Authors of Articles

July 16, 2009

Google: Is Free An Antitrust Issue?

Can the offering of goods and services such as Google searches free of charge be considered in violation of antitrust? Many librarians have expressed an interest in this issue. They are concerned about what any resolution of this question wll have on their continuing efforts to provide knowledge based goods and services (including new and enhanced products) in an increasingly financially constrained environment to patrons with ever increasing expectations. They want to be informed about what the producers and providers they depend on, such as Google, are thinking about this issue? Hence this postingl

In a July 10 posting on the Google Policy Blog Dana Wagner responds to comments by Chris Anderson, editor of Wired Magazine and author of the book Free in a piece Chris wrote for CNN and possibly to additional comments by Chris during his presentation at the Google D.C. office earlier in the week. In his D.C. presentation Chris explained how new business models and approaches to advertising will change the focus of global commerce.

What really seems to have caught Dana Wagner’s attention however is the following excerpt from Chris’s CNN piece:

July 15, 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Requires Forensic Analysts to Testify in Court

by David Badertscher

David Badertscher
Legal experts and prosecutors are quite concerned about possible results of the June 25, 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts 07-591. In this decision the Court has ruled that forensic analysts conducting tests must be in court to testify about their test results and that lab sheets that identify a substance as a narcotic, or breath test printouts describing a suspect’s blood-alcohol level are no longer to be considered as sufficient evidence. A person is now required to be in court to talk about the test results. The basic question the Supreme Court addressed in this opinion was: “Is a state forensic analyst’s laboratory report prepared for use in a criminal prosecution “testimonial” evidence subject to the demands of the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause as set forth in Crawford v. Washington?”* In its ruling the Supreme Court answered, yes.
_________________________ *The above quote was taken from discussion of this opinion in the U.S. Supreme Court Oyez website at. http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2008/2008_07_591 . This site also includes links to the text of the opinion as well at to the Syllabus, dissent, concurrance, and argument. For additional information see discussion in a July 15, 2009 Washington Post article by Tom Jackman, and follow the link on the U.S. Supreme Court website.

July 14, 2009

Unclassified Report on the President’s Surveillance Program

by David Badertscher

The Unclassified Report of the President’s Surveillance Program released on July 10, 2009 is a review of the National Security Agency Warrantless Search Program, created during the presidency of George W. Bush some time after September 11, 2001. The unclassified report was prepared by the inspectors general of five government bodies involved in the original program. Among its many observations it raises questions about both whether the extensive secrecy of the original warrantless surveillance program limited its effectiveness and the legal basis of the original program..

The following is an excerpt from the Introduction to the Unclassified Report followed by a link to the entire Report:

From the Introduction:

June 25, 2009

Book Review: A Right to Discriminate?: How the Case of Boys Scouts of America v.James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association

by David Badertscher

TITLE: A Right to Discriminate?

SUBTITLE: How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association

AUTHOR: Andrew Koppelman with Tobias Barrington Wolff PUBLICATION DATE: July 2009

June 23, 2009

Q&A: How Many Law School Faculty Members Have Kindles

by David Badertscher

Lyonette Louis-Jacques of the D’Angelo Law Library at the University of Chicago has conducted a quick, informal, but very interesting survey asking law school librarians how many of their faculty members use Kindles. As often happens with such surveys, the results or responses reveal more than was originally intended, thus creating interest among readers well beyond the range of the original audience. For this reason I have contacted Lyonette and requested her permission, which she has granted, to republish her questions and responses on this blawg for the benefit of our readers. David Badertscher

LYONETTE’S QUESTIONS:

I asked on Twitter, teknoids and the CSSIS-L lists. I got 21 responses. 6 responders indicated they own Kindles.

June 11, 2009

New York City Bar Report on the Bronx Supreme and Criminal Courts

by David Badertscher

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:

June 5, 2009

Information Regarding Hon. Sonia Sotomayor Has Been Updated

by David Badertscher

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

June 5, 2009

Library of Congress Officials Accused by Senator of Interference

by David Badertscher

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.

June 1, 2009

Cybersecurity: Reviews and Iniatives of the Obama Administration

by David Badertscher

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.

May 27, 2009

Cool Software Every Paralegal and Law Librarian Could Use

by David Badertscher

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