Around the Blogs 8-25-06

One of the best reasons to follow blogs is the chance to learn things that you hadn't heard before. Several examples today. Doug Berman (as usual) alerts us to an ABA publication that I was unaware of, Criminal Justice, which this issue features a sentencing symposium to which he directs us. . . . Christopher Zorn at Empirical Legal Studies praises the National Science Foundation and its Law and Social Sciences funding program, encouraging us to make use of it and dispensing of the misconceptions about it. Be sure to follow through the comments. . . . At Prawfsblawg, Michael O'Hear uses a WI case to outline several key themes in the common criticisms of our cj system: defendant rights run amok, sacrifice of the truth-seeking function, plea bargaining as lawlessness, and sentencing as lawlessness. You obviously need to read the post to get the details. . . . Finally, also from Prawfsblawg, we're led to this Reuters article on Chinese halfway houses for computer addicts, including bloggers who just can't seem to stop . . . can't seem to stop . . . can't seem to stop . . . .