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    Wisconsin Lawyer
    August 01, 1999

    Wisconsin Lawyer August 1999: Book Reviews

    Book Reviews


    This Month's Featured Selections


    Essential Criminology Essential Criminology

    By Mark M. Lanier and Stuart Henry
    (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998).
    Paper. 250 pgs. Retail $25.

    Reviewed by Michael L. Ernest

    This book presents an overview of the study of crime. It is not intended solely for lawyers; in fact, it is geared towards professors and undergraduate students of crime. Legal practitioners still will find it interesting and informational. Its interest lies in the many diverse theories it presents regarding the causation of crime.

    Authors Lanier and Henry begin with a definition of crime, taking care not to forget crimes of the white-collar variety. They then describe crime as a continuum, ranging in severity from terrorism to truancy. The authors present an original prismatic concept of crime that incorporates white collar and street crimes. They then delineate the various official and unofficial ways of gathering crime statistics, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each.

    The remainder of Essential Criminology discusses the many physiological, sociological, and economic theories regarding why people commit crimes. It often is difficult to keep the various theories from blending together. The authors solve this problem by providing many charts throughout the text and summaries at the end of each chapter. They also use flowcharts and graphs when necessary.

    The theories vary so greatly that it is impossible to reconcile them all. Thus, the reader must read critically. The theories range from insightful to barely plausible; from sound policy to naive; from credible to the downright laughable. Of particular interest are the theories on crime from the Marxist, feminist, radical feminist, Marxist feminist, abolitionist, and anarchist points of view. For example, the abolitionist theory calls for the abolition of the practice of incarceration and calls for the closing of all prisons. It does not, however, offer any realistic ways to deal with violent criminals.

    Essential Criminology is a wonderful introductory textbook, and should one desire a more in-depth study of criminology, it offers 43 pages of reference materials.

    Michael L. Ernest is a Marquette University Law School student with a projected graduation of May 2001.

    Countdown Y2K Countdown Y2K: Business Survival Planning for the Year 2000

    By Peter de Jager and Richard Bergeon
    (New York, NY: Wiley Computer Publishing, 1999).
    330 pgs. Retail $23.99.

    Reviewed by Terry F. Peppard

    The "Year 2000 Problem," also styled "the Millennium Bug," is so much in the news today that even those who might wish desperately to avoid the subject can't. Because of the media attention, a discussion of a Y2K-related technology meltdown can be about as inviting as another talking heads debate over a certain White House intern's impact on the fate of the nation. The difference is that Y2K genuinely has the potential to bring the country, indeed the world, to the point of crisis. Hence this book.

    The authors of Countdown Y2K are technology wonks who currently spend a good deal of their time filling the airwaves, and the Internet, with advice aimed at preparing businesses for the coming crunch. Their book, one among scores on the subject (an appendix to this one lists 29 others) was plainly written by nonlawyers for nonlawyers.

    The target audience is the community of business owners and managers, not themselves technologically initiated, who need to know enough about the topic both to ask the right questions of their technical staff and vendors and to understand the answers. The book succeeds in this objective in part because it's written in a pleasingly nontechnical style. It also indulges in just enough repetition and recasting of the authors' essential theses so that a newcomer to the field can find useful information in any of several chapters without much difficulty.

    The lawyer reader of Countdown Y2K will find it thin in its examination of the legal issues that will attend the arrival of the Y2K "event horizon," Jan. 1, 2000. In fact, only one of the book's 13 chapters is devoted to the legal implications of the problem. Still, this volume has value for lawyers who want to understand what their clients are, or should be, going through to exterminate the Millennium Bug.
    If there's a conspicuous omission in this work, it's the absence of even the most cursory mention of how business people and their lawyers might deal with the legal disputes that will inevitably arrive with Y2K. The authors fail to note, for example, that the very nature of the problem will likely make court-based legal solutions useless because they're simply too time-consuming.

    The book would have benefited from an explanation by the authors that, as business people and attorneys realize that Y2K legal remedies must be found within weeks, or even days, the solution may lie in fast-track mediation, supplemented as necessary by expedited arbitration.

    Terry Peppard, U.W. 1973, a former member of the State Bar's Technology Resource Committee, practices in Madison and serves on the American Arbitration Association's national panel of mediators and arbitrators for technology and Y2K-related legal disputes.

    Managing Notorious Trials

    By Timothy R. Murphy, Paula L. Hannaford,
    Genevra Kay Loveland, and G. Thomas Munsterman
    (Williamsburg, VA: National Center for State Courts, 1998).
    225 pgs. Retail $30.
    To order, call (888) 228-6272.

    Reviewed by Jason T. Studinski

    Despite innovative thinking coupled with the emergence of new techniques and technologies, the rules of trial law remain governed by established precedent. However, that precedent often is ill equipped to deal with the varied and considerable challenges of a notorious trial.

    Managing Notorious Trials provides a detailed examination of the special issues judges, court personnel, lawyers, parties, and the media face in high profile trials. In this text you will not find a philosophical debate about issues like the efficacy of cameras in the courtroom. Instead, Notorious Trials offers an easy-to-follow practical guide to dealing with pretrial matters, media coverage, jury considerations, and security.

    The authors present these substantive areas in a user friendly format. Each chapter begins with a listing of "Lessons Learned" that also serves as an outline of the chapter, thus allowing readers quick reference to topics of interest. The book concludes with multiple appendices, including sample forms that address topics including rules concerning media coverage, special juror questionnaires, and judge's instructions.

    The reader cannot help but conclude that taking part in highly publicized trials is the province of a select few, most of whom have only done so a few times. Given the high stakes, drama, and lack of experience in this setting, participants need to identify all the issues in advance and deal with them most advantageously. Managing Notorious Trials provides an excellent starting point for would-be actors in such a drama.

