Category «Courts»

Bankruptcy Filings Near Million Mark for 12-Month Period Ending June 30, 2008

U.S. Courts: “In the 12-month period ending June 30, 2008, there were 967,831 bankruptcy cases filed, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. That is a 28.9 percent increase compared to filings for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2007, when cases totaled 751,056. Historic data on bankruptcy filings …

Subjects: Courts, E-Government, Government Documents

Court Files: Personal Data Identifiers May Not Be Part of the Record

The Third Branch: “To protect the privacy of litigants, the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure require that certain personal data identifiers be modified or partially redacted from federal court case files. These identifiers are Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers, and names of minor children, and in criminal cases, also home …

Subjects: Courts, E-Records, Privacy

Agreement Limits Navy's Use of Low-Frequency Active Sonar

News release: “The Navy’s use of low frequency active sonar will remain restricted to certain military training areas of the Pacific Ocean, according to an agreement approved by a U.S. district court in San Francisco today. The comprehensive agreement between the Navy and conservation organizations follows a court injunction issued early this year against the …

Subjects: Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

U.S. Sentencing Commission Preliminary Crack Cocaine Retroactivity Data Report

U.S. Sentencing Commission Preliminary Crack Cocaine Retroactivity Data Report, August 2008 Data As part of its ongoing mission, the United States Sentencing Commission provides Congress, the judiciary, the executive branch, and the general public with data extracted and analyzed from sentencing documents submitted by courts to the Commission. Data is reported on an annual basis …

Subjects: Courts, E-Government, Government Documents

National Law Journal: Vetting Jurors via MySpace

“As personal information becomes more widely available on blogs, MySpace, Facebook and other social networking Web sites, the Internet has become an important tool for jury consultants and trial lawyers. Such sites are a treasure trove of information about potential and seated jurors that can be used in picking the right jurors, bouncing potential jurors …

Subjects: Courts, Internet, Privacy

Courting History: The Landmark International Criminal Court’s First Years

Human Rights Watch – Courting History – The Landmark International Criminal Court’s First Years, July 2008: “This 244-page report examines the ICC’s accomplishments and shortcomings since it began operations in 2003. The court was created to bring justice to the victims of gross human rights violations; so far the court has issued arrest warrants against …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

Advocacy Groups Argue Constitution Protects Cell Phone Location Information

“In a July 31 amicus brief filed in a federal court in Pennsylvania, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, joined by CDT, ACLU and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, argued that cell phone location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment. The brief argues that a court should require the government to obtain a warrant based on probable …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research, Privacy

DOJ Releases Documents on the Anthrax Investigation

AP – US: Ivins solely responsible for anthrax attacks Press release: “As the Department indicated last week and has been widely reported, substantial progress has been made in the Amerithrax investigation in recent years. As you know, this investigation into the worst act of bioterrorism in U.S. history has been one of the largest and …

Subjects: Courts, E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens Indicted In Probe of Corruption

DOJ press release: “United States Senator Theodore F. Stevens of Alaska was charged today in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia with seven counts of making false statements related to Stevens’ financial disclosure forms, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced. The seven-count indictment …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, Legal Research

The Necessity of Knowing and Heeding What Jurors Tell Us About Mitigation

Blume, John H., Johnson, Sheri Lynn and Sundby, Scott E.,Competent Capital Representation: The Necessity of Knowing and Heeding What Jurors Tell Us About Mitigation. Hofstra Law Review, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2008 “This article appears in the Hofstra Law Review symposium issue on the Supplementary Guidelines for the Mitigation Function of Defense Teams in Death …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research

CDT Applauds Appeals Court Ruling In COPA Case

“The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court ruling striking down the controversial Child Online Protection Act (COPA) that required Web operators to restrict access to large amounts of constitutionally protected speech. COPA placed severe restrictions on a wide range of legal, socially valuable speech, including content relating to sexual identity, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Internet, Legal Research