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Stories about popular, exciting topics, often appear almost together , sometimes on the same day. On March 13 two stories published in the InformationWeek Daily Newsletter caught our attention and we wanted to pass them on to our readers:

In “The Intruder Story: Man At His Best”, Michael Hickins writes:

“As far as I’m concerned, David Prager is a hero. I would love to meet the man with enough sangfroid (that’s French for cojones) to Tweet and to even set up a Ustream of the event, all while reflecting on the relative degree of danger in which he found himself.”

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

March 9 – 13, 2009:

U.S. Supreme Court, March 09, 2009 Vermont v. Brillon, No. 08-88 The Vermont Supreme Court’s reversal of Defendant’s domestic violence conviction is reversed, where the Vermont Supreme Court held that delays attributable to Defendant’s assigned counsel denied Defendant a speedy trial, but assigned counsel, just as retained counsel, act on behalf of their clients, and delays sought by counsel are ordinarily attributable to the defendants they represent.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 12, 2009 US v. Rivera-Maldonado , No. 07-1426
Judgment against defendant for possession of child pornography is vacated where: 1) in plain error, the magistrate judge relied on the plea agreement and erroneously told defendant that the maximum possible period of supervised release was three years, and did not inform defendant that he could be sentenced to lifetime supervised release; 2) the error affected defendant’s substantial rights as he has shown a reasonable probability that he would not have entered the guilty plea if he understood that it would lead to a lifetime of supervised release; and 3) the error seriously affected the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings. Case is remanded with instructions that defendant be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea.

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 12, 2009 US v. Arbour, No. 07-1979
Sentence for drug and firearms offenses is affirmed where the district court did not commit clear error in holding that defendant was involved in a criminal activity that was extensive and that he qualified as a leader or organizer of the criminal activity, thereby invoking an increase in his offense level under the Sentencing Guidelines.
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Update from the Lexis Alert Service,

March 16, 2009.

1. People v. Casanova, 89/06, 54, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 1850; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1698, March 12, 2009, Decided, March 12, 2009, 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 …
… appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), …
… People v Crimmins, 36 NY2d 230 [1975]). Accordingly, the judgment of the Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), …
… Squib inserted here: Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bruce Allen, J.), …

2. People v. Monroe, 4727, 1389/07, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 1830; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1799, March 12, 2009, Decided, March 12, 2009, 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 …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (James A. Yates, …

3. People v. Velez, 4741, 6382/05, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 1831; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1779, March 12, 2009, Decided, March 12, 2009, 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 …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (James A. Yates, …

4. People v. Bennett, 5258, 5259, 5260, 1247/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 1834; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1805, March 12, 2009, Decided, March 12, 2009, 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 …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Renee A. White, …

5. People v. La Rosa, 47, 3687/05, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2009 NY Slip Op 1842; 2009 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1781, March 12, 2009, Decided, 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 …
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Michael R. Ambrecht, …
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To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

March 9 – 13, 2009:

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 10, 2009 Fontroy v. Beard, No. 07-2446 In an action involving the First Amendment rights of prisoners, district court’s judgment is reversed where the defendant’s new prison mail policy requiring attorneys and courts to affix control numbers to mail sent to inmates is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests and thus does not unconstitutionally infringe on First Amendment rights, as there is a rational connection between the mail policy and the prison’s interest in prison security and safety.

QUESTION*

For courts who have translated their public website into the Spanish and/or Vietnamese languages:

Do you have a Spanish and/or Vietnamese version of your court public website?

From the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section: http://www.abanet.org/crimjust

I”n a case arising from a felony domestic assault and habitual offender charges, where the defendant had at least six different appointed attorneys between the time of his arrest and his trial, the trial court denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss for want of a speedy trial. The Vermont Supreme Court, however, reversed, holding that the conviction must be vacated, and the charges dismissed, because the State did not accord a speedy trial as is required by the Sixth Amendment. The Supreme Court held that The Vermont Supreme Court erred in ranking assigned counsel essentially as state actors in the criminal justice system, stating that assigned counsel, just as retained counsel, act on behalf of their clients, and, in the absence of institutional breakdowns of the public defender system, delays sought by counsel are ordinarily attributable to the defendants they represent.”

The full opinion can be accessed at http://topics.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/08-88

The Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO), the New York State reference and research library resource system serving New York City and its metropolitan area, has just released its Strategic Plan 2009-2014. This stragetic plan which was developed through a broad consultative and inclusive process (including input from law libraries), addresses the needs of its member libraries, the demands of a changing library/information world, and the course METRO should take. As for disclosure, I participated in the planning and development of this Stragetic Plan as a member of the METRO Professional Planning Group. In the past I have also served as a member of the Board of Directors of METRO.

In view of the importance and urgency of issues addressed I am posting the entire Strategic Plan here with the hope that it will be distributed widely among libraries, their parent organizations, and other organizations concerned about libraries and librarianship. We would also appreciate comments.

David Badertscher

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