Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery With Daily Postings Since 2002
Courthouse News: “The Federal Circuit renewed patent infringement claims over Google’s AutoLink and AdSense programs by tossing out part of a summary judgment ruling for Hyperphrase Technologies LLC. The circuit decision is a setback for the Internet search engine and a victory for Hyperphrase, which challenged the judgment that neither program infringes any of 15 …
US Courts: “This is the latest working draft of the Rules Governing Judicial Conduct and Disability Proceedings Undertaken Pursuant To 28 U.S.C. §§ 351-364 (50 pages, PDF), adopted by the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Disability. The draft is a substantial revision of the Rules sent out for Public Comment on July 16, 2007. It …
Press release: “The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press asked a federal court in Manhattan [December 21, 2007] to require open access to records in the civil case over liability following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Victims of the attacks and their families filed lawsuits against airline and security companies seeking to determine …
US Courts: “Filing a bankruptcy case pro sewithout the assistance of an attorneyis not for the faint of heart. Before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), a pro se debtor could successfully navigate filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, said Bankruptcy Judge S. Martin Teel, Jr. (D.D.C.). But with the new …
Capital Punishment, 2006 – Statistical Tables, Tracy L. Snell, BJS Statistician: “Presents characteristics of persons under sentence of death on December 31, 2006, and of persons executed in 2006 from the NPS-8 data collection. Tables present state-by-state information on the movement of prisoners into and out of death sentence status during 2006, status of capital …
Press release from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington: “From its first days, this administration has tried to keep the American public in the dark about what goes on behind closed White House doors. Through a secret agreement and a letter from Vice President Cheneys counsel, the administration had attempted to permanently hide from …
“The National Center for State Courts has published Future Trends in State Courts 2007, the latest in its long-running Report on Trends in the State Courts series. This book, which is produced annually by NCSCs Knowledge and Information Service, helps to make courts more aware of important trends in society and judicial administration that could …
Follow up to previous postings on judicial pay raises, today’s Legal Times, 12-13-2007: “The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would give federal judges their first pay raise in two decades, pushing them to the fore of federal earners. The bill, passed by a 28-5 vote, also would increase the workload for …
Follow up to previous postings on sentencing guidelines, today’s press release: “The United States Sentencing Commission unanimously voted today to give retroactive effect to a recent amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines that reduces penalties for crack cocaine offenses. Retroactivity of the crack cocaine amendment will become effective on March 3, 2008. Not every crack …
“The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has received a second set of records from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) detailing behind-the-scenes briefings for lawmakers working to make substantial changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). EFF requested release of the records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) earlier this year…Last …
Via Scotusblog: “The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the federal guidelines on sentencing for cocaine violations are advisory only, rejecting a lower court ruling that they are effectively mandatory. Judges must consider the Guideline range for a cocaine violation, the Court said, but may conclude that they are too harsh when considering the disparity between …
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “In August 2007, there were 62 federal prosecutions of child pornography, according to timely enforcement data from the Justice Department. Though unchanged from the previous month, filings in this category are down by about half (49.7%) from the previous year, and down 20% from five years ago. These declines follow a …
