October 7, 2006

Project Posner

by PG

In the latest iteration of Article III judge worship [1], Stuart Sierra and Columbia Law professor Tim Wu have produced Project Posner, a searchable database of opinions by 7th Circuit judge Richard Posner. While not a particularly useful innovation for law students with free Westlaw and Lexis access (who can make OPINIONBY Posner a search limitation), it's a cute website and helpful to 0L bloggers just developing their Posner obsessions. Note that it collects only almost all of his opinions; some of his greatest hits, like the debate [2] with Easterbrook about whether nude dancing is art (because the dance of seven veils in Salome is) or merely obscenity (like a streetcorner flasher with rhythm and a boombox), are unavailable.

[1] "Chief Judge Posner feels less constrained by precedent, history, and the proper limits on appellate judging than, in the Council�s view, he should. . . . He wrote in [his book about Benjamin] Cardozo �the appellate judge is the central figure in Anglo-American jurisprudence.� Whether or not that claim is accurate, it is instructive as a statement of Chief Judge Posner�s self-image.� -- Chicago Council of Lawyers, 1994. When conservatives whine about activist judges, why doesn't Posner show up their hitlists? He seems like the one judge who embraces the title.

[2] This resulted in the Supreme Court decision Barnes v. Glen Theater, or what First Amendment scholar Vincent Blasi dubbed, "Six Conservatives in Search of the First Amendment: The Revealing Case of Nude Dancing."

UPDATE: Admittedly, what Posner publishes a book about in May, the New York Times writes about in October.

October 7, 2006 6:48 PM | TrackBack
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Please let me know if you would like to attend ...cocktail reception to follow debate.

PUBLIC FIGURES, PRIVATE LIVES -

A panel of experts debate how far the media should delve into the private lives of public figures

*Do celebrities and politicians have a right to private lives?
*Where does the public interest argument stop?
*Are families fair game?
*Why are we fascinated by the famous?

Panel:

Floyd Abrams, noted First Amendment lawyer
Bonnie Fuller, Chief Editorial Director, American Media, Inc.
Hilary B. Rosen, CNBC/MSNBC, Media Industry Consultant
Gary Morgan, CEO, Splash News/Paparazzi
Jacob Weisberg, Editor-in-Chief, Slate.com

moderator: Paul Holmes, Reuters

Date:
Thursday, October 12th
5:30pm
(panel to begin at 6pm)

Location:
The Reuters Building
3 Times Square
30th Floor

Posted by: Mario Ruiz at October 10, 2006 11:43 PM
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