Work (Rowman & Littlefield 2016).

"In this edited volume, an array of scholars has examined recent policymaking efforts in selected areas of contemporary importance. Government at Work: Policymaking in the Twenty-First Century Congress provides chapter-length treatment to reveal the similarities and fundamentals of policy development while also illustrating the unique issues and obstacles found in each policy environment. This book’s scope spans the entire policymaking process, exposing the readers to the interaction among all major power centers, ranging from interest groups, media, courts, Congress, the president, and the federal bureaucracy. It shows the dynamic nature of American policymaking system. The approach employed in this book treats events, such as Congress passing a law or the Supreme Court announcing a ruling, as important steps in the policy process rather than as merely ends unto themselves."
Publisher's description

Friday, December 2, 2016

The New Intellectual Property of Health

Alberto Alemanno (New York University) & Enrico Bonadio (City University, London) (eds.), The New Intellectual Property of Health: Beyond Plain Packaging (Edward Elgar 2016).

"This timely book provides the first legal and policy analysis of the intellectual property (IP) aspects of a rapidly-growing category of regulatory measures affecting the presentation and advertising of certain health-related goods. The key goods examined are tobacco, alcohol, food, and pharmaceuticals.

Chapters focusing on both distinct policy areas and specific country examples serve to unearth the inherent tension emerging between these new measures as well as other categories of public health measures and IP regimes. This book discusses how to balance the legitimate interests of governments to promote human health and the protection and enforcement of IP rights. It also further explores how to amend IP regimes with a view to encouraging companies to produce and market healthier products.

Comprehensive and engaging, this book will provide innovative research angles to academics and students in the areas of both health and IP law. Its wealth of examples and analytic style will also prove insightful to legal professionals who advise on issues related to IP and public health as well as policy makers, governments and NGOs." 

Publisher's description






Monday, November 28, 2016

Fragmented Citizens: The Changing Landscape of Gay and Lesbian Lives

Stephen M. Engel, Fragmented Citizens: The Changing Landscape of Gay and Lesbian Lives (N.Y.U. Press 2016).

"In Fragmented Citizens, Stephen M. Engel contends that the present moment in gay and lesbian rights in America is indeed one of considerable advancement and change—but that there is still much to be done in shaping American institutions to recognize gays and lesbians as full citizens. With impressive scope and fascinating examples, Engel traces the relationship between gay and lesbian individuals and the government from the late nineteenth century through the present. Engel shows that gays and lesbians are more accurately described as fragmented citizens. Despite the marriage ruling, Engel argues that LGBT Americans still do not have full legal protections against workplace, housing, family, and other kinds of discrimination. There remains a continuing struggle of the state to control the sexuality of gay and lesbian citizens—they continue to be fragmented citizens."
Publisher's description

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Free Speech & Human Dignity

Steven J. Heyman (Chicago-Kent College of Law), Free Speech & Human Dignity (Yale Univ. Press 2008).


"In this important book, Steven J. Heyman presents a theory of the First Amendment that seeks to overcome the conflict between free speech and human dignity. This liberal humanist theory recognizes a strong right to freedom of expression while also providing protection against the most serious forms of assaultive speech. Heyman then uses the theory to illuminate a wide range of contemporary disputes, from flag burning and antiabortion demonstrations to pornography and hate speech." 
Publisher's description

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems

Aleš Završnik (ed.), Drones and Unmanned Aerial Systems: Legal and Social Implications for Security and Surveillance (Springer 2016).
 
"This book tackles the regulatory issues of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or Remotely-Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), which have profound consequences for privacy, security and other fundamental liberties. Collectively known as 'drones,' they were initially deployed for military purposes: reconnaissance, surveillance and extrajudicial executions. Today, we are witnessing a growth of their use into the civilian and humanitarian domain. They are increasingly used for goals as diverse as news gathering, aerial inspection of oil refinery flare stacks, mapping of the Amazonian rain-forest, crop spraying and search and rescue operations."
Publisher's description

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

The Fate of the Revolution


Lorri Glover (Saint Louis University), The Fate of the Revolution: Virginians Debate the Constitution (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 2016).

