New Titles in the Chastek Library

"Probate court proceedings after a death can drag out and cost tens of thousands of dollars in attorney and court fees-money that would otherwise have gone directly to your loved ones. This topselling guide shows you the most effective ways to skip the probate process. Completely updated, this edition includes the latest state laws on probate avoidance methods, and covers all the estate-related impacts of the recent changes to federal rules on retirement distributions." -- Publisher site.

"For almost two decades, U.S. courts, legislators, and antitrust regulators have consistently taken actions to reduce the strength of intellectual property rights in technology and creative markets. This policy trajectory has reflected the influence of an "accidental alliance" of two core constituencies that have common commitments to relaxed enforcement (or, in some cases, abolition) of intellectual property rights. These constituencies include, on the one hand, thought leaders in the scholarly and advocacy communities that resist robust intellectual property rights on ideological or other intellectual grounds, and on the other hand, digital intermediaries and vertically integrated firms that have an economic interest in reducing the cost of acquiring content or technology assets. This policy consensus reflects overstated or incomplete assertions concerning the impact of robustly enforced intellectual property rights and overlooks the enabling function played by intellectual property rights in facilitating investment, innovation, and competition in technology and creative environments. In both patent and copyright law, policy groupthink has resulted in a truncated property-rights regime that threatens the long-term performance of the U.S. and global innovation ecosystem by favoring technology platforms and content aggregators over 'stand-alone' innovation specialists in biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and other critical sectors in technology and creative markets." -- Publisher site.

"Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) is regarded as one of the most significant civil rights moments in American history. Historical observers have widely viewed this landmark Supreme Court decision as a significant sign of racial progress for African Americans. However, there is another historical perspective that tells a much more complex tale of Black resistance to the NAACP's decision to pursue desegregating America's public schools. This multifaceted history documents the intra-racial conflict among Black Topekans over the city's segregated schools. Black resistance to school integration challenges conventional narratives about Brown by highlighting community concerns about economic and educational opportunities for Black educators and students and Black residents' pride in all-Black schools. This history of the local story behind Brown v. Board contributes to a literature that provides a fuller and more complex perspective on African Americans and their relationship to Black education and segregated schools during the Jim Crow era." -- Publisher site.

"With thoughtfully curated review questions at the end of each chapter, this guide is approachable and uniform. Whether you're entrenched in the business or just entering, this book will help you build brand stories, understand consumer trends, and leverage innovation for success." -- Publisher site.

"Expanding our suite of ethical concepts is now urgently required. Rieder defines exactly how to change our thinking, addressing mundane issues like bottled water to the biggies like whether to have children. This is a way to live a morally decent life in the scary, always complicated world we and our children live in. It's how to build your own Catastrophe Ethics." -- Publisher site.

"Intense political disagreements over constitutional law and the Supreme Court have divided America. Constitutional Symmetry offers a fresh perspective by urging judges to make decisions that work 'symmetrically' across major partisan and ideological divides instead of favoring one partisan coalition over the other. Zachary S. Price argues this approach will aid the political process, align with the role morality of judging, and advance the framers' hopes for the Constitution. Chapters explore how this approach can encourage new solutions to fraught debates over free speech, religious liberty, separation of powers, federalism, affirmative action, gun rights, abortion, parental rights, and the law of democracy. Timely and innovative, this book is must-read for anyone seeking to understand the sources and implications of constitutional polarization in the contemporary United States." -- Publisher site.

"This review of the Supreme Court's October 2023 Term looks back at the major cases addressed by the Court and examines the implications of these decisions. The book takes a neutral tone, neither praising nor criticizing the decisions, and organizes the case essays by topic." -- Publisher site.

"The crises of American democracy and criminal justice are intimately connected. David A. Sklansky shows how police, courts, and prisons helped to break American democracy and can be reformed to empower equitable self-governance. Seeking durable change, Sklansky urges pragmatic proposals rooted in a strong commitment to pluralism." -- Publisher site.

