Alliance for Justice Report – The State of the Judiciary – Judicial Selection During the 113th Congress, October 2013 “Throughout President Obama’s nearly five years in office, the federal courts have experienced an unprecedented vacancy crisis. Congress returned from the August 2013 recess to a federal judiciary with 109 current and future vacancies, 45 pending nominees, and more… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Courts
Kenneth Feinberg: The Nation’s Leading Expert in Picking up the Pieces
After the tragedies that come all too often—9/11, the Gulf, Newtown—the call goes out to Ken Feinberg to do what no man can possibly do: ease the pain by Chris Jones. Published in the January 2014 issue of Esquire. “We live in the age of Feinberg. Between September 11 and today, he has overseen the accounting… Continue Reading
Judge Grants Motion to Dismiss in NSA Surveillance Case
ACLU: “A federal court issued an opinion and order in ACLU v. Clapper [American Civil Liberties Union v. Clapper, 13-cv-03994, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)], the ACLU’s challenge to the constitutionality of the NSA’s mass call-tracking program, ruling that the government’s bulk collection of phone records is lawful under Section 215 of the Patriot Act and under… Continue Reading
U.S. District Court Judge Opens Door on Fourth Amendment and NSA Metadata Collection
Politico: A federal judge ruled Monday, December 16, 2013 that the National Security Agency program which collects information on nearly all telephone calls made to, from or within the United States is likely unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon found that the program appears to violate the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.… Continue Reading
Active Shooter Events 2000-2013 – ABC Action News
“The FBI defines ‘active shooter’ events as incidents where a gunman arrives on a scene intending to commit mass murder. They can include events that result in no fatalities. The data on this page represents the most complete compilation of events tracked by Texas State University’s Dr. Peter Blair that have been publicly released. To… Continue Reading
Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the DOJ – 2013
Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice – Top Management and Performance Challenges Facing the Department of Justice – 2013, December 13, 2013. “This year’s list identifies six challenges that we believe represent the most pressing concerns for the Department. They are Addressing the Growing Crisis in the Federal Prison System; Safeguarding National Security Consistent with… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Federal Courthouses, Rail Safety, Reverse Auctions, Immigration Detention, Medicaid
FEDERAL COURTHOUSES – Better Planning Needed Regarding Reuse of Old Courthouses, GAO-14-48, Nov 7, 2013 FISCAL YEAR 2013 AGREED-UPON PROCEDURES – Excise Tax Distributions to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund and the Highway Trust Fund, GAO-14-162R, Dec 9, 2013 RAIL SAFETY – Improved Human Capital Planning Could Address Emerging Safety Oversight Challenges, GAO-14-85, Dec 9, 2013 REVERSE AUCTIONS – Guidance Is… Continue Reading
New on LLRX – Calculating Justice: Mathematics and Criminal Law
Via LLRX.com – Calculating Justice: Mathematics and Criminal Law – Ken Strutin’s new guide on criminal justice illuminates the growing importance of math in the administration of justice, with an emphasis on the areas of proof and judgment. Ken raises the examples of how statistics (evidence) and probability (analytics) have been used and challenged in many criminal cases to… Continue Reading
EFF Introducing a Compendium of the Released NSA Spying Documents
EFF – “The ongoing NSA leaks, Freedom of Information Act lawsuits and government declassification continue to bring vital information to the public about the the ongoing efforts of the NSA and its allies to spy on millions of innocent people. What started out as news detailing the agency’s collections of users’ calling records, phone calls,… Continue Reading
EPIC Files Lawsuit to Determine Legal Authority For PRISM Program
“EPIC has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel for the secret legal analyses that justifies the use of the NSA PRISM program. PRISM is a program that allows the FBI and NSA to collect information – including the contents of internet users’ communications – directly from internet… Continue Reading
TRAC – Immigration Prosecutions Reached All-time High in FY 2013
News release: “The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during FY 2013 immigration prosecutions reached an all-time high, with new cases being filed against 97,384 defendants. This number is up 5.9 percent over the past fiscal year, and up 22.6 percent over the past five years, according to the case-by-case information analyzed… Continue Reading
New Proposal: Reforming Funding to Reduce Mass Incarceration
“A leading law and policy institute unveiled a new proposal to reform the federal government’s largest criminal justice funding program. The Brennan Center for Justice’s new proposal, Reforming Funding to Reduce Mass Incarceration, sets out a plan to link federal grant money to modern criminal justice goals – as a tool to promote innovative crime-reduction policies… Continue Reading
