Law Librarian Blog

CRS Analysis of Sotomayor's Opinions: "Most consistent characteristic ... has been an adherence to stare decisis."

In the CRS report, Judge Sonia Sotomayor: Analysis of Selected Opinions (June 19, 2009), Anna C. Henning and Kenneth R. Thomas provide an analysis of selected opinions authored by Judge Sotomayor during her tenure as a judge on the Second Circuit. "As a group," the authors conclude, "the opinions belie easy categorization along any ideological spectrum."

From the Report:

Perhaps the most consistent characteristic of Judge Sotomayor’s approach as an appellate judge has been an adherence to the doctrine of stare decisis, i.e., the upholding of past judicial precedents. Other characteristics appear to include what many would describe as a careful application of particular facts at issue in a case and a dislike for situations in which the court
might be seen as oversteping its judicial role.

It is difficult to determine the extent to which Judge Sotomayor’s style as a judge on the Second Circuit would predict her style should she become a Supreme Court justice. However, as has been the case historically with other nominees, some of her approaches may be enduring characteristics.

[JH]

CRS Report on the State Secrets Privilege and Other Limits on Litigation Involving Classified Information

From The State Secrets Privilege and Other Limits on Litigation Involving Classified Information (May 28, 2009):

The state secrets privilege is a judicially created evidentiary privilege that allows the government to resist court-ordered disclosure of information during litigation, if there is a reasonable danger that such disclosure would harm the national security of the United States. The Supreme Court first described the modern analytical framework of the state secrets privilege in the 1953 case of United States v. Reynolds. In its opinion, the Court laid out a two-step procedure to be used when evaluating a claim of privilege to protect state secrets. First, there must be a formal claim of privilege, lodged by the head of the department which has control over the matter, after actual personal consideration by that officer. Second, a court must independently determine whether the circumstances are appropriate for the claim of privilege, and yet do so without forcing a disclosure of the very thing the privilege is designed to protect. If the privilege is appropriately invoked, it is absolute and the disclosure of the underlying information cannot be compelled by the court.

The Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) provides pretrial procedures that permit a trial judge to rule on questions of admissibility involving classified information before introduction of the evidence in open court. The use of classified evidence may also implicate criminal defendants rights to exculpatory information and witnesses statements held by the prosecution, or their right to confront witnesses under the Sixth Amendment.

Congressional action may affect the operation or coverage of the state secrets privilege. In 2008, a federal district court held that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act supplanted the state secrets privilege with respect to civil claims of unlawful electronic surveillance. In the 111th Congress, House and Senate versions of bills entitled the State Secrets Protection Act, H.R. 984 and S. 417, have been introduced to codify the privilege. The bills would additionally limit the privilege to cases where significant harm to national security was presented, require judicial review of the actual information claimed to be privileged, and require the Attorney General to report to Congress within 30 days of any invocation of the state secrets privilege.

[JH]

CRS Report - The 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Outbreak: Selected Legal Issues

From the summary of The 2009 Influenza A(H1N1) Outbreak: Selected Legal Issues (May 6, 2009) available on OpenCRS:

