Legal Research

Barack Obama's Path From Underdog Candidate to President-Elect

Posted on November 08, 2008
Check out NPR's podcasts: How Obama Mapped Out His Path To Power The Obama Franchise: Harnessing Activists' Energy Tracking Sen. Barack Obama's Rapid Political Rise [JH]

Is Orphan Works Legislation Needed in a Post-Google Book Copyright Settlement World?

Posted on November 07, 2008
Larry Lessig, who has long opposed orphan works legislation, takes the announcement of the Google Book Search tentative settlement as an opportunity to reiterate his opposition: The biggest loser in this whole battle is the Orphan Works legislation. If anyone...

There was more than just a Presidential election

Posted on November 07, 2008
This past Tuesday influences law librarians more than just with water cooler talk and tax cuts. Many states had judicial elections and in some races there was surprising turnover at the state Supreme Court level. The ABA Journal notes that...

Friday Fun: Captain Kirk Meets His Old School Lawyer

Posted on November 07, 2008
And gets a lesson in how the law is found in books, not in computers. [JH]

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Sunlight Foundation Launches Foreign Agent Registration Act Database

Posted on November 07, 2008
The Sunlight Foundation has launched a beta version of FARAdb, a database that allows users to find details about the efforts of foreign agents to influence U.S. public policy. FARAdb is easier to use and provides information in a more...

CRS Reports on Government and Politics

Posted on November 07, 2008
The Congressional Research Service have issued (via OpenCRS) several new reports pertaining to Government actions and Politics including: Presidential Succession: Perspectives, Contemporary Analysis, and 110th Congress Proposed Legislation The Federal Workforce: Characteristics and Trends Pay-for-Performance: The National Security Personnel System...

Human Rights Council Report

Posted on November 07, 2008
A new report of the Human Rights Council has been released. The report (A/63/53 + Add.1) spans the 6th-9th sessions and 5th-7th special sessions (2007-2008) and covers the activities of the Council for its sessions and includes the text of...

Rehnquist Papers Donated to the Hoover Institution Archives

Posted on November 07, 2008
From the press release (via SCOTUSblog): "The papers of the late William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2005, have been donated to the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University. Rehnquist, an...

Three Predictions About How Election Rules Might Change in 2012

Posted on November 06, 2008
Richard Hasen, William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and author of the Election Law blog makes three predictions about how election rules may change for the 2012 presidential elections: Fewer Caucuses, and...

ABA Journal on the Lawyers Who May Run America in the Obama Administration

Posted on November 06, 2008
The cover story for the November 2008 issue of the ABA Journal speculates about which lawyers will be appointed to senior government positions in the Obama administration. The issue was published before the election so it includes a list of...

Google SE Syntax Changes

Posted on November 06, 2008
A Google search for foo-bar is not the same as a Google search for "foo bar" because Google no longer ignores punctuations marks between words. Hat tip to Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian, Jenkins Law, who reviews some other features of...

BJS Study Finds Damage Awards in State Civil Cases on Decline Except for Products Liability and Medical Malpractice Cases

Posted on November 06, 2008
A Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that state courts of general jurisdiction disposed of approximately 26,950 general civil cases through a bench or jury trial in 2005. According to Civil Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts 2005, civil...

No Halloween Prank, Capital First, Cincinnati Last in Ohio Bar Passage

Posted on November 06, 2008
In a ghoulish quirk of scheduling, Ohio bar exam scores were released on Halloween. Out of 1,093 first time applicants, 88.8 percent received passing scores. Capital University, not a top tier US News school, came in first with a 94...

Promoting Federal Depository Libraries

Posted on November 06, 2008
GPO is pleased to announce a new Web page on the FDLP Desktop, The Value of the FDLP. This page offers information on how to highlight the value of being a Federal depository library, including services GPO provides FDLP members,...

Opening: Librarian, Reference Librarian, Georgetown Law Library

Posted on November 06, 2008
Georgetown Law Library invites applications for the position of Reference Librarian. Located in the nation?s capital, within walking distance of the U.S. Congress, the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice, Georgetown Law is known for the quality of scholarship...

