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Law & Justice
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LAWS & REGULATIONS
AA09188
Knapp, Jeffrey LEGAL RESEARCH: AN INTRODUCTION TO KEY ONLINE AND PRINT SOURCES (Choice, vol. 46, no. 8, April 2009, pp. 1439//1449)
Available on request
The author, a librarian with Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, offers a basic overview of the legal process, a collection of resources for finding primary and secondary sources of legal information, resources for understanding the legal process, and resources specifically tailored for legal research. The essay is divided into two parts -- focusing on how a law is made and recorded, and aids in researching the law. Law reviews and legal periodical articles provide interpretation of the law as well as detailed articles on particular legal topics. These interpretations may be found through indexes (e.g. Index to Legal Periodicals). There are also a number of specialized finding tools that enable one to search for relevant materials in primary authorities, like the index volumes for statutes and regulations compilations. Shepard's Citations provides references to when cases and law review articles were cited by another source. Computer databanks (Lexis, Westlaw) and the free Thomas (from the Library of Congress) provide the legal profession with quick and efficient tools to do research. State and specialty law collections pulling together diverse types of authority are now appearing on CD-ROM and the Internet and today, foreign law and international law are included in many legal portals. The study of law is a highly inter-disciplinary endeavor that requires invaluable resources for the study of many of its subjects. Law and governmental sources are the foundation upon which we base our civic knowledge.
PAID SICK DAYS DON’T CAUSE UNEMPLOYMENT. Center for Economic and Policy Research. John Schmitt et al. June 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 5 pages]
Critics of legislation requiring employers to provide paid sick days frequently argue that these measures will lead to job loss and raise the national unemployment rate. However, the report shows that the experience of 22 countries with the highest level of social and economic development, as measured by the Human Development Index, suggests that there is no statistically significant relationship between national unemployment rates and legally-mandated access to paid sick days and leave.[Note: contains copyright material].
PUBLIC BACKS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, BUT NOT MINORITY PREFERENCES. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. June 2, 2009.
Full Text: [HTML format, various paging]
With the Supreme Court expected to soon rule on a case involving job discrimination claims by white firefighters, and Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor's decision in a lower court ruling on the case drawing scrutiny, there is renewed focus on public opinion about affirmative action programs and overall efforts to improve the position of minorities in this country. The public has generally been supportive of such efforts, but is decidedly opposed to the idea of providing preferential treatment of minorities, in the recent surveys. [Note: contains copyright material].
AA09164
Fallows, James TINFOIL UNDERWEAR (Atlantic, May 2009)
Currently available online
The author notes that there is no privacy on the Internet; the question is how to control the lack of privacy and the threats it may pose. Cookies, old files, browsing histories, are easy for users to control, and encrypting utilities work pretty well against eavesdropping. But it is “the inexorable pileup of information” on a variety of Web sites that experts identify as the major long-term threat to a user’s privacy. Your IIP addresses allow tracking of all your Internet activities, and the companies that collect and own that data have decided to retain it more or less forever. The technical developments that make this possible cannot easily be undone, but the business policies could be, Fallows says. Online firms, however, are disinclined to reveal everything they know about their users – this would be commercial suicide. Nonetheless, many experts believe that government legislation offers modern computer users their best hope. For instance, a future law might require Google and other companies to strip specific IP addresses from records of searching or browsing activity that they intended to store for more than a brief period. This would be a balancing act similar to the creation of the “do-not-call” list for telemarketers. It would preserve the legitimate commercial value of aggregate data about Internet use, while protecting individuals if the records were dredged up in legal proceedings — or simply lost, stolen, or exposed through negligence or incompetence.
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
INTERNATIONAL LAW
TRADE AND COMMERCIAL LAW
MILITARY LAW
JUDICIAL & PENAL SYSTEMS
ACCESS TO JUSTICE: REPORT ON SUPREME COURT NOMINEE JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR. Alliance for Justice. June 9, 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 14 pages]
According to the report, “Judge Sonia Sotomayor has a careful, cautious and reasoned approach to access to justice issues. Her rulings are well within the legal mainstream.” The report further notes, “Judge Sotomayor shows no bias for or against plaintiffs. She shows sensitivity toward persons bringing claims, but always grounds her decision-making on the law and binding authority.” [Note: contains copyright material].
REPORT OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION ON THE NOMINATION OF JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR TO BE ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. American Civil Liberties Union. June 8, 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 88 pages]
In accordance with ACLU Policy 519, this report summarizes the civil liberties and civil rights record of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Obama on May 26, 2009, to replace Justice David Souter as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. [Note: contains copyright material].
SCHUMER UNVEILS NEW ANALYSIS SHOWING SOTOMAYOR’S MODERATE RECORD ON IMMIGRATION CASES. U.S. Senate. June 9, 2009.
Full Text: [HTML format, various paging]
U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), the chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, released an analysis of Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s judicial record on immigration-related cases, showing she ruled against asylum claims 83 percent of the time, a rate that places President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee squarely in the judicial mainstream. Schumer said the figures, which had not previously been compiled, undercut attempts by Sotomayor’s critics to paint her as a judge whose decision-making is influenced by factors other than the rule of law.
