Law Librarian Blog

Roberts 2003 Confirmation Hearing Transcripts

Supreme Court nominee Roberts didn't exactly have an easy time receiving confirmation for his current appointment. Roberts was nominated for the DC Circuit Court of Appears in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush and again by the President George W. Bush in 2001. Both nominations died in the Senate. Roberts received his third nomination by President George W. Bush in January 2003 and was appointed to the bench in June 2003. Talk about having patience!

Hearing transcript from Judge Roberts' January 29, 2003 appearance and his April 30, 2003 appearance.

Virtual Reference Bibliography

David Dillard (Temple) has posted a compilation of resources on virtual reference services on Net Gold. Very useful.

Failed States Index

Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace have published their first Failed States Index.

The Top Ten: Ivory Coast, Congo, Sudan, Iraq, Somala, Sierra Leone, Chad, Yemen, Liberia, Haiti.

Also on the list - most of the rest of the mideast and central asia: Afghanistan (11), Bangladesh (17), Uzbekistan (24), Syria (28), Pakistan (30), Lebanon (36), Egypt (38), Saudia Arabia (45), Tajikistan (48), Turkey (49), Azerbaijan (50), Bahrain (51), and Iran (57).

And least I forget, Russia comes in at 59.

FBI Releases 2005 Cybercrime Report

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released the 2005 CSI/FBA Computer Crime and Security Survey. The report's findings include:

1. Total financial losses from attacks have declined dramatically. Down 61% on a per-respondent basis from last year, but still reportedly $130M. What kinds of attacks? Virus attacks are #1; unauthorized access is #2; theft of proprietary information #3; and denial of service attacks a distant #4.

2. Attacks on computer systems or (detected) misuse of these systems have been slowly but steadily decreasing in all areas. Exception to the rule: a slight increase in the abuse of wireless networks.

3. Defacements of Internet websites have increased dramatically. 95% of organizations experienced more than 10 website incidents in 2004.

4. "Inside jobs" occur about as often as external attacks. The lesson is—anticipate attacks from all quarters.

5. Organizations largely defend their systems through firewalls, anti-virus software, intrusion detection systems, and server-based access control lists. Use of smart cards and other one-time password tokens increased, while use of intrusion prevention systems decreased.

6. More organizations are conducting security audits to serve as a baseline for a meaningful security program. 87% had conducted one.

7. Computer security investments per employee vary widely. State governments lead the pack at $497, followed, in descending order, by utilities, transportation, telecommuications, manufacturing, and high tech down to the federal goverment at $49.

8. Despite continuing discussion, there has been no increased use by organizations of outsourcing cybersecurity or using insurance to manage risks.

Opening: Practice Support Specialist, Washington, DC Law Library

Currently the firm is seeking a dynamic, experienced Law Practice Technologist (LPT) for its Washington, D.C. location. As part of the library/information resource center team, the LPT will assess new technologies and evaluate where and how they can be beneficial within the firm. Ideally these technologies will ultimately increase process efficiencies. Responsibilities will include meeting with practice groups, individual attorneys, and information technology professionals to determine where they feel they can better utilize technologies. They will assess user needs and requirements against resources already available and make recommendations where and when necessary, train the various groups on technologies that can be used within their job functions to improve efficiency and effectiveness. The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelors degree and/or equivalent experience. MLS and law firm library experience preferred. Project management experience and experience implementing technologies in a large, networked environment required. A general understanding of core law firm business applications also required. Convenient Metro Center location and excellent benefits! For consideration, please send us your resume today! Resumes can be sent to Daniel Hurd at Daniel.Hurd@TRAKRecordsandLibrary.com.

TRAK Records and Library
Visit our website
202-659-2990

COSHRC Directories of State Archives, Records Programs and More

The Council of State Historical Records Coordinators (COSHRC) maintains a regularly updated directory of US state archives and records programs.

COSHRC also maintains a directory of US state archives digital collections and US state memory projects.

