Category «Courts»

Judiciary Studies Use of Online Tool in Presentence Reports

“The Federal Judicial Center (FJC) will soon begin a two-year pilot study of the impact of including data from a U.S. Sentencing Commission online tool in presentence investigation reports used during the sentencing phase of criminal cases. Called the Judiciary Sentencing Information platform (JSIN), the publicly available tool provides five years of cumulative data for …

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

Two Supreme Court Cases That Could Break the Internet

The New Yorker $ – A cornerstone of life online has been that platforms are not responsible for content posted by users. What happens if that immunity goes away?: “In February, the Supreme Court will hear two cases—Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google—that could alter how the Internet is regulated, with potentially vast consequences. …

Subjects: Courts, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation

The Obscure New York Law That Could Dismantle Trump’s Empire

Daily Beast: “Former President Donald Trump, faced with a New York attorney general who won’t back down, is finally being forced to come up with a defense to explain why he lied relentlessly about his real estate portfolio. Her gargantuan lawsuit could bankrupt his company—and pave the way for a future criminal prosecution. His riches …

Subjects: Courts, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

GPO Digitizes Historic Congressional Directories From the 1800s

“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) is digitizing historic volumes of the Congressional Directory from the 19th and 20th centuries. The first release includes Directories from 1869–1888, as well as 1993. Additional digitized historic Congressional Directories will be released on GovInfo as they are completed. Historically, the Congressional Directory has been one of the most …

Subjects: Congress, Courts, E-Government, Government Documents

Justice – Official Site

Jezebel – “It’s been nearly five years since Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate in a 50-48 vote—despite allegations of sexual misconduct by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez and about 4,500 other tips that the FBI seemingly just kind of ignored. Justice, a new documentary about the botched …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Legal experts slam Supreme Court report on ‘brazenly hackish’ Dobbs leak investigation

Follow up Washington Post Opinion: Was leaking the Dobbs opinion the perfect crime? It sure looks that way. Follow up to today’s post – SCOTUS Statement Concerning the Leak Investigation Jan 19, 2023 – via Alternet: “Legal experts and media pundits have had a lot to say about the investigation results. And many of them …

Subjects: Courts, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Mail, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Supreme Court Poised to Reconsider Key Tenets of Online Speech

The New York Times: “On Friday, the Supreme Court is expected to discuss whether to hear two cases that challenge laws in Texas and Florida barring online platforms from taking down certain political content. Next month, the court is scheduled to hear a case that questions Section 230, a 1996 statute that protects the platforms …

Subjects: Courts, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Social Media

SCOTUS Statement Concerning the Leak Investigation Jan 19, 2023

I am updating this post with the most recent article in response to the “we do not have any idea who did it” investigation [hint – they did not quiz the justices and spouses]. CNN –  Supreme Court embarrassed by the opinion leak is embarrassed again Follow up to May 2, 2022 Politico article – …

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

Little-Known Surveillance Program Captures Money Transfers Between U.S. and More Than 20 Countries

WSJ: “Hundreds of federal, state and local U.S. law-enforcement agencies have access without court oversight to a database of more than 150 million money transfers between people in the U.S. and in more than 20 countries, according to internal program documents and an investigation by Sen. Ron Wyden. The database, housed at a little-known nonprofit …

Subjects: Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

The Right to Equal Protection and Fourth Amendment Rights Are Distinct Rights

Courts Must Protect Both: “On behalf of MACDL, Attorney Wood and a team of attorneys from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr recently filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Judicial Court to fully enforce people’s rights not to be targeted for stops based on their race, regardless of whether the police have reasonable suspicion. …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Legal Research