News Archive
2002/12
- Fried on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
- "Imagine a law that made it a crime for a newspaper to publish any article or editorial that 'refers to a clearly identified federal candidate' or 'supports' or 'attacks' a candidate within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. Few doubt that this would be a flagrant violation of the First Amendment. But Section 204 of the new Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, known as the McCain-Feingold law, makes it a crime for the Sierra Club or the National Rifle Association to buy airtime to support or attack a candidate." (The New York Times - 12/30/02) [Mon, 30 Dec 2002]
- Bebchuk: Settlement a 'Slap on the Wrist'
- "One week ago regulators and the nation's top investment firms announced what they described as a historic settlement. To settle government claims that they misled investors, the country's 10 largest securities firms will pay $1.4 billion and will make certain changes in how they operate. Industry regulators said the settlement represents 'the dawn of a new day on Wall Street' and is a 'vital step in restoring investor confidence. 'It might be more accurate to regard the settlement, announced by federal, state and industry regulators, as a slap on the wrist." (The New York Times - 12/27/02) [Fri, 27 Dec 2002]
- Professor Fried Argues Before the Supreme Court
- "A sharply divided Supreme Court yesterday heard a former solicitor general of the United States describe a mechanism that all 50 states and the District rely on to fund legal aid for the poor as a massive, unconstitutional seizure of private property. Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried, who served as solicitor general during the Reagan administration, said that so-called Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) programs, which gather up the interest earned on certain client funds that lawyers deposit in banks, amount to an uncompensated government 'taking' of the clients' money." (Washington Post - 12/10/02) [Tue, 10 Dec 2002]
- HLS Hosts Long Road to Justice Exhibit
- Harvard Law School is currently hosting an exhibit on the relationship between the African-American community and the Massachusetts courts from the colonial period to the present day. Long Road to Justice, assembled by the Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, combines historical artifacts, court records, text and images to depict the compelling cases and courageous individuals who led the struggle to achieve racial justice in the Massachusetts courts. [Tue, 10 Dec 2002]
- Berkman Center Studies China's Web Filtering
- A new study by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society reveals the extensiveness of China's web filtering policies. Beginning in May 2002 and concluding in Nov. 2002, Berkman Center researchers attempted to access approximately 200,000 web sites through telephone dial-up links and proxy servers in China. The authors of the study tracked 19,032 web sites that were inaccesssible from China on multiple occasions while remaining available in the United States. These sites contained information about news, politics, health, commerce and entertainment. [Wed, 04 Dec 2002]