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James Duggan, President of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) includes the following announcement in the February 2009 issue of his newsletter, From the Desk of James E. Duggan.:

“Earlier this month, the Government Printing Office (GPO) announced the release of the Federal Digital System (FDsys), GPO’s new digital system that provides access to government information from all three branches of government. At this first launch, FDsys contains more than 154,000 documents and many convenient features, including the ability to download metadata. While currently in public beta testing, FDsys is scheduled to replace the antiquated GPO Access in mid-2009.

During the past year, AALL and our members have provided support and feedback to GPO in the development of the new system. In May 2008, Mary Alice Baish testified before the House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch in support of GPO’s $21.2 million request for FDsys, which was a significant portion of their Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations Request. In addition, many AALL members offered their comments in small focus groups with the FDsys team at the AALL Annual Meeting in Portland and more recently at GPO’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. We are pleased that the FDsys developers implemented many of our suggestions, including numerous improvements to the actual design of the Web site and the option of searching by citation.

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Supreme Court Update: A Service from the ABA Criminal Justice Section www.abanet.org/crimjust

CHAMBERS V. UNITED SATES The Court ruled in Chambers v. United Sates (No. 06-11206) that a failure to report for prison does not count as a violent crime under a federal law intended to keep repeat criminals in prison longer.

A unanimous court on Tuesday threw out a mandatory 15-year prison term given to Deondery Chambers, who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun. Chambers had three prior convictions, which prosecutors argued and lower courts agreed brought him under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act.

But one of Chambers’ convictions was for his “failure to report” for weekend jail stays. The government contended that not showing up for the weekend confinement was akin to an escape and should be treated as a violent crime.

Justice Stephen Breyer rejected that argument in his opinion for the court. Breyer said a report that examined failures to report to prison found no evidence that defendants were more likely to resist arrest and potentially injure law enforcement officers or others.

In a separate opinion, Justice Samuel Alito said the court is called on too often to interpret the career criminal law and suggested that Congress come up with a list of specific crimes that should trigger application of the law.

JIMINEZ V. QUARTERMAN In a second criminal case, the court unanimously ruled for a Texas prison inmate seeking federal review of his 43-year prison term. The court interpreted a dead line determining when a judgment is final for purposes of section 28 U.S.C. 2244 (d)(1)(A). The USSC held that a federal appeals court in New Orleans was wrong to find that Carlos Jiminez had missed a deadline for filing his paperwork in federal court. Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion, holding that where a state court grants a criminal defendant the right to file an out-of-time direct appeal during state collateral review, but before the defendant has first sought federal habeas relief, his judgment is not “final” for purposes of section .2244 (d)(1)(A) until the conclusion of the out-of-time direct appeal, or the expiration of the time for seeking certiorari review of the appeal.

The Chambers v. U.S., 06-11206, and Jiminez v. Quarterman, 07-6984 cases are available at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08slipopinion.html.

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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!”

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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

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