Thanks to AbsTracked for the tip.

Appeals Court Sides With Adware Firm

From InformationWeek.com:

"Adware companies do not break trademark laws when they use a retailer's Web address to trigger coupons and other ads for rivals' products, a federal appeals court has found."

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals becomes the nation's highest court to rule on a fundamental practice of adware companies that serve up pop-up and other ads based on sites users visit. Lower courts around the country had issued conflicting opinions.

In 1-800 Contacts Inc.'s lawsuit against adware provider WhenU.com Inc., the appeals court likened WhenU's ads to retail stores that place generic competitors next to brand-name products.

Though the case did not directly address consumer frustration over adware, which often gets onto computers without their owners' full knowledge, the court said it viewed WhenU's ads as authorized.

The ruling may not, however, fully apply to many of the trademark disputes involving adware companies or such search companies as Google Inc. that target ads based on search terms, including brand names. "

Ron Jones, Univ of Cincinnati Law Library

Live Webcast: The Changing Face of African Unity: Finding Solutions in Darfur and Beyond

Live Webcast on July 29 2005, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

The Wilson Center is pleased to invite you to a Director’s Forum with H.E. Salim Salim, former Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity and currently the head of the African Union mediation team working on the Darfur peace talks. He will be discussing the changing and increasing role that the African Union is playing in the continent’s affairs, including its most recent intervention and mediation of the crisis in Darfur.

Salim A. Salim the longest serving head of the Organization of African Unity, having served for 12 years as its Secretary General. Today he serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation and as Chancellor of the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University. Over a long and distinguished international career, H.E. Salim A. Salim has served as President of the U.N. Security Council, Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Security Studies, Chairperson of the International Board of Trustees of Africa Humanitarian Action, and member of the U.N. High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. He has had numerous high-level posts within Tanzania as well, including that of Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Defense Minster, and over the course of his diplomatic career has served as Tanzanian Ambassador to the United Nations, China, India, and Egypt.

Rest in Peace John Banta

As a former assistant to John Banta, It is with deep sadness that I report his passing yesterday. In a career that spanned some forty odd years, he was  Director of the Library at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and  finally White & Case LLP where he remained for thirty years.  Those prodigious accomplishments notwithstanding, it was his character that made John Banta an extraordinary person.  He was a kind, generous and patient man.  As a director, he encouraged his staff to take on greater responsibility and rejoiced in their professional accomplishments.  Though he worked in an intensely competitive and demanding environment, John Banta brought his humanity with him to the office every day.  It is for this that he should always be remembered.  And it is this that I will always try to emulate.  May all those who mourn be comforted by the memory of a life well lived.

Mark S. Schwartz
Senior Manager of Librarian Relations
West
212-548-7959
mark.schwartz@thomson.com

Volunteer to Test GPO's OPAC, Deadline Noon Friday to Register

From the GPO announcement:

GPO is seeking volunteers from Federal depository libraries to test its new online public access catalog (OPAC).  Testing will take place August 2 - August 5, 2005.  Volunteers will be asked to perform a few tasks in the catalog and then use a Web-based form to answer questions relating to their search and retrieval experience.

GPO hopes to have volunteers representing different types and sizes of depository libraries, depository librarians from public and technical services, and users of Aleph 500 or other integrated library systems. If you would like to help test GPO's online catalog, please submit the volunteer form located at: <http://www.gpoaccess.gov/surveys/opacregister/> before noon, Friday, July 29, 2005 (Eastern time).

The OPAC will replace the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP), which contains cataloging records from 1994 - April 2005.  The OPAC will provide increased searching capability, more precise results, and increased coverage of records dating from July 1976, with new records added daily. There also are plans to provide coverage of the pre-July 1976 records.

If you have questions or comments, please use the GPO online help service at: <http://gpo.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/gpo.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php>

To ensure that your question is routed to the correct area, please choose the category "Federal Depository Libraries" and the appropriate subcategory.