Presidential Transition Resources

Posted on November 05, 2008
Although the smooth and orderly transfer of power is a notable feature of presidential transitions in the U.S., it is a very complicated affair. Here's a sampling of available official and unofficial resources for presidential transitions. GSA Presidential Transition Website...

Results from the Official Leiter's Law School Reports Presidential Poll

Posted on November 05, 2008
In a little bit of blog fun, Brian Leiter (Chicago) launched a poll yesterday asking "Who would you really like to see elected President of the US? Top three vote-getters are Barack Obama (28%), Judge Richard Posner (12%) and Stephan...

American Dream 2.0

Posted on November 05, 2008
What are the most important presidential elections in your lifetime? If you are a Baby Boomer, you may answer 1968, 1980 and 2008. With voter turnout that may be the highest in 100 years, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts said the...

Bill Tancer's Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters

Posted on November 05, 2008
In Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why it Matters (Hyperion, September 2, 2008), Hitwise's Bill Tancer uses online intelligence databases to reveal how we use the Web, navigate to sites, and search for information--and what all...

New on LLRX.com for October 2008

Posted on November 05, 2008
New on LLRX.com for October 2008 Leadership & The Role of Information: Making The Creatively Informed Questioner, by Stuart Basefsky How Can Leaders Channel the Creative Potential of Individualistic Groups?, by Prof. Jack Goncalo E-Discovery Update: Pushing Back Against Hardcopy...

DOJ Releases Guidance for FOIA Act Amendments

Posted on November 05, 2008
The DoJ's Office of Information and Privacy has released guidance on how federal agencies should implement the OPEN Government Act of 2007 which amends the Freedom of Information Act. The amendments require agencies to specifically cite the exemption justifying each...

October Edition of the AALL Washington Office E-Bulletin

Posted on November 05, 2008
October Edition of the AALL Washington Office E-Bulletin is now available online. Topics include: Act Now to Endorse Transparency Recommendations for the Next President! As Congress Enters Lame Duck Session, AALL Looks Ahead Highlights from the Fall Depository Conference and...

Opening: Research and Instructional Services Librarian, Drexel Law Library

Posted on November 05, 2008
The Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law Legal Research Center invites applications for the position of Research and Instructional Services Librarian. This is a full-time position and reports to the Head of Research Services. Applications received before December 1,...

When Network News Started Using "Electronic Brains" to Predict Election Results

Posted on November 04, 2008
It started when the Univac computer made an incredibly accurate projection of the 1952 presidential election that CBS News doesn't think credible. In what was thought to be a tight race between Democratic candidate, Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson, and the...

Voters Refusing to Exit the Polls

Posted on November 04, 2008
Here's the radio report about voters refusing to exit the polls (mp3). [JH]

Voting Gizmos in Elections Gone By

Posted on November 04, 2008
It looks like a huge primitive laptop but it isn't. It's an election "apparatus" that was used in Chicago for the 1904 presidential election. See Wired's photo essay: Casting the Ballot in Elections Gone By. [JH]

Last Chance to Compare Senate Performances of McCain and Obama

Posted on November 04, 2008
Check out Open Congress' new tool: Head-to-Head Voting Comparison: McCain and Obama. Summary stats below: Hat tip to Donny Shaw, OpenCongress Blog. [JH]

How Might a President McCain or Obama Affect the Composition of the US Court of Appeals?

Posted on November 04, 2008
In The Brookings Institution report, What Will the Presidential Election Mean for the U. S. Courts of Appeals?, Russell Wheeler predicts that federal appellate judges by Republican presidents could rise to 74% if Senator John McCain wins the presidency, or...

Project Makes Transparency Recommendations for Next President

Posted on November 04, 2008
From the press release: "More than 100 groups and individuals from across the country have been working collaboratively to develop recommendations for the next president on how best to improve federal government transparency. The effort, the 21st Century Right to...

Privacy in the Security State

Posted on November 04, 2008
Why has the Fourth Amendment, despite explicitly governing seizures of the person, played so minimal a role in the judicial response to the ?unlawful combatant? detentions? What allows courts to find no Fourth Amendment search or seizure when the government...

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