"The Dark Past provides a historical overview and interpretive guide to all of the US Supreme Court's major cases that affected the freedom and rights of Black Americans since 1800. It offers coherence to a chronicle of cases and connects the events of the past to the current era of racial inequality. The US Supreme Court sustained slavery, racial discrimination, segregation, racial inequality, and white preference through constitutional interpretation and legal doctrine. Moreover, The Dark Past incorporates structural racism as a principal definition of inequality in the contemporary Black legal experience. It elaborates on several significant cases affecting the rights of Black people, such as the Dred Scott decision and the Plessy v. Ferguson decision." -- Publisher site.

"...The Digital Fourth Amendment shows how judges must craft new rules for the new world of digital evidence. It explains the challenges courts confront as they translate old protections to a new technological world, bringing the reader up to date on the latest cases and rulings. Informed by legal history and the latest technology, this book gives courts a blueprint for legal change with clear rules for courts to adopt to restore our constitutional rights in the computer age."

"In terms familiar to economists, this book provides a positive theory of labor law and dissects the fundamental theoretical issues that shape labor law doctrine. It investigates the deep economic tensions influencing judicial opinions in labor law, and how these can predict the outcomes of relevant legal doctrine and determine whether it accomplishes its regulatory goals. Keith Hylton explores major philosophical approaches in the labor movement as well as the economic pressures that have impacted the growth of unions and the evolution of labor law." -- Publisher site.

"The book reviews reforms and policy advances in recent years in terms of alternatives to incarceration and diversion programs, attempts to imbue the criminal legal system with a rehabilitative ethos, and policies designed to reduce the footprint of the misdemeanor criminal legal system altogether. The authors emphasize the need for multi-system collaboration with a specific focus on advancing, and ensuring, racial equity in all reforms." -- Publisher site.

"Drawing on thousands of executive actions, news coverage, interviews, and presidential archives, Lowande shows the root of presidents' real power is what presidents can get away with not doing." -- Publisher site.

"Reframing our understanding of justice and ethics, philosopher Barry Lam argues that while use of discretion―whether by a sports referee, a parent, a police officer, or a judge―can never be perfect, removing it has even more problematic effects. Mandatory arrests and sentencing laws have not eliminated bias, but have corrupted the courtroom, institutionalized lying, and brought about even more unjust and arbitrary results. Fewer Rules, Better People is a bold, riveting treatise that sheds new light on political debates about law and justice while aiming to prepare us for the imminent threat of more 'perfect,' discretion-less rule enforcement by AI." -- Publisher site.

"After the Second World War, Germans began a generation-long debate about the status that should be accorded Wehrmacht deserters. The topic would be debated between the two Germanies and engaged survivors and perpetrators, playwrights, and judges, those who had stayed in the ranks and those who had not. Was the Wehrmacht a coward, a victim, or a role model? The book's discussion of this postwar debate has no equivalent in English, as it explains how and why Germany finally decided to overturn military court-martial verdicts from the Second World War fifty years after its conclusion." -- Publisher site.

"Drawing upon transcripts of the nearly 80,000 Civil War courts-martial cases, as well as prisoners' petitions, soldiers' letters, and government reports, Jonathan Lande recovers this subset of soldiers who took leaves of freedom and defended their breaks within the military justice system. In doing so, he reveals how Black men fought for freedom not only against Confederates but also in US Army camps, courts, and prisons." -- Publisher site.

"Hot Flash explores the culturally specific stereotypes that surround menopause as well as how menopause is treated in law and medicine. The book contextualizes menopause as one of several stages in a person's reproductive life. Taking U.S. law regarding pregnancy and breastfeeding as an entry point, the authors suggest changes in existing legislation and workplace policies that would incorporate menopause as well. More broadly, they push us to imagine how law can support a more equitable future." -- Publisher site.

"How to Get a Green Card provides everything you need to know about qualifying for permanent U.S. residence if you don’t have an employer sponsoring you." -- Publisher site.

"Aleinikoff, Martin, Motomura, Fullerton, Stumpf, Gulasekaram & Cuison-Villazor’s Immigration and Nationality Laws of the United States: Selected Statutes, Regulations and Forms serves as a one-stop source for federal immigration legislation and other primary source materials." -- Publisher site.

