Hastings Law News Vol.2 No.4 UC Hastings College of the Law
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University of California, Hastings College of the Law UC Hastings Scholarship Repository Hastings Law News UC Hastings Archives and History 10-28-1970 Hastings Law News Vol.2 No.4 UC Hastings College of the Law Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.uchastings.edu/hln Recommended Citation UC Hastings College of the Law, "Hastings Law News Vol.2 No.4" (1970). Hastings Law News. Book 25. http://repository.uchastings.edu/hln/25 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the UC Hastings Archives and History at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law News by an authorized administrator of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Unioersliy of Ca!tfornio HASTINGS LAW NEWS Vol. II No. IV 198 McAllister St. San Francisco California 94102 October 28, 1970 POSSIBLE ,AlJATPAZ TRIP Those students interested in showing their solidarity with the Alcatraz In- dians should come to a meeting at 2:30 p.m. today in Classroom D, or contact Howard WatkIns in Berkeley at 848-5900 tonight. Understanding Obscenity: Off the Street And Into the Classroom by Kenneth P. Steelberg Editor-in-Chief Constitutional law is challening and some- times frustrating course to study. However, the appli- cation of the supreme law of the land to various as- pects of activity in American society presents dilem- mas. The dilemmas are no place more apparent than those one encounters in studying the laws prescribing what is and what is not obscene or pornographic mater- ial. The dilemmas came home to roost in Professor Sullivan's Constitutional Law Seminar. Of late, the class had been discussing various aspects of Con Law, and were about to take up the questions of obscenity [Photos by Bob Azofi] in earnest. Given the background of most students at the Shown above are two scenes from the student assembly College, that is, having come from backgrounds in called by the Hastings Chapter of the National Lawyers suburban America, the prospects of reaching an under- Guild, to discuss the alleged lack of financial aid at standing on the gut issues involved in obscenity and the College. The Guild was denied permission to use the peunography were nil. Apart from an occasional stag Commons for its assembly because it is not, according flick at an undergraduate fraternity party, most peo- to Deans Munster and Sammis, a"recognized" campus or- ple had little idea of the nature of the subject that gainization, meaning that it had no information sheet they were to discuss, let alone decide criteria for on file with the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. its constiutionality. Because of the denial of use of facilities, the Guild [Cont' on page Seven] members had to procure their own sound amplification facilities from a source outside the school, and be- cause electrical power was turned off at the podium, CHANGE AND REFORM had to unplug the cigarette machine to get pow.:r for the equipment they had. Above is seen Hastings Chap- Recommendations and considerations for grad- ter National Lawyers Guild President Mike Miller ad- ing modification have not always been constructive. dressing students. Below is shown a panoramic view of All too often, 'change' has been substituted for the Commons as Armand Sa1ese speaks. 'reform'. Even more lamentable, the goal of "arriv- ing at something we all can agree on" frequently has supplanted that of ュセ。ョゥョァヲオャ@ appraisal and thought- ful suggestions for modification. Student Fellowship Committee What seems to be an example CDf the results of such political truncation is the plan for grading change proposed by the Student-Faculty Committee. Presents Final Recommendations Its study concluded with _the following recommendations which, apparently, were acceptable to both Student 'For Grading Reform and Faculty members of the Committee: STUDENT-FACULTY GRADING PROPOSAL -The last several years at Hastings have seen increasing agitation for alteration of the presently, The Committee recommend that effective in used grading system. Student dissatisfaction was September, 1970, the grading system at Hastings shall clearly indicated in a Spring, 1970, referendam and be on the following basis: Honors: Meaning an excellent at least two official school bodies, the Student- paper demonstrating substantial achievement. High Pass: Faculty Committee and the Student Fellowship Committee The porportion of High Pass and Pass grades shall be at (in conjunction with its parent group, the Joint Ed- the discretion of the instructor. Pass: Based on his ucational Committee), have studied the system with an evaluation of each student in the course. Fail: Mean- eye toward recommending changes. Faculty and admin- istration attention has also been directed to consid- eration of various reforms. [Cont. on page 5] --- セ M CHALLENGE HASTINGS LAW The challenge for us, as future law- yers, is the burden of citizenship. Our unique talents demand that we apply ourselves to the task of forming News a more perfect union, establishing justice, promoting the general welfare, and thus securing the blessings of liberty to our selves and our posterity. "The fut- ure is not a gift: it is an achievement. Every gener- ation helps make its own future . " [Robert Kennedy] The whole idea of being a creative citizen is lived everywhere by Ralph Nader. As an individual and as a movement he is letting the direction and tone of what will hopefully be a new generation of active par- Kenneth P. Steelberg• .