Legal Commentary: Julie Hilden Archive

GOING AFTER INDIVIDUALS FOR COPYRIGHT VIOLATIONS:
THE NEW BILL THAT WOULD GRANT COPYRIGHT OWNERS A "LICENSE TO HACK" PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS
FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Julie Hilden discuses a new cyberlaw bill sponsor by California Representative Howard Berman. The bill would immunize copyright owners from legal liability, both criminal and civil, that would otherwise arise from their hacking into th peer-to-peer file trading networks, such as Gnutella, that have succeeded Napster as the place to trade MP3s on the Internet. Hilden summarizes the bill and its limitations, but argues they are not sufficient to protect users. She also predicts a trend in which copyright industries increasingly go after copyright-infringing users, whether through hacking or more traditional means.
Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002

THE SUMMER OF KIDNAPPED GIRLS:
COULD AN EXPANSION OF MEGAN'S LAW HELP TO PREVENT MORE ABDUCTIONS?
FindLaw columnist, attorney and author Julie Hilden argues that some of this summer's abductions -- including Samantha Runnion's and the two California teenagers' -- might well have been prevented by an expansion of California's version of Megan's Law. Under Hilden's proposed expansion, the law would provide for Internet posting of photos and addresses of anyone who had been charged with a sex or violent crime -- regardless of the outcome. That would have meant photos of Alejandro Avila (acquitted of molestation) and Roy Ratliff (prior rape charges pending) would have appeared, and possibly aided in saving their victims.
Tuesday, Aug. 06, 2002

THE HITCHING POST CASE:
THE SUPREME COURT WEIGHS IN ON WHEN GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES SHOULD KNOW THEIR ACTIONS COUNT AS "CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT"
FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Julie Hilden discusses Hope v. Pelzer, an opinion the Supreme Court issued at the end of its most recent Term. The opinion holds that prison guards violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual" punishments if, as a prisoner claims, they tied him to a hitching post for hours in the hot sun without water or bathroom breaks. It also holds that any reasonable person would know such conduct violates the Eighth Amendment -- but the dissent disagrees, and Hilden notes there is something to be said for its position.
Tuesday, Jul. 16, 2002

WERE THE BUSH V. GORE JUSTICES' VIEWS REALLY POLITICAL AND NOT PRINCIPLED?
A RECENT SUPREME COURT OPINION ON STATES' ABILITY TO REGULATE JUDICIAL CANDIDATES' SPEECH MAY PROVE THE CYNICS WRONG
FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Julie Hilden discusses the recent case of Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, in which the Supreme Court struck down Minnesota regulations limiting what candidates for elected judgeships could say about disputed legal and political issues. Hilden draws a parallel between White and Bush v. Gore, noting that the majority and minority Justices lined up in the same way -- and took very similar positions -- in the two cases. Hilden concludes that the Justices' positions on intervention in state election systems may be much more consistent and principled than critics of Bush v. Gore have claimed.
Tuesday, Jul. 09, 2002

THE TOP SEVEN ARGUMENTS OF THE FIRST YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL, AND THEIR COUNTERARGUMENTS
FindLaw columnist, attorney and author Julie Hilden argues that the first year of law school should not be as daunting as "The Paper Chase" and "One L" made it appear -- for the basic arguments that are taught during that year, she contends, are few and simple. Hilden provides a list of the top seven arguments a One L will encounter -- from the "slippery slope" to the "cheapest cost-avoider" -- and explains why they aren't always quite as persuasive as they may seem.
Friday, Jun. 21, 2002

CAN A LIBEL DEFENDANT BE SUED IN ANY AND EVERY STATE FOR MATERIAL PUBLISHED ON A WEBSITE?:
A NEW CASE TESTS WHAT ROLE INTERNET PRESENCE PLAYS
FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Julie Hilden discusses a series of questions suggested by a recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case: Can a local newspaper -- and its reporters and editors -- be sued for libel in a state in which the paper has little or no circulation, simply because its website is accessible in that state? What if the website includes an article about a resident of that state? The questions have possible repercussions, as Hilden explains, not only for local but also for national newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post -- who have filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the case.
Tuesday, Jun. 04, 2002

THE TRAGIC MIS-INVESTIGATION OF CHANDRA LEVY'S DISAPPEARANCE:
HOW THE DISCOVERY OF HER REMAINS UNDERLINES POLICE INCOMPETENCE
FindLaw columnist, attorney and author Julie Hilden offer a point-by-point argument suggesting that the D.C. police's excuses for why prior searches did not uncover Chandra Levy's remains do not hold water. Hilden also explains why the delay in discovering Levy's remains means the police have lost crucial advantages in their investigation -- not only forensic, but strategic. Finally, she explains why, in this age of terrorism, it is time for a new police chief for D.C.
Monday, May. 27, 2002

CHIPPED:
WHAT LEGAL QUESTIONS ARE THE NEW CHIP IMPLANTS FOR HUMANS LIKELY TO RAISE?
FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Julie Hilden considers the potential legal implications of a recent technological development: commercially-available chips containing information to be accessed in medical emergencies. The chips were implanted for the first time in humans late last week. Hilden explains how the law may, and may not, constrain potential uses of information chips --- and also potential uses of chips and pagers using Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar technology, which may soon be on the way.
Tuesday, May. 14, 2002

THE ROBERT BLAKE MURDER CASE:
WHY IT MATTERS, AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF HIS CELEBRITY
FindLaw columnist, attorney and author Julie Hilden discusses the Robert Blake indictment -- and in particular, the defense's potential use of murder victim Bonny Bakley's sordid background to help raise reasonable doubt if the case against Blake goes to trial. Hilden contends that the case may end up being notable because of its sexual politics, not because of Blake's faded celebrity.
Tuesday, Apr. 30, 2002

THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE INTERNET:
WHY TRADITIONAL LEGAL DOCTRINES APPLY DIFFERENTLY IN CYBERSPACE
FindLaw columnist, attorney, and author Julie Hilden discusses three First Amendment doctrines that she argues are no longer accurate or effective when it comes to the Internet. The "marketplace of ideas," Hilden argues, no longer selects truth alone; "counterspeech" no longer effectively rebuts false speech; and defamation law is toothless when anonymity is available. Hilden suggests that another force, however, is replacing these three to help ensure truth on the Internet.
Tuesday, Apr. 16, 2002

HOW TO SUCCEED AT HARVARD AND STANFORD LAW SCHOOLS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING:
A REVIEW OF ROBERT EBERT BYRNES & JAIME MARQUART'S BRUSH WITH THE LAW
FindLaw columnist, attorney and author Julie Hilden reviews a recent memoir by two former law students determined to counteract the portraits of law school drawn by One L and The Paper Chase. For Robert Ebert Byrnes and Jaime Marquart, law school had more to do with "class-ditching, orgies, hookers, hard drugs, and card-counting" than with the Socractic method. Hilden assesses their Harvard-meets-Hunter-S.-Thompson account of law school life. An interview with the authors can be found here.
Friday, Apr. 12, 2002