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“The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authorizes a special court, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), to undertake electronic surveillance in the United States for foreign intelligence information. The FISC is now seeking public comments concerning its procedures. Comments must received by Monday, October 4, 2010. EPIC previously submitted an amicus brief regarding FISA authority …
The Liberal Tradition of the Supreme Court Clerkship: Its Rise, Fall, and Reincarnation? William E. Nelson, Harvey Rishikof, I. Scott Messinger, and Michael Jo. 62 Vand.L.Rev. 1749 “Our main goal in this article is to present what we believe to be our key insightthat the future direction of the Court will be determined not only …
Follow up to previous postings on government implementation of whole body scanning technology at airports, via EPIC: “The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has set a briefing schedule for EPIC v. DHS, No. 10-1157, EPIC’s challenge to the airport body scanner program. EPIC has alleged that that the Department …
“Very timely Justice Department data show that Immigration Judges are declining substantially fewer requests for asylum. Denial rates have reached the lowest level in the last quarter of a century according to a new analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Twenty five years ago, in FY 1986, almost nine out of ten (89%) …
Follow up to previous postings on National Security Letters, this news release: “The FBI has partially lifted a gag it imposed on American Civil Liberties Union client Nicholas Merrill in 2004 that prevented him from disclosing to anyone that he received a national security letter (NSL) demanding private customer records. Merrill, who received the NSL …
Report on Supervised Release of Federal Offenders – July 27, 2010 “Since the late 1980s, nearly 1 million federal offenders have been sentenced to terms of supervised release. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recently published a lengthy report that addresses the legal framework of, and most common legal issues connected with, supervised release. The report explains …
Your Cheat Sheet for Local Rule Motion Practice Part Two: Central District of California, by Wendy Schneider” You know the Federal Rules backwards and forwards, but its compliance with the local rules that really makes a civil litigator look like a pro to colleagues and clients, and leaves the opposition in the dust. In this …
News release: “A recent change in the fee exemption policy of the Federal Judiciarys Public Access to Court Electronic Records system means that 75 percent of PACER users wont pay any fee this year. The policy-making Judicial Conference of the United States approved last March 16 an adjustment to the Electronic Public Access Fee Schedule …
From Solicitor General to Supreme Court Nominee: Responsibilities, History, and the Nomination of Elena Kagan, by Susan Navarro Smelcer, Analyst on the Federal Judiciary. Kenneth R. Thomas, Legislative Attorney, June 23, 2010 “On May 10, 2010, President Obama nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. If confirmed, Elena Kagan would …
United States Courts: “A total of 97 vacancies exist among the 876 Article III judgeships in the Federal Judiciary. Eighteen of the 179 courts of appeals judgeships are vacant, as well as 79 of the 675 district court judgeships. Nominations made by the President and awaiting Senate action are pending for 12 of the 18 …
May it Please the Senate: An Empirical Analysis of the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings of Supreme Court Nominees, 1939-2009, Lori A. Ringhand, University of Georgia School of Law and Paul M. Collins Jr., University of North Texas, June 25, 2010. UGA Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-12 “This paper examines the questions asked and answers …
Follow up to previous postings on Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan, see the Report of the American Civil Liberties Union on the Nomination of Elena Kagan to be Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, June 21, 2010 “The simple truth is that there is much that we do not know about Kagans views on …
