Category «Courts»

Intel agencies sued for records on Russian election interference

Follow-up to previous posting – Unreleased CIA assessment concludes Russia aided Trump – via The Hill – Lydia Wheeler, December 27, 2016: “A lawsuit has been filed against the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence seeking records pertaining to Russia’s interference in the presidential …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

US Sues Barclays Bank to Recover Civil Penalties for Fraud in the Sale of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities

News release: “The United States Department of Justice today filed a civil complaint in the Eastern District of New York against Barclays Bank PLC and several of its United States affiliates (together, Barclays), alleging that Barclays engaged in a fraudulent scheme to sell residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) supported by defective and misrepresented mortgage loans.  As …

Subjects: Courts, Economy, Government Documents, Housing, Legal Research

Book Review – The Politics of Gender Justice at the ICC: Legacies and Legitimacy

December 19, 2016 – Louise Chappell “The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides the most advanced articulation ever of gender justice under international law. In designing this aspect of the Rome Statute, states were influenced by the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice, a dynamic international feminist advocacy network who used the creation of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research, Recommended Books

Risk and Anxiety: A Theory of Data Breach Harms

Solove, Daniel J. and Citron, Danielle Keats, Risk and Anxiety: A Theory of Data Breach Harms (December 14, 2016). Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2885638 “In lawsuits about data breaches, the issue of harm has confounded courts. Harm is central to whether plaintiffs have standing to sue in federal court and whether their claims are …

Subjects: Courts, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Mail, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

A General Approach for Predicting the Behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States

Katz, Daniel Martin and Bommarito, Michael James and Blackman, Josh, A General Approach for Predicting the Behavior of the Supreme Court of the United States (December 10, 2016). Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2463244 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2463244 “Building on developments in machine learning and prior work in the science of judicial prediction, we construct a model …

Subjects: Courts, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Asylum Outcome Increasingly Depends on Judge Assigned

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “The outcome for asylum seekers has become increasingly dependent upon the identity of the immigration judge assigned to hear their case. While judge-to-judge decision disparities have long existed, a detailed comparison of asylum decisions handed down by judges sitting on the same Immigration Court bench showed that differences in judge denial …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

The New Era of Secret Law

Brennan Center for Justice – New Report: “Secret Law” Governs Key Aspects of National Security Policy – “At least 74 opinions, memoranda, and letters issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) between 2002 and 2009 on core post-9/11 national security topics, including intelligence activities and the detention and interrogation of terrorist suspects, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Defense, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Paper – Equitable Defenses in the Age of Statutes

Anenson, T. Leigh, Equitable Defenses in the Age of Statutes (November 6, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2877457 “The Supreme Court’s pending decision in SGA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC, is the most recent in a series of cases struggling with the same issue: What is the scope and content of equitable …

Subjects: Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Immigration Now 52 Percent of All Federal Criminal Prosecutions

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “Immigration remains the major focus of all federal criminal enforcement efforts. The latest available data show that criminal prosecutions for illegal entry, illegal re-entry, and similar immigration violations made up 52 percent of all federal prosecutions in FY 2016. During the 12 months ending September 30, immigration prosecutions totaled 69,636. This …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Campus Speech and Harassment

Tsesis, Alexander, Campus Speech and Harassment (November 23, 2016). Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 101, 2017. Available for download at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2874919 “A theoretical question that runs through the debate on the constitutionality of campus speech codes asks whether free speech values are best preserved by categorical rules or balancing factors. Whether campus codes are constitutional …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Education, Legal Research

Copyright Infringement Litigation Fell 22 Percent in FY 2016

“New federal lawsuits over issues of copyright infringement fell 22 percent last year. Case-by-case court records compiled and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University found a total of 3,944 new federal copyright infringement cases were filed in the U.S. District Courts during fiscal year 2016. This is down from the …

Subjects: Copyright, Courts, Government Documents, Intellectual Property, Legal Research