Mr. Excellent
10-06-2008, 10:04 PM
As the thread title says - post citations (preferably with legal fulltext links) to some of the most amusing papers in your particular field of academia! We'll all learn things, have a good laugh - it'll be fun!
I'll go first:
1.) "Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law". Ira P. Robbins. U.C. Davis Law Review, April 2008. 41 UCDLR 1403. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=982405
From the abstract:
The middle finger is one of the most commonly used insulting gestures in the United
States. The finger, which is used to convey a wide range of emotions, is visible on streets and
highways, in schools, shopping malls, and sporting events, in courts and execution chambers, in
advertisements and on magazine covers, and even on the hallowed floor of the United States
Senate. Despite its ubiquity, however, as a number of recent cases demonstrate, those who use
the middle finger in public run the risk of being stopped, arrested, prosecuted, fined, and even
incarcerated under disorderly conduct or breach of peace statutes and ordinances.
This Article argues that, although most convictions are ultimately overturned on appeal,
the pursuit of criminal sanctions for use of the middle finger infringes on First Amendment
rights, violates fundamental principles of criminal justice, wastes valuable judicial resources, and
defies good sense. Indeed, the Supreme Court has consistently held that speech may not be
prohibited simply because some may find it offensive. Criminal law generally aims to protect
persons, property, or the state from serious harm, but use of the middle finger simply does not
raise these concerns.
2.) "The Perfect Crime". Brian C. Kalt. MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 02-14. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=691642 ; also The Perfect Crime, 93 GEO. L.J. 675 (2005).
From the abstract:
This article argues that there is a 50-square-mile swath of Idaho in which one can commit felonies with impunity. This is because of the intersection of a poorly drafted statute with a clear but neglected constitutional provision: the Sixth Amendment's Vicinage Clause. Although lesser criminal charges and civil liability still loom, the remaining possibility of criminals going free over a needless technical failure by Congress is difficult to stomach. No criminal defendant has ever broached the subject, let alone faced the numerous (though unconvincing) counterarguments. This shows that vicinage is not taken seriously by lawyers or judges. Still, Congress should close the Idaho loophole, not pretend it does not exist.
3.) The entire purpose of George Mason University's Green Bag journal is to publish entertaining works of legal scholarship. I love these guys - they even write about pirates! http://www.greenbag.org/index.php
I'll go first:
1.) "Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law". Ira P. Robbins. U.C. Davis Law Review, April 2008. 41 UCDLR 1403. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=982405
From the abstract:
The middle finger is one of the most commonly used insulting gestures in the United
States. The finger, which is used to convey a wide range of emotions, is visible on streets and
highways, in schools, shopping malls, and sporting events, in courts and execution chambers, in
advertisements and on magazine covers, and even on the hallowed floor of the United States
Senate. Despite its ubiquity, however, as a number of recent cases demonstrate, those who use
the middle finger in public run the risk of being stopped, arrested, prosecuted, fined, and even
incarcerated under disorderly conduct or breach of peace statutes and ordinances.
This Article argues that, although most convictions are ultimately overturned on appeal,
the pursuit of criminal sanctions for use of the middle finger infringes on First Amendment
rights, violates fundamental principles of criminal justice, wastes valuable judicial resources, and
defies good sense. Indeed, the Supreme Court has consistently held that speech may not be
prohibited simply because some may find it offensive. Criminal law generally aims to protect
persons, property, or the state from serious harm, but use of the middle finger simply does not
raise these concerns.
2.) "The Perfect Crime". Brian C. Kalt. MSU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 02-14. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=691642 ; also The Perfect Crime, 93 GEO. L.J. 675 (2005).
From the abstract:
This article argues that there is a 50-square-mile swath of Idaho in which one can commit felonies with impunity. This is because of the intersection of a poorly drafted statute with a clear but neglected constitutional provision: the Sixth Amendment's Vicinage Clause. Although lesser criminal charges and civil liability still loom, the remaining possibility of criminals going free over a needless technical failure by Congress is difficult to stomach. No criminal defendant has ever broached the subject, let alone faced the numerous (though unconvincing) counterarguments. This shows that vicinage is not taken seriously by lawyers or judges. Still, Congress should close the Idaho loophole, not pretend it does not exist.
3.) The entire purpose of George Mason University's Green Bag journal is to publish entertaining works of legal scholarship. I love these guys - they even write about pirates! http://www.greenbag.org/index.php