Law Librarian Blog

Americans' Dependency on Social Security

Americans' Dependency on Social Security
by Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Ben Marx, Pietro Rizza

Abstract: This paper determines the standard of living reductions that young, middle aged, and older households would experience were the U.S. government to cut Social Security benefits (but not taxes) to deal with its well documented (see Gokhale and Smetters, 2005) long-term fiscal crisis. To determine pre- and post-retirement living standards in the absence and presence of Social Security benefit cuts the paper relies on ESPlanner, a financial planning software program.

ESPlanner calculates a household's highest sustainable living standard taking into account the household's economic resources including its claims to future Social Security benefits.  The program also incorporates borrowing/liquidity constraints that limit households' abilities to smooth their living standards over their life cycles.

The analysis considers both stylized single and married households of different ages and resource levels as well as actual households sampled from the 2004 Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF).  The extent of current and future living standard reductions in response to announcements of future Social Security benefit cuts depends critically on the age of the household, when the cuts are announced, the size of the cuts, the income of the household, and the degree to which the household is liquidity constrained.   For our stylized households on the brink of retirement the complete elimination of Social Security benefits would entail retirement living standards reductions ranging from roughly one third to one hundred percent depending on the household's income.   

Our SCF findings also point to a strong dependency on Social Security. Indeed, 41 percent of older SCF couples and 33 percent of SCF singles would experience a living standard reduction of 90 percent or more were Social Security benefits eliminated.  A surprising finding is the major dependency of very high-income households on Social Security.  Take the highest earning couple in our stylized sample. This couple earns $500,000 per year from age 30 through age 64 when it retires.  It enters retirement with over $2.3 million in assets. But given the length of its potential retirement, the modest real return it can safely earn on its assets, its off-the-top housing expenses, and its tax payments, this household is highly dependent on Social Security benefits, notwithstanding their taxable status. Indeed, were this household denied all its Social Security benefits on the eve of its retirement, it would suffer a 35.6 percent reduction in its living standard throughout retirement.

English Short Title Catalogue Now Free

The resource for historians, English language and literature scholars, and all those interested in early printed books, periodicals and ephemera, the English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) provides bibliographic records for all known British printed material before 1801, held by the British Library and over 2000 other institutions worldwide.  [RJ]

New Human Rights Abstracting Journal Launched on SSRN

From the press release:

The Social Science Research Network is pleased to announce the addition of a new abstracting journal, Human Rights and the Global Economy, to the Legal Scholarship Network.

This journal is sponsored by the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE), Northeastern University School of Law.  The PHRGE is a forum for innovative legal work on the implications of economic, social, and cultural rights and the impact of globalization
on all human rights. 

[RJ]

DOJ Study: Internet Only 1% Porn

Interesting article from CNet News.com:

"A new study, performed by a statistician commissioned by the U.S. Justice Department, is reporting nearly the opposite result: that only about 1 percent of Web pages contain sexually explicit material.

That study was described in the San Jose Mercury News and was based on search data that Google was forced to turn over to the Feds earlier this year. (The Justice Department's initial request was far broader.)

The analysis was performed by Philip B. Stark, a professor of statistics at the University of California-Berkeley, and is part of the Justice Department's legal defense of the Child Online Protection Act. The ACLU has sued to overturn the law, and a trial is currently underway in federal district court in Philadelphia.

[RJ]

Ownership and Possession in the Early Common Law

SMU Law Prof Joshua C. Tate has posted Ownership and Possession in the Early Common Law on SSRN.  Here's the abstract:

Much has been written on the possible influence of Roman or canon law on the early English common law of property. Maitland thought that the canonist's actio spolii was the inspiration for the assize of novel disseisin. Sutherland argued that the assize borrowed from the Roman interdict unde vi. Milsom, by contrast, thinks that the early common-law writs must be understood within a feudal framework, and that the early common law took nothing from Roman law than the Latin language.

