Articles Posted in Commentary and Opinion

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Meghan McCain, John McCain’s daughter, writing in the Daily Beast discusses her love of guns. Here are some excerpts from her posting.

According to Meghan: “…I find it empowering, especially as a woman, to fire off a few rounds….Lets get something straight: Individual responsibility and personal liberty are inherent Republican philosophies. And nothing could be more essential in protecting those ideals than the Bill of Rights. Its no accident the second of the first 10 amendments protects the right to bear armsand has done so for more than 200 years. Obviously, I realize the Second Amendment has been heavily scrutinized. Its simplicity is sometimes mistaken for ambiguity. But it stands as a fundamental right, ensures the conditions for a ‘free state,’ and rewards responsible, trained citizens with the freedom to protect themselves. Thats what the NRA is truly about: providing Americans who choose to take advantage of their Second Amendment rights the appreciation for the serious responsibilities and safety precautions necessary to ensure gun owners safety and the safety of others.”

Although some of us don’t especially love guns or agree with her interpretation of the Second Amendment, Meghan does have a right to express her opinion. See her entire posting at http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-05-14/trigger-happy/ and don’t forget to read the comments.

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Top Ten Stories of the Week ending May 8, 2009:

Law Practice Management Downturn’s Losers: BigLaw, ‘Entitled’ Associates, Top Schools May 7, 2009, 10:12 am CDT

Law Schools Blog Questions ‘Rankings Malpractice’ by Law Schools

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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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In its preliminary statistics released on May 11, 2009 the FBI reports that 41 of our nation’s law enforcement officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty in 2008. All but five were killed with firearms. The number of officers feloniously killed was 17 fewer than in 2007. A more detailed explanation of these numbers is provided in the Press Release announcing the release of these statistics:

FBI Press Release May 11, 2007

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This enertaining article, Champagne Corks, Mickey Mantle & Muskets, is a May 10, 2009 posting by Adrian M. Baron on the Nutmeg Lawer blawg which is described as a blawg “…developed to share tips on law firm marketing, legal practice, office management and anything else that might pique your interest about the trials and tribulations of law practice.” Adrian Barron’s posting did certainly “pique” our interest and we thought you would enjoy it also.

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Pursuant to Section 42, paragraph 4, of the Judiciary Law of the State of New York the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct respectfully submits the Annual Report 2009 of its activities covering the period from January 1 through December 31, 2008.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct is the state agency responsible for investigating complaints of misconduct against judges of the state unified court system and, where appropriate, determining to admonish, censure or remove from office those judges found to have engaged in unethical behavior. All determinations are subject to review in the Court of Appeals, New York State’s highest court.

New York State. Commissdion on Judicial Conduct, Annual Report 2009

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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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Spencer S. Hsu writes in the May 7, 2009 Washington Post that according to U.S. officials “the Department of Homeland Security is dismanteling a next generation biological attack warning system in New York City subways because of technical problems. Click here to see entire article.

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Rob Richards, a law librarian and legal information consultant in Philadelphia writes: “A list of empirical studies of law-related information behavior is now available at http://home.comcast.net/~richards1000/InformationBehavior.html . If you know of additional studies not listed, I’d be grateful to learn of them. Persons interested in this topic may be interested to know of the availability of a major new dissertation on this topic:

Stephann Makri, A Study of Lawyers’ Information Behaviour Leading to the Development of Two Methods for Evaluating Electronic Resources (2008) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University College London), also available at http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14729/ .” We are always grateful to Rob for sharing such insights with us.

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