Superheroes and the Law

To contact us Click HERE
If it is impossible to kill Superman or Wolverine, does trying to do so constitute a crime?  How does the Second Amendment apply to superheroes?  Can RICO be used to prosecute the Legion of Doom?  Are mutants a protected class? Who foots the bill when a hero damages property while fighting a villain? What happens legally when a character comes back from the dead?


James Dailey, an intellectual property attorney licensed in Missouri, and Ryan Davidson, an insurance attorney licensed in Indiana, answer these questions and many others in their blog Law and the Multiverse: Superheroes, Supervillains, and the Law.  Their discussion of the hypothetical legal ramifications of superhero comic book characters is thought provoking and required reading for all comic book fans in the legal community.

Prison Population in the U.S.

To contact us Click HERE
According to the press release, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that for the first time since it started to collect data in 1980 the adult prison population in the United States is down, as shown by the numbers for 2009.  Could this be a sign of a step in the right direction?

Although comparatively small, decreases in the probation population (down by 40,079 offenders) and the parole population (down by 5,526 offenders) were the first observed decreases since BJS began annual data collections on these populations in 1980. At yearend 2009, 4,203,967 adults were on probation, and 819,308 were under parole or other post-custody supervision.

While more than half of states reported decreases in admissions to prison, California reported the largest decline (11,122 fewer admissions), which was about four times the decline reported in any other state. The decrease in admissions in California was led by a drop in the number of parole violators returned to prison (down 9,668).

Related Statistical Reports:
Correctional Populations in the United States, 2009
This report presents data on the number of adults under some form of correctional supervision in the United States, including probation, parole, and jail and prison incarceration, at the end of 2009.

Probation and Parole in the United States, 2009
This report presents data on the number of adults under community supervision (parole and probation) at the end of 2009.

Prisoners in 2009
This annual report presents data on the number of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities as of the end of 2009.

Prof. Crawford Reviews Estate and Gift Tax Law Review Articles of 2010

To contact us Click HERE
Check out our first 2011 addition to the Pace Law Library Podcasts site titled Estate and Gift Tax Law Articles of 2010.  Prof. Bridget Crawford from Pace Law School reviews interesting estate and gift tax law related articles that were published in the year of 2010.  Her review is forthcoming as an article in Tax Notes, titled Estate and Gift Tax Law Review Articles You Should Have Read (But Probably Didn't) in 2010.  See the article abstract here and enjoy listening.

Ms. Lamikanra on Nigerian Law and Legal System

To contact us Click HERE
Ms. Ufuoma Lamikanra, the Head of Readers' Services Section at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, at the University of Lagos in Nigeria, gave an excellent presentation titled Conflict of Laws in a Federation: The Nigerian Experience at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Association of Law Libraries in Denver, Colorado, as part of the FCIL-SIS Executive Committee presents event.

Ms. Lamikanra addressed the complexity of the Nigerian legal system and its literature, including the issues associated with the influence of English, customary, and Sharia laws in Nigerian legislation and judicial decision making.  The entire presentation was recorded and you may access the MP3 file at the Pace Law Library Podcast site or directly here.  Enjoy listening and reading more about Ms. Lamikanra.

The Pace Law Library Blog Makeover

To contact us Click HERE
Dear Readers,

We are thrilled to introduce to you our new Pace Law Library Blog.  We have been writing here since June 2008 and so we decided that our blog more than deserved a major makeover.  Thus, in the beginning of 2011, we migrated to a new platform and VOILÀ, here it is!

Meet the re-designed and spanking new Pace Law Library Blog:

www.library.blogs.law.pace.edu 
We will continue to bring you news and commentaries from the areas of Law and Technology, Legal Research & Writing, Professional Responsibility, Criminal, Environmental, Immigration, and International, and we plan to expand our coverage into Corporate, Finance, and Securities Law.  And, of course, we will always have a special section for law students.

Visit us on our new blog as we will be writing there from now on. Follow us on Twitter, become a friend on Facebook, or subscribe directly to our blog posts via RSS feed.

Thank you blogger for having us for the past two and half years, and see you all at library.blogs.law.pace.edu.

Pace Law Library Blog