You may also contact the GPO Customer Contact Center at 866-512-1800 (Toll-free), or at 202-512-1800 (DC Metropolitan Area), Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., EST.

A Quick Look at the ICRC International Humanitarian Law Database

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) publishes an international humanitarian law database divided into two parts: (1) the treaty database, with around 100 IHL treaties, commentaries on the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols and an up-to-date list of the signatories and (2) the national Implementation database which provides documentation and commentaries concerning the implementation of humanitarian laws at the national level.

Thanks to Tom Mighell for the tip.

New Titles from Ashgate Publishing

Mobile People, Mobile Law
Expanding Legal Relations in a Contracting World
Edited by Franz von Benda-Beckmann and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Germany and Anne Griffiths, University of Edinburgh, UK
June 2005 344 pages
Hardback ISBN 0 7546 2386 6 $114.95

Demonstrating how users of law, who often operate in multi-sited situations, are forced to deal with increasingly complex legal circumstances, this volume focuses on political and social processes through which people appropriate, use and create legal forms in multiple legal settings.

Introduction to Classical Legal Rhetoric
Michael H. Frost, Southwestern University, USA
June 2005  190 pages
Hardback ISBN 0 7546 2413 7  $99.95

This book is the first to systematically examine the connections between classical rhetoric and modern legal discourse. It traces the history of legal rhetoric from the classical period to the present day and shows how modern theorists have unknowingly benefited from the classical works.

Family Violence and Police Response
Learning From Research, Policy and Practice in European Countries
Edited by Wilma Smeenk and Marijke Malsch, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement
July 2005 276 pages
Hardback ISBN 0 7546 2506 0  $99.95

Police response to incidents of intimate partner violence can be critical. This volume investigates the elements in the institutional, legal and organizational context that are relevant for police response to incidents in the realm of the private sphere and whether there exists a relation with the reporting of such incidents by victims.

Confronting Sexual Harassment
The Law and Politics of Everyday Life
Anna-Maria Marshall, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
July 2005 200 pages
Hardback  ISBN 0 7546 2520 6  $89.95

Examining the relationship between law and social change in the context of employees' everyday problems with sexual harassment, this volume elaborates a framework for studying the role of law in everyday acts of resistance - what the author calls the legal consciousness of injustice.

Latino Law Librarians Caucus Formed in San Antonio

The Latino Law Librarians Caucus held its first meeting on Tuesday 19 July. The Caucus elected officers and began the process of drafting bylaws.  The Chair of the Latino Law Librarians Caucus for 2005-06 is Raquel Ortiz of Boston University's Pappas Law Library, and the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect is Dennis Kim-Prieto.  Michelle Rigual, of the University of New Mexico, will serve as Secretary and Treasurer for 2005-07. 

The Caucus invites AALL members interested in issues pertaining to Latino and Caribbean law libraries, interested in promoting law librarianship among Latino and Caribbean law librarians, and interested in cooperating with Latino and Caribbean members of the profession to join the Caucus:  Look for more information about the Latino Law Librarians Caucus in forthcoming issues of AALL Spectrum

Please contact Raquel Ortiz on rmortiz@bu.edu or Dennis Kim-Prieto on kimpriet@illinoisalumni.org if you would like more information the Latino Law Librarians Caucus.
 
Source: AALLamo Blog

O’Connor’s Two Regrets

Speaking at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal’s annual judicial conference Justice Sandra Day O’Connor revealed her two regrets as she steps down from the court.  First, the strain between the Congress and the judiciary is the worst she has seen in years.  Second, while she believes John Roberts will be a good Supreme Court Justice she would have liked to have seen a woman nominated.  She regrets "that now there will be just as many women on the court as when she started her tenure-one."

Subscribers can read the full story from the National Law Journal.

Lee Peoples, Oklahoma City University Law Library

A Quick Look at the NLRB Website

By far, one of the best Federal agency websites has to be the website of the National Labor Relations Board.