    Jason T. Studinski, U.W. 1998, is the founding member of Studinski Legal Group LLC, Madison, and practices plaintiff's employment, civil rights, and personal injury law.


    I Love the Internet I Love the Internet But I Want My Privacy, Too: Simple Steps Anyone Can Take to Enjoy the Net Without Worry

    By Chris Peterson
    (Rocklin, CA: Prima Publishing, 1998).
    226 pgs. Retail $13.56.

    Reviewed by JoAnn M. Hornak

    Seven months ago, I purchased my first computer and started regularly surfing the net. As a prosecutor, I frequently see the hazards of criminals obtaining personal and financial information about law-abiding citizens and cases of identity theft. I was interested in learning how I could protect myself on the Internet. I Love the Internet provides an excellent overview of the potential dangers you and your family face when visiting Web sites, sending email, and entering chat rooms. Complex technology is explained with easy-to-understand analogies to the physical world. The book also provides an extensive list of groups and resources monitoring Internet privacy issues.

    The special section on protecting children gives practical, common-sense steps every parent should take to safeguard their children not only from pornographers and pedophiles but from a much more insidious and wide-spread danger - advertising. Companies take full advantage of the unregulated Internet by using seemingly innocent devices such as interactive games that are cleverly disguised to provide a technique for marketing products and gathering information about your children.

    I Love the Internet makes it clear that you expose personal information every time you log on to the Internet, at home and at work. Fortunately, there are concrete steps we can take to protect our privacy such as purchasing blocking software and using anonymizers and encryption, but many risks still exist.

    The claim made in the title that the Internet can be used "without worry" is a bit of a misnomer. The government, direct marketers, and private database services will continue to collect and sell personal information about us and we will continue to be bombarded with electronic junk mail despite taking precautions. The author correctly points out that industry self-regulation and possibly federal regulation is needed to truly safeguard our privacy on the Internet.

    JoAnn M. Hornak, U.W. 1987, is a Milwaukee County assistant district attorney.

    Third Party and Self-Created Trusts: Planning for the Elderly and the Disabled Client (Second Edition)

    By Clifton B. Kruse Jr.
    (Chicago, IL: ABA Real Property,
    Probate & Trust Law Section, 1998).
    271 pgs. $89.95.
    To order, call (800) 285-2221.

    Reviewed by Thomas G. Reynolds

    This book is an excellent resource for attorneys who serve disabled and elderly people in their practices. While of obvious interest to estate planners and elder law attorneys, it will prove equally beneficial as an introduction to this area for general practitioners.

    The author begins with a discussion of self-settled trusts. These are trusts in which the trust creator retains a beneficial interest. Kruse reviews the limited circum-stances under which such trusts may be created without disqualifying the creator from receiving Medicaid assistance. In addition, he reviews the various self-settled trusts used in the past that are no longer viable Medicaid planning techniques.

    He then discusses trusts created by third parties. This section is of particular interest to general practitioners who occasionally have clients who would like to provide for an elderly or disabled friend or relative without jeopardizing their access to Medicaid benefits. Kruse includes sample trust illustrations for creating these supplemental needs trusts. The forms alone make the book worth owning.

    Third Party and Self-Created Trusts is very well documented throughout. It provides ample illustrations, charts, sample language, and voluminous notes. My sole improvement would have been to place the sample trust language on disk for ease of use.

    Of special interest to Wisconsin practitioners is Kruse's discussion of Wisconsin Statutes section 701.06(5m). This section provides statutory support for creating supplemental needs trusts for the disabled that do not disqualify them from receiving public support.

    I highly recommend Third Party and Self-Created Trusts to any attorney who works in or anticipates working in this area. Given the demographic information in the book's introduction, this material will become even more important as the population of the United States ages.

    Thomas G. Reynolds, Michigan 1988, is vice president and trust manager of AMCORE Bank N.A., South Central, in Madison.

    Legal 100 The Legal 100: A Ranking of the Individuals Who Have Most Influenced the Law

    By Darien A. McWhirter
    (Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1998).
    396 pgs. Retail $27.50.

    Reviewed by Kim Fenske

    Lawyers contribute to the development and protection of individual freedom, safety, and opportunity in our society. The Legal 100 provides scholarly highlights of lawyers who deserve historical recognition for sacrificing personal comfort to attack poverty, prejudice, and injustice in modern Western democracies.

    McWhirter provides brief legal biographies arising from ancient times, beginning with Babylonian ruler Hammurabi and including Aristotle, Cicero, and Justinian. The author summarizes the contributions of England and France through the works of King Henry II, Francis Bacon, and John Locke. From the American Revolution, McWhirter discusses the ideas of lawyers Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton.

    McWhirter touches contemporary protection of privacy rights by considering the decision of Justice William O. Douglas in Griswold v. Connecticut, concerning the distribution of birth control information. He also addresses the contributions of Earl Warren, promoting racial equality in Brown v. Board of Education, applying the exclusionary rule to states in Mapp v. Ohio, and preventing forced confessions in Miranda v. Arizona. Including the Thurgood Marshall dissent in San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez and the swing-vote of Sandra Day O'Connor in Mississippi Women's University v. Hogan, McWhirter addresses the subtlety and power of lawyers influencing social change.

    In the vein of The Black 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential African-Americans Past and Present, by Columbus Salley, the latest Citadel roster earns its place on a scholarly library shelf. However, McWhirter's work suffers the weakness of its companion book by providing only a skeletal reconstruction of each reformer, three pages in length, rather than a more intensive tool to understanding great social movements.

    Kim Fenske, U.W. 1990, is a social reformer who litigated for several years, campaigned for the state assembly, and now teaches government and social problems in Wisconsin.

    Wisconsin Lawyer


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