"Master the important areas of today's tax law with Whittenburg/Gill's INCOME TAX FUNDAMENTALS 2025, 43rd Edition. This concise, practical introduction to tax preparation uses a unique, step-by-step workbook format that integrates real, current examples and tax forms. Learn the complexities of the U.S. income tax code as this edition's clear, up-to-date presentation walks you through the most recent tax laws, revisions and changes. Updated end-of-chapter problems and online exercises let you practice completing tax return problems using real source documents identical to those of actual clients. You also learn to use professional Intuit ProConnect(TM) tax preparation software that accompanies each new book. Study tools and helpful resources within CNOWv2, the online learning platform, help you further refine your knowledge and practical skills to become a successful tax preparer." -- Publisher site.

"...this book offers a compilation of cases, commentaries, articles, policy reports, and other materials to analyze and illustrate key doctrinal legal rules, various legal perspectives, and policy debates on the critical issues tackled in higher education law and policy. Besides its comprehensive coverage, this book is captivating and accessible." -- Publisher site.

"In Lawless, Shapiro reveals how the illib­eral takeover of legal education is transforming our country. Unless we stop it now, the consequences will be with us for decades." -- Publisher site.

"Edward Bates (1793-1869), a founding father of Missouri and leader of the Missouri Whig Party, served as Abraham Lincoln's attorney general during the American Civil War. In this first full biography of Bates in nearly sixty years, author Mark Neels's scholarship joins a lively discourse over political ideology throughout American history." -- Publisher site.

"Many of the struggles documented in these firsthand accounts provide the context for contemporary civil rights concerns, including voting rights. As gains from this historic period are being contested and even rolled back, these narratives help readers remember the ubiquity of injustices in that time and to recognize the systemic discrimination and racism that continue to undermine basic civil rights today." -- Publisher site.

"This book is about how the Court acquired so much power, how it has retained its power in the face of repeated challenges, and what it has done with its power over the years. The book shows that from the beginning, the Court has always been tasked with deciding high-profile cases involving issues that a great many people cared deeply about, along with a much larger number of obscure cases raising technical questions of little interest to most people. Critics of the Court's best-known decisions have always accused the justices of deciding cases on political rather than legal grounds. In this respect, today's criticism of the Court continues a tradition that has lasted for more than two centuries." -- Publisher site.

"Completely updated to provide the latest in the law and current business practices, it covers music licensing and trends in livestreaming and other new revenue sources." -- Publisher site.

"Reader-friendly, jargon-free guide to legal issues all college faculty need to know so that they can make teaching decisions within the bounds of the law." -- Publisher site.

"Never Split The Difference provides a gripping, behind-the-scenes recounting of dramatic scenarios from the gang-infested streets of Haiti to a Brooklyn bank robbery gone horribly wrong, revealing the negotiation strategies that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. As a world-class negotiator, Voss shows you how to use these skills in the workplace and in every other realm of your life. Life is a series of negotiations: whether buying a car, getting a better raise, buying a home, renegotiating rent, or deliberating with your partner, and gives you the competitive edge in any discussion."

"Rountree gives engrossing accounts of pivotal overrulings in the past, such as when Lincoln's Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase used the Legal Tender Act in 1862 to raise money for the Civil War then ruled the same law unconstitutional in 1870 when he served as chief justice. Rountree retells Thomas Edison's attempt to monopolize the burgeoning film industry, which was stopped only when the Supreme Court overturned an earlier patent-rights case in 1917. Finally, Rountree applies his myriad insights to the politically fraught Dobbs case. Overturned makes a valuable contribution to law, rhetoric, politics, and history, and readers interested in the role and function of America's highest court will find Rountree's account fast-paced, lively, and engaging." -- Publisher site.

"The president's power to pardon federal crimes is immense, with roots in ancient notions of mercy and amnesty. However, this power, seemingly boundless under the Constitution, lacks clear constraints, inviting concerns about abuse. Recent discussions in the U.S. Supreme Court have raised alarms about the potential for presidential abuse of pardons, highlighting the need for accountability within the pardon system to uphold the foundational premise that no one is above the law." -- Publisher site.