••.• Editor-in-Chief ticipation. Michele Schultz .••••••••• Managing Editor Nader's programs hit primarily at consumer pro- George Beiler ....•... Contributing Editor tection, whether it is protection from the FCC or the Ed Litwin ...•.•.•••.. Contributing Editor American Gas Association. Product safety for the vast Bob Azoff. •••...•..•..••.••. Photo Editor majority of manufactured goods in the United States 1s Ellen Chaitin ••..•.•••.•.•.. Drama Editor an unknown commodity. Each year in incidents relating to the use of household products, 20 million Americans Student Publications Board: Curtis Berner,Jack E. are seriously injured enough to be disabled for at Christy, Pamela Sallander, Bob Teets, Kenneth P. least one day or to require medical treatment. This in- Steelberg, Professor John Hurlbut, Assistant Dean cludes 585,000 who are hospitalized, 110,000 permanent- Guy O. Kornblum [ex officio]. ly diabled, and 30,000 who are killed. [Stanton, T., The Hastings Law Newa is the official newspaper "The Hazards of Product Safety", Nation Magazine, of the students at the Hastings College of La\-1. September 26, 1970] Opinions expressed on the editorial page do not necessarily reflect the policy of the Administr- CALLOUS IGNORANCE tion of faculty. Letters and inquiries should be addressed to the Editor, Hastings Law News, ,198 As citizens it is our safety and rights that McAllister St. San Francisco California 94102. are being callously ignored by manufacturers. As law- yers, we must develop and extend several areas of tort and contract law in order to wxpose manufacturers of defective products to a continuing series of expensive lawsuits. For in the final analysis, manufacturers will have no reason to do a better job unless in the end it A r9NS (f PI{VOOING will cost them several hundred thousand of their al- mighty, precious dollars. To reach this end will re- D,E. IN l.98I quire the most imaginative citizenship, because the potential difficulties of bringing product liability suits are numerous and challenging. (i.e. consumer ig- norance of legal remedies available, locating inde- In relation to numerous contending forces in pendent experts who are willing to testify, the ex- the world today, the reality of citizenship seems to pense of bringing such a suit, long court delays,etc.) have hit an all-time low. From the time of the Greek However, the need is so compelling, the savings in hu- city-states, to Rome and more recently to Thomas Jef- man and monetary resources so overwhelming, that it is ferson's America, citizenship has connoted active par- the type of action, qualified citizens are obligated to ticipation in building a better culture. It may be ar- pursue. gued that the relative difference between the citizens The responsibilities of citizenship in a com- of 1800 and 1970 is primarily .due to the physical size plex, urban society are more than just voting. Ideally and complexity of modern America, and to a large ex- each citizen should actively participate in that field tent this is no doubt true. · However, in the interim, where he or she can comfortably contribute the most. a tradition of almost two centuries should have estab- Obviously lawyers should actively participate through lished citi?en participation to a degree that would law. • have allowed the maintenance of the relative status quo. This' we have not done. ACTIVE PARTICIPATION NEGATIVE NOTIONS But what does active participation mean in terms of commitment to a neophyte attorney? Must we In fact, the notion of citizenship has become all join the staff of Neighborhood Legal Assistance, somewhat negative. Most elementary and secondary Vista, or the Justice Department? (Which raises the schools consider students good citizens if they are question: is there any justice in the Justice Depart- quiet in the halls. Adults are considered good citi- ment? Only Martha セエャエ」ィ・ャャ@ knows for sure.) What are zens if they mind their own business and vote in Nov- the alternatives, because like everyone else, our fam- ember. Voting is positive, but certainly less positive ilies must eat, too. ' relative to what a citizen should do. The agencies mentioned above will no doubt ab- Is this what citizenship is all about? Is this sorb a large number of prospedtive public interest ad- the extent of a citizen's rights and responsibilities? vocates.