This Article offers a new perspective on ownership and possession in the early common law. It examines the theoretical development of proprietary and possessory concepts in the ius commune as it would have been understood in England in the late twelfth century, taking into account the Liber pauperum and the early ordines as well as reports of ecclesiastical court cases. After surveying the current debate, the Article then turns to the advowson writs, which have not yet been studied as a possible example of Roman law influence. Finding some evidence of the ownership/possession distinction in the advowson writs, the Article comes to the conclusion that the possibility of influence from the ius commune is greater than Milsom thinks.

William Bradford's Books: Of Plimmoth Plantation and the Printed Word

William Bradford's Books: Of Plimmoth Plantation and the Printed Word
by Douglas Anderson

List Price: $45.00
Hardcover: 296 pages
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (January 8, 2003)
ISBN: 0801870747

Book Description: Widely regarded as the most important narrative of seventeenth-century New England, William Bradford's Of Plimmoth Plantation is one of the founding documents of American literature and history. In William Bradford's Books this portrait of the religious dissenters who emigrated from the Netherlands to New England in 1620 receives perhaps its sharpest textual analysis to date -- and the first since that of Samuel Eliot Morison two generations ago. Far from the gloomy elegy that many readers find, Bradford's history, argues Douglas Anderson, demonstrates remarkable ambition and subtle grace, as it contemplates the adaptive success of a small community of religious exiles. Anderson offers fresh literary and historical accounts of Bradford's accomplishment, exploring the context and the form in which the author intended his book to be read.

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
by Nathaniel Philbrick

List Price: $29.95
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult, 2006
ISBN: 0670037605

Book Description: From the perilous ocean crossing to the shared bounty of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrim settlement of New England has become enshrined as our most sacred national myth. Yet, as bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals in his spellbinding new book, the true story of the Pilgrims is much more than the well-known tale of piety and sacrifice; it is a fifty-five-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating, and profound.

The Mayflower’s religious refugees arrived in Plymouth Harbor during a period of crisis for Native Americans as disease spread by European fishermen devastated their populations. Initially the two groups—the Wampanoags, led by the charismatic and calculating chief Massasoit, and the Pilgrims, whose pugnacious military officer Miles Standish was barely five feet tall—maintained a fragile working relationship. But within decades, New England would erupt into King Philip’s War, a savagely bloody conflict that nearly wiped out English colonists and natives alike and forever altering the face of the fledgling colonies and the country that would grow from them.

With towering figures like William Bradford, Massosit, Squanto and the distinctly American hero Benjamin Church at the center of his narrative, Philbrick has fashioned a fresh and compelling portrait of the dawn of American history—a history dominated right from the start by issues of race, violence, and religion.

Check out the author's website. [JH]

Sir Walter Raleigh and the Rhetoric of Colonization, 1584-1590

Inventing Virginia
Sir Walter Raleigh and the Rhetoric of Colonization, 1584-1590
Michael Moran

261 pp | Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2007
ISBN 0-8204-8694-9  hardback |$73.95

Book Description: In 1584 Walter Raleigh received a patent from Queen Elizabeth to settle an English colony on Roanoke Island, on the Outer Banks of present-day North Carolina, soon to be named Virginia. Within the next few years, he sent a reconnaissance voyage and two actual colonies (both of which failed) to explore and settle the region. To support his colonization efforts, Raleigh assembled a group of communication experts who wrote reports and produced ethnographic drawings of the people and maps of the region to interest potential investors and colonists in the project. Inventing Virginia is the first book to thoroughly explore the communication strategies that Raleigh's circle developed and applied in Virginia. This book will make important contributions to several fields, including technical and commercial communication, early American literature, Renaissance literature (especially prose studies), and rhetorical theory and practice.

