Miscellaneous

Private Investigator Research Links - Week of January 8

By PI Magazine (Tamara Thompson and Rosemarie Mesis)

• Public Records Searches - State of California

  Most requested public records online services with links to county and state business, crime, birth, marriage, death, real property, contractors, professional licenses records in California.

• Readable App - change the appearance of web pages

  "Readable is an application that helps you read more of the web. It transforms text on any website using fonts, colors, and layouts of your choosing."

• Topsy - A search engine powered by tweets

  Topsy ranks results based on how well they match your search terms, and the influence of the people talking about them.

• Are Fair Trials Imperiled When Jurors Text and Tweet?

  "Jury duty is bad enough, but imagine not being able to check your phone or e-mail to help relieve the boredom. That’s the new rule in Michigan, where trial judges are now required to order jurors not to use phones or other electronic devices while in trial or in deliberations. Telling your Twitter followers you are stuck at the courthouse is not likely to tip the scales of Lady Justice, but Googling for background info on a case is the legal equivalent of ripping off her blindfold. "

• Calling jurors back to court ‘extremely rare’

  "Accused by defense attorneys of violating a judge's order, five members of the jury that convicted Dixon of misdemeanor embezzlement have been called to appear at a motions hearing Jan. 6, in which the mayor will seek a new trial. Dixon's attorneys have accused jurors Nos. 3, 6, 8, 11 and 12 of becoming friends on Facebook, a social networking site, and sending messages to each other there, in violation of Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeney's order not to discuss the case."

• Michigan High Court Sends Message to Tweeters

  "recent cases in which jurors have caused a stir by using social media such as Twitter to communicate about their jury service. Taking the issue on proactively, the Michigan Supreme Court has adopted a new rule requiring judges to admonish jurors to not use electronic communication devices during trial, and not to use them during breaks to comment or conduct research on the case. "

• The Indiana Law Blog: Ind. Courts - "Texting, tweeting tempt jurors, frustrate judges"

  "Indiana Supreme Court committee took up the issue of banning iPhones, cell phones, laptops, social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook, by jurors while they are deliberating a case."

• Kansas Supreme Court denies request to Tweet or make audio recordings

  "Kansas Supreme Court denies request to Tweet or make audio recordings

• No Tweeting in Federal Court, and why I think the Supreme Court should get on Twitter « Josh Blackman’s Blog

  Apparently sending Tweets during a trial is considered 'broadcasting' and the Court can ban it according to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure #53. From United States v. Shelnutt (M.D. Ga. Nov. 2) (H/T Volokh),"

• The Top 5 Google Alternatives and Why You Should Use Them

• The Academic Tree

  "The Academic Family Tree is a nonprofit, user content-driven web database that aims to accurately document and publicly share the academic genealogy of current and historical researchers across all fields of academia. "

• MyFloridaCounty.com

  Search Statewide Official Records

The rest of my favorite links are here.

Full post as published by PI buzz on January 10, 2010 (boomark / email).