**The Government Domain: Tracking Congress 2.0
http://www.llrx.com/columns/govdomain42.htm
With the 111th Congress of the United States reconvening on September 8th, e-gov expert Peggy Garvin highlights new tools and sources that enhance and expand your ability to track and monitor the action.
In their September 8 article in Bloomberg News, Cary O’Reilly and Linda Sandler write that “[A]s the White House and Congress debate how to regulate financial crisis, judges have assumed the point position of punishing Wall Street for causing the worst recession since the 1930s.” O’Reilly and Sandler point out that while the executive and legislative branches of government continue to discuss the possibilities of implementing various reforms as a response to the financial crisis that began approximately a year ago, “judges are [actually] taking the first steps toward the same goal, punishing executives and issuing rulings with national impact.” In their article O’Reilly and Sandler go on to enumerate specific examples of how some judges have proceeded along this path.
We are forwarding the following message from Emily Feldman of the Government Relatiojns Office of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) because it contains important information that we believe should be distributed widely:
OpenTheGovernment.org today released the latest edition of their annual Secrecy Report Card (http://www.openthegovernment.org/otg/SecrecyRC_2009.pdf). This year’s report card found slight decreases in government secrecy overall, though secrecy still trumps openness in many instances. This year’s report also includes a special analysis of the Obama Administration’s mixed track record on transparency.
Some of the highlights from this year’s report include:
Top Ten Stories for Week Ending September 4, 2009.
Careers Study: US Government Will Need to Go on Hiring Binge, Legal Jobs Included
Sep 3, 2009, 06:31 am CDT
Title: Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln
Author: John Stauffer
Publisher: Twelve (Hatchett Book Group)
The Jerusalem Post reports that Israeli authorities are trying to fight back against the violence that has become endemic in the country. Internal Security Minister Yizhak Aharonovich said violence has become “routine” despite the efforts of police. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he considers violence and bullying to be a sort of internal terrorism and that his government would follow a policy of “zero tolerance to violence, both verbal and physical”. Prime Minister Netanyahu presented a plan for change that includes harsher punishments, increased police presence on the streets and limiting alcohol sales..
According to the Editors of The Crime Report, the movement to ban shackling pregnant prisoners is gaining momentum. On August 26, 2009, Governor David Paterson of New York signed a bill (now NY Chapter 411 2009) banning the practice for all but the most unruly inmates. What is happening in your state?
Only six states-California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York, Texas and Vermont-have legislation regulating the use of restraints on pregnant women. Women detained in 44 states, the District of Columbia and the Federal Bureau of Prisons lack such legislative protection. Some state departments of corrections did not provide details on what type of restraints may be utilized during labor, nor did they provide their policy.
(Research provided by Amnesty International and The Rebecca Project for Human Rights.)
The program, known asConficker( http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-088A.html), uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. With more than five million of these zombies now under its control government, business and home computers in more than 200 countries this shadowy computer has power that dwarfs that of the worlds largest data centers. Conficker continues to confound the efforts of security experts to trace its origins and determine its purpose.
For additional commentary see John Markoff’s article, “Defying Experts, Rogue Computer Code Still Lurks”, published in the August 27, 2009 New York Times.
After posting two articles on this Web site here and here related to the Obama administration seriously considering allowing much greater flexibility regarding the use of cookies and tracking devices on government Web sites, I thought I was finished with the topic. That is until this morning August 25 when I notices a well written and thoughtful editorial about “cookies” and the web in the New York Times. Since the editorial helped to clarify my thinking I wanted to share it with you here.
After a discussion of the issues, here in a nutshell are the concerns raised and approaches presented in the editorial:
1. More stringent requirements regarding the permanent and prominet display of notices on all government Web sites to clearly inform users that use of the Web sites is being tracked.
In her interesting and provocative article, “Transparency Chic”, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Senior Editor at Reason Magazine, writes: “…Privacy is dead. But one kind of information is still cozily tucked away, the law…[W]ith the possible exception of the ever-leaky CIA, no aspect of government remains more locked down than the secretive, hierarchical judicial branch. Digital records of court filings, briefs and transcripts sit behind paywalls like Lexis and Westlaw.”
Katherine also writes about PACER and recommends that we all check out RECAP (PACER spelled backward) a free extension of Firefox to help gain access to and download documents. RECAP is a project of the Center for Information Technology and Policy at Princeton University.that, among other things, helps PACER users build a free and open repository of public records and also facilitates the downloading of these reords. RECAP is not a substitute for PACER; rather it is meant to be somewhat like a PACER facilitator. It is my understanding that you cannot use RECAP effectively unless you are also a PACER user. I go into this detail because Katherine recommends RECAP be used to download her article which is reproduced here with her permission.
Whether you agree or disagree, Katherine Mangu-Ward’s article is well worth reading. Here it is: I am also providing a link to her article as it first appeared so that you can also read the comments at that location
Criminal Law Library Blog