Recent human cases of infection with a novel influenza A(H1N1) virus have been identified both internationally and in the United States. Since there has been human to human transmission and the new virus has the potential to become pandemic, it is timely to examine the legal issues surrounding this emerging public health threat. This report provides a brief overview of selected legal issues including emergency measures, civil rights, liability issues, and employment issues. There are a number of emergency measures which may help to contain or ameliorate an infectious disease outbreak. The Public Health Service Act and the Stafford Act contain authorities that allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the President, respectively, to take certain actions during emergencies or disasters. While the primary authority for quarantine and isolation in the United States resides at the state level, the federal government has jurisdiction over interstate and border quarantine. Border entry and border closing issues may arise in the context of measures designed to keep individuals who have, or may have, influenza A(H1N1) from crossing U.S. borders. Aliens with the H1N1 virus can be denied entry, but American citizens cannot be excluded from the United States solely because of a communicable disease, although they may be quarantined or isolated at the border for health reasons. Airlines have considerable discretion to implement travel restrictions relating to the safety and/or security of flights and other passengers and crew. In addition, the federal government has broad legal authority to regulate and control the navigable airspace of the United States in dealing with incidents involving communicable diseases. States have authority to initiate other emergency measures such as mandatory vaccination orders and certain nonpharmaceutical interventions such as school closures, which may lessen the spread of an infectious disease. The International Health Regulations adopted by the World Health Organization in 2005 provide a framework for international cooperation against infectious disease threats. The use of these emergency measures to contain the influenza A(H1N1) virus outbreak may raise a classic civil rights issue: to what extent can an individuals liberty be curtailed to advance the common good? The U.S. Constitution and federal civil rights laws provide for individual due process and equal protection rights as well as a right to privacy, but these rights are balanced against the needs of the community. Liability issues may become particularly important during the influenza A(H1N1) virus outbreak. The Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act limits liability with respect to the use of countermeasures for pandemic flu or other public health threats. A patchwork of federal and state laws exists which generally operates to protect volunteers, which may include volunteer health professionals (VHPs) under certain circumstances, and there are also laws that trigger liability protection specifically for VHPs. Questions relating to employment are among the most significant issues presented by an influenza pandemic, since, if individuals fear losing their employment or their wages, compliance with public health measures such as social distancing and isolation or quarantine may suffer. It would seem possible for a court to conclude that the isolation or quarantine of individuals during a pandemic serves the public good and that the termination of individuals who are isolated or quarantined violates public policy. Employees may also have some job protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

[JH]

Online Petition Drive Launched to Improve PACER

Erika Wayne (Stanford Law School Library) and others have launched an online petition drive directed at the Administrative Office of the US Courts to improve PACER. The petition reads:

We ask the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to improve PACER by enhancing the authenticity, usability and availability of the system.

We the undersigned, urge the Administrative Office of the US Courts (AO) to make the following changes to the PACER system:

For verification and reliability, the AO should digitally sign every document put into PACER using readily available technology.

PACER needs to be much more readily accessible if it is to be usable for research, education, and the practice of law. Improved accessibility includes both lowering the costs for using PACER and enhancing the web interfaces.

Depository libraries should also have free access to PACER.

You can sign the petition here. [JH]

U.S. Geological Survey Launches Digital Map Beta

The Digital Map - Beta is the first step toward a new generation of digital topographic maps being created by the U.S. Geological Survey. These maps are built from The National Map data, which are integrated from local, State, Federal, and other sources. Tools are available free for download. Users can turn data layers on and off, zoom in and out, and print the maps. As the Digital Map - Beta evolves, the USGS will add historical versions of the topographic maps and will incorporate other data layers including hydrography and contours. Use of the term "Beta" signifies that these maps are initial versions that do not yet contain the full content of the traditional USGS topographic quadrangle maps according to the USGS announcement.

Digital Maps - Beta are available free on the Web in the GeoPDF format. File size is about 15 to 20 Megabytes. Tools are available free for download. Users can turn data layers on and off, zoom in and out, and print the maps.

Release Time Line. This new topographic map series will be released formally this fall. The USGS plans to make an updated version of each map every 3 years. As other data layers are integrated, they will be added to the maps, so that after 3 or 4 years all of the data within The National Map will be shown. In the near future, high-resolution scanned files of all historical versions of the new topographic maps also will be available for free download.

Hat tip to beSpacific. [JH]

GPO Annual Report Released

The theme of the GPO's annual report this year is energy conservation. Here's a snip about FDsys from GPO Sustainable Environmental Stewardship - Good Business, Good Government - Annual Report 2008:

While developing FDsys, GPO has focused on building an energy efficient, sustainable system. FDsys requires 80 servers to operate. GPO sought out the most energy efficient servers available. The agency chose servers that use 50-watt processors instead of the standard 80-watt processors. By using processors that require less consumption, GPO will realize energy savings of more than $12,000 a year.

GPO has made energy upgrades to servers in place that service the agency in all capacities. GPO’s Information Technology organization has completed a server upgrade to provide faster and improved search results for our Government publications on GPO Access. This modification eliminated over 20 separate servers, and resulted in about a 50% reduction in energy to support this application. All components of the retired servers will be recycled or used for parts within our current operation. These sustainable efforts in the transformation of GPO Access earned GPO international recognition as a finalist in Computerworld magazine’s “Best Practice in Green IT” Computing Awards in September.

