Law Librarian Blog

Terrorist Trial Report Cards

From the Center on Law and Security, New York University School of Law:

"The Terrorist Trial Report Cards are the result of the Center on Law and Security’s review of the legal record against terror. The Report Cards provide a statistical analysis of the terrorism-related court cases since 9/11, and comprehensively outline the charges, convictions, plea bargains, and sentencing of the alleged terrorists." 

• Terrorist Trials, 2001-2007: Lessons Learned
• Terrorist Trial Report Card: U.S. Edition
• Terrorist Trial Report Card: U.S. Edition - Appendix A: Alphabetic Table of Defendants
• Terrorist Trial Report Card: U.S. Edition - Appendix B: Chronologic Table of Cases
• February 2005 - Terrorist Trials: A Report Card – United States Edition

[RJ]

Transforming Legal Education: Learning and Teaching the Law in the Early Twenty-First Century

Highly recommended. [JH]

Transforming Legal Education: Learning and Teaching the Law in the Early Twenty-first Century
by Paul Maharg

List Price: $124.95
Hardcover: 346 pages
Publisher: Ashgate Pub Co (October 31, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0754649709
ISBN-13: 978-0754649700

Book Description: Transforming Legal Education makes the case for substantial change in the ways law is studied.  In a wide-ranging critique of current educational practices in our law schools and in society, the book argues for a contemporary adaptation of John Dewey’s concept of pragmatic and experiential learning, for a wider interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning, and for greater engagement with technology-enhanced learning. 

In Part 1 of the book Maharg argues the case for deeper and more sustained interdisciplinary educational practice, drawing upon problem-based learning, rhetorical theory and practice, and approaches to education in other disciplines such as music and literature.  The book also argues for a more profound understanding of the history of legal education.  In the three case studies that comprise Part 2, Maharg explores three historical episodes in legal educational practice – the formation of the realist curriculum at Columbia in the 1920s; ethical education at Edinburgh University in the later eighteenth century; and thirteenth century glossed texts.  Part 3 consists of an extended case study of technology and experiential learning, incorporating aspects of the approaches analysed in Parts 1 and 2.  Throughout, the book holds that Dewey’s critique of education in his day is still relevant to legal education today.  His solutions, based upon variants of experiential learning, are taken by Maharg and applied in the extended case study of simulation learning in Part 3.  The book’s conclusion states the case for collaboration between legal educational institutions, and for a more experientially-grounded approach to theory and practice; and ends with a hubristic account of several hours of a student’s study time in 2047.

Online Companion Resources: The technological aspects of the book will be updated in the Zeugma blog, while the Transforming Initiative, a platform for those of us who are interested in contributing to the debate about the future of legal education, will be based upon a community of practice wiki. See generally, the book's website.

Intelligence Issues for Congress

New CRS Report (via the Federation of American Scientists):

"To address the challenges facing the U.S. Intelligence Community in the 21st century, congressional and executive branch initiatives have sought to improve coordination among the different agencies and to encourage better analysis. In December 2004, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (P.L. 108- 458) was signed, providing for a Director of National Intelligence (DNI) with substantial authorities to manage the national intelligence effort. The legislation also established a separate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Making cooperation effective presents substantial leadership and managerial challenges. The needs of intelligence “consumers” — ranging from the White House to cabinet agencies to military commanders — must all be met, using the same systems and personnel. Intelligence collection systems are expensive and some critics suggest there have been elements of waste and unneeded duplication of effort while some intelligence “targets” have been neglected.

The DNI has substantial statutory authorities to address these issues, but the organizational relationships will remain complex, especially for Defense Department agencies. Members of Congress will be seeking to observe the extent to which effective coordination is accomplished."

[RJ]

Campaign Finance: Grading State Disclosure 2007

From the press release:

"Access to state-level candidate campaign disclosure data continued to improve in states across the country, according to Grading State Disclosure 2007, a comprehensive evaluation of campaign finance disclosure laws and programs in the 50 states. The 2007 study, released today by the California Voter Foundation, found that Washington State ranks first in the nation in campaign disclosure, while Oregon ranked as the most improved state in 2007. The study is the fourth in a series, which was first conducted in 2003, and is online at www.campaigndisclosure.org.

