“ACUS is pleased to announce the launch of the continuously-updated electronic edition of the Federal Administrative Procedure Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a joint initiative with the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association, which published the most recent editions of the Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is an annotated compilation of the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Courts
Attacking a Pay Wall That Hides Public Court Filings
The New York Times: “The federal judiciary has built an imposing pay wall around its court filings, charging a preposterous 10 cents a page for electronic access to what are meant to be public records. A pending lawsuit could help tear that wall down. The costs of storing and transmitting data have plunged, approaching zero.… Continue Reading
One Lawyer, One Day, 194 Felony Cases
The New York Times – “High-level felonies carry sentences of 10 years or more and should each get 70 hours of legal attention, according to a workload study. For Mr. Talaska, that’s more than two years of full-time work. Mid-level felonies require 41 hours each.A few of Mr. Talaska’s clients faced life without parole. Such… Continue Reading
Court’s Biometrics Ruling Poses Billion Dollar Risk to Facebook, Google
Fortune: “The Supreme Court of Illinois on Friday ruled that an amusement park, Six Flags Great America, must pay damages to a boy for collecting his thumbprint without proper consent. The decision in the closely-watched case opens the door for the possibility of huge payouts in related cases against technology companies whose face-scanning policies breached… Continue Reading
Sourcebook of United States Executive Agencies (Second Edition)
Administrative Conference of the United States: “…The purpose of this volume is to make government work better, which is the overall mission of the Conference. For agency general counsels, congressional staff, executive officials, and members of the judiciary, this is the place to broaden understanding of how agencies are organized. For those involved in reorganization… Continue Reading
Oracle v. Google and the future of software development
The Verge: “After years of back-and-forth legal rulings, Google is asking the Supreme Court to make the final call in its infamous dispute with Oracle. Today, the company announced it has filed a petition with the Court, asking the justices to determine the boundaries of copyright law in code. The case dates back to 2010,… Continue Reading
Impact of Partial Federal Gov’t Shutdown on Legal Information
AALL: “As of midnight December 21, 2018, the President and Congress were unable to agree on the provisions of a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. As a result, a partial shutdown of some government operations now enters its fourth week. This is a politically dynamic event, and AALL continues to monitor federal… Continue Reading
Shutdown: Dot-gov websites vulnerable to cyberattacks, certificates expiring amid funding pause
Netcraft – .gov security falters during U.S. shutdown: “Dozens of U.S. government websites have been rendered either insecure or inaccessible during the ongoing U.S. federal shutdown. These sites include sensitive government payment portals and remote access services, affecting the likes of NASA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Court of Appeals. With around 400,000… Continue Reading
Court Strikes Down Iowa’s ‘Ag-Gag’ Law That Blocked Undercover Investigations
NPR – “A federal judge in Iowa says it’s no longer a crime to go undercover at factory farms, slaughterhouses and any other ag-related operations. The 2012 law was a clear violation of the First Amendment, the judge said. The Animal Legal Defense Fund, one of the plaintiffs in the case, called the ruling “a… Continue Reading
Patricia Wald, First Woman to Preside Over D.C. Appeals Court, Dies at 90
The New York Times: “Patricia M. Wald, who was the first woman to serve as chief judge of the federal appeals court in Washington and who later wrote seminal rulings while serving in The Hague on the international court for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia, died on Saturday at her home in Washington. She… Continue Reading
White House legal team prepares aggressive defense of Trump’s executive privilege
Washington Post – “A beefed-up White House legal team is gearing up to prevent President Trump’s confidential discussions with top advisers from being disclosed to House Democratic investigators and revealed in the special counsel’s long-awaited report, setting the stage for a potential clash between the branches of government. The strategy to strongly assert the president’s… Continue Reading
Congress’s Authority to Influence and Control Executive Branch Agencies
EveryCRSReport.com – CRS report – Congress’s Authority to Influence and Control Executive Branch Agencies, Updated December 19, 2018. “The Constitution neither establishes administrative agencies nor explicitly prescribes the manner by which they may be created. Even so, the Supreme Court has generally recognized that Congress has broad constitutional authority to establish and shape the federal… Continue Reading
