“There has been a dramatic drop in the number of detainers issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to the latest available data from the agency. In the eighteen month period from the end of FY 2012 through March 2014, there has been a 39 percent decrease in the number of ICE detainers sent… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Courts
New on LLRX – NY bar on ethics of cloud computing – again
Via LLRX.com – NY bar on ethics of cloud computing – again – Nicole Black lauds the the leading edge role taken by the New York State Bar in determining issues related to lawyer use of cloud computing and client confidential data. In two different opinions handed down in the latter half of this year, the New York… Continue Reading
New on LLRX – Criminal, privacy implications of drones
Via LLRX.com – Criminal, privacy implications of drones – Nicole Black discusses a recent NJ case that raises significant questions about the future of privacy and the use of drones for surveillance purposes by both private individuals and governmental entities. Cases such as this one involving the discharge of a weapon to destroy a privately owned drone used… Continue Reading
Convictions from FBI Investigations Vary Widely by Region
“The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during FY 2014 the government reported 10,979 federal criminal convictions resulting from cases referred by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Drug offenses accounted for about one fourth of these convictions (23.8 percent) followed by white collar crime (21.6 percent). Nationally, there was an average of 35… Continue Reading
Arrested – Mastermind of Silk Road Drug Sales Dark Web
ELIAS GROLL – Foreign Policy: “According to the criminal complaint filed in a New York federal court detailing charges against him, Benthall was easily identified once federal authorities discovered a server used to run Silk Road 2.0. His email address gave away his name and was listed on several publicly available social media profiles, including his account… Continue Reading
FreeLawProject Rolls Out Oral Argument Audio
Announcing Oral Arguments on CourtListener “We’re very excited to announce that CourtListener is currently in the process of rolling out support for Oral Argument audio. This is a feature that we’ve wanted for at least four years — our name is CourtListener, after all — and one that will bring a raft of new features to the project.… Continue Reading
Bork’s “Legislative Intent” and the Courts
Ginsburg, Douglas H., Bork’s “Legislative Intent” and the Courts (November 3, 2014). Antitrust Law Journal, Vol. 79, No. 3, pp. 941-951, 2014; George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 14-59. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2518600 “Robert H. Bork’s influence upon modern antitrust law is difficult to overstate. One of his lasting legacies is… Continue Reading
Which Judges Juggle the Most Civil Cases? TRAC Update Reveals Answers
“Federal District Judge Billy Roy Wilson of the Eastern District of Arkansas closed 3,008 civil cases in the twelve-month period ending June 30, more than any other judge in the nation. Meanwhile, Judge James “Rodney” Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas closed the most cases when the court’s case-weighting system, which seeks to account… Continue Reading
CRS – The Appointment Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations
The Appointment Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations: An Overview, Denis Steven Rutkus, Visiting Scholar. October 22, 2014 “In recent decades, the process for appointing judges to the U.S. circuit courts of appeals and the U.S. district courts has been of continuing Senate interest. The responsibility for making these appointments is shared by… Continue Reading
USA v. Jeffrey Alexander Sterling: Selected Case Files
Via FAS, there are several dozen documents in this compendium including: On January 6, 2011, the Department of Justice announced the indictment of former CIA officer Jeffrey A. Sterling on charges of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. A trial date has been set for January 14, 2015 (jury selection on January 8, 2015). Selected Case… Continue Reading
Service offers a better way to search federal court records than PACER
Via Robert Ambrogi – ABA Journal – a snippet of his review of PacerPro – Find Bookmark Download: “PacerPro provides a clean, modern interface to the PACER system. But PacerPro is more than just lipstick on a pig. It actually improves on the federal site through features such as real-time universal search, aggregated search results and… Continue Reading
Confronting Cognitive ‘Anchoring Effect’ and ‘Blind Spot’ Biases in Federal Sentencing
Bennett, Mark W., Confronting Cognitive ‘Anchoring Effect’ and ‘Blind Spot’ Biases in Federal Sentencing: A Modest Solution for Reforming a Fundamental Flaw (July 5, 2014). Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 104, No. 3, p. 489, 2014. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2503423 “Cognitive “anchoring effect” bias, especially related to numbers, like sentencing guidelines ranges,… Continue Reading