The assessment was conducted by the Campaign Disclosure Project, which seeks to bring greater transparency and accountability to money in state politics. The project is a collaboration of the California Voter Foundation, the Center for Governmental Studies and the UCLA School of Law and is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts."

• Executive Summary
• Methodology
• Full Report
• State by State Summaries and Rankings

[RJ]

Libraries rebuff Google and Microsoft on offers to place books on Web

Interesting article from the International Herald Tribune:

"Several major research libraries have rebuffed offers from Google and Microsoft to scan their books into computer databases, saying they were put off by restrictions these companies wanted to place on the new digital collections.

The research libraries, including a large consortium in the Boston area, are instead signing on with the Open Content Alliance, a nonprofit effort to make digital material as widely accessible as possible."  [RJ]

Berkman Center's 2006 Law Blog Conference Papers (Finally) Published

The papers from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society's symposium on Bloggership:  How Blogs Are Transforming Legal Scholarship, held on April 28, 2006 at Harvard Law School, have been published. See, 84 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1025-1261 (2006). The symposium was organized by Cincinnati law prof and TaxProf Blog editor Paul Caron who observes, "it is, of course, ironic that a symposium on how blogs are transforming legal scholarship is finally published over 18 months after the event and after the papers were first posted online [on SSRN]." Details on TaxProf Blog.

The Bekman Center conference was one of the first of its kind. Paul Caron, who also co-founded the 50-plus blog Law Professor Blogs Network, reflects on the contribution of law prof blogging to legal scholarship in a recent Lexblog interview. [JH]

Just Released, Slobogin's Privacy at Risk

Privacy at Risk: The New Government Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment
by Christopher Slobogin

Hardcover: 274 pages
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (October 29, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0226762831
ISBN-13: 978-0226762838

Description: Without our consent and often without our knowledge, the government can constantly monitor many of our daily activities, using closed circuit TV, global positioning systems, and a wide array of other sophisticated technologies. With just a few keystrokes, records containing our financial information, phone and e-mail logs, and sometimes even our medical histories can be readily accessed by law enforcement officials. As Christopher Slobogin explains in Privacy at Risk, these intrusive acts of surveillance are subject to very little regulation.

Applying the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, Slobogin argues that courts should prod legislatures into enacting more meaningful protection against government overreaching.  In setting forth a comprehensive framework meant to preserve rights guaranteed by the Constitution without compromising the government’s ability to investigate criminal acts, Slobogin offers a balanced regulatory regime that should intrigue everyone concerned about privacy rights in the digital age.

2007 Best Practices in the Use of Information Technology in State Government

Report from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers:

"Released in conjunction with NASCIO's 2007 Best Practices in the Use of Information Technology in State Government Awards, this booklet contains summaries of innovative state government programs in the following areas: Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery ; Cross-Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships; Data, Information and Knowledge Management; Digital Government ; Enterprise IT Management Initiatives; Information Communications Technology Innovations; Information Security and Privacy; and IT Project and Portfolio Management."  [RJ]

An All Too Human Paper Trail

Peter Hammer, currently a Wayne State University law professor, was denied tenure by two votes at the University of Michigan Law School in 2002. In 2005, he sued the University, alleging discrimination against him as an openly gay man who lived with a same-sex domestic partner. [Complaint | Background ] OUTlaws, the Wayne State Law School gay, lesbian, bisexual and trandgender student group, is publishing the briefs, orders, transcripts, exhibits and affidavits filed in the lawsuit here. As noted by Arizonia law prof Jack Chin on Concurring Opinions:

the documents, including emails, letters and depositions of two dozen or so profs, represent one of the most comprehensive portraits of a tenure decision and the institutional personality of a law faculty that is ever likely to be publicly available.

