Jamail Center for Legal Research
Tarlton Law Library

Stuart Banner. Who Owns the Sky? : the Struggle to Control Airspace From the Wright Brothers on. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2008.
KF 2400 B36 2008

"In the summer of 1900, a zeppelin stayed aloft for a full eighteen minutes above Lake Constance, and mankind found itself at the edge of a new world. Where many saw hope and the dawn of another era, one man saw a legal conundrum. Charles C. Moore, an obscure New York lawyer, began an inquiry that Stuart Banner returns to over a century later: in the age of airplanes, who can lay claim to the heavens? The debate that ensued in the early twentieth century among lawyers, aviators, and the general public acknowledged the crucial challenge new technologies posed to traditional concepts of property. It hinged on the resolution of a host of broader legal issues being vigorously debated that pertained to the fine line between private and public property. To what extent did the Constitution allow the property rights of the nation's landowner to be abridged? Where did the common law of property originate and how applicable was it to new technologies? Where in the skies could the boundaries between the power of the federal government and the authority of the states be traced? Who Owns the Sky? is the first book to tell this forgotten story of elusive property. A collection of curious tales questioning the ownership of airspace and a reconstruction of a truly novel moment in the history of American law, Banner's book reminds us of the powerful and reciprocal relationship between technological innovation and the law--in the past as well as in the present."

James B. Cuno. Who Owns Antiquity? : Museums and the Battle Over Our Ancient Heritage. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2008.
CC 135 C86 2008

"Whether antiquities should be returned to the countries where they were found is one of the most urgent and controversial issues in the art world today, and it has pitted museums, private collectors, and dealers against source countries, archaeologists, and academics. Maintaining that the acquisition of undocumented antiquities by museums encourages the looting of archaeological sites, countries such as Italy, Greece, Egypt, Turkey, and China have claimed ancient artifacts as state property, called for their return from museums around the world, and passed laws against their future export. But in Who Owns Antiquity?, one of the world's leading museum directors vigorously challenges this nationalistic position, arguing that it is damaging and often disingenuous. Cuno argues that nationalistic retention and reclamation policies impede common access to this common heritage and encourage a dubious and dangerous politicization of antiquities--and of culture itself. Antiquities need to be protected from looting but also from nationalistic identity politics. To do this, Cuno calls for measures to broaden rather than restrict international access to antiquities. He advocates restoration of the system under which source countries would share newly discovered artifacts in exchange for archaeological help, and he argues that museums should again be allowed reasonable ways to acquire undocumented antiquities. The first extended defense of the side of museums in the struggle over antiquities, Who Owns Antiquity? is sure to be as important as it is controversial."

Jon L. Mills. Privacy: the Lost Right. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
KF 1262 M55 2008

"The assault on privacy is on the upswing and comes from multiple sources. With the rise of Youtube, phishing scams, viruses, and cellular devices equipped with video and photography, almost anyone can become the subject of a blog or a victim of identity theft. The government and employers no longer hold a monopoly on privacy infringement. Privacy: The Lost Right is an authoritative overview of privacy in today's intrusive world. By analyzing the history and context of modern common law, tort, statutory and constitutional protections for the individual, Jon L. Mills exposes the complex web of laws and policies that fail to provide privacy protection. Identifying specific violations against privacy rights, such as identity theft, tabloid journalism, closed-circuit television, blogs, and Right to Die, he also provides a comprehensive assessment of privacy and legal remedies in the United States. Mills uses his experiences as a former policy maker formulating Florida's constitutional privacy provisions and as an attorney in celebrity privacy cases to provide the reader with an understanding of the increasing intrusions in privacy rights, the possible harm, and available protections. Privacy: The Lost Right is a must read for scholars, legal practitioners, journalists, political scientists, or general readers looking to understand the rapidly changing areas of privacy policies and laws that are broadly affecting society."

Norbert Ebisike. Offender Profiling in the Courtroom: the Use and Abuse of Expert Witness Testimony. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
KF 8965 E25 2008

"Offender profiling is a crime investigation technique where information gathered from the crime scene, witnesses, victims (if alive), autopsy reports, as well as information about an offender's behavior are used to draw up a profile of the sort of person likely to commit such a crime. Offender profiling does not point to a specific offender. It is based, instead, on the probability that someone with certain characteristics is likely to have committed a certain characteristics is likely to have committed a certain type of crime. The technique has traditionally been used by the police to narrow down suspects in cases where no physical evidence was left at a crime scene. Recently, however, this technique has been introduced into the courtroom as evidence, raising questions of its reliability, validity, and admissibility at trial. Because offender profiling was not originally intended to be used in the courtroom, its entrance there has caused both confusion and controversy. In spite of the ever-increasing media interest in the use of offender profiling in criminal trials, the technique is still not well understood by many people, including judges, lawyers, and jurors, who weigh such 'evidence' at trial. Some people see offender profiling as a tried and true method of identifying suspects. Others see it as a fiction."