U.S.-China Trade Talks Face Big Obstacle: Ensuring That Promises Are Kept

February 13, 2019

When China joined the World Trade Organization, the global fraternity of cross-border commerce, it promised to open itself up to foreigners in lucrative businesses like banking, telecommunications and electronic-payment processing. More than 17 years later, China’s telecommunications industry remains firmly under government control. … “At this point, a full-scale accord seems unlikely,” said Mark Wu, a Harvard Law School professor and former United States trade official.

Future Law School. What Does It Look Like?

February 13, 2019

… Another issue is that classical universities often don’t give people the necessary knowledge. In addition, students spend 4-5 years passing the full-time education process, and after university, they should look for additional knowledge that they will be able to apply in practice. Here, such schools as Stanford Law School, Pritzker School of Law, Harvard Law School, and others are adopting innovations in their programmes that may help students find their professional way. … Harvard University created Harvard Law School Clinics, which help students to get knowledge in interviewing and advising clients, representing clients in court, conducting legal writing and research, drafting policy, investigating and analyzing facts, and developing negotiation skills.

Supreme Court’s execution decision animates critics on the left and right

February 12, 2019

The Supreme Court’s late-night, two-paragraph order that sent a Muslim inmate in Alabama to his execution last week has become the court’s most controversial act of the term, drawing intense criticism from the political right and the left. … Added Amir H. Ali, Supreme Court and appellate counsel at the MacArthur Justice Center and a lecturer at Harvard Law School, said the court’s order was in contrast with recent decisions that have protected religious rights. “Consider the opposite circumstance — a Christian person who is told that, during the final moments of his life, he can have only the services of an imam,” Ali wrote in an email.

How a Dispute Over the N-Word Became a Dispiriting Farce

February 12, 2019

An article by Randall Kennedy: A series of dismaying events has transpired at Augsburg University, in Minneapolis. According to several undisputed news reports, it began in October, when a student read a sentence in class from James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time … Airing the N-word caused a commotion. The professor leading the class, Philip Adamo, asked the students if they felt it was appropriate to voice the word Baldwin had written.

The Daily 202: Ralph Northam should read these books to better understand racism, historians say

February 12, 2019

Virginia’s Democratic governor declared this weekend that he’s “not going anywhere.” Refusing to resign, the 59-year-old promised to pursue racial equality during the final three years of his term. … More than a dozen scholars sent suggestions for what the governor should be reading. … To understand that awful chapter, Ayers recommends Northam looks at “Life in Black and White,” which focuses on Northern Virginia, by Brenda Stevenson. He also suggests “The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family,” by Annette Gordon-Reed. … Gordon-Reed, a Harvard historian who earned the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for “The Hemingses,” suggests a book by Philip Morgan that might appeal to Northam: “Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake & Lowcountry.”

Kavanaugh Proves Just How Conservative He Is About Abortion

February 11, 2019

An op-ed by Noah Feldman: By a 5-4 vote Thursday night, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a Louisiana law that would have made abortion all but impossible in the state — at least until the court can hear the merits of the case. The most important fact about this result is that Chief Justice John Roberts cast the deciding vote to stop the law from taking effect. That doesn’t tell you how he’ll ultimately vote on whether the law is constitutional. But it does tell you that Roberts cares about a fair process.

Virginia Lieutenant Governor Faces Eroding Support From Democrats After New Accuser Speaks

February 11, 2019

A second woman came forward Friday with claims that she had been sexually assaulted by Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax of Virginia, intensifying the weeklong political crisis in the state and leading top fellow Democrats to call for Mr. Fairfax to resign. … “Everything she said in her statement was exactly what she told me when we talked,” said Diane L. Rosenfeld, a founding director of the Gender Violence Program at Harvard Law School, who said Dr. Tyson told her of the alleged assault in December 2017.

‘The Mooch’ Talks Mayhem, Con Law, Lessons From Harvard

February 11, 2019

“What does Larry want to hear?” Anthony Scaramucci once asked himself. He was explaining to me his final exam strategy that led to an A- in Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe’s Constitutional Law class. “He wants to hear left-leaning judicial activism. So I wrote left-leaning judicial activism and tons of pablum and liberal shibboleths.” Tribe shared his thoughts on this, below. … “An exam filled with what Anthony Scaramucci told you was ‘left-leaning judicial activism and tons of pablum and liberal shibboleths’ wouldn’t have received a grade as high as an A-, and exams that did a good job explicating an originalist position would’ve received very high grades.”

End ‘la hielera’ in immigrant detention

February 11, 2019

An op-ed by Samuel David Garcia ’19 and Joseph Gallardo ’19: “Could you describe your time in the immigration detention center?” The young woman and her son nervously shuffled at the sound of this question. After taking a second to gather herself, she responded in Spanish, “Well, some guards were nice and others were very mean. I am just glad to have my family out of ‘El Congelador.’” “El Congelador” is Spanish for “the freezer.” Other immigrants had a different name for the Customs and Border Protection holding center they were in — “La Hielera” (the Ice Box). Many assume it is an ironic play on words, since ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but those who have been in the center know “La Hielera” is no joke. In a lawsuit filed against CBP, a woman claims to have been so cold that her lips chapped and split, and her sister’s extremities began to turn blue.

Heidi Schreck Takes the Constitution to Broadway

February 11, 2019

… Much as “Hamilton” gave America’s founding a progressive cool factor and became the quintessential Obama-era musical, “What the Constitution Means to Me” captures the mood of a time when institutional protections feel shockingly vulnerable and the country is getting an unwelcome crash course in constitutional arcana. … The constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, who was Barack Obama’s legal mentor at Harvard Law School, heard about the show from his eleven-year-old granddaughter and went with his family in December. “I thought, This is something that needs a huge audience,” he told me.