Indeed. And it's a sorry state of affairs if Hammer's allegation that "[t]here is a long tradition at Michigan of hiding, denial and discrimination when it comes to sexual orientation" is true. His affidavit (pdf) offers several examples of unacceptable behavior toward gay and lesbian faculty members which suggest an unwelcoming if not hostile environment that pierces the diploma-thin veil of the legal academy to reveal its human, all too human character, a "fettered spirit ... chained [hopefully not] forever to its pillar and corner." But is there a smoking gun in Hammer's tenure denial? Check out the paper trail here and here if you want to try to answer that question. [JH]

IBM Launches Its First Video Game, Innov8, to Model Business Processes

IBM has launched its first videogame. Innov8 is an interactive virtual world, similar to Second Life, that IBM bills as a Business Process Management (BPM) Simulator to explore Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA).

"Since practically everyone I've encountered in the business sector has a different explanation for what an SOA is and how it works, I'm thinking [Innov8] might be a smart move for IBM," says Wired's Terrence Russell.

Here's the trailer for Innov8:

Ian Williams |VNU.net| writes:

Manchester Business School (MBS) is one of the first organisations in the world, and the first university in the UK, to use the game. "The games reflect our commitment to breaking down the barriers between business theory and practice," said Linda Macaulay, a professor at MBS.

"It is an ideal learning tool for students, for whom gaming is second nature, to tackle real-world business issues in a virtual environment.

"By working with IBM in this way we will be able to give students a headstart to compete successfully in business."

Video game marketing consultants The Apply Group said that between 100 and 135 Global Fortune 500 companies will have adopted gaming for learning by 2012, with the US, UK and Germany leading the way.

"IBM views serious gaming as a new and exciting way to develop the skills that are required as business and IT become more closely aligned," said Sandy Carter, vice president of SOA and WebSphere strategy, channels and marketing at IBM.

Is it just a matter of time until video games become part of a law school education?

Neal R. Axton, Reference Librarian, William Mitchell College of Law

Say Hello to Westlaw's New Key Numbers Tool

Online searching for cases using West Key Numbers just got easier, much easier (and isn't it about time). Check out the new West Key Number link located on the top of the Westlaw display. Details at Marie S. Newman, Something New on Westlaw, Out of the Jungle, and Sue Altmeyer, Westlaw Key Numbers Come Out of Hiding, CM Law Library Blog. Or check this month's West Librarian Relations Update, which, obviously, I haven't read yet. [JH]

NSA's Lucky Break: How the U.S. Became Switchboard to the World

Interesting story from Wired.com:

"A lucky coincidence of economics is responsible for routing much of the world's internet and telephone traffic through switching points in the United States, where, under legislation, the U.S. National Security Agency will be free to continue tapping it.

Leading House Democrats introduced the so-called RESTORE Act (.pdf) that allows the nation's spies to maintain permanent eavesdropping stations inside United States switching centers. Telecom and internet experts interviewed by Wired News say the bill will give the NSA legal access to a torrent of foreign phone calls and internet traffic that travels through American soil on its way someplace else."  [RJ]

Between Mosque and Military in Pakistan: Selected Resources

Books

• Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam by Zahid Hussain (Columbia University Press, 2007)
• Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy by Ayesha Siddiqa (Pluto Press, 2007)
• Pakistan: Between Mosque And Military by Husain Haqqani (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005)
• Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, then Army, and America's War on Terror by Hassan Abbas (M.E. Sharpe, 2004)

Congressional Research Reports

• Pakistan's Political Crisis and State of Emergency, November 6, 2007
• U.S. Arms Sales to Pakistan, November 8, 2007
• Pakistan-U.S. Relations, October 18, 2007

Details below the fold. [JH]

Books

Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam
by Zahid Hussain

List Price: $24.95 
Hardcover: 232 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press (2007)
ISBN-10: 0231142242
ISBN-13: 978-0231142243

Description: After September 11, 2001, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, vowed to fight extremism in his country and has since established himself as a key ally in America's "global war on terror." But as veteran Pakistani journalist and commentator Zahid Hussain reveals in this book, Musharraf is in an impossible position. The Pakistani army and intelligence services are thoroughly penetrated by jihadists. In fact, the current government came into power through its support of radical Islamist groups, such as those fighting in Kashmir.

