Morning Legal Links ... Rap lyrics -- and the musicians who write them -- may play a big role in the potential landmark First Amendment case being decided by SCOUTS ... Is University of Denvers Sturm College of Law the first to offer classes on changing cannabis laws? ... An 80-year-old man in Liverpool decided rather than play golf in his retired years, hed get a law degree In the potential landmark First Amendment case being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court right now about whether threatening postings on Facebook can be considered criminal acts or are just extensions of free speech, Justice John Roberts quoted rapper Eminem during the debate. And that came one day after a strongly worded editorial was published by the USA Today from another rapper who sought to make a similar point. As recent research has revealed, rap lyrics have been introduced as evidence of a defendants criminal behavior in hundreds of cases nationwide, frequently leading to convictions that are based on prosecutors blatant mischaracterizations of the genre, wrote rapper Michael Render, whose stage name is Killer Mike. Ignoring many of the elements that signal rap as form of artistic expression, such as rappers use of stage names or their frequent use of metaphor and hyperbole, prosecutors will present rap as literal autobiography. In effect, they ask jurors to suspend the distinction between author and narrator, reality and fiction, to secure guilty verdicts. bit.ly/1yj9qcM The University of Denver -- founded in 1864 and one of the most prestigious private universities in the U.S. -- is a stone’s throw from some of the citys new busy recreational pot shops, and soon students at DU’s Sturm College of Law will have the opportunity to take a class on cannabis law: Representing the Marijuana Client. And one DU law professor thinks theyre breaking new ground. “I don’t know of anyone who’s teaching anything like this,” said Sam Kamin, who created the course and is the director of the school’s Constitutional Rights & Remedies Program. “Everywhere I go people ask me questions about it. People want to know about commercial real estate — what are their rights and obligations when renting to someone with a grow? This class isn’t, ‘Hey, this is how to sell a lot of pot.’ Rather it’s, ‘Here are all the issues that could come up if you’re representing industry or government. dpo.st/11Kumve Eric Jones spent his entire career nicking baddies for the Greater Manchester Police, but when he retired, he felt unfulfilled. So instead of taking up sheep herding or joining a seniors bocce ball league, Jones went back to school and earned his law degree at the University of Liverpool. And just a few days ago, he received his diploma in what was described as emotional moment for the former cop. Surprisingly, however, Jones is not the oldest to earn his law degree -- that record, which is certified in the Guinness Book of World Records, belongs to a 97-year-old man from Australia: bit.ly/1vlMUcb
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 15:06:54 +0000
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