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November 6, 2008.

National Moot Court Competition

“For the first time, William S. Hein & Co., Inc. is offering the winning records, briefs and related organizational materials from the 1st-58th annual National Moot Court Competition in digital format in HeinOnline! The Young Lawyers Committee and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York sponsor the national competition each year to enable law students throughout the United States to match their abilities as appellate advocates against one another and bring together law students, practicing lawyers, legal scholars and judges to exchange ideas and attitudes and to compare notes. It’s not a coincidence that the winning teams subscribe – don’t sell your tea m short!”

The city Council of the City of New York voted 29 to 22 on October 23 to extend term limits which would permit Mayor Michael Blomberg to seek re-election next year. The Charter Amendment voted upon by the Council will also permit members of the City Council and other city elected officials to serve for three or four year terms.

Here is the text of the amendment to the city charter as approved by the Council on October 23, 2008:

Proposed Int. No. 845-A

Update from the Lexis Alert Service, Search run morning of October 12-14, 2008:

1. People v. D’Agostino, 4228, 2702/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2008 NY Slip Op 7714; 2008 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7536, October 9, 2008, Decided, October 9, 2008, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.

The People of the State …

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U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, September 23, 2008 US v. O’Brien, No. 072312 In a conviction for charges related to attempted robbery, conspiracy to affect interstate commerce, and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, ruling that machine-gun possession was an element of a crime rather than a sentencing enhancement is affirmed where absent a clearer or more dramatic change in language or legislative history expressing a specific intent to assign judge or jury functions, court is bound by Supreme Court decision, Castillo v. US, 530 U.S. 120 (2000).

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, September 24, 2008 Thomas v. State of Rhode Island, No. 071985 In a suit brought by members of an Indian tribe claiming that state officials violated their constitutional rights by arresting them without lawful authority on tribal lands for alleged cigarette tax violations, dismissal of action for failure to state a claim is affirmed over claims of error that: 1) the court construed their allegations too narrowly, thereby ignoring a viable Fourth Amendment claim based on the lack of probable cause for arrest; and 2) the court wrongly denied their request to amend the complaint, thereby denying them the opportunity to remedy any tax deficiencies. .

With all the news and interest in the Democratic National Convention which begins on Monday, we thought that some of you would be interested in seeing, Renewing America’s Promise, Report of the Platform Committee for presentation to the 2008 National Convention. It was approved on August 9, 2008. To see the Platform click on the link below:

Report of the Platform Committee as Approved on August 9, 2008 for Presentation to the 2008 National Convention

All four of the recommendations submitted by the Criminal Justice Section to the ABA House of Delegates were unamiously approved on August 11, 2008:

Brief descriptions of the final versions of the recommendations are included below. Those seeking addtional information can contact the Criminal Justice Section at http://www.abanet.org/crimjust:

104A Recommends that Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure be amended by the addition of subsections (c)(3) and (c)(4), that would call for availability of information received from parties and non-parties to ensure that both the government and the defense have an opportunity to review information to be considered by the sentencing court in determining the appropriate punishment.

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