"In The Fate of the Revolution, Lorri Glover explains why Virginia’s wrangling over ratification led to such heated political debate. Beginning in 1787, when they first learned about the radical new government design, Virginians had argued about the proposed Constitution’s meaning and merits. The convention delegates, who numbered among the most respected and experienced patriots in Revolutionary America, were roughly split in their opinions. Patrick Henry, for example, the greatest orator of the age, opposed James Madison, the intellectual force behind the Constitution. The two sides were so evenly matched that in the last days of the convention, the savviest political observers still could not confidently predict the outcome." 
Publisher's description

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Hiding in Plain Sight

Eric Stover (U.C. Berkeley), Victor Peskin (Arizona State University), & Alexa Koenig (U.C. Berkeley), Hiding in Plain Sight: The Pursuit of War Criminals from Nuremberg to the War on Terror (Univ. of California Press 2016).

Hiding in Plain Sight tells the story of the global effort to apprehend the world’s most wanted fugitives. Beginning with the flight of tens of thousands of Nazi war criminals and their collaborators after World War II, then moving on to the question of justice following the recent Balkan wars and the Rwandan genocide, and ending with the establishment of the International Criminal Court and America’s pursuit of suspected terrorists in the aftermath of 9/11, the book explores the range of diplomatic and military strategies—both successful and unsuccessful—that states and international courts have adopted to pursue and capture war crimes suspects. It is a story fraught with broken promises, backroom politics, ethical dilemmas, and daring escapades—all in the name of international justice and human rights. 

Publisher's description

Thursday, November 3, 2016

My Own Words

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, My Own Words (Simon & Schuster 2016).

"My Own Words offers Justice Ginsburg on wide-ranging topics, including gender equality, the workways of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, law and lawyers in opera, and the value of looking beyond US shores when interpreting the US Constitution. Throughout her life Justice Ginsburg has been (and continues to be) a prolific writer and public speaker. This book’s sampling is selected by Justice Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams. Justice Ginsburg has written an introduction to the book, and Hartnett and Williams introduce each chapter, giving biographical context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they have conducted. This is a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of America’s most influential women."

—Publisher's description

Monday, October 31, 2016

The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act

Charles S. Bullock III (University of Georgia), Ronald Keith Gaddie (University of Georgia), Justin J. Wert (University of Oklahoma), The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act (Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 2016).

"On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Shelby County v. Holder, invalidating a key provision of voting rights law. The decision—the culmination of an eight-year battle over the power of Congress to regulate state conduct of elections—marked the closing of a chapter in American politics. That chapter had opened a century earlier in the case of Guinn v. United States, which ushered in national efforts to knock down racial barriers to the ballot. A detailed and timely history, The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act analyzes changing legislation and the future of voting rights in the United States."
Publisher's description

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Idealist Ethics

W.J. Mander (Oxford University), Idealist Ethics (Oxford Univ. Press, 2016).


"W. J. Mander examines the nature of idealist ethics, that is to say, the form and content of ethical belief most typically adopted by philosophical idealists. While there exist many studies of the ethical views of individual idealist philosophers there has been no literature at all on the notion of idealist ethics per se. Never is it asked: at which points, if any, do the ethical systems of all these thinkers overlap, and what relation, if any, do such commonalities bear to their authors' idealism? Never is the question posed: were you suddenly to become convinced of the truth of some form of philosophical idealism what revisions, if any, would that necessitate in your conception of the truth, nature, and significance of ethical judgements?
Publisher's description

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Cultures of Conflict Resolution in Early Modern Europe

Stephen Cummings & Laura Kounine (eds.) (Max Planck Institute for Human Development), Cultures of Conflict Resolution in Early Modern Europe (Rutledge 2016).

"Disputes, discord and reconciliation were fundamental parts of the fabric of communal living in early modern Europe. This edited volume presents essays on the cultural codes of conflict and its resolution in this period under three broad themes: peacemaking as practice; the nature of mediation and arbitration; and the role of criminal law in conflicts. Through an exploration of conflict and peacemaking, this volume provides innovative accounts of state formation, community and religion in the early modern period."


Publisher's description