The Electronic Reading Room provides access to the NLRB Rules and Regulations, Decisions and Orders, and Weekly Summary of NLRB Cases, plus NLRB Public Notices, which include Federal Register Notices; General Counsel Memoranda; Operations-Management Memoranda; a description of the NLRB's Public Information Program; Representation Cases; Unfair Labor Practice Cases; and the NLRB's Government Information Locator Service (GILS). Also available from the Electronic Reading Room are NLRB Manuals, Press Releases, FOIA Manual and regs, annual FOIA reports and a section dedicated to "Hot Docs.

The Board's e-Gov services are no less impressive. They include:

E-Filing
General Counsel: Request for Extension of Time
Board: File Documents with Executive Secretary

E-Research
Classified Index the Electronic Network (Citenet)   

E-FOIA
Go to Where To File Your FOIA Request for guidance concerning which NLRB office may have the records you seek. Click on Sample Letter if you wish to see or copy a form letter that you can use to make a FOIA request. Click on E-FOIA Request if you wish to file an electronic FOIA request for records located in the Agency's headquarters office in Washington, DC.

Although the navigation system is fairly straightforward, I find the site map is the best way to find information and materials provided by the NLRB on its site.

Questioning Roberts

With articles like Documents Show Roberts Aiding O'Connor (Washington Post, July 27, 2005), Documents Show Roberts Influence in Reagan Era (Washington Post, July 27, 2005), Files From 80's Lay Out Stances of Bush Nominee (New York Times, July 27, 2005) and many, many more to follow Walter Dellinger (Duke Law) writes, in Fair Questions For Roberts (Washington Post, July 27, 2005),

There are legitimate concerns that should make some questions off limits, such as a question about an actual case coming before the court. More generally, nominees should answer questions about past cases and not future ones. And everyone involved in the process should make clear that by answering questions about his views on contentious legal and social issues such as abortion or affirmative action, the nominee is not making any commitment about how he or she would vote on any future case. A nominee may well come to a different view after having read the briefs and heard arguments or may find that his general views do not determine how to resolve the issue raised in a particular case. But with that important understanding, there is no reason why a nominee cannot answer questions that will give senators a meaningful sense of what kind of person the nominee is.

Agreeing with Professor Dellinger's parameters, Vikram David Amar, former clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun, and a law professor at the University of California, Hastings Law School, identifies five recent "blockbuster" cases he thinks Roberts should be questioned about. See Casing John Roberts (New York Times, July 27, 2005).

American Public Loses Access To Information

The following boston.com story was posted on GovernmentSecurity.org. I post it here because I think it is one of the best summaries of the Kafkaesque situation at hand. The retreat from transparency as viewed from the perspective of government documents is possibility the most pressing issue facing the library profession today.

American Public Loses Access To Information Under Federal Agencies

The Bush administration are sweeping vast amounts of public information behind a curtain of secrecy in what they call the “fight against terrorism”, using 50 to 60 loosely defined security designations that can be imposed by officials as low-ranking as government clerks.

No one is tracking the amount of unclassified information that is no longer accessible.

For years, a citizen who wanted to know the name and phone number of a Pentagon official could buy a copy of the Defense Department directory at a government printing office. But since 2001, the directory has been stamped ''For Official Use Only," meaning the public may not have access to such basic information about the vast military bureaucracy.

In this cases and others, the information that the Bush administration is removing from public access is not risky enough to national security to be officially classified as ''Confidential," ''Secret," or ''Top Secret," under rules in place for decades.

But what is happening is that American public is losing access to large amounts of less-risky information through terms such as ''For Official Use Only," ''Sensitive But Unclassified," ''Not for Public Dissemination," and what Congress has estimated as 50 to 60 other designations developed by federal agencies to keep the public from seeing unclassified information.

Although some of these secrecy terms predate the Bush administration, advocates of open government say their use has grown sharply over the past four years. Precise numbers of documents being shielded are unknown because the administration keeps no records and what standards there are, they’re vague ones that govern the types of documents that can be made secret.

