In Custodia Legis – Mitch Ruhl, a paralegal specialist in the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service. “One of the challenges for any researcher tackling questions of constitutional interpretation is knowing where to start. The Congressional Research Service’s (CRS) Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (or “Constitution Annotated”) serves… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Courts
The 2023 SCOTUS Awards
The New York Times Opinion – “The headlines that emerged from the 2022-23 term of the Supreme Court conveyed the brutal impact of several big decisions, but they sometimes missed the human elements that made these opinions so startling — how the conservative majority favored one oppressed group but not another or imposed conflicting rules… Continue Reading
Authorbots
Bambauer, Derek E. and Surdeanu, Mihai, Authorbots (May 9, 2023). 3 Journal of Free Speech Law (forthcoming 2023), Arizona Legal Studies Discussion Paper No. 23-13, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4443714 – “ChatGPT has exploded into the popular consciousness in recent months, and the hype and concerns about the program have only grown louder with the release of… Continue Reading
New data shows Supreme Court ideology continues to lean conservative
Axios: “The Supreme Court continued to lean conservative during its most recent term, according to preliminary data. Why it matters: After overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, the court continued to push American law toward the right — including in its historic decisions last week on affirmative action and gay rights. Driving the news: Preliminary… Continue Reading
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Supreme Court Ethics Reform
“Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, co-led a hearing of the full Judiciary Committee entitled, “Supreme Court Ethics Reform.” The hearing explored the recent torrent of media reports detailing unethical conduct by Justices of the Supreme Court… Continue Reading
Reminder to me your Venmo transactions private, courtesy of Clarence Thomas
The Verge: “Lawyers appearing before the Supreme Court sent money to a Clarence Thomas aide via Venmo, according to the aide’s profile. Don’t be like him… The most recent example of poor Venmo security comes from Rajan Vasisht, a former aide to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The Guardian tracked down Vasisht’s Venmo account and… Continue Reading
AP investigation into ethics practices of Supreme Court justices
“An Associated Press examination of the ethics practices of the U.S. Supreme Court relied on documents obtained from more than 100 public records requests to public colleges, universities and other institutions that have hosted the justices over the past decade. Here’s a look at how the reporting was done: To conduct its review, the AP… Continue Reading
Don’t believe the data: This is the most conservative Supreme Court we’ve known
MSNBC: “Hot takes summarizing the justices’ work can try to spin the data, but the reality is simple. By Steve Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law The effective end of the Supreme Court’s term on Friday touched off what has become an annual tradition: hot takes summarizing the justices’ work over… Continue Reading
‘AI Arms Race’: Privacy Class Action Claims ChatGPT Is ‘Catastrophic Risk to Humanity’
Law.com – The lawsuit likens Open AI’s alleged privacy violations to complaints against Clearview AI for scraping photos off the internet for commercial gain: “A proposed class action lawsuit against Open AI and ChatGPT investor Microsoft Corp. is seeking a court order requiring the generative artificial-intelligence platform to stop its alleged secret “harvesting” of personal… Continue Reading
The Search for Case Dockets & Documents Around the World
Reposted with permission from AALL Spectrum, Volume 27, Number 6 (July/August 2023), pgs 48-50. By Rachel Green, Faculty Services Librarian; Caitlin Hunter, Reference Librarian; Sherry Leysen, Reference Librarian and Lynn McClelland, Reference Librarian, UCLA, Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library Tips for locating court records in non-U.S. jurisdictions (and why we should appreciate PACER more). Legal… Continue Reading
Federal Judicial Financial Disclosure Reports
“Overview – This site contains financial disclosure reports for judicial officers, including bankruptcy, magistrate, and special trial judges. This site includes all judges’ 2021 and future financial disclosure reports that are currently available for release. Request Additional Reports – Judges’ 2017 to 2020 and judicial employees’ 2017 to 2022 financial disclosure reports are available by… Continue Reading
The Dobbs Divide
Five Thirty Eight – “Percentage change in the number of abortions per month, compared to the average monthly abortions before Dobbs (April and May 2022), through March 2023 by state: “New estimates provided exclusively to FiveThirtyEight by #WeCount — a national research project led by the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit that supports research… Continue Reading
