Criminal Law Library Blog

There are a variety of webcasts of lecture series both law-related and general interest available from courts, law libraries, public libraries, and other organizations. Below is a non-comprehensive listing of links to transcripts and related videos (if available) of various types of programs compiled by our Senior Law Librarian for Public Access, Theodore Pollack. These programs are free and accessible via the Internet.

New York Court of Appeals webcasts of lectures and arguments:
http://www.nycourts.gov/ctapps/crtnews.htm

Law Library of Congress Webcasts related to legal subjects:
http://www.loc.gov/law/news/webcasts.php

Various Law School webcasts of lectures:
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/live.htm

United States Supreme Court Justices lecture transcripts:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/speeches/speeches.html

New York Public Library lecture series programs (variety of subjects):
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/pep/transcripts.cfm

Library of Congress webcasts (variety of subjects):
http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/index.php

Book TV (archive of current and old nonfiction-related book discussions)
http://www.booktv.org/Series/AW/After-Words.aspx

Compiled by Ted Pollack, Senior. Law Librarian, NY County Public Access Law Library

December-14-18, 2009.

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

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U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, December 17, 2009
Mosher v. Nelson, No. 09-1636
In plaintiffs' civil rights action brought following the death of their son against a facility operated by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections that serves as both a prison and a mental hospital, its superintendent, and others, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) defendant-superintendent is entitled to qualified immunity as a reasonable official in defendant's place, given the circumstances and the legal standard, could have believed that allowing a certain practice to continue would not lead to events that would violate a patient's rights; 2) commissioner is also entitled to qualified immunity as a reasonable official in his position could have reasonably believed that staffing that met the hospital's recommendations was sufficient to avoid constitutional violations; and 3) the district court properly dismissed the plaintiffs' state law claims as barred by the Eleventh Amendment. .

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, December 16, 2009
US v. Hester, No. 08-4665
Defendant's conviction for traveling in interstate commerce and failing to register or update his sex offender registration in violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is affirmed where the fact that defendant had no actual notice of SORNA was not sufficient to render his prosecution pursuant to that statute a violation of his due process rights.

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, December 18, 2009
Turkmen v. Ashcroft, No. 06-3745
In an action claiming abuse, mistreatment, and detention of Arab and Muslim aliens who were held on immigration violations in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, an order partially dismissing the complaint is affirmed in part where there was no clearly established equal protection right to be free of selective enforcement of immigration laws based on national origin, race, or religion at the time of plaintiffs' detentions. However, the order is vacated in part where defendant-officials were entitled to qualified immunity because a law enforcement official's actual motivation for the Fourth Amendment seizure of a person was constitutionally irrelevant if the seizure was supported by probable cause.

Continue reading "Findlaw Case Summaries: Constitutional Law" »

Title: Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln

Author: John Stauffer

Publisher: Twelve (Hatchett Book Group)

Price: $30.00

ISBN: 13-0978-0-446-58009-0

Pages: 432

Abraham Lincoln has been written about extensively and ranks as one of the most prolifically written about subjects in print. Frederick Douglass is a much lesser written about historical figure. This book provides an interesting structure by providing a parallel framework in which the lives of these two individuals are recounted in individual chapters. This volume by John Stauffer (chair of the history of American civilization and professor of English at Harvard University) is written in a fluid and compelling manner that makes for an interesting and illuminating reading experience.

Abraham Lincoln's life story is particularly well known and inspiring and is the fabric of the American story and dream personified. His rise from humble origins in the American heartland, growing up on a farm, becoming a workman and store clerk to become a self-educated, highly successful attorney representing the largest and most profitable clients would be an American success story in itself. But he compounded these facts by entering a career in politics and rising to the American presidency-- the highest office in the land where he provided critical political and military leadership in preserving the union.

Similarly inspiring and perhaps of biblical proportions are the facts of Frederick Douglass' life. Born into the bondage of slavery, he escaped the brutality of a slave's life in the South to become an educated and respected publisher as well as public personage and orator. He became a famed abolitionist, orator, and writer. His most famous work is the Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.

The primary weakness of this book is the fact that there were only a few meetings between Lincoln and Douglass. The stories of their lives are fascinating. Lincoln had a profound impact on the course of history in his political and military leadership role as President. However, the fact that there were few recorded meetings hinders the joining of the two figures in one volume, but nonetheless it is clear that the events of that time period joined the personal and public stories of both Lincoln and Douglass in an uncommon and perhaps uniquely American way.

Lincoln's life was cut all too short by the assassin John Wilkes Boothe. His place in history was ensured prior to his assassination, but as a result he became an almost sainted figure. The Shakespearean lines with which Robert Kennedy paid tribute to his slain brother President John Fitzgerald Kennedy could equally apply to Lincoln: "When he shall die take him and cut him out into stars and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun." This volume shines a different type of light on the lives of these two important American citizens and perhaps is most significant in highlighting and more highly publicizing Douglass' life by linking him more closely with Lincoln.

