“Preliminary figures based upon case-by-case court records as of the end of September 2017 indicate that the number of DHS issued NTAs (notices to appear) initiating proceedings in Immigration Court is substantially down since President Trump took office. This is surprising since ICE states that its apprehensions were up during this same period. There were… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Courts
From segregation to the Supreme Court: the life and work of Thurgood Marshall
“Marshall (2017) recounts one of the most contentious Supreme Court cases in American history, represented by Thurgood Marshall, who would later serve as the first African American Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Directed by Reginald Hudlin, with Chadwick Boseman playing the title role, the film establishes Marshall’s greatest legal triumph, Brown v. Board of… Continue Reading
Judicial Conference Approves Courthouse Guidelines for Portable Communication Devices
“The Judicial Conference of the United States today approved…a guidance on portable communication devices (pdf) provides courts with information relating to use of these devices in the courthouse, including an overview of court policies and issues that courts should consider addressing in their local policies. Decisions about how these devices can be used are made on a… Continue Reading
ProPublica – Federal Judge Unseals NY Crime Lab’s Software for Analyzing DNA Evidence
ProPublica – We asked the judge to make the source code public after scientists and defense attorneys raised concerns that flaws in its design may have resulted in innocent people going to prison. “A federal judge [the week of October 20, 2017] unsealed the source code for a software program developed by New York City’s… Continue Reading
Commentary – The Supreme Court Is Allergic To Math
Oliver Roeder on FiveThirtyEight: “The Supreme Court does not compute. Or at least some of its members would rather not. The justices, the most powerful jurists in the land, seem to have a reluctance — even an allergy — to taking math and statistics seriously. For decades, the court has struggled with quantitative evidence of… Continue Reading
Signing Statements and Presidentializing Legislative History
Signing Statements and Presidentializing Legislative History. John M. de Figueiredo, Edward H. Stiglitz. NBER Working Paper No. 23951. Issued in October 2017. “Presidents often attach statements to the bills they sign into law, purporting to celebrate, construe, or object to provisions in the statute. Though long a feature of U.S. lawmaking, the President has avowedly… Continue Reading
Federal complaint filed against DeVos for removal of campus assault guidelines
Courthouse News – Roll-Back of Campus Assault Rules Spurs Challenge: “Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was hit with a federal complaint Thursday by three women who say her unraveling of campus-assault guidelines will gut investigations or lawsuits they have pending. Filed by attorney Wendy Murphy with the New England School of Law, the lawsuit in Boston… Continue Reading
Report – Supreme Court Errors Aren’t Hard to Find
A ProPublica review adds fuel to a longstanding worry about the nation’s highest court: The justices can botch the truth, sometimes in cases of great import. by Ryan Gabrielson. Oct. 17, 2017: “The decisions of the Supreme Court are rich with argument, history, some flashes of fine writing, and, of course, legal judgments of great… Continue Reading
What Happens to Your Email After You Die?
NextGov: “Life keeps us so busy writing emails that most of us haven’t considered what happens to our electronic communications when we’re dead. Can they be accessed by your family, or by a representative you designated in life? What if you leave no will and people need to know what you wanted done with your… Continue Reading
Latino and Native Youth Incarceration Disparities Persist
“Two new fact sheets from The Sentencing Project highlight the persistence of incarceration disparities among youth of color. Native youth are 300 percent more likely than white youth to be detained or committed to youth facilities, and Latino youth are 65 percent more likely. For Latino youth, the disparity has declined slightly since 2001. For… Continue Reading
The Blue Slip Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations
CRS report via FAS – The Blue Slip Process for U.S. Circuit and District Court Nominations: Frequently Asked Questions, Barry J. McMillion, Analyst in American National Government. October 2, 2017. “The blue slip process used by the Senate Judiciary Committee (the committee) for U.S. circuit and district court nominations has received renewed interest from Senators.… Continue Reading
CRS – Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response
CRS report via FAS – Abortion: Judicial History and Legislative Response, Jon O. Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney. September 29, 2017. “In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in Roe v. Wade that the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s decision to terminate her pregnancy. In Doe v. Bolton, a companion decision, the Court found that a state… Continue Reading
