Due Process: The Georgetown Law Library Blog - Current Awareness

Tweeting is illegal in District Court

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:26:09 -0500

In a recent decision issued by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, a reporter's use of Twitter during a trial was prohibited according to Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The reporter for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer requested permission to issue tweets throughout the court proceedings of a criminal case, but the court found that this constituted "broadcasting" which is not allowed under the current rule.

New Database for DC Municipal Regulations and Register: CITE TO THE OFFICIAL!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:48:02 -0500

The Office of Documents and Administrative Issuances has released their new database for finding current DC Municipal Regulations (DCMR) and copies of the DC Register (DCR). The DCMR and DCR are available in PDF format which make citation much easier. In fact, when citing to the DCMR or DCR, you must use the official DC version available on this website and not Lexis or Westlaw. Lexis and Westlaw's versions of the DCMR are not current nor up to date because of the many changes that have been made in compiling the new official online version. In compiling the DCMR for its new release, many inconsistencies and mistakes were found in prior versions of the DCMR and are still found in the Lexis and Westlaw versions. The new online version of the DCMR is the only source that contains the most up to date, official versions of the regulations. Many inconsistencies exist between the DC government version and versions found on Lexis and Westlaw. Be safe with citation, and in this instance, Lexis and Westlaw are not currently created equal to the official government source.

A Window on the World of Law Firms

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:41:54 -0500

Fee Fie Foe Firm is a new law firm search engine that promises to be the most comprehensive of its kind. It monitors the websites of U.S. law firms and provides access to firm profiles, media releases, client seminars, case notes and other legal analysis, as well as newsletters, bulletins and legal publications.

Instead of using Google to track a specific lawyer or law firm, try running a search in Fee Fie Foe Firm to retrieve a more targeted list of results. This could be especially useful for job searching and interview preparations.

LII and Justia Announce New Lawyer Directory

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:36:00 -0500

The Legal Information Institute, in partnership with Justia, has launched a free lawyer directory. The LII Lawyer Directory contains listings for lawyers who have "claimed their profile" in Justia’s directory.

The LII Lawyer Directory can be searched by legal issue or lawyer name or browsed by practice area, state, or metropolitan area. Lawyers who donate to the Legal Information Institute can receive a "Cornell badge," which results in a higher, more visible ranking in the directory. For more information on the LII Lawyer Directory, please see LII's announcement and FAQ as well as an announcement on Justia's blog.

Daily Updates on House and Senate Activities Now Available from the Library of Congress

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:44:52 -0500

The Law Library of Congress recently announced the availability of House Floor Today and Senate Floor Today daily feeds via RSS or e-mail.

Once Congress reconvenes from its recess, this tool will provide subscribers with daily updates identifying the latest bills and resolutions being considered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Check it out!

House of Lords in U.K. handed down its last judgment July 30, 2009

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:25:29 -0500

The House of Lords and its now famous "Law Lords" will become part of history, at least as such. The judicial function of the House of Lords will be replaced in October by the UK Supreme Court, which will sit in the Middlesex Guildhall of the Parliament Square, London. There is a video by one of the Law Lords, Lord Mance, posted on the BIALL Blog (British and Irish Law Libraries). Hat tip for the latter to Library Boy.

Will Online News Providers Charge for Access?

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:15:32 -0500

     The decline in the profitability of newspaper companies with the increasing use of the free web has made headlines in recent years. Now, many news content providers are investigating ways to improve their bottom dollars by charging for access to their information online. The Financial Times has predicted that within one year, all major news providers will charge for online access.Media mogul Richard Murdoch has vowed to charge for all online news sources his conglomerate, News Corp., owns.

   Other suggestions made to protect newspaper's profitability include a recent blog post by Judge Richard Posner arguing that links to newspaper content should be protected by copyright law. At least one major content provider, Reuters, has rejected that approach, stating that "linking adds value to all producers of content". The debate rages on, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the era of "free news" on the web may be coming to an end.

   What impact do you see the potential of fee-based online news services having on the ability of students and others to do research using online search engines, like Google?

Georgetown Law Library Hosts Conference on the The Future of Today's Scholarship

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:15:00 -0500

Today the Georgetown Law Library is hosting a symposium entitled "The Future of Today's Scholarship: A Symposium in Honor of Bob Oakley."

Starting from the position that blogs can be a form of legal scholarship, the symposium brings together academic bloggers, law librarians, and experts in preservation to discuss how to prioritize, collect, archive, preserve, and ensure reliable long-term access to legal information on blogs.

The symposium will end this afternoon with a working group break-out session in which the participants will create a statement of best practice for:

bloggers posting reliable legal information,
researchers using blogs, and
librarians and bloggers alike working to preserve blogs.

A full schedule, speakers' bios, and more information are all available on the symposium's website.

AALL keynote speaker Prof. Jonathan Zittrain's recent NY Times Op Ed

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:11:58 -0500

Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain also spoke this spring at Yale's Library 2.0 conference; this past Sunday, July 19th, his opinion piece "Lost in the Cloud" appeared, with a run-down on the up-and down-sides of cloud computing, both practical and legal. He proposes some possible improvements: requiring social networking and other cloud-inhabiting companies to 1) give your data back to you if you ask, 2) use better security, and 3) improve privacy protection. But he also raises the interesting questions of innovation, competition and control. Stay tuned!

SCOTUS Blog's Supreme Court Term Statistics Released

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:23:47 -0500

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.

Sotomayor's Background included on Updated Supreme Court Nominations Research Guide

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:44:30 -0500

Our Supreme Court Nominations Research Guide has been undated to provide links to background material on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated to the Supreme Court today by President Obama.We link to previous key decisions of Sotomayor on SCOTUSBlog, as well as many biographical resources and her previous confirmation hearings when nominated to the Circuit Court and District Court.

Additionally, we link to the Supreme Court records and briefs for her recent opinion, Ricci v. DeStefano, which is currently being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. As her confirmation process proceeds, we will continue to update this guide on a regular basis.

Alternative Source for California Supreme Court Proposition 8 Decision

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:35:00 -0500

The California Supreme Court today ruled to uphold Proposition 8, while allowing 18,000 gay marriages entered into before the Proposition passed to stand. Due to overwhelming demand on the Court's web site, a copy of the ruling has also been made available from http://www.scribd.com/doc/15824759/Prop-8-Ruling-Cal-Sup-Ct.

Guantanamo Bay Legal Records to be Archived

Thu, 07 May 2009 11:14:24 -0500

Legal records from the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp are being collected by New York University's Tamiment Library and Seton Hall University's Center for Policy and Research with the expectation that public access will be available in the fall of this year. The institutions are making plans to provide remote access to oral histories and other digitized materials they acquire.

Read the full release from NYU and the American Libraries Online article.

THOMAS Launches First RSS Feeds

Wed, 06 May 2009 15:45:22 -0500

As posted by Emily Feldman to the AALL Washington Blawg, THOMAS, a product of the Law Library of Congress, has launched its first RSS feeds. Information on how to subscribe to these feeds, including the Daily Digest, is available at: http://www.loc.gov/law/news/rss.php.

Free webinar with Richard Posner about new book: A Failure of Capitalism

Wed, 06 May 2009 15:26:00 -0500

On May 14, at 2:00 P.M. E.T., Judge Richard Posner will speak for 20 minutes about his new book, A Failure of Capitalism. After his presentation, he will spend 10 minutes answering questions posed by webinar participants in real time. For more information and to register for the webinar, go to http://tinyurl.com/curyh8.