Nov. 8, 2004
Mary Whisner, Editor
Legal Journalism
Each year, the American Bar Association presents the Silver Gavel Awards,
recognizing efforts improve the American public’s understanding of law and the
legal system. The 2004 awards are listed
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/gavel/win04.html.
A ten-part series in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about murder victims
and missing persons won honorable mention. See the PI’s special report
at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/missing/.
Would you like to try your hand at legal journalism? Send in a submission to
the Legal Affairs law student writing contest,
http://www.legalaffairs.org/contest.html. This year’s deadline is Dec. 1.
Jennifer Lauren (UW class of ’06) earned honorable mention in last year’s
contest for her article, "Discrimination with a Small ‘d’: At Will Employment
Makes No Sense to the Public and It Shouldn’t Remain the Law."
Legal Affairs, a bi-monthly magazine, is available on the display
shelves in the Reference Area.
Book of the Week: Todd D. Rakoff, A Time for Every Purpose: Law and the Balance of Life
-- Mary Whisner
It can be refreshing when an author explores a topic that cuts across
standard doctrinal categories. Todd Rakoff has done just that, giving the law
of time a thought-provoking and literate treatment, in A Time for Every
Purpose: Law and the Balance of Life (KF450 .T5 R35 2002 at Classified
Stacks).
What does the law have to do with time? Quite a lot, as it turns out. An
early chapter traces the standardization of time -- the legal institutions of
time zones and Daylight Savings Time. Then there is a discussion of Blue Laws
(and their demise). Other chapters discuss wage and hour laws and school
attendance laws.
The book is interesting on two levels. First, there are many historical
tidbits -- for instance, did you know that many public schools in cities were
open for more days per year before the Civil War than they are today? More
important are the questions of social policy Prof. Rakoff addresses. Time is
not fungible, and most activities require structured time. For example, if one
works during the evening of a PTA meeting, then one simply misses the meeting,
even though one might have two hours to spare on another evening. Having
a church service -- or a Rotary Club lunch or a community theater rehearsal --
requires getting a number of people together at the same time. For a balanced
life, most of us need to have time for work, family, recreation, and social,
political, or religious activities. How will a move toward a 24/7 economy
affect individuals and all the social institutions we value? What should the
law's role be?
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