Under the official system for classified secrets, for example, each level of secrecy comes with clearly defined criteria. There are strict limitations on who is authorized to decide whether a piece of information should be classified. Precisely 4,007 officials have this power. Furthermore, there are time limits after which most classified secrets can become public.

The vague criteria of what is considered ‘classified’ varies from one agency to another. In some departments, any employee, even a clerk, may stamp a document as off-limits. All 180,000 employees of the Homeland Security Department may decide a document is ''For Official Use Only."

There is no system for tracking who stamped it, for what reason, and how long it should stay secret. There is no process for appealing a secrecy decision.

''Information is getting withheld arbitrarily and unnecessarily," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy. ''That is bad because it impedes oversight and obstructs accountability. It is the nature of bureaucracies to hoard information, and these new unclassified control mechanisms allow them to do that without restraint."

But critics contend that the system is far from balanced because the standards for sensitive but unclassified information are so loose. In some cases, the administration appears to have shielded information that posed no realistic security risk, but did threaten its political interests. Other times, bureaucrats appear to have acted overzealously, blocking useful information to no end.

In one recent case, Human Rights Watch earlier this month found an unclassified draft of a new policy on a Defense Department website. The document proposed holding suspected Iraqi insurgents without trial in the same way that accused Taliban members have been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.

After Human Rights Watch denounced the idea, the Pentagon took down its entire electronic library of unclassified documents, including many hundreds of unrelated papers. The military later put part of the website back up, but dozens of unrelated documents that were previously available to the public are still gone.

Such secrecy moves have been criticized across the political spectrum. A recent report coauthored by the Heritage Foundation think tank attacked ''overzealous" decisions to dismantle entire websites over security fears.

It also said that the Bush administration has not conducted a systematic review of formerly public information that has been made secret, by weighing the likelihood that it could help terrorists against the ''countervailing public safety and other benefits of providing" the information.

The move toward withholding unclassified information from the public occurs as the administration's use of the classified secrets system is soaring. It classified 16 million documents in 2004, the highest number recorded since the government began keeping track of them in 1980. That number is up from 14 million in 2003, 11 million in 2002, and 8 million in 2001.

And the number of old documents being declassified dropped from an average of 150 million a year during Bill Clinton's second term to an average of 54 million in Bush's first term. Last year, there were only 25 million declassifications.

With a few exceptions, the terms such as ''For Official Use Only" lack the force of law, so if a member of the public finds out that the document exists, he or she may still try to obtain it under the Freedom of Information Act. However, the Bush administration is also fighting to avoid releasing information under the act.

Under a Clinton administration policy, FOIA officers were supposed to operate with a ''presumption of disclosure" unless it was ''reasonably foreseeable that disclosure would be harmful."

But in October 2001, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft reversed course, instructing agencies to withhold information unless there was no ''sound legal basis" for doing so.

According to Peter Weitzel of the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, ''If you can control the flow of information, you often can control the process itself..."

Source: Boston.com. Quoted from Government Security.org

Status of Pending FOIA Legislation

S. 1181 A bill to ensure an open and deliberate process in Congress by providing that any future legislation to establish a new exemption to section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act) be stated explicitly within the text of the bill.

Prohibits applying the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to matters specifically exempted from disclosure by a statute (other than open meetings under the Government in the Sunshine Act) enacted after July 1, 2005, that specifically cites this Act and either: (1) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or (2) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. 

Status: June 24, 2005: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent; Sent to the House. Referred to the House Committee on Government Reform.

S. 589 / H.R. 1620: Faster FOIA Act of 2005

Faster FOIA Act of 2005 - Establishes a 16-member Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays to conduct a study concerning methods to: (1) reduce delays in processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests submitted to Federal agencies; and (2) ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the Government. Requires the study to also address whether FOIA fees and fee waivers need to be reformed.

