The Blawg Review is a weekly review of the best law-related posts from a variety of blogs and I have the pleasure of hosting this week’s issue. In honor of the annual return of our National Pastime, I am pleased to present Blawg Review #103, the BaseBlawg Review.
A (Very) Brief History of Baseball in the United States
Professional baseball in the United States dates back to 1869 and its been our "National Pastime" since the 1870s. The leagues that make up modern day Major League Baseball (MLB) are each more than 100 years old (the National League was established in 1876, the American League in 1901). Off field competition between these two leagues, for players and fans, was heated until 1903, when the World Series was established, leading to Major League Baseball as we know it today.
The Ceremonial First Pitch
First thrown by President William Howard Taft in 1910, the ceremonial first pitch is a well-known ritual of baseball. Nearly every United States President since Taft has thrown the first pitch of a baseball season.
The BaseBlawg Review’s ceremonial first pitch is being thrown by James of Begging to Differ, who posted his thoughts on Opening Day 2007.
The Umpire
Like baseball umpires, trial attorneys rely on judges to "call balls and strikes." What follows are this week’s posts addressing the power of judges, juries, and courts to adjudicate particular disputes, the manner in which that power is exercised, and the (sometimes odd) results.
Anne Reed and Deliberations presents a shocking example of jury compromise. The South Carolina Appellate Law Blog also posted about the case.
Point of Law.com directs us to a decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court "reversing an appellate court that had misapplied basic conflict-of-laws principles."
Legal Pad has Justin Scheck’s post "En Banc Notice Bolster’s Snarky Dissent."
The Infield Fly Rule
When there are fewer than two outs and there is a force play at third, the batter who hits a fair fly ball that, in the umpire’s judgment may be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, is out. Rule 6.05e, commonly referred to as the "infield fly rule," is among the most commonly misunderstood rules in baseball. This portion of the BaseBlawg Review is devoted to laws which have proven to be inscrutable, ill-conceived, or simply odd.
Jamie Spencer notes that under Texas’s current parole system felons "are serving higher and higher percentages of their sentences, even when they accumulate substantial good-time credit" at Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer.
Walking the Berkshires fills us in on some strange Connecticut laws.
Eric Goldman updates us on the Utah state legislature's assault on keyword advertising.
The MLB All-Star Game
Marking the symbolic midpoint of the baseball season, the "Midsummer Classic" is the annual game between selected players from the National and American Leagues.
At this, the midpoint of the BaseBlawg Review, we take a moment to review law student Timothy Bishop’s post on lawyer superlatives, specifically the SuperLawyers list.
The Designated Hitter
To improve offensive performance in games, the American League adopted the designated hitter rule in 1973. Under the rule, which has been adopted by most minor leagues, teams may designate a hitter to bat in place of the pitcher. In the National League, pitchers still bat for themselves. Since E-Commerce Law is the "designated hitter" for this week’s Blawg Review, we’ve devoted this section to topics of particular interest to our regular readers.
Enrico Schaefer directs us to the "Registerfly Update from ICANN" on the ICANN Blog.
Like us, Blawg IT is interested in the issue of Internet jurisdiction.
We follow the practice tip recently offered by Kevin Thompson at Cyberlaw Central: "Use Truecrypt to secure portable media."
David Jacobson’s External Insights include a post on business wikis.
Volokh points his readers to Terranova’s post on one law school’s class expedition experience with property law concepts in a well-known virtual world.
Adam Smith, Esq. discusses an ambitious online community devoted to facilitating communication and business deals between the legal departments of large law companies and the lawyers who serve their legal needs.
Techdirt decries the current state of trademark protection in "Can't Drink Coke In A Movie Without Coca Cola's Permission?"
This week, the Washington Post reported that video blogger Josh Wolf was released from jail after serving nearly eight months on a contempt charge for refusing to testify about about an anarchist's demonstration. Evan Brown mentioned the story at Internet Cases.
Regular readers of our E-Commerce Law Briefs know about the copyright infringement case filed by two Virginia high school students against the plagerism-detecting Turnitin system. This week, the case has spawned posts at Long Road, the Student Printz, and IT: Instructional Technology.
The Black Sox Scandal
Arguably the best known sports scandal in history, the conspiracy amongst several members of the Chicago White Sox to throw games during the 1919 World Series is commonly referred to as the "Black Sox" scandal. The scandal resulted in the lifetime ban of eight players and has been immortalized in print and on film. This section of the BaseBlawg Review is devoted to bad conduct of all types.
Timothy Bishop of the Legal Scoop responds to a recent "payola" settlement between the government and broadcast companies.
Teen age foolishness is the topic of "To the Moon, Alice" at Overlawyered.
When copying pornographic images from a friend’s computer, one should take care not to copy military secrets as well. See this post at Infamy or Praise.
Embezzlement in law firms? It’s still a problem, according to LawBiz Blog.
A lawyer has been charged in the vehicular death of a Sheriff’s Deputy. The Legal Reader has details.
The Seventh Inning Stretch
Baseball’s seventh inning stretch is a traditional break in the action between the halves of the seventh inning. Feel free to stand up, walk around, or stretch before returning for the last two innings of the BaseBlawg Review.
The Bullpen
Before heading to the mound, pitchers warm up in the bullpen. Here we present cases yet to be decided, controversies brewing, and other matters that are "waiting in the wings."
Stephen at Patent Baristas discusses Abbott Laboratories’ announcement that it will not launch new medications in Thailand.
Antitrust Review updates us on trouble brewing in the online music industry here and here.
The Clean-up Hitter
It is the job of the fourth batter in the line up, the clean-up hitter, to "clean up the bases." So, we use this last portion of the BaseBlawg Review to clean up any loose ends.
Randy L. Braun of Juz the Fax asks "Do Pro Se Litigants Have an Advantage?"
Madeleine Begun Kane has the Form 1040 Blues.
AdamsDrafting helps us to properly use "Including Without Limitation."
"‘Changes Being Effected’ Labeling and Novelty" at Drug and Device Law.
Conglomerate's "Is that a Zillow on My Pillow?"
Legal Andrew provides some business card ideas.
Jim Hassett tells lawyers how to qualify new client prospects at Legal Business Development.
And here we are, the last out of the ninth inning, as the fans head to the parking lot. It was my pleasure to host the BaseBlawg Review.
Blawg Review has information about next week's host, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.
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