Youth Cases for Youth Courts: A Guide to the Typical Offenses Handled by Youth Courts

New report from the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP):

"In 1994, there were just 78 youth courts. Today, more than 1,150 youth courts operate in 49 States and the District of Columbia. Several hundred additional communities are at various stages of implementing more youth courts. Youth court has quietly emerged as the most replicated—and fastest growing—juvenile intervention program in the United States. Based on documented growth rates, estimates that youth court could be handling as many as 25 percent of all juvenile arrests by 2015 are not unreasonable." 

[RJ]

Cornell Law Library's InSITE Website Reviews

Reviews published in the November 13, 2006 issue of InSITE:

• Death and Taxes
• Digital Law Online
• Fair Use Network
• International Commission of Jurists
• Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Online

Death and Taxes 
Death and Taxes is a somewhat irreverent look at the annual U.S. federal budget.  Its primary product is a visual map graphically depicting how U.S. tax dollars are spent by Congress, divided between military and non-military funding.  Budget data is compiled primarily from government sources, including the Office of Budget and Management, Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Department of State. Created by freelance designer Jesse Bachman, the stated purpose of the site is to help educate voters and improve Congressional accountability.  Printed posters are available for purchase, and site visitors can ship a poster of the map to any Congressperson for a reduced cost.  Be sure to check out the other budget links in the About section for more budgetary information. [JJ]

Digital Law Online   
Professor Lee A. Hollaar created Digital Law Online to provide free public access to online copyright treatises and important copyright documents, as well as other self-authored papers.  Prof. Hollaar, a faculty member of the School of Computing at the University of Utah, teaches computer networking, intellectual property, and computer law.  The website currently makes available Prof. Hollaar’s Legal Protection of Digital Information, William Patry’s Copyright Law and Practice, and the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works (CONTU) Final Report.  Legal Protection of Digital Information includes links to all cases and statutes cited therein.  Both the full-text of this treatise, as well as all cases cited, are keyword searchable.  Copyright Law and Practice provides an extensive history of copyright law.  The CONTU Final Report, published in 1978, is a frequently cited document, available here in both HTML and PDF.  Digital Law Online is a solid resource for students of copyright law. [JJ]

Fair Use Network   
The Fair Use Network is part of the Free Expression Policy Project, which, in turn, is a program of the Brennan Center for Justice (reviewed in InSITE vol. 7, no. 9) at the NYU School of Law.  Providing information to artists, scholars, activists, and others, the Network’s “basic purpose is to support fair use and other free expression safeguards within the law, because free expression is essential to creativity, culture, and a healthy democracy.”  The Resources section of the site provides several helpful items.  One of these is a fair use reference guide that offers a variety of detailed materials.  These include legal guides on copyright, fair use, and trademark claims; resources on evaluating and responding to legal correspondence, such as cease-and-desist letters; and various reference materials and indexes, including an annotated compilation of federal statutes and regulations.  The site links to additional resources provided by other entities, including Duke Law School’s instructional comic, Tales from the Public Domain: Bound by Law (reviewed in InSITE vol. 11, no 17).  The site also offers a fair use news blog and an attorney network is currently under construction. [MM]

International Commission of Jurists 
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is dedicated to the primacy, coherence, and implementation of international law and principles that advance human rights.  The ICJ’s website details the structure of the organization, introduces its staff and commissioners, and provides details of its national sections and affiliated legal organizations which cover more than sixty countries.  Researchers will appreciate the site’s searchable database of the ICJ's press releases, reports, legal documents, and other materials, called the “ICJ Legal Resource Center.”  This Center allows users to search by keyword or browse by country, type of document, or broad topic.  Search results include the title of the document and a brief abstract, along with the publication date and document type.  Unfortunately, many of the documents are not in PDF form, making reading and printing difficult.  However, this allows the full contents of the ICJ site to be available in French and Spanish as well as English. [BWK]

Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Online   
Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center Online (JJEC Online) is a tool provided by the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA), designed to assist juvenile justice practitioners, policymakers, and state agency administrators with the assessment and evaluation of juvenile justice programs, systems, and initiatives.  JJEC Online is composed of several sections, including State Information, Juvenile Justice Evaluation Program Areas, and Evaluation Resources.  Researchers will appreciate the Evaluation Resources section, which contains a state-by-state bibliography of juvenile justice evaluation reports.  It also provides a glossary and tools for designing evaluations.  The area on Evaluation Programs is broken into categories such as School-based Programs, Aftercare, Gender-Specific Programming, and Tribal Youth.  State Information provides access to and information regarding grant programs, specialists, and other professional contacts.  The site is not searchable but it does contain a site map. [BWK]

InSITE contributors: Julie Jones, Research Attorney, Brandy Kreisler, J.D., M.L.S., Matt Morrison, Research Attorney, Jean Pajerek (editor), Head of Technical Services & Information Management, all current or former members of the professional staff at Cornell Law Library.

About InSITE: InSITE highlights selected law-related Web sites in two ways: as an annotated publication issued electronically and in print; and, as a keyword-searchable database. The law librarians at Cornell evaluate potentially useful Web sites, select the most valuable ones, and provide commentary and subject access to them.

Digital versions of this information can be accessed via:

1. Searchable database or by browsing current and archived issues on the web: Click InSITE at www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library

2. E-mail subscription. Send the following request: SUBSCRIBE InSITE-L <YourFirstName> <YourLastName> to: listproc@cornell.edu

3. Readers can subscribe to the new InSITE RSS feed at http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library/RESOURCES/insite.htm

The contents of InSITE and any recommendations therein are the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the views of Cornell University. InSITE is copyright protected by Cornell Law Library, © 2006 Cornell Law Library. Permission to republish InSITE issues on Law Librarian Blog has been granted. For permissions, contact Jean M. Pajerek [jmp8@cornell.edu].

Cornell Law Library URL: http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/library

SuiteTwo: Intel's New Web 2.0 Internet Suite

Intel Corporation is collaborating with several software companies on the launch of SuiteTwo, a business Internet suite. The integrated suite is comprised of business Web 2.0 capabilities from Six Apart, Socialtext, NewsGator, SimpleFeed and SpikeSource. These are small software companies that provide applications for blogs, RSS feeds, wikis and social networking. The components of SuiteTwo will be optimized for Intel's client and server chips, including its 32-bit and 64-bit Xeon processors and future products. SuiteTwo will be offered to small and medium-size businesses via its resellers. No word (yet) on educational discounts. Read more about it: Intel's Product Announcement and c|net News. [JH]

Google Earth Used Against Mining

From the Washington Post:

"Environmentalists have found a way to let the rest of the world see what mountaintop coal mining has done to Appalachia: They have started a Web site that uses the Google Earth database to enable people to see aerial reconnaissance photos of the scarred countryside. 

Their Web site was launched in mid-September with a link to the campaign's "National Memorial of the Mountains," which shows a Google Earth map of Appalachia. The map pinpoints areas of mountaintop removal with graphics of flags at half-staff, and a 3-d tour reveals clear views of sludge ponds, blasting holes and mountains scraped of their peaks."

Check it out.  [RJ]

Opening: Reference, Electronic and Instruction Services Librarian, Texas Tech

Reference, Electronic and Instruction Services Librarian

Are you looking for a low cost of living, family-oriented, " Five Star Metro" to live in?  But, do you also need a dynamic, growing place to work with collegial and team oriented staff?   We have the ideal opportunity for you in the Giant Side of Texas at Texas Tech University Law Library.

The Texas Tech law school is located on one of the largest campuses in the United States.  The law school, while relatively new (opened in 1967, ABA approved in 1970), is dynamic and growing, with Centers of Excellence in Military Law, Biodefense Law and Water Law; and, Clinic Programs in Civil Practice, Criminal Justice, Tax and Advanced Dispute Resolution.   The law school is adding a large expansion that will include a " Courtroom of the Future" with a generous endowment for advanced technology.  The 27 member library and technology staff has doubled in size during the last 6 years.   Growth and opportunity abound here. 