Requires the Commission to submit study results and recommendations to Congress and the President within one year.

Directs the heads of executive agencies, the Government Accountability Office, and the Congressional Research Service to provide the Commission with information needed by the Commission to carry out its functions.

States that the Commission shall terminate 30 days after submitting its report.

Status: March 17, 2005: S. 589  Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar. No major action on H.R. 1620

H.R. 2331: Restore Open Government Act of 2005

Revokes the "Memorandum for Heads of all Federal Departments and Agencies on The Freedom of Information Act" and "Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Department and Agencies on Action to Safeguard Information Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction and Other Sensitive Documents Related to Homeland Security."

Directs the Archivist of the United States to: (1) report on the use of psuedo-classification designations; and (2) promulgate regulations banning unnecessary psuedo-classification designations. Provides for standards for information control designations related to the classification of national security information, if needed.

Revokes specified executive orders limiting access to presidential records.

Requires publishing the names of Presidential interagency advisory committee members. Requires public disclosure of non-governmental committee contacts.

Permits the Archivist to charge an agency a specified fee to cover costs required for activities of the Public Interest Declassification Board, if funds appropriated for the Board are insufficient.

Restricts the availability of a record under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) pertaining to the vulnerability of and threats to critical infrastructure that is furnished voluntarily to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Amends the FOIA concerning additional matters to be included in agency reports to the Attorney General. Prohibits aggregating public information requests with information on individuals in reports.

Amends the FOIA to permit assessing the United States reasonable attorney fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred in any case seeking information under any other Federal law in which the complainant has substantially prevailed.

Status: No major action.

H.R. 867 / S. 394  OPEN Government Act of 2005

Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to prohibit a Federal agency from denying the present fee status for a news media representative solely on the absence of institutional associations of the requester and requires consideration of the requester's prior publication history. Requires an agency, if a requester has no prior publication history or current affiliation, to consider the requester's stated intent at the time the request is made to distribute information to a reasonably broad audience.

Provides that, for purposes of recovery of attorney fees and other litigation costs, a complainant has substantially prevailed if : (1) the complainant has obtained a substantial part of its requested relief through a judicial or administrative order or an enforceable written agreement; or (2) the complainant's pursuit of a nonfrivolous claim or defense has been a catalyst for a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the opposing party that provides a substantial part of the requested relief.

Directs the Attorney General to: (1) notify the Special Counsel of civil actions taken for arbitrary and capricious rejections of requests for agency records; and (2) annually submit reports on the number of such actions taken.

Provides for the commencement of the 20-day time limit within which agencies shall determine whether to comply with a request for agency records on the day in which the request is first received.

Requires agencies to establish: (1) a system to assign tracking numbers for requests for information; and (2) telephone or Internet service that provides the status of requests.

Prohibits applying FOIA section 552 provisions to matters that are specifically exempted from disclosure by a statute (other than open meetings under the Government in the Sunshine Act) that specifically cites this Act.

Establishes the Office of Government Information Services within the U.S. Administrative Conference to review section 552 policies and procedures by administrative agencies.

Requires the: (1) Comptroller General to annually report on implementation of provisions for the protection of voluntarily shared critical infrastructure information; and (2) Office of Personnel Management to report on personnel policies related to FOIA.

Status: No major action on either bills.

Summaries provided by CRS.

June 2005 Reviews in Law & Politics Book Reviews

Vol. 15, No. 6 June 2005 Reviews

Kousser, Thad. Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism....pp.475-477.

Lamb, Charles M. Housing Segregation in Suburban America Since 1960: Presidential and Judicial Politics....pp.478-482.

Rock, Paul. Constructing Victims’ Rights: The Home Office, New Labour, and Victims....pp.483-484.

Rosenne, Shabtai. Provisional Measures in International Law: The International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea....pp.485-490.

Simpson, Gerry. Great Powers and Outlaw States: Unequal Sovereigns in the International Legal Order....pp.491-496.