"This book shows readers how to file a provisional patent application (PPA), and mark the invention with "patent pending." A PPA is a quick, inexpensive way for an inventor to claim an invention and buy time to determine whether it's worthwhile to pursue a regular patent. The book covers how to conduct a patent search online, complete all necessary forms, evaluate potential hurdles to patentability, prepare informal drawings, file an application, and file a new PPA to reflect modifications." -- Publisher site.

"Patent, Copyright & Trademark is a unique, comprehensive reference that explains the complex and fast-moving laws of intellectual property (IP). It covers patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, and for each includes: an overview of the law; recent developments in the law; the scope of IP protection; sample registration forms and other forms; a substantial glossary of terms. Topics in the book include: the types of patents and the basics of applying for a patent; what copyright protects and how AI is impacting copyright as we know it; what marks can be registered and how to register a trademark; what qualifies as a trade secret and how to protect trade secrets. Patent, Copyright & Trademark is a handy, one-stop reference for businesses that own or deal in IP, attorneys who need to have a basic understanding of IP law, individual inventors and creators, and anyone who wants to understand how this important area of law and business works." -- Publisher site.

"Julie Brugger explores what democracy means to ordinary Americans by analyzing conflict over the management of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah." -- Publisher site.

"A collection of uniform and federal laws used in secured transactions courses. The volume includes the UCC (with the 2022 amendments in strikeout/underline format), pertinent PEB commentaries and reports, Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, Food Security Act, Federal Tax Lien Statute, and the Bankruptcy Code." -- Publisher site.

"This compilation of major federal legislation affecting the environment is designed for use in environmental and natural resource law and policy practice and in educational settings such as law school and graduate courses. Updated annually, it includes statutes such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, NEPA, CERCLA, SMCRA, FIFRA, SDWA, EPCRA, NFMA, and FLPMA. Appendices include the APA, EAJA, and CEQ’s NEPA regulations. Historical and statutory notes provide useful reference information for legislative history, historical development, and uncodified statutory provisions." -- Publisher site.

"This book exposes how the decision to publish or not publish an opinion plays a significant role in who gets what, when, and how in a court of law. Academics and students will find Selective Publication in the U.S. Courts of Appeals an accessible tool for understanding circuit courts as an important political institution. Those who shape and are affected by circuit rules will gain important insight about the implications of existing rules that can inform ongoing discussions regarding potential reforms." -- Publisher site.

"Though many historians have documented the salience of slavery in the drafting of the Constitution, none have explicitly linked it to the events leading to the Convention. Instead, the story of the determined efforts of patriot leaders to recapture formerly enslaved persons, even at the risk of renewed war and international isolation, seems to have been systematically silenced. Messer-Kruse's study is thus a novel and paradigm-shifting interpretation of America's origins that should attract much academic and popular attention." -- Publisher site.

"Offering a critical perspective on tax enforcement and economic inequality, this book sheds light on the challenges of tax noncompliance by the rich and proposes innovative legal rules to address the tax gap. It is a must-read for legal scholars, policymakers, and students interested in tax policy and administration." -- Publisher site.

"Waters of the United States offers the detailed analysis necessary for any lawyer or environmental advocate to understand the nuances of water policy, while spinning a compelling narrative for readers who have never cracked a law book. The unique mix of insights into environmental law, history, and politics is required reading for anyone who cares about the future of the nation's water." -- Publisher site.

"Written and Unwritten is the first book to provide an inside look at how these courts operate. An unprecedented contribution to the field of judicial administration, the book collects the differing local rules and internal procedures of each Court of Appeals. In-depth interviews of the Chief Judges of all thirteen circuits and surveys of all Clerks of Court reveal previously undisclosed practices and customs." -- Publisher site.

"In The World and Us, Roberto Mangabeira Unger sets out to reinvent philosophy. His central theme is our transcendence, everything in our existence points beyond itself, and its relation to our finitude: everything that surrounds us, and we ourselves, are flawed and ephemeral." -- Publisher site.