Lubbock's very low cost of living, excellent weather, and minimal traffic combined with the casual (dress down is the standard and you can even wear jeans to work ), collegial, but very professional library environment provide for an ideal job opportunity.  Some day when you advance to your next job, utilizing skills gained here, you will even be sad to see Lubbock in your rear view mirror. 

Candidates should have a JD and a Library Science degree with at least 3 years experience.  For someone pursuing or completing a Library Science degree (who already possesses a JD degree) previous employment in legal or related fields could be considered.   The salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Come interview and visit.  You may be surprised at all the advantages the Texas Tech University Law Library and Lubbock have to offer.

The position is available immediately and will remain open until filled. For information about the law library follow: http://www.law.ttu.edu/lawweb/library/about/index.shtm, to get more information about the job, select Job Openings from the right side of page, or, if you have questions, contact Uwe "Ed" Beltz at uwe.beltz@ttu.edu or call at 806-742-3990, ext. 286. 

To apply: Complete the online application at http://jobs.texastech.edu .  For questions on applying, contact the Texas Tech University Personnel Department at (806) 742-3851 ext. 238. 

Texas Tech University is an EEO/AA/ADA Employer. REQ #72291

Profile of the Directorate of Legal Research at the Library of Congress

Michael Ravnitzky's The Directorate of Legal Research at the Library of Congress: A Treasure Hidden Under a Bushel Basket has been published on LLRX.com. Here's the abstract:

Despite harsh criticism of the citation of foreign law in American court decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal appellate courts solicit and are supplied with numerous studies surveying foreign law each year, according to the Library of Congress's annual reports.  The source of this scholarship is the talented staff of the Directorate of Legal Research (DLR), a little known but well-regarded and highly influential research department contained within the Library of Congress.  DLR is a sister organization to the better-known Congressional Research Service (which itself has an American Law Division that produces legal studies on U.S. Law).  The Directorate of Legal Research receives scant mention even among the legal research community.

[JH]

Gates Nomination Resources Available

The Georgetown University Law Library has prepared a bibliography of material related to Robert M. Gates, the Secretary of Defense Nominee.  In an email to me, Sara Sampson, Head of Reference, wrote "we've digitized the Senate Report on Mr. Gates' nomination for CIA Director in 1991 and plan to digitize more documents related to these nominations. Please visit the guide to keep up with the nomination process; we'll add links to materials as they become available." Sound advice for this very timely resource. Bookmark it! [JH]

Reminder: AALL/Aspen Offers Research Grants Applications Due Nov. 27

The AALL Research Committee is accepting applications for research grants up to $1,850 from the AALL/Aspen Publishers Grant Program.  The deadline for application is November 27, 2006.

The committee looks to award one or more grants in the fall of 2006 to library professionals who wish to conduct research that supports the research and scholarly agenda of the profession of law librarianship. The grant program funds small or large research projects that create, disseminate, or otherwise use legal and law-related information as their focus. Projects may range from the historical (indexes, legislative histories, or bibliographies) to the theoretical (trends in cataloging and publishing) to the practical (models for collection, personnel, or infrastructure management). The AALL Research Agenda offers suggestions for possible research, however, research projects are not limited to those described in the agenda. To review AALL’s Research Agenda, please visit http://www.aallnet.org/committee/research/agenda.asp

The AALL/Aspen Publishers Grant Program was established in 1996 with a generous contribution of $50,000 from Aspen Publishers, a New York based legal publisher. Aspen Publishers considers its contribution as an investment in research that will examine the role of librarians, researchers, and legal information providers and will yield results to which publishers can respond.  Aspen’s goal is to sponsor research that will have a practical impact on the law library profession and inspire products and changes in the marketplace.

Grants will be awarded and announced in December. Allocation of the research grants will be at the sole discretion of the AALL Research Committee.

