The SCOTUS Blog has released their end of term "Super Stat Pack" presenting a variety of different statistical measures of the United States' Supreme Court's recent term.  Data sets include information on opinion tallies, the number of times a particular justice was in the majority, scorecards for each circuit and a variety of other information. SCOTUS Blog allows you to download all charts as a PDF file.

Between Cases is a new website designed to help out-of-work attorneys keep up with legal developments, network, and look for legal employment.  It even has tips on starting your own practice.   It also seems to offer free Westlaw for Pro Bono work and job searching. 

Read more in the press release or register.

While most criminal law researchers are aware of studies conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, this new LLRX.com guide compiled by law librarian and criminal defense attorney, Ken Strutin, links to criminal justice surveys and opinion polls from numerous government, academic and private organizations.

In addition to overviews of the criminal justice system, the topics covered include crime, criminal histories, the death penalty, public defense, sentencing, sex offenses, treatment and reentry. A featured report includes the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's recent survey on "Attitudes on US Voters toward Nonserious Offenders and Alternatives to Incarceration."

Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury Department released its vision for financial regulatory reform. The full report, which calls for numerous reforms, including the creation of a Financial Services Oversight Council and heightened supervision of large, interconnected financial firms is available here.

Also, a number of organizations, including the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Economic Policy Institute, OMB Watch and others, are following the government's actions on the bailout and have created a new website, called Bailout Watch. This site links to federal reports, recent newspaper articles and a calendar of upcoming bailout events, such as hearings and meetings.

The Law Library has acquired the online version of the Supreme Court Compendium. If you are unfamiliar with the Compendium, you may want to check it out. It contains a wealth of information about the U.S. Supreme Court, its history, justices, and decisions. This information is presented in the form of well over one-hundred tables, making it easy to navigate. For example, one table evaluates the ideology of each justice from 1937-2006, using several different measurements, such as commitment to civil and economic liberties and support for the programs of the New Deal.

In addition, each chapter includes introductory commentary, and there is an extensive bibliography. First published in 1994, the Compendium is now in its fourth edition. We also have two copies of the print version in our reference collection. 

The Infrastructure Investment & Policy Report has recently been added to our BNA subscription.   This daily publication tracks infrastructure news and regulation including the oversight and use of stimulus money. 

Recent articles covered

• the revival of a low-emissions coal-gasification project,
• details of an agreement to plan and design the Alaska Natural Gas pipeline,
• the impact of the stimulus money on False Claims Act investigations by DOJ,
• Maryland regulations on considering stormwater runoff in building design, and
• the impact of green infrastructure investments on construction jobs

We've put together a new research guide that provides links to the Student Practice Rules adopted by both Federal and State courts. These rules authorize eligible law students to practice law under the supervision of a practicing attorney. All 50 states have such a rule. Some are codified in the state statutes. Others are included in local court rules, while others are state bar rules.

Some law review articles that analyze these rules and student practice, in general, are also included in the new guide.

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions regarding our new guide.

Westlaw is moving away from the use of lengthy, alphanumeric passwords that don't require user names, to the new "OnePass" system of custom user names and passwords. A timeline for this transition is available at http://lawschool.westlaw.com/shared/marketinfodisplay.asp?code=MI&id=327.
Alphanumeric Westlaw passwords will no longer be active after September 29, 2009. If you now log in to Westlaw with your Westlaw password, please create a OnePass username and password or update your exisiting OnePass accounts prior to September 29.

Nominees for the federal judiciary are required to complete a questionnaire created by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Committee has made Judge Sotomayor's responses and related documents available on its home page. Included are her publications, speeches, news clippings, and notable past decisions and opinions.