January 26, 2009 – April 20, 2009
The American judicial system today operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure, and media coverage. The separate elements of this complex environment are typically studied by different groups of individuals working from different perspectives. Law faculty tend to focus on legal principle; political scientists examine the influence of politics; and scholars of public communications assess the media.
September 17, 2008
Professor Matthew Dickinson of Middlebury College presented an assessment of the dominant themes animating media coverage of the 2008 election to date, focusing primarily on the nominating phase.
April 21, 2008
Does the war on terror demand new methods of surveillance, interrogation, and justice? Are U.S. laws and courts behind the times? Or has the administration violated the law and abandoned American principles to pursue a new kind of enemy? Eric Lichtblau discussed his newly published book, “Bush’s Law: The Remaking of American Justice” (Pantheon), which includes new details on the pressure brought by the Bush administration against The New York Times to prevent the publication of Lichtblau’s Pulitzer Prize-winning revelations exposing secret surveillance programs in the war on terror. Sponsored by the Carnegie Legal Reporting Program and the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media.
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March 28, 2008
Professor Akhil Reed Amar of Yale Law School joined us to discuss his book, “America’s Constitution: A Biography.” Also participating in the discussion were Paul Finkelman of Albany Law School and Ralph Ketcham, Thomas Keck, and Andrew Cohen of the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.
January 30, 2008 – April 23, 2008
The American judicial system today operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure, and media coverage. The separate elements of this complex environment are typically studied by different groups of individuals working from different perspectives. Law faculty tend to focus on legal principle; political scientists examine the influence of politics; and scholars of public communications assess the media.
October 26, 2007
The goal of the “Creators vs. Consumers” conference was to bring IP scholars into conversation with prominent figures from the bench, bar, industry, advocacy groups, and the media — all of whom grapple with IP issues in the course of their professional work.
September 18, 2007
Although the Supreme Court has shown some signs of becoming a more media friendly institution, the justices still strongly resist the introduction of television cameras into their court. At the same time, many of the justices seem more willing than ever to grant television interviews and make media appearances off the bench. What can be made of the fact that the justices are increasingly putting themselves in the news even as they keep the media away from the Court? And how well are other media covering the Court in an era of dwindling news budgets but burgeoning law-blog activity?
March 27, 2007
Although the United States Supreme Court attracts the lion’s share of public attention and political criticism, the fact is that only a tiny fraction of federal cases make it onto the high court’s docket each year. On a large number of pressing disputes, it is the lower federal courts that have the final word. What role does politics play in determining who sits on the lower federal courts and how decisions on these courts are made? Should we be more concerned about the partisan preferences that shape those legal issues the U.S. Supreme Court does not consider?
March 5, 2007
In December 2004, television journalist Jim Taricani was sentenced to six months home confinement for refusing to divulge his sources to prosecutors heading up the “Plunderdome” corruption probe in Rhode Island.
February 6, 2007
Once the youngest member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Penny White lost her seat in one of the most bitterly contested retention elections in state history — an election that turned on White’s participation in a Supreme Court decision overturning a death sentence. White, now Interim Director of the Center for Advocacy and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Tennessee, joined us to discuss how the media tends to portray — and distort — the image of judges and their decisions.