For the grant application and complete guidelines, please visit http://www.aallnet.org/about/grant_application.asp For more information, please contact Jean Callihan, chair of the AALL Research Committee, at jc374@cornell.edu

Over 100 University Presidents Have $500K+ Compensation Packages

The Chronicle's annual compensation survey covers more institutions this year than ever before, so comparisons are not direct. But the trends are significant nonetheless. A total of 112 presidents of traditional four-year public and private institutions, and systems, had compensation packages totaling at least $500,000. While this survey includes 853 institutions or systems, 17 percent more than last year, the number in that level of compensation increased by 53 percent. Read more about it and see our earlier post, High Hogismo Among IHE Administrators (Nov. 3, 2006). [JH]

Thanksgiving Break Advice for Law School Students

Amy Jarmon, Assistant Dean for Academic Success Programs, Texas Tech Univ. School of Law, offers students advice on how to use their Thanksgiving Break at Law School Academic Support Blog. [JH]

Opening: Reference and Electronic Services Librarian/ Senior Reference and Electronic Services Librarian, Boston University Pappas Law Library

The Boston University Pappas Law Library has an opening for a Reference and Electronic Services Librarian. Candidates with appropriate experience will be considered at the level of Senior Reference and Electronic Services Librarian.

RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the direction of the Head of Reference Services, this position will have primary responsibility for organizing electronic research services for law students and faculty. In coordination with vendors, organize all online research training programs for first year law students and advanced training for upperclass students. Assist faculty with online research, advise them of new electronic research resources in their disciplines and organize presentations to demonstrate and teach new products and enhancements. Actively participate in law library web site development and participate in the Collection Development Committee to review and select print and online resources for the library.

This position will participate as a member of the reference department team of five professional librarians. Each reference librarian provides extensive reference and research assistance to law students and faculty, develops and teaches online and traditional research instructional programs, and assists in the development, implementation and evaluation of reference and public services policies, procedures and publications.

REQUIREMENTS: M.L.S. or equivalent from an A.L.A. accredited library school required. J.D. from an A.B.A. accredited law school strongly preferred. One to three years relevant experience required. Candidates with more than three years of professional legal reference experience and significant contributions to the profession may be considered at the Senior level. Substantial knowledge of Westlaw, LexisNexis, Internet and other electronic resources and experience teaching online research. Strong service orientation, organizational and interpersonal skills essential.

SALARY: Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits. Professional development and research project funding available.

TO APPLY: Send a letter of application, a resume, and the names of three references to Joanne Letty, Office of Personnel, Boston University, 25 Buick Street, Boston, MA 02215. Please reference position number 3447/K076 on your cover letter.  Applications with the above information may be submitted electronically here.

If you have any questions about this job opening, please contact Raquel Ortiz, Head of Reference Services, rmortiz@bu.edu

Boston University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.

Suggestions Welcome for Berkman Center Survey on the Impact of Technology of Legal Education and Training

LexisNexis has offered to help the Berkman Center for Internet & Society (Harvard Law School) study the impact of technology on legal education and training. The Center seeks to learn more about how to prepare new lawyers are for today’s legal work world by conducting a survey of recent graduates. [Details]. Gene Koo is soliciting suggestions for what this survey should entail. He writes

As someone interested in legal education or training (whether you’re a law professor, law firm manager, CLE provider, director of professional development, legal technologist, law librarian, associate, or law student), what did you wish you knew about today’s newest attorneys (say, those with 0-5 years of experience)? Also, given limited resources, should we attempt to survey one population (say, big firm associates) more thoroughly, or try to get participants from across practice settings?

Lee Peoples, Associate Director, Oklahoma City University School of Law Library and a contributing editor for this blog has already suggested that information literacy be a topic of this survey. Please join in by submitting your suggestions in the form of a comment to Gene's Law School Innovation blog posts here or here. [JH]