Category «Courts»

Testing Positivity Theory: What Roles do Politicization and Legal Realism Play in Shaping U.S. Supreme Court Legitimacy?

Gibson, James L. and Nelson, Michael J., Testing Positivity Theory: What Roles do Politicization and Legal Realism Play in Shaping U.S. Supreme Court Legitimacy? (March 9, 2016). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2745236 “Perhaps the most widely accepted view of how the Supreme Court acquires and maintains its legitimacy is Positivity Theory, which claims that …

Subjects: Courts, Legal Research

Supreme Court Rejects Apple’s Request to Review E-Books Antitrust Conspiracy Findings

DOJ news release, March 7, 2016: ” The U.S. Supreme Court today denied Apple’s petition for certiorari in United States v. Apple Inc., making final lower court decisions that Apple orchestrated a price-fixing conspiracy with five major e-book publishers and substantially raised e-book prices. The Supreme Court’s action triggers Apple’s obligation to pay $400 million …

Subjects: Courts, E-Commerce, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

Encryption: Selected Legal Issues

Via FAS – CRS report – Encryption: Selected Legal Issues, Richard M. Thompson II, Legislative Attorney; Chris Jaikaran, Analyst in Cybersecurity Policy. March 3, 2016. “This report first provides background to the ongoing encryption debate, including a primer on encryption basics and an overview of Apple, Google, and Facebook’s new encryption policies. Next, it will …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, E-Mail, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

New on LLRX – Cognitive Reality and the Administration of Justice

Via LLRX.com – Cognitive Reality and the Administration of Justice – Ken Strutin writes in his latest article as follows, “science has much to say about how individual behavior and group wide phenomena influence the core issues of criminal justice. From self-incrimination to self-representation, from prosecuting to judging, from trial to punishment the law recognizes …

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

NY Judge issues ruling in drug case involving unlocking iPhone

EFF: “Apple cannot be compelled to bypass the lock screen on an iPhone seized by the government in a New York drug case, according an order issued today by magistrate Judge James Orenstein. It’s a significant rejection of the government’s interpretation of the All Writs Act, which prosecutors have advanced in multiple jurisdictions across the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research, Privacy

Absence of Equality and Human Dignity Values Makes American Sentencing Systems Fundamentally Different from Those in Other Western Countries

Tonry, Michael, The Absence of Equality and Human Dignity Values Makes American Sentencing Systems Fundamentally Different from Those in Other Western Countries (February 23, 2016). 45 Crime & Justice, 2016; Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 16-08. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2736961 “Concern for equality and human dignity is largely absent from American sentencing. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

Majority of Public Wants Senate to Act on Obama’s Court Nominee

Pew – “In the high-stakes battle over replacing Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, a majority of Americans (56%) say the Senate should hold hearings and vote on President Obama’s choice to fill the vacancy. About four-in-ten (38%) say the Senate should not hold hearings until the next president selects a court nominee. Most …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

President Obama posts comment new Supreme Court justice to SCOTUSblog

SCOTUSblog Obama, A Responsibility I Take Seriously, SCOTUSblog (Feb. 24, 2016, 8:00 AM), http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/a-responsibility-i-take-seriously/ “A Responsibility I Take Seriously – The Constitution vests in the President the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court. It’s a duty that I take seriously, and one that I will fulfill in the weeks ahead. It’s also one …

Subjects: Blogs, Courts, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Free tool to visualize Supreme Court cases

Via Robert Ambrogi, LawSites – SCOTUS Visualization Project Shows Lines of Cases — Literally “As lawyers, we’re all accustomed to talking about the lines of cases that create bodies of precedent for legal principles. A new tool launched this week lets you visualize lines of Supreme Court cases so that you can better analyze and …

Subjects: Courts, Education, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

iPhone privacy concerns escalate after Fed order to unlock phpne

EFF: “This week’s order by a federal magistrate judge requiring Apple to engineer new security flaws in its iPhone software operating system has prompted widespread and escalating controversy. Legitimate concerns about its implications have driven users around the country to raise their voices in defense of not only their privacy, but also the security of their …

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

CRS – What Does Justice Scalia’s Death Mean for Congress and the Nation?

CRS Reports & Analysis Legal Sidebar – What Does Justice Scalia’s Death Mean for Congress and the Nation? – “This sidebar, the first of several pending CRS projects on Justice Scalia and the new Supreme Court vacancy, provides an overview of the major implications of Justice Scalia’s death for Congress.”

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate

Follow up to posting – Longest-serving member of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies see Supreme Court Appointment Process: Roles of the President, Judiciary Committee, and Senate. Denis Steven Rutkus, Specialist on the Federal Judiciary. February 19, 2010. “The appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is an event of major significance in American politics. Each …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

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