This book is recommended for public and academic libraries as well as special libraries with an orientation focusing on American history.

Theodore Pollack, Sr. Law Librarian, NY County Public Access Law Library

REVIEWED BY: THEODORE POLLACK*

Title: Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy

Authors: Marilyn J. Berger, John B. Mitchell, Ronald Clark

Publisher: Wolters Kluwer

Edition: Second

Pages: 596

ISBN: 978-0-7355-7144-0

Publication Date: 2008

“Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy” and its companion volume of “Trial Advocacy: Assignment and Case Files” provide a primer on the subject of basic trial skills, litigation techniques, and substantive legal material related to litigation. The authors are affiliated with the Seattle University School of Law in teaching capacities related to trial advocacy. Professor Marilyn Berger is the Director of the Comprehensive Trial Advocacy Program; John Mitchell is the director of the Seattle University School of Law Practice Clinic and has taught courses in Evidence, Criminal Law, and Criminal Procedure; Ronald Clark is Distinguished Practitioner in Residence and served as chief of the Criminal Division for the King County Prosecutor's Office and is the former Senior Training Counsel for the National College of District Attorneys.
“Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy” is a thorough and readable introduction to trial advocacy for law students or new practitioners. It covers the various pre-trial issues (e.g. case theory and development, motion practice) and trial stages with a focus on the trial (e.g. opening statement, direct examination, cross-examination, closing, jury instructions, etc.). The related volume, “Trial Advocacy: Assignments and Case Files,” comes with a dvd that contains a movie and factual scenario used for illustrating techniques and procedures as well as material for assignments that flesh out the theoretical structure and content of “Trial Advocacy: Planning, Analysis, and Strategy.” Utilized together the two volumes and multimedia material provide useful instructional material to assist in learning litigation and advocacy skills. These volumes are recommended for trial techniques, law school, and continuing legal education classes.
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*Theodore Pollack is the Senior Law Librarian, New York County Public Access Law Library, New York, NY.

BY: Theodore Pollack
Senior Law Librarian
New York County Public Access Law Library

The United States Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal....” Perhaps no more beautiful words have ever been written. However, self-represented litigants who are attempting to protect their rights, often discover the vast gulf between the political platitude and the reality of becoming self-educated attorneys competing against trained litigators before the courts.

In order to bridge this gulf, self-represented litigants look to a variety of resources. New York State established by statute the existence of a public access law library in each New York State county. These libraries are part of the New York State Unified Court System and are charged with providing access to legal materials in the hope of making the legal process more equitable and transparent. Legal databases, case reporters, encyclopedias, codes all provide a means for the self-represented litigant to learn the law and educate him/herself.

“Law sharpens the tongue and narrows the mind,” Edmund Burke humorously said of the evolutionary process involved in studying the law. However, anybody who has ever tried to read cases or statutes will acknowledge the struggle encountered in trying to decipher multi-layered procedures and a new language filled with unfamiliar and archaic terminology. Similarly, many fledgling and experienced attorneys have spent long hours trying to decipher the meaning and intent of statutes whose meaning is unclear. In order to shed light on determining, the meaning of a law, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter was credited with saying: “Read the statute. Read the statute. Read the statute.” Is there any better environment to proceed with this activity than a library?

Libraries since ancient times have been the repositories of written knowledge. We in public access law libraries are charged with teaching novice to best utilize legal research resources in order to facilitate advocating their causes and cases before the courts. In the New York County Public Access Law Library, a diverse group of users cross through the Library’s doors each day. The clientele spans the socio-economic spectrum and may very well include a stock broker who lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side or a destitute individual who is homeless. Self-represented litigants are involved in a multitude of cases. However, in New York County, a majority involve housing, family, and other civil issues with a smaller portion involving criminal issues. Other researchers who have used the Library include a Brooklyn College professor doing historical research, journalists examining high and low profile cases, journalism students trying to make sense of the court system, and paralegal students beginning their studies. For each of these types of patrons, the Library is a place to gain research skills and insight into the judicial process.

Are all of the Library’s users successful in their cases and research pursuits after using the Library? Honestly, that is an impossible goal to accomplish. Some Library “graduates” have been successful in the state and federal courts. Yet, it is our true hope that we place self-represented litigants in a better position to advocate their causes. Fairness is an integral value of the American judicial system and is embodied in the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. It is this spirit of trying to make the judicial process more just and open that the staff of public access law libraries seek to help the self-represented litigant. I think that the comment of Court Officer Charley Freeman regarding the New York County Public Access Law Library applies to all public access law libraries: “There is something very American about it [the New York County Public Access Law Library], and we are lucky to have it.”