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Legal troubles of Yankee Stadium

Iantha Haight No Responses »
Apr 022010

Yankee StadiumThe New York Law Journal featured an article today entitled “What Legal Challenges Ahead For New Yankee Stadium?” written by Angela M. Mazzarelli, Robert J. Patchen, and Jeffrey D. Ratner. Despite its title, the article is not a prospective look at the future of the new Yankee Stadium; instead it summarizes ten historic lawsuits involving the former Yankee Stadium.

Number 8 on the list is my favorite because of the opinion’s snarky concluding paragraph. In 1927 Harry Schafer purchased tickets for two ringside seats at the Sharkey-Dempsey prizefight at Yankee Stadium for $27.50 each—quite a lot of money then (click here for the results of the bout). Harry and his wife took the train from their home in Oklahoma City to NYC just to attend the fight, only to allegedly find the gates of Yankee Stadium locked. Upset and disappointed, Schafer sued to recover the cost of the trip, but the judge did not believe his story. The judge found that the defendant had, in fact, kept the gates open. But the judge offered Schafer these final words of consolation:

This was the first visit to New York for both plaintiff and his wife. They were there for three days after their tragic experience. They did some shopping in its magnificent stores, and attended the performances at several theaters. Plaintiff should find some consolation in the pride which must be his, that it can no longer be said that he and his wife did not visit the greatest metropolis in the world, and its splendid and stupendous places of amusement.

The case is Shafer v. Rickard, 132 Misc 489 (Mun. Ct. of N.Y., Bor. of Man., 4th Dist. 1928).

If you want to access this or other New York Law Journal articles and you are a Cornell Law student, you have several options available to you. Selected articles (including this one) are available in Westlaw, database code NYLJ. You can ask for a copy of the print publication at the circulation desk in the Reading Room. We keep the most recent issues stored there until we receive it on microfiche. Law students can also access the Journal’s Web site. Some of the articles are free; for articles that are not freely available, email a Research Attorney or ask at the reference desk for a password.

Yankee Stadium Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kjetilhr/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Posted by library at 7:10 am Tagged with: ,

The Snitching Blog

Iantha Haight No Responses »
Mar 262010

Snitching by Alexandra NatapoffA blog can be a great place to dip into a new topic. Take the Snitching Blog, for example–an excellent resource for news and information about criminal informants, how they operate, and how they affect the U.S. criminal justice system. The blog has entries about cases in which an informant played a critical role, a heads-up about a recent NPR series on a confidential informant and the House of Death murders, and legislative reform efforts. You can find links to reports, data, and government hearings in the blog’s sidebar.

Alexandra Natapoff, a professor at Loyola Law School, authors the blog. She recently published a book entitled Snitching: Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice, Cornell Law Library call number KF9665 .N38x 2009. You also may want to check out Ethan Brown’s Snitch: Informants, Cooperators & the Corruption of Justice, Cornell’s Olin Library call number HV8141 .B74 2007. Ancient history buffs should try Imperial Inquisitions: Prosecutors and Informants from Tiberius to Domitian by Steven H. Rutledge, Olin Library call number JC89 .R87x 2001.

Posted by library at 2:05 pm Tagged with: , ,

New booklet: Rare Treasures of Cornell Law Library

Janet Gillespie No Responses »
Mar 172010

A new booklet called Rare Treasures of Cornell Law Library is now available in the law library. The booklet highlights some of the rare books and special collections we have in our Rare Book Room. Among these treasures are the Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection of transcripts and documents, a first edition of Blackstone’s Commentaries, an extensive 19th Century Trials Collection (part of which Hein digitized for its World Trials Library), and many other rare and interesting materials. The Rare Book Collection houses several thousand volumes, mainly English and continental European materials. We also have Liberian Law and artifacts from the Scottsboro Boys Trial, which are interesting viewing.

If you would like to look at any of these materials please contact me, Janet Gillespie, to make an appointment, or submit the online form. We also have periodic open houses when our treasures can be viewed. There are digital collections of some of these materials online, such as the Nuremberg Trial transcripts, which are being digitized courtesy of a generous grant from the Nathaniel Lapkin Foundation. Please pick up one of the beautiful pamphlets of Rare Treasures at the table in front of the Research Desk (in the Reading Room).

Posted by library at 10:55 am Tagged with: , ,

This Thursday: Rare Book Room Open House

Amy Emerson No Responses »
Mar 092010

Image from Cornell Law Library Trials CollectionAll members of the law school community are invited to an Open House for the Rare Book Room hosted by the Cornell Law Library this Thursday, March 11 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Rare Book Room is located on the eastern end of the Reading Room (on the Law Library’s third floor). Please join us for an introduction to some of the most treasured items from our collection, including the Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, the Scottsboro Trials Collection, and our collection of Liberian Law. Light refreshments will be served.

Posted by library at 11:30 am Tagged with: , , ,

Recent scholarship on Supreme Court dynamics

Matt Morrison No Responses »
Mar 032010

Scales of JusticeTwo items of particular interest on the U.S. Supreme Court came across my desk last week.  The first was a National Law Journal article titled “Does Thomas’ Silence Thwart Advocacy?” (thanks to Robert Ambrogi’s LawSites).  Author Tony Mauro notes that it has been four years since Justice Thomas has asked a question during oral argument and wonders if that is too long—does that reticence damage the Court, its decision-making, and Justice Thomas’s reputation?  Mauro highlights a recent law review note on the subject.

The second item I saw was a brand new article in Law Library Journal titled “Dissents from the Bench: A Compilation of Oral Dissents by U.S. Supreme Court Justices.”  Authors Jill Duffy and Elizabeth Lambert have sifted through various sources to compile oral dissents from the Burger, Rehnquist, and Roberts Courts, October Term 1969 to present.  The piece provides a fascinating look at the Court’s cases from the last 40 years that have stirred the most impassioned dissents.

To delve further into the Supreme Court, there are many resources available.  The Law Library offers two research guides, one on Supreme Court Records and Briefs and the other on Supreme Court Oral Arguments.  Be sure to visit the Oyez Project, an archive of oral argument audio files, and the SCOTUSblog, which tracks Supreme Court news.  In our Law Library print collection, you may want to check out “Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court: An Empirical Approach” by Lawrence Wrightsman.  This book has a chapter on justices’ questions and another on justice behavior during oral argument.  Another book, “Majority Rule or Minority Will: Adherence to Precedent on the U.S. Supreme Court”, looks at voting and opinion behavior.

Posted by library at 10:54 am Tagged with: ,
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