Additionally, GPO plans to implement virtualization technology for servers once this technology proves to be reliable for our applications. Virtualization offers us the ability to share single physical servers to support multiple applications and operating systems. This will further reduce our Information Technology energy consumption by over 60%.

GPO has also adopted a Citrix thin client solution for several processes which has substantially reduced our energy use. These initiatives replaced nearly 60 desktop systems with Citrix, reducing our power consumption by over 75%. GPO is also adopting Microsoft applications that better reduce paper waste and individual desktop energy consumption.

[JH]

U.S. Government YouTube Channel

The official YouTube channel of the U.S. Government aggregates other channels from across the government and features select video content. The channel is broken down into playlists by topic such as Reference and General Government, Money and Taxes, Public Safety and Law, Benefits and Grants, Defense and International, Health and Nutrition, and Science and Technology. Hat tip to LC Blog. [JH]

Transparency Lite at Launch of Data.gov

Last week, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, announced the launch of a new initiative to open government, WhiteHouse.gov/Open [video on Administration's Open Government Blog]. With the announcement comes the long anticipated Data.gov website. "The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government." See Personal Democracy Forum's coverage, White House Opens Doors on Major Open Government Initiative.

Data.gov includes a searchable data catalog that includes access to data in two ways: through the "raw" data catalog and using tools provided by the site. Note well, you have to agree to the site's Data Policy. See also the site's tutorial.

According to ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrick, "the initial offering is a bit of a let down." Wired's Alexis Madrigal concurs, "Data.gov launched ... with 47 datasets from across the government. ... That’s a tiny fraction of the Feds’ gargantuan information stores, and the site is clearly in beta, but open-government advocates see the new site as a sign of good things to come for government transparency." [JH]

Hard Drive With Clinton Data Gone, NARA Wants It Back

Can anyone help the National Archives locate the missing hard drive with personal information for Bill Clinton's former staffers?  The Archives staff had been working with the drive contents when they put it aside in October of 2008.  The drive was gone when it came time to retrieve it some time last March.  Whoops.  The information on the drive is backed up in other locations.  Nonetheless, the Archive has to account for it.  Imagine whether any information is useful to dirty tricksters who may use any relevant information for political gain.  

There is a FAQ from NARA about the situation, and the Archives is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading for the recovery of the drive.  [MG]

FY 2010 US Budget Available from GPO's FDsys

The authenticated electronic version of the Obama Administration's FY 2010 Budgetwas made available May 11th on GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys). The migration of information from GPO Access into Federal Digital System (FDsys) will be complete in mid-2009 according to the GPO. [JH]

EPA Publishes Annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the national greenhouse gas inventory, which finds that overall emissions during 2007 increased by 1.4 percent from the previous year. The report, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2007, is the latest annual report that the United States has submitted to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenge posed by climate change. [RJ]

THOMAS Launches Daily Digest RSS Feed

You can alwaysdepend on Mary Alice Baish and Emily Feldman to be on top of DC developments and resources. Last Friday, Emily alerted readers of AALL's Washington Blawg that LC has launched its first Thomas feed. The feed consists of the Daily Digest [feed link]. [JH]

Google Launches Public Data Tool

Google has launched Public Data Tool, a search feature that makes it easier to find and compare visually public data often buried deep in government websites. The Public Data Tool builds on Trendalyzer code that generates moving graphics and other effects in the display of facts, figures, and statistics in presentations. Additional information on the Official Google Blog post. [JH]

Video demo of Google's Public Data Tool

Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq

The Defense Department has issued it's latest quarterly report on Iraq.  The report addresses the stability and security of the region as well as assessing the capabilities of the Iraqi Security Forces.  According to the report "Iraq continues to make progress, as Iraqis increasingly choose the political process over violence."  However, "National reconciliation and accommodation continue to be hindered by the pursuit of ethno-sectarian agendas and disagreements over the distribution of power and resources at all levels."  [RJ]

