Volume 3 Number 9 September 2010.
September 2010
Detecting and Avoiding Fake Anti-Virus Software
Using Google Scholar Library Links to Locate Journal Articles Online
Theodore Pollack, Senior Law Librarian at our public access law library writes: “Here is an interesting feature for Google Scholar regarding attempting to locate journal articles that are not easily available in Westlaw, Lexis, or HeinOnline. If you set the preferences in Google Scholar to libraries that you have access to, Scholar is supposed to inform if the article is available online thorough a digital subscription.”
http://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/librarylinks.html
U.S. National Archives Puts 3,000 Historic Documents Online*
The National Archives has created a new online public website that features more than 3,000 historic documents, photos and videos available for download, along with applications for teachers to create and share history lessons about the items, officials announced.
The new website, DocsTeach.org, offers historic items such as a short newsreel of American war planes attacking Japan in 1944, photos of President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration and a court document on the conviction of activist Susan B. Anthony for voting before it was legal for women to vote….
Book Review: Making Our Democracy Work, By Justice Stephen Breyer*
I often find there is little time to read all of the books I would like, or even need, to and therefore find myself resorting to book reviews. Last Sunday I read a review that to me seemd exceptional and would like to share it with you.
David Badertscher
REVIEW::
Should Cost be a Significant Factor in Sentencing Convicted Criminals?
Apparently the court system in Missouri thinks so. In her article, Missouri Tells Judges Cost of Sentences, publsihed in the September 18 New York Times, Monica Davey reports that “When judges here [Missouri] sentence convicted criminals, a new and unusual variable is available for them to consider: what a given punishment will cost the State of Missouri”. According to the article “legal experts say no other state systematically provides such information to judges, a practice put into effect here last month by the state’s sentencing advisory commission, an appointed board that offers guidance on criminal sentencing.”
Smart Sentenciing Volume 2 Number 5 August 17, 2010 A Bulletin of the Missouri Sentencing Commission includes a discussion of cost of sentencing as a variable when determining sentences. According to the Bulletin the Missouri Sentencing Commission has added data about the risk of being reincarcerated and the costs of sentences to its online application as a variable to enhance the availability of objective inform
I found it somwhat surprising that “….no other state systematically provides such information to judges”. On alternative for those interested in pursuing this subjct further would be to start by following a search I conducted on the National Center for State Courts website using the terms cost and incarceration.
Findlaw Case Summaries:Criminal Law and Procedure
To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw
September 13-17, 2010.
Criminal Law & Procedure
United States First Circuit, 09/14/2010
Merlonghi v. US
In plaintiff’s suit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), for the actions of a U.S. Special Agent, involving an automobile accident, district court’s grant of government’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is affirmed as plaintiff’s claim under 28 U.S.C. section 1346(b)(1) was properly dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because the agent was not acting within the scope of his employment when he crashed into plaintiff during a car chase. .
United States First Circuit, 09/16/2010
Fusi v. O’Brien
District court’s denial of defendant’s request for habeas relief from his rape conviction is vacated and remanded as the district court should have dismissed the petition without prejudice because the defendant failed to exhaust his ineffective assistance of counsel claim in state court. .
United States First Circuit, 09/16/2010
Gautier v. Wall
Defendant’s application for a certificate of appealability is denied and the judgment of the district court is vacated as the court lacked jurisdiction to consider defendant’s second or successive petition without authorization, and not one of defendant’s claims meets the gatekeeping requirements of section 2244(b).
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Findlaw Case Summaries: Constitutional Law 38
Constitutional Law
United States Second Circuit, 09/14/2010
Chase Grp. Alliance LLC v. N.Y. Dep’t of Fin.
In an action claiming that plaintiffs’ right to due process was violated by liens placed upon their properties by the City of New York, dismissal of the action is affirmed where the complaint alleged that New York law afforded appellants a right to notice and access to a tribunal to assert their objections before the liens were imposed, and thus, appellants’ right to due process was not violated. ..
United States Second Circuit, 09/17/2010
Faghri v. Univ. of Conn.
In an action claiming that defendants unconstitutionally retaliated against plaintiff for his exercise of his right to free speech in violation of the First Amendment and violated his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment when they removed him from his position as dean, a denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity is reversed where plaintiff had no clearly established right to remain as dean while voicing opposition to the policies of the team he was hired to be part of.
United States Second Circuit, 09/17/2010
Van Allen v. Cuomo
In an action challenging New York Election Law sections 5-210 and 5-304, which prevented plaintiff’s enrollment in a party from becoming effective until after the November 2007 general election, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where plaintiff did not indicate that he currently intended or had already attempted to change his party enrollment again, and thus his claims were moot.
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ABA Criminal Justice Section Iniated or Co-Sponsored Resolutions*
Approved by the ABA House of Delegates
Sept. 2010
At the 2010 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, the House of Delegates approved resolutions that the Criminal Justice Section initiated or co-sponsored regarding the following issues (click on the relevant REPORT # to view the full text of the resolution and the background report):
Ten Ways IT Departments May Enable Cybercrime
Kapersky laboratories has produced a special whitepaper focused on how IT unknowingly enables cybercrime by giving cybercriminals access to systems and data through a series of misconceptions and false assumptions. To view this paper click on the link below:
About Justce John Paul Stevens
Justice John Paul Stevens’ career offers many lessons for those interested in learning about the attributes of a good judge, maintains an editorial in the July-August issue of Judicature, the journal of the American Judicature Society. As the editorial explains, Justice Stevens is someone who sets high personal standards, demanding much of himself. He personifies traits such as candor, civility, integrity, courtesy, and responsibility. In short, he is the embodiment of what has come to be known as professionalism.
The editorial also notes that he is characterized by virtually everybody as open-minded, and a good listener, as genial and humorous, as warm and welcoming and kind, as gentle and possessing a generousness of spirit. He is a modest, humble, and unpretentious person,
notwithstanding all that he has accomplished in life, and a man possessing empathy for those who are less fortunate. Former clerks all portray him as a wonderful teacher and role model.