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Professor Emeritus Richard A. Musgrave, a leading 20th century political economist who taught at Harvard University and at Harvard Law School between 1965 and 1981, died January 15 at the age of 96.

The following op-ed was published in The Wall Street Journal on January 16, 2007: Defense Department official Charles Stimson showed ignorance and malice in deploring the pro bono representation of Guantanamo detainees by lawyers in some of the nation's leading law firms, and in calling on their corporate clients to punish them for this work.

Earlier this week, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick '82 announced the appointment of a fellow Harvard Law graduate, Juliette Kayyem, as the state's undersecretary of homeland defense. Kayyem is a member of the class of 1995, as well as a 1991 graduate of Harvard College.

Domestic abusers who violate their restraining orders will be required to wear a GPS tracking device, according to a new Massachusetts state law spearheaded by HLS lecturer Diane Rosenfeld '96. Signed into law on January 4, the GPS initiative was first presented to the Governor's Commission on Sexual and Domestic Violence by Rosenfeld in early 2005.

The following op-ed was published in The Wall Street Journal on January 6, 2007: Apple Computer announced a week ago the conclusions of a special board committee that examined the "improper dating" of over 6,000 option grants during 1997-2002. The committee found no basis for having less than "complete confidence in CEO Steve Jobs and the senior management team," placing full responsibility for past problems on the company's former CFO and general counsel.

The following op-ed was published in the Boston Globe on January 5, 2007: Deval Patrick is off to a bad start. If the amendment to prohibit gay marriage ever reaches the people, I shall vote against it. I regret that the Supreme Judicial Court, in its closely divided 2003 decision in the Goodridge case, proclaimed that the state Constitution requires same-sex marriage.

Yesterday Mitt Romney '75 walked out of the Massachusetts governor's office and handed the ceremonial statehouse keys to Governor-elect Deval Patrick '82. Patrick will be sworn in today as the state's 71st governor, making him the latest in a string of Harvard Law grads to occupy the state's corner office.

Six Harvard Law students and recent graduates have been chosen to receive 2007 Skadden Fellowships that support work in public service. For the fifth year in a row, HLS students and alumni won more Skadden fellowships than affiliates of any other law school. Each year, the program provides funding to 30 law students and new lawyers from law schools across the country.

Professor William Alford '77 traveled to Dublin, Ireland in December to deliver two lectures concerning China, U.S., and Europe.

On December 13, 2006, members of the HLS community and representatives of international disability rights organizations scored a major victory when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first human rights treaty of the 21st century to promote and protect the rights of the disabled.

The HLS Program on Corporate Governance released a new study today called Lucky Directors, by Professor Lucian Bebchuk and co-authors Yaniv Grinsten and Urs Peyer suggesting that outside directors' options, and not only executives' options, have been favorably timed to an extent that cannot be explained by mere luck.

HLS Professor Gerald Neuman '80 has co-written an amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of a new law denying courts jurisdiction to entertain petitions for writs of habeas corpus by alien detainees whom the government has deemed 'enemy combatants.'

The following op-ed was published in The Boston Globe on December 13, 2006: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the egregious president of Iran, is hosting a conference this week on whether the Holocaust really happened.

Adrian Vermeule joined the faculty this year as a professor of law, coming from the University of Chicago Law School. Here, he talks with HLT editor Robb London.

Constitutional law scholar and well-known author Noah Feldman, currently a tenured professor of law at New York University, has accepted an offer to join the Harvard Law faculty beginning next fall. Feldman is a leading expert in many aspects of constitutional law, particularly law and religion, constitutional design and the history of legal theory.

Professor Emeritus Roger Fisher and lecturer Daniel Shapiro are this year’s recipients of the prestigious Cloke-Millen Award. The prize -- formerly called the "Peacemaker of the Year" award -- honors outstanding professionals working in mediation, negotiation or dispute resolution, and is given out by the Southern California Mediation Association.

The following op-ed was published in the National Post on December 2, 2006: Sometimes, you really can tell a book by its cover. Jimmy Carter's decision to title his new anti-Israel screed Palestine: Peace Not Aparteid tells it all.

The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute recently hosted a panel discussion entitled, "Is Brown Still Relevant?: The Seattle and Louisville School Cases," reviewing two current cases that challenge the implementation of racial integration in public schools.

In a recent annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History, HLS Professor Morton Horwitz '67 was unanimously confirmed as an honorary fellow, the highest honor the society can give a legal historian in North America.

Since they first appeared on the scene more than 20 years ago, market-based approaches, such as the emission trading system to control acid rain, have become the tools of choice when trying to solve difficult environmental problems.