FDA Notices of Judgment Collection, 1906-1963

The FDA Notices of Judgment Collection is a digital archive of the published notices judgment for products seized under authority of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. The NJs are resources in themselves but also lead users to the over 2,000 linear foot collection of evidence files used to prosecute each case. The evidence files are a rich documentary resource filled with legal correspondence, lab reports and data, photographs, and product labeling and containers. This digital library, created using the SPER system, allows for browsing the collection as well as searching the collection's metadata and full-text.  [RJ]

2008 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics

The Yearbook of Immigration Statistics is a compendium of tables that provides data on foreign nationals who, during a fiscal year, were granted lawful permanent residence (i.e., admitted as immigrants or became legal permanent residents), were admitted into the United States on a temporary basis (e.g., tourists, students, or workers), applied for asylum or refugee status, or were naturalized. The Yearbook also presents data on immigration law enforcement actions, including alien apprehensions, removals, and prosecutions.

In addition to the Yearbook, the Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Flow Reports and Annual Reports provide text, tables, and charts on legal permanent residents, refugees and asylees, nonimmigrant admissions, naturalizations, and enforcement actions. The Annual Flow Reports and Annual Reports have replaced the text chapters in the earlier editions of the Yearbook.  [RJ]

Internet Crime Up 33% According to New IC3 Report

In 2008, more than $264 million was lost in 275,284 complaints, according to 2008 Internet Crime Report published by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).  “This report illustrates that sophisticated computer fraud schemes continue to flourish as financial data migrates to the Internet,” FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Shawn Henry said in a statement.
Here’s a look at the scams prompting the most complaints (by percentage), along with the average amount of money lost per complaint (shockingly, the Nigerian letter fraud is still going strong):

• Non-delivery of merchandise/payment: $800 (32.9%)
• Auction fraud: $610 (25.5%)
• Credit/debit card fraud: $223 (9%)
• Confidence fraud: $2,000 (7.9%)
• Computer fraud: $1,000 (6.2%)
• Check fraud: $3,000 (5.4%)
• Nigerian letter fraud: $1,650 (2.8%)

[RJ]

Search EFF's Compilation of FOIA Documents

EFF's Freedom Of Information Act project has gathered thousands of pages of material, mostly via EFF's Litigation for Accountable Government project. The documents obtained shed light on controversial government surveillance programs, lobbying practices, and intellectual property initiatives. And now you can search them. [JH]

Show Us the Data: The Top Ten Most Wanted Government Documents

Last month, OpenTheGovernment.org and CDT released "Show Us the Data: Most Wanted Federal Documents", a report based on the results of a web based survey. The report cites documents and data that the federal government should make easier to find and to use and recommends policy changes to make government more open.

The Top Ten Most Wanted Government Documents

1. Public Access to All Congressional Research Service Reports

2. Information About the Use of TARP and Bailout Funds

3. Open and Accessible Federal Court Documents Through the PACER System

4. Current Contractor Projects

5. Court Settlements Involving Federal Agencies

6. Access to Comprehensive Information About Legislation and Congressional Actions via THOMAS or Public Access to Legislative Information Service

7. Online Access to Electronic Campaign Disclosures

8. Daily Schedules of the President and Cabinet Officials

9. Personal Financial Disclosures from Policymakers Across Government

10. State Medicaid Plans and Waivers

[JH]

GPO FY 2008 Annual Report

GPO has released the agency's FY 2008 annual report entitled, "GPO Sustainable Environmental Stewardship: Good Business. Good Government."

The report details another year of increased revenue for the agency, as GPO continues to thrive by achieving a fifth consecutive year of net income.

GPO's annual report further illustrates the sustainable environmental stewardship initiatives achieved and that are currently underway.

The full news release, with links to the annual report and accompanying video, is available at: <http://www.gpo.gov/news/2009/09news08.pdf>.

The FY 2008 annual report can be accessed at: <http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/annualreports/08annrep/GPO_08AnnualReport.pdf>.

GPO's FY 2008 annual report video can be accessed at: <http://www.gpo.gov/news/videos/video.htm>.