Popov v. Hayashi: Barry Bonds' Ball Case

Let's read this recent case for next week as per the list of assignments. UPDATE The link on the list of assignments for this case is a good link. Use that one.

Here is a link to a video of the battle for the ball!

First Two Assignments

Here are the first two assignments for Property class. These two assignments will get us through the first 3-5 classes. Make sure you are always prepared to discuss one full assignment beyond what we have covered in class:

1. Casebook p. 79-95 (Goddard and Eads)

2. Casebook p. 95-97 (Armory and Bridges); p.102-103 (McAvoy); p.97-99(Sharman)

After reading these assignments, we will read and think about the litigation over possession of one of Barry Bonds historic home run balls and actually watch a documentary about that litigation. Here is a link to the opinion in the Bonds' baseball case, Popov v. Hayashi.

I will be providing a full list of assignments and more information about the course soon. When these handouts are available, I will let you now by posting a notice on the bulletin board outside the Dean's Suite.

See you in class!

Religious Liberty and Property

One of the important intersections of Property law and Civil Rights law is that of religious liberty and property. We will be looking at this area in more detail later this semester, but for now here is an interesting post from the Religioin Clause blog:


Court Orders Mobile Home Park To Allow Religious Use of Clubhouse

Yesterday a San Diego, California trial court ordered Warner Springs Homeowners Association to allow residents at the mobile home park to use the park's common areas for Bible and prayer meetings, according to a release by the United States Justice Foundation. The court rejected the claim of the Homeowners' Association that it had a right to be free of religion in the community clubhouse. The residents' suit had claimed violations of the U.S. and California constitutions and of California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Essential Surfing

If you only have time for one site to try to keep up with what is happening in the world of law, you should be sure to visit this site (How Appealing) each and every day. It links to articles and primary sources concerning just about everything important taking place in the world of law.

Check it out (but not during Property class!).

Diversity Schmiversity!

The downside of diversity: A Harvard political scientist finds that diversity hurts civic life. What happens when a liberal scholar unearths an inconvenient truth Here is an excerpt:

IT HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.

But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam -- famous for "Bowling Alone," his 2000 book on declining civic engagement -- has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.

"The extent of the effect is shocking," says Scott Page, a University of Michigan political scientist.