Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Courts

Exonerees freed by innocence projects work for justice

ABA Journal, Terry Carter – “Wrongly imprisoned, these men spent many years behind bars for crimes they did not commit. Plenty of convicted felons claim to be innocent; too many of them actually are. The criminal justice system stole from these men the carefree years of young adulthood. While many prisoners dream of going to… Continue Reading

DHS Defends Government Secrecy in “Internet Kill Switch” Case

EPIC – “The Department of Homeland Security has filed a brief in response to EPIC’s petition for rehearing in the “Internet Kill Switch” case. EPIC is seeking the release of the public policy that allows the government to suspend cell phone service. The D.C. Circuit previously ruled that DHS may withhold the policy. EPIC pursued… Continue Reading

Supreme Court to Hear Privacy Case Against Spokeo

EPIC – “The Supreme Court will hear an important privacy case concerning the disclosure of personal information in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Spokeo claimed that the plaintiff’s lacked lacked “standing” to sue after the company disclosed data protected by the FCRA. The Ninth Circuit disagreed and ruled for the plaintiffs. In the… Continue Reading

March 2015 Bankruptcy Filings Down 12 Percent

United States Courts -“Bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2015, fell 12 percent when compared to bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2014, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. March 2015 bankruptcy filings totaled 911,086, compared to the 1,038,280 bankruptcy cases filed… Continue Reading

New on LLRX – Amicus Curiae: Information in the Service of Justice

Via LLRX.com – Amicus Curiae: Information in the Service of Justice: From Ken Strutin’s introduction to this guide: In the legal system, such intonements have taken on the form of specialized briefs called amicus curiae (“friend of the court”). And through extension and by complement they have appeared in the form of law reviews, media… Continue Reading

FBI Flawed Forensic Hair Chemistry Testimony Spanned Two Decades

Spencer S. Hsu – Washington Post –  “The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s… Continue Reading

Recognizing the Limits of Antitrust: The Roberts Court Versus the Enforcement Agencies

Lambert, Thomas A. and Abbott, Alden F., Recognizing the Limits of Antitrust: The Roberts Court Versus the Enforcement Agencies (April 20, 2015). Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Forthcoming; University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-09. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2596660 “As Judge Frank Easterbrook famously explained three decades… Continue Reading

The Regulatory Adventure of the Two Norwood Builders

Davies, Ross E., The Regulatory Adventure of the Two Norwood Builders: Sherlock Holmes Crosses Paths with Congress, the President, the Courts, and the Administrative State, in the Press (April 17, 2015). 2015 Green Bag Almanac & Reader 567. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2595768 “It was almost certainly some combination of law on the books… Continue Reading

El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala Account for 38% of Immigration Court Filings

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “Three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — account for over a third (38 percent) of removal orders sought by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) so far this fiscal year, according to the latest Immigration Court data covering the period through the end of March 2015. During… Continue Reading

Federal Justice Statistics, 2011–12

“Describes the annual activity, workloads, and outcomes associated with the federal criminal justice system from arrest to imprisonment, using data from the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA), Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Tables and text describe arrests and… Continue Reading

Net Neutrality: Selected Legal Issues Raised by the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order

CRS – Net Neutrality: Selected Legal Issues Raised by the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order, Kathleen Ann Ruane, Legislative Attorney. April 6, 2015. “In February 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted an order that will impose rules governing the management of Internet traffic as it passes over broadband Internet access services (BIAS), whether those… Continue Reading

Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm of Legislative Silence

McLeod, Marah Stith, Does the Death Penalty Require Death Row? The Harm of Legislative Silence (March 14, 2015). Ohio State Law Journal, Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2589716 “This Article exposes two flawed assumptions about death row in leading scholarship and judicial opinions. The first flawed assumption is that death row is an inevitable… Continue Reading