Articles Posted in David Badertscher

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The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (New York City Bar) has just published its Report on the Merger of the Bronx Supreme and Criminal Courts. Commenting on the Report in his June 11, 2009 New York Law Journal article, “City Bar Report Cites ‘Serious Problems’ With Bronx Merger”, Daniel Wise writes: “The merger of Criminal and Supreme courts in the Bronx has created ‘serious problems’ if additional judicial resources are not made available, a report by the New York City Bar Concluded.” In the Report it is recommended that “strong and immediate attempts” need to be taken to handle a growing backlog of felony cases.

The New York City Bar report was prepared by the Committee on Criminal Courts and the Committee on Criminal Justice Operations, both committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and released on June 10, 2009. Below is an excerpt from the Opening Statement and a link to the complete report:

Opening Statement Excerpt:

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The background information regarding U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor at our earlier posting has been updated to include her completed questionnaire which was delivered to the Committee of the Judiciary of the U.S. Senate on Thursday June 4, 2009. For those who have not seen it, that posting which is at:

https://www.criminallawlibraryblog.com/2009/05/judge_sonia_sotomayor_backgrou.html

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According to Ed O’Keefe in a June 5, 2009 Washington Post article, “Library Officials Accused of Interference”, Senator Charles E. Grassley has written a sharply worded letter to the Librarian of Congress , James H. Billington, stating “…Your office attempts to influence and/or control [the Office of Inspector General] appear to be in direct contravention of the principles underlying the creation of the Inspector General”. The article explains that the question is whether top officials at the Library of Congress interfered with investigations conducted by its “independent watchdogs” such as the Office of the Inspector General and whether they have admonished investigators for the tone and focus of their investigations.

For additional information on this topic see our April 30, 2009 posting on this blog which provides additional information and a link to the Marhc 2009 report of the Office of the Inspector General regarding information technology planning at the Library of Congress: Information Technology Strategic Planning: A Well Developed Framework is Essential to Support the Library’s Current and Future Infortation Technology (IT) Needs , Report Number 2008-PA-105 March 2008.

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Web based criminal justice issues cannot be addressed in a rational manner without also the establishment and ongoing maintenance of a trusted and resilient information and communications infrastructure. Realizing the paramount importance of these objectives the Obama administration has been engaging in a mumber related activities including President Obama’s recent call for the creation of a cybersecurity coordinator who will orchestrate and integrate federal cybersecurity policies and agendas, and the release by the White House of a Report: Cyberspace Policy Review: Assuring a Trusted and Resilient Information Infrasturcture

These measures could not be more timely. The increasing rate that information on the web is being compromised in many ways including identity theft, willful distortion of information,and illegal wiretapping to name a few. Other organizations such as the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) have long been concerned with issues related to the continuing integrity or authenticity of information on the web and are actively engaged in developing recommendations and helping others understand the importance of achieving and maintaining information authenticity of the web but additional help and support is needed. It is therefore most encouraging to see indications that the Obama administration is interested in taking an active role in addressing these and related issues.

The following are links to documents and articles discussing recent cybersecurity initiatives of the Obama administration.

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Kim Walker, an experienced litigation paralegal with the firm of Berger & Montague in Philadelphia, has written a useful article describing software programs that can save paralegal’s time and their organizations money. Reading through Kim’s article I was struck by the thought that an increasing number of law librarians are also using this same software to save them time, enable them to work smarter, and benefit their organizations as well For these reasons I have changed Kim’s title slightly for this posting to also include law librains and placing a link to Kim Walker’s entire article, hoping that her insights can prove valuable to both paralegals and law librarians.

Article: Cool Software Every Paralegal Could Use

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Brian R. Leiter the John P. Wilson Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Law, Philosophy and Human Values at the University of Chicago has conducted a poll to determine who people think were the most important legal thinkers in american law in the past century. There were 180 votes cast. Professor Leiter has post the top 25 on his blog, Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports. When looking at the list don’t forget to scroll down and read the comments which are also thought provoking. As one would expect on such a list there are always questions about why so-and-so was or was not included.

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In Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Online News, Keith Perine writes: “…Obama, speaking with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as a backdrop, defended his order to close the detainee prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and outlined several tenets of his own counterterrorism strategy. The president tried to reframe the complex problem of how to treat the Guantánamo detainees as one that requires pragmatism above politics and bipartisan deliberation over partisan attacks.

“As president, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. I refuse to pass it on to somebody else,” Obama said, in one of several thinly veiled digs at the George W. Bush administration. ‘It is my responsibility to solve the problem. Our security interests will not permit us to delay. Our courts won’t allow it. And neither should our conscience.’ ” To see the entire article, including an account of a rebuttal speech by former Vice President Cheney, delivered from the American Enterprise Institute, click here.

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A Report of the New York State Inspector General, Joseph Fisch, released on May 13, 2009 concluded that Herbert Titelbaum Executive Director of the New York State Council on Public Integrity and a close friend exchanged at least 165 phone calls and held regular dinners over a five month period in 2007, during which Mr. Titelbaum disclosed the progress and details of the inquiry conducted by the panel, the Commission on Public Integrity, into the handling by former governor Spitzer’s administration of the travel records of longtime Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno. Since the Report was released there have been calls for the resignation of Mr. Titelbaum

Below are links to two news articles which discuss the Report and its implications, followed by links to the Executive Summary and Findings of the Report, ending with a link to the complete Report itself:

New York Times Article May 13, 2009 “Paterson Asks Ethics Panel to Quit by Danny Hakim.

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While most agree that forensic science is a critical element of the criminal justice system, there are increasing expressions of concern as to whether it is becoming fragmanted, less reliable, and urgently needs an infusion of financial and research support in order to remain viable.

These and related concerns have been discussed in a variety of books, journals as well as the web media. Of particular interest to many is the National Academy of Sciences Report on Forensics which addresses directly many of the points mentioned above. While I cannot link directly to that Report here I can link to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) catalog where you can purchase a copy: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12589 . There may be a free summary available at that site. The NAS Report is also discussed in some depth in an American Judicature Society Editorial at http://www.ajs.org/ajs/ajs_editorial-template.asp?content_id=797 Also recommended is the Comments on the Release of the NAS Report on Forensic Sciences by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD).

Recognizing the growing concern and importane of viable forensics, the New York Times has devoted most of the Science Section of its May 12, 2009 issue to what it calls the “New Forensics”. This issue contains a wide selection of articles addressing various aspects of forensic science as related to criminal justice. Links to a few are included in the listings below:”

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Amazon has now released Kindle DX, a larger, more versatile veriion of its wireless Kindle ebook device. The new DX version has a larger display and a screen which rotates from portrait to landscape to view Web pages and spreadsheets, etc.

Kindle DX and other wireless ebook reading devices certainly do not portend the end of the tradional book as we know it; they are simply useful, but additional, methods of conveying information to readers.

Here are some of the features of the Kindle DX as listed by Amazon:

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