PROSECUTING AND DETAINING TERROR SUSPECTS IN THE U.S. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. June 9, 2009.
Full Text: [HTML format, various paging]
Since the 1990s, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has investigated and successfully prosecuted a wide range of international and domestic terrorism cases—including the bombings of the World Trade Center and U.S. Embassies in East Africa in the 1990s. More recent cases include those against individuals who provided material support to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, as well as against international arms trafficker Monzer al Kassar and the Somalian pirate charged in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama.
AA09163
Caruson, Kiki PUBLIC WATCHDOGS OR IMPERIAL PITBULLS: AN EVALUATION OF SPECIAL PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATIONS OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH MISCONDUCT (Congress and the Presidency, vol. 36, no. 1, January-April 2009, pp. 80-114)
Available on request
The author, Associate professor of political science at the University of South Florida, Tampa, discusses the role of the special prosecutor, also called an independent counsel, who is appointed by the Attorney General or Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. The individual is picked for this appointment from outside government, to avoid potential conflicts of interest or political connections to the incumbent administration. Critics of the use of special prosecutors argue that these investigators act as a "Fourth Branch" to the government because they are not subject to limitations in spending or have deadlines to meet. Caruson discusses the legislation providing authority to special prosecutors and analyzes what she considers the charge of a lack of accountability by measuring the cost, duration, and expansion of jurisdiction of each special counsel investigation.
CRIME, VIOLENCE & LAW ENFORCEMENT
AA09182
Corchado, Alfredo A FIGHTING CHANCE (Wilson Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 2, Spring 2009, pp. 18-23)
Currently available online
The author, Mexico bureau chief for The Dallas Morning News and currently Nieman fellow at Harvard University, believes that as Mexico steps up its war against the brutal drug cartels, leaders on both sides of the border face tough questions about how to combat a problem that threatens the very fabric of Mexico's democracy. Mexico is proving that the war on drugs is unwinnable as long as Americans fail to curb their consumption of narcotics. The deepening economic recession has already left more than 350,000 Mexicans unemployed, and jobs that were once plentiful in the U.S. are scarce, drawing more people into the underground economy. More than 90 percent of the weapons in Mexico and the bulk of the cash drug proceeds smuggled into Mexico are of U.S. origin. The illicit cash is used to bribe law enforcement officials, politicians, journalists, even administrators of homeless shelters, where cartels often hide their hit men. The corruption extends to the U.S. side of the border, where a growing number of law enforcement officials have been arrested for complicity.
CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES: PRELIMINARY ANNUAL UNIFORM CRIME REPORT JANUARY TO DECEMBER 2008. U.S. Department of Justice. June 1, 2009.
Full Text: [HTML format with links to tables]
According to the FBI’s Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the nation experienced a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 1.6 percent decline in the number of property crimes for 2008 compared with data from 2007. The report is based on information that the FBI gathered from 12,750 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data to the FBI for both 2007 and 2008. [Note: contains copyright material].
KEEP GITMO GOING: THE CASE FOR RETAINING THE VITAL DETENSION AND INTERROGATION FACILITY AT GUANTANOMO BAY. Center for Security Policy. E. J. Kimball and Benjamin Lerner. May 28, 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 9 pages]
The white paper identifies the national security, public safety, and legal and economic challenges associated with closing Guantánamo and transferring detainees to the United States or to foreign custody. Anywhere from 10-20 percent of the nearly 500 detainees released from Guantanamo have returned to the battlefield in some capacity, says the paper. These were the “benign” detainees, one can only imagine the rate of recidivism of the 240 hardened terrorists still detained at Guantánamo. [Note: contains copyright material].
AA09174
Struwe, Lars B. FOR A GREATER HORN OF AFRICA SEA PATROL: A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF THE SOMALI PIRATE CHALLENGE (Danish Institute for Military Studies, March 2009, 44 pp.)
This report is on the Internet
The author notes that the number of pirate attacks off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden doubled to over 100 in 2008. Somalia-based pirates threaten freedom of the seas in a vital maritime route. The problem of deterring pirates will be aided through constant patrolling, international cooperation, shared intelligence and destruction of pirate bases. There needs to be more analysis of the best practices used to isolate and combat pirates, according to this study, and more insight is needed into the pirates’ lives and their methods of operation. Most importantly, this report calls for the creation of a Greater Horn of Africa Sea Patrol to secure freedom of navigation. The regional maritime unit would be formed by the coastal states from Egypt to Tanzania. It would support countries that already have a regional naval presence and help with specific tasks such as environmental monitoring and fishery inspection.
CORRUPTION
NARCOTICS & DRUGS
NATIONAL SOUTHWEST BORDER COUNTERNARCOTICS STRATEGY. Executive Office of the President of the United States. June 2009.
Full Text: [PDF format, 77 pages]
President Obama’s strategy to stem the flow of illegal drugs and their illicit proceeds across the Southwest border and reduce associated crime and violence in the region has been released. The National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy directs Federal agencies to increase coordination and information sharing with State and local law enforcement agencies, intensifies national efforts to interdict the southbound flow of weapons and bulk currency, and calls for continued close collaboration with the Government of Mexico in their efforts against the drug cartels.