FSU College of Law Research Center Blog

Virtue Jurisprudence

A new book titled Virtue Jurisprudence by Colin Farrelly and Lawrence Solum has just been published.  Here's the publisher's description:

In moral theory, virtue ethics offers a third way - an alternative to the deontological and consequentialist approaches that dominated modern moral philosophy until very recently. What would happen if we transplanted virtue ethics into normative legal theory? The essays in this anthology are part of a growing body of work that answers that question. According to the advocates of virtue jurisprudence, the final end of law is to promote human flourishing - to enable humans to lead excellent lives. Can the virtue ethics tradition really help us address the fundamental concerns of legal theory-like judicial review, criminal and tort law? The authors of this volume believe it can. By shedding the constraints of consequentialist and deontological theories, these authors illustrate how the virtue ethics tradition can enrich legal theory in distinctive and diverse ways.

Posted by Jon Lutz

"Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal"

                                                                            

Author and "beyond organic" farming educator Joel Salatin recently visited North Florida, sparking local interest in his newly published book "Everything I Want to Do is Illegal."   Expanding on his 2003 article in Acres (the national journal of sustainable agriculture), Saladin illustrates how the regulations and laws of the United States "favor industrial global corporate food systems, and discourage community-based food commerce." 

What's ok?  What's not ok?   How is a fledgling  farmer, or any interested person to navigate the many legalities of commercial agriculture? 

Happily, the National Agricultural Law Center  provides easy access to a wealth of material.  User-friendly and efficiently organized, it's a great resource for links to primary law and in-depth analysis of the industry.  Especially nifty is a collection of 33 electronic "Reading Rooms," each devoted to an agricultural or food law topic, such as "Animal Feeding Operations," "BioSecurity," "Corporate Farming  Laws," and "Food Safety."  Each electronic room has links to major statutes, regulations, case law, research articles, government and Congressional publications, and other resources.  Other features of the site include: 

            --  full texts of all the United States Farm Bills, 1933 to the present 

            --  a section indexing Congressional Research Service Reports on agricultural                       and food law topics

            --  a bibliography of scholarly articles and books organized under 48 legal                               subject  categories

            --  the online National AgLaw Reporter newsletter

            --  in-depth analytical reports written by practicing attorneys and legal scholars

            --  an online "Reference Desk" of resource links

Whether you're a commercial farmer, a hobby farmer, a law student, or an attorney with an interest in agriculture regulation, the National Agricultural Law Center is a handy website to visit.  And for a living example of a local-market, environmentally-friendly farm operation, take a look at Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm!

Posted by Patricia Bingham-Harper
                     

Blackwater USA - Legal Status

The legal status in Iraq of security firms such as Blackwater is an interesting question.  The laws of the US probably don't apply, since they are not members of the military military laws don't apply and due to Order #17 of the Coalition Provision Authority they are immune from the Iraqi legal process:

Unless provided otherwise herein, the MNF, the CPA, Foreign Liaison Missions, their Personnel, property, funds and assets, and all International Consultants shall be immune from Iraqi legal process.

Read the entire order here.

Posted by Jon Lutz

California bans mandatory RFID implants of employees

California has banned employers from mandating RFID implants in their employees. 

Read the bill here.   Read a good overview of the issue here.

Posted by Jon Lutz

Is There Anything Good About Men?

This is the title of a thought-provoking address given at the American Psychological Association by FSU's own Dr. Roy Baumeister.  Dr. Baumeister focuses on how culture exploits men and women in different ways, and how this influences behavior.  (He also explains why, even though each individual has one father and one mother, people in general have approximately twice as many female ancestors as male ancestors.)

Posted by Robin Gault