Based on exclusive interviews with key players and grassroots radicals, Hussain exposes the threads of Pakistan's complex political power web and the consequences of Musharraf's decision to support the U.S.'s drive against jihadism, which essentially took Pakistan to war with itself. He recounts the origins and nature of the jihadi movement in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the long-standing and often denied links between militants and Pakistani authorities, the weaknesses of successive elected governments, and the challenges to Musharraf's authority posed by politico-religious, sectarian, and civil society elements within the country.

The jihadi madrassas of Pakistan are incubators of the most feared terrorists in the world. Osama bin Laden himself is believed to be hiding close to the Pakistani border. Although the country's "war on terror" has so far been a stage show, a very real battle is looming, the outcome of which will have grave implications for the future security of the world.

Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy
by Ayesha Siddiqa

List Price: $35.00
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Pluto Press (2007)
ISBN-10: 0745325459
ISBN-13: 978-0745325453 

Description: Pakistan is a strategic ally of the US in the "war on terror". It is the third largest receiver of US aid in the world. Yet Pakistan is a state run by its army. Siddiqa shows how the power of the military has transformed Pakistani society, where the armed forces have become an independent class. The military is entrenched in the corporate sector. So Pakistan's companies and its main assets are in the hands of a tiny minority of senior army officials. Siddiqa examines this military economy and the consequences of merging the military and corporate sectors. Does democracy have a future? Will the generals ever withdraw to the barracks? Military Inc. analyses the internal and external dynamics of this gradual power-building and the impact that it is having on Pakistan's political and economic development.

Pakistan: Between Mosque And Military
by Husain Haqqani

List Price: $17.95
Paperback: 395 pages
Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2005)
ISBN-10: 0870032143
ISBN-13: 978-0870032141 

Description: Among U.S. allies in the war against terrorism, Pakistan cannot be easily characterized as either friend or foe. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is an important center of radical Islamic ideas and groups. Since 9/11, the selective cooperation of president General Pervez Musharraf in sharing intelligence with the United States and apprehending al Qaeda members has led to the assumption that Pakistan might be ready to give up its longstanding ties with radical Islam. But Pakistan’s status as an Islamic ideological state is closely linked with the Pakistani elite’s worldview and the praetorian ambitions of its military. This book analyzes the origins of the relationships between Islamist groups and Pakistan’s military, and explores the nation’s quest for identity and security. Tracing how the military has sought U.S. support by making itself useful for concerns of the moment--while continuing to strengthen the mosque-military alliance within Pakistan--Haqqani offers an alternative view of political developments since the country’s independence in 1947. 

Pakistan's Drift Into Extremism: Allah, then Army, and America's War on Terror
by Hassan Abbas

List Price: $25.95 
Paperback: 275 pages
Publisher: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.; 1 edition (2004)
ISBN-10: 0765614979
ISBN-13: 978-0765614971 

Description: This book examines the rise of religious extremism in Pakistan, and analyzes its connections to Pakistan Army's policies and the fluctuating U.S.-Pakistan relations. It includes profiles of leading Pakistani Jihadi groups with details of their origins, development, and capabilities based on interviews with Pakistani intelligence officials, and operators of the militant groups. The book contains new historical materials on Operation Gibraltar (1965 War with India), conspiracy behind General Zia-ul-Haq’s plane crash in 1988, a botched military coup by fundamentalists in army in 1993-4 and lastly about how General Musharraf handled the volatile situation after the 9/11 attacks. Besides General Musharraf’s detailed profile, the book evaluates the India-Pakistan relations vis-à-vis the Kashmir conflict, and Dr. A Q Khan’s nuclear proliferation crisis.