Tamanaha, Brian Z. On The Rule of Law: History, Politics, Theory....pp.497-500.

Deflem, Mathieu(ed.). Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Criminological Perspectives....pp.501-503.

Palmer, Vernon Valentine. The Louisiana Civilian Experience: Critiques of Codification in a Mixed Jurisdiction....pp.504-506.

Friedman, Lawrence M. Law in America: A Short History....pp.507-509.

Shell, Bernadette H. and Clemens Martin. Cybercrime: A Reference Handbook....pp.510-512.

Brudner, Alan. Constitutional Goods....pp.513-517.

Whincop, Michael J. Corporate Governance in Government Corporations....pp.518-522.

Kahn, Paul W. Putting Liberalism in its Place....pp.523-526.

Bogart, W.A. Good Government? Good Citizens? Courts, Politics, and Markets in Canada....pp.527-530.

Bogdanor, Vernon(ed.). The British Constitution in the Twentieth Century....pp.531-536.

Edmond, Gary(ed.). Expertise in Regulation and Law....pp.537-538.

Michelman, Frank I. Brennan and Democracy....pp.539-545.

Moller, Mark K.(ed.). Cato Supreme Court Review 2003-2004....pp.546-551.

Theoharis, Athan G. The FBI and American Democracy: A Brief Critical History....pp.552-555.

Helmke, Gretchen. Courts Under Constraints. Judges, Generals, and Presidents in Argentina....pp.556-559.

Porter, Robert Odawi. Sovereignty Colonialism, and the Future of the Indigenous Nations....pp.560-562.

Tushnet, Mark V. The NAACP’s Legal Strategy against Segregated Education, 1925-1950 (2nd ed)....pp.563-567.

Piacentini, Laura. Surviving Russian Prisons: Punishment, Economy and Politics in Transition....pp.568-571.

Krent, Harold J. Presidential Powers....pp.572-576.

Belknap, Michael R. The Supreme Court Under Earl Warren, 1953-1969....pp.577-580.

Fraser, David. Law After Auschwitz: Towards a Jurisprudence of the Holocaust....pp.581-586.

Kirton, John J. and Michael J. Trebilcock(eds.). Hard Choices, Soft Law: Voluntary Standards in Global Trade, Environment and Social Governance....pp.587-589.

Spiermann, Ole. International Legal Argument in the Permanent Court of International Justice: The Rise of International Justice....pp.590-593.

Stephenson, Donald Grier Jr. The Waite Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy....pp.594-597.

Wolfe, Alan(ed.). School Choice: The Moral Debate....pp.598-601.

Case Western Launches Global Security Website

From the official announcement:

Case Western Reserve University School of Law is proud to announce the launch of the Institute for Global Security, Law and Policy’s website: www.law.case.edu/terrorism.

The site features a blog providing analysis of critical global security issues as well as links to legal and policy commentary, other blogs, and news summaries across the Internet. By using the collaborative nature of blogging, the site encourages individuals within and outside the Institute to comment on legal and policy issues. 

The site reflects Case School of Law’s commitment that the recently created Institute become the leading resource and research center for issues of global security.

The site was developed by Case School of Law Webmaster Carl Roloff and Greg McNeal, a third year law student and developer of one of the web’s most visited terrorism blogs.  Greg McNeal and Erin Page, also a third year law student, will serve as Research Fellows in Terrorism and Homeland Security, updating the site and facilitating discussions.

Editor's Note: The website is off to a fairly good start but its list of resources needs further development. For example two preeminent security websites, The National Security Archive and GlobalSecurity.org are not but most definitely should be listed. Also missing but hopefully not for long is The Military Policy Awareness Links Security Archive compiled by the National Defense University Library. The site development team should turn to Case Western's very capable law library staff for help.

The graphic design of the site is way too industrial for my taste; it will get old quickly.

Finally, I must note the unfortunate selection of the word "terrorism" as the site's directory name. Far too inflammatory in my opinion.