Hu on Orwell's 1984 and a Fourth Amendment Cybersurveillance Nonintrusion Test

Margaret Hu, Washington and Lee University School of Law, is publishing Orwell's 1984 and a Fourth Amendment Cybersurveillance Nonintrusion Test in the Washington Law Review. Here is the abstract.

This Article describes a cybersurveillance nonintrusion test under the Fourth Amendment that is grounded in evolving customary law to replace the reasonable expectation of privacy test formulated in Katz v. United States. To illustrate how customary law norms are shaping modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, this Article examines the recurrence of judicial references to George Orwell’s novel, 1984, within the Fourth Amendment context when federal courts have assessed the constitutionality of modern surveillance methods. The Supreme Court has indicated that the Fourth Amendment privacy doctrine must now evolve to impose meaningful limitations on the intrusiveness of new surveillance technologies. A cybersurveillance nonintrusion test implicitly suggested by the Supreme Court in United States v. Jones first shifts the vantage point of the Fourth Amendment analysis from an individual-based tangible harm inquiry to an inquiry of a society-wide intangible harm — whether the modern surveillance method creates a “1984 problem” for society. A cybersurveillance nonintrusion test requires the government to justify the intrusion of the surveillance on society. A new test would remediate increasingly ineffective Fourth Amendment jurisprudence currently grounded in property and tort law. The Article argues that the adoption of a cybersurveillance nonintrusion test and the abandonment of the current privacy test is not only required; but, in practice, is already used by the federal courts.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Tiago Ferreira on Modern Day Slavery: A Reading of Orwell's Animal Farm

Pedro Tiago Ferreira, University of Lisbon, Faculty of Arts and School of Law, is publishing Modern Day Slavery: A Reading of Orwell's Animal Farm in series Iii, No. 11, of the Revista Anglo Saxonia (2016). Here is the abstract.

This article intends to call attention to the fact that slavery is not solely a legal institution. The rules that make up the institution of slavery are also social, moral and religious. This means that the revocation of the legal rules which are a component of the institution of slavery is not enough to abolish the institution as a whole. In order to understand the weight that the non-legal rules have on modern slavery—i.e. slavery which is not condoned by the law—George Orwell’s Animal Farm is discussed, as this tale of apparent liberation turns out to be one of de facto, or modern day, slavery. Before turning to Animal Farm, I discuss slavery as an institution, and whether or not it still remains a legal possibility in the United States.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

George Orwell and the Current Spanish Penal Code

Alison H. Hogg, Universidad del País Vasco, has published Statement of Problem: Dangerous Desires in Orwell's 1984 and the Present Spanish Penal Code in the Oñati Socio-Legal Series, Vol. 4, No. 6, 2014. Here is the abstract.

English Abstract: Our construct of a dangerous subject has changed little over the past century. Dangerous subjects in Oceania, a region created by Orwell in his novel 1984 in a constant state of war, consciously or unconsciously manifest too much autonomy. Self-autonomy and agency breach established moral codes of conduct and manifest an inability to self-govern and conform i.e. discipline. What is deemed dangerous is constructed by Ingsoc, Oceania’s prevailing political philosophy; however, if considered of value to the party, time is invested and mandatory treatment is imposed to bring them into line with normative conduct. This treatment consists in stripping them of their identity and desires, which is achieved through them being rendered physically and psychologically innocuous. In the same vein, two new dangerous collectives were designated by the Spanish legislature in a reform introduced to the Penal Code in June 2010, the terrorist and sex offender. On this occasion, it is their efforts to resist this normalization onslaught that renders them dangerous. Unable to incarcerate indeterminately or execute both collectives, a new post-custodial security measure is deployed to ensure that both collectives remain socially and politically isolated. This article compares the dangerous symptomatology depicted by Orwell in 1984 with the dangerous offender constructed by the Spanish legislature in OL 5/2010, the problematization of their habits and behaviours as well as the alleged cure offered to these dangerous subjects. For Ingsoc and the Spanish legislature, the imminent danger is a threat to social and public order.

Spanish Abstract: Nuestra construcción de un sujeto peligroso ha cambiado poco durante el siglo pasado. Sujetos peligrosos en Oceanía, una región creada por Orwell en su novela 1984 que está en un constante estado de guerra, manifiestan demasiada autonomía de forma consciente o inconsciente. La anulación de la propia autonomía y la voluntad establecieron códigos morales de conducta y manifestaron la incapacidad de autogobierno y de conformar, es decir la disciplina. Ingsoc, la filosofía política que domina Oceanía, determina lo que se considera peligroso; sin embargo, si se considera valioso para el partido, se invierte tiempo y se impone un tratamiento obligatorio para alinearlos con la conducta normativa. Este tratamiento consiste en despojarlos de su identidad y deseos, lo que se consigue haciendo que sean física y psicológicamente inocuos. En la misma línea, en la legislación española se designaron dos nuevos colectivos peligrosos, a través de una reforma del Código Penal en junio de 2010, el terrorista y delincuente sexual. En este caso, son sus esfuerzos para resistir este ataque de normalización lo que los hace peligrosos. Ante la imposibilidad de encarcelar de forma indeterminada, o ejecutar a ambos colectivos, se ha implementado una nueva medida de seguridad tras la pena de cárcel para asegurar que ambos colectivos permanecen social y políticamente aislados. Este artículo compara la sintomatología peligrosa retratada por Orwell en 1984, con el peligroso delincuente construido por la legislación española en la LO 5/2010, la problematización de sus hábitos y comportamientos, así como la supuesta cura ofrecida a estos sujetos peligrosos. Para Ingsoc y la legislación española, el peligro inminente es una amenaza al orden público y social.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link. 

Orwell's Legal Theory in "1984"

Nicolás López Pérez, University of Chile School of Law, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, has published Dystopias and Legal Theory: A View from Orwell's 1984. Here is the abstract.

This essay will focus on the society that Orwell tries to build with the story and how he denotes a legal system that could be analyzed by the legal theory, principally with methodological tools situated in the analytical jurisprudence. For this purpose, I will divide the essay in two axis: first, a brief synthesis of the book with its main features, then identify elements related to society and Law studies, and answer: why “1984” is a subject of analysis; second, the sketch of the semantics and the discursivity of some important concepts for legal theory as State, Legal System, Authority, and Morality, present in the Orwell’s work with the appropriate discussion in analytical jurisprudence, principally with Raz’s works.

Download the paper from SSRN at the link.

New Adaptation of "1984" Under Consideration

George Orwell's 1984 may be returning to the screen. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard at Imagine Entertainment were looking into adapting the iconic novel with the assistance of artist Shepard Fairey. At the same time, LBI Entertainment's Julie Yorn had a similar project in the works.As a result, the two companies have decided to team up.

1984 has been adapted before: In 1956 Edmond O'Brien and Michael Redgrave starred in a big screen adaptation and in 1984 John Hurt and Richard Burton starred in a big screen production.