CRS Reports

Pakistan's Political Crisis and State of Emergency, November 6, 2007
On November 3, 2007, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf suspended the country’s constitution and assumed emergency powers in his role as both president and army chief. The move came just over eight years after Musharraf overthrew the elected government in a bloodless 1999 military coup. It followed months of political crisis in the capital city of Islamabad, along with sharply deteriorating security circumstances across the country. Musharraf has sought to justify this “second coup” as being necessary to save Pakistan from Islamist extremism and from a political paralysis he blamed largely on the country’s Supreme Court. The United States, which had exerted diplomatic pressure on Musharraf to refrain from imposing a state of emergency, views Pakistan as a vital ally in global and regional counterterrorism efforts, and it has provided considerable foreign assistance to Pakistan since 2001, in part with the goal of facilitating a transition to democracy in Islamabad. In light of undemocratic developments that constitute a major setback for U.S. policy toward Pakistan, U.S. officials are reevaluating their approach.

U.S. Arms Sales to Pakistan, November 8, 2007
This report briefly reviews the issue of U.S. arms sales to Pakistan. It provides background details regarding recent major weapons transactions between the United States and Pakistan, as well as the rationale given for such sales. It also reviews the current statutory framework that governs U.S. weapons sales to Pakistan, including existing authorities that could be used to curtail or terminate existing or prospective sales to that country. This report will only be updated should events warrant.

Pakistan-U.S. Relations, October 18, 2007
A stable, democratic, prosperous Pakistan is considered vital to U.S. interests. U.S. concerns regarding Pakistan include regional and global terrorism; Afghan stability; democratization and human rights protection; the ongoing Kashmir problem and Pakistan-India tensions; and economic development. A U.S.-Pakistan relationship marked by periods of both cooperation and discord was transformed by the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the ensuing enlistment of Pakistan as a key ally in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. Top U.S. officials regularly praise Pakistan for its ongoing cooperation, although doubts exist about Islamabad’s commitment to some core U.S. interests. Pakistan is identified as a base for terrorist groups and their supporters operating in Kashmir, India, and Afghanistan. Since 2003, Pakistan’s army has conducted unprecedented and largely ineffectual counterterrorism operations in the country’s western tribal areas. Islamabad later shifted to a strategy of negotiation with the region’s pro-Taliban militants (combined with longer-term economic and infrastructure development in the region), a tack that elicited scepticism in Western capitals and that has failed in its central purposes.

Separatist violence in India’s Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state has continued unabated since 1989, with some notable relative decline in recent years. India blames Pakistan for the infiltration of Islamic militants into Indian Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. The United States and India have received pledges from Islamabad that all “cross-border terrorism” would cease and that any terrorist facilities in Pakistani-controlled areas would be closed. The United States strongly encourages maintenance of a bilateral cease-fire and continued, substantive dialogue between Pakistan and India, which have fought three wars since 1947. A perceived Pakistan-India nuclear arms race has been the focus of U.S. nonproliferation efforts in South Asia. Attention to this issue intensified following nuclear tests by both countries in 1998. More recently, the United States has been troubled by evidence of the transfer of Pakistani nuclear technologies and materials to third parties, including North Korea, Iran, and Libya. Such evidence became stark in 2004.

A Steep Hill: Congress and U.S. Efforts to Strengthen Fragile States

From the Center for Strategic & International Studies:

The difficulties experienced during U.S.-led interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq have once again placed troubled states at the forefront of the U.S. national-security agenda. While there is general recognition of the importance of rebuilding states so they do not pose a threat to international security, U.S. capabilities still require significant reforms if they are to meet the challenges of the future. Congress can—indeed, must—play a critical role in U.S.-led stabilization and reconstruction operations. But there are obstacles. In the words of one respected analyst of Congress, “most members of Congress are genuinely ambivalent about their role in foreign policy: they often want to be involved and influential but not always held responsible or accountable.” Lingering memories of events such as Vietnam, the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon, and the “Black Hawk Down” disaster in Somalia make elected officials nervous. More recent experiences in Afgha! nistan and Iraq have only increased the political vulnerability of members supporting stabilization and reconstruction operations."  [RJ]