The city Council of the City of New York voted 29 to 22 on October 23 to extend term limits which would permit Mayor Michael Blomberg to seek re-election next year. The Charter Amendment voted upon by the Council will also permit members of the City Council and other city elected officials to serve for three or four year terms.
Here is the text of the amendment to the city charter as approved by the Council on October 23, 2008:
Proposed Int. No. 845-A
Update from the Lexis Alert Service, Search run morning of October 12-14, 2008:
1. People v. D’Agostino, 4228, 2702/06, SUPREME COURT OF NEW YORK, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT, 2008 NY Slip Op 7714; 2008 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 7536, October 9, 2008, Decided, October 9, 2008, Entered, THE LEXIS PAGINATION OF THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING RELEASE OF THE FINAL PUBLISHED VERSION., THIS OPINION IS UNCORRECTED AND SUBJECT TO REVISION BEFORE PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS.
The People of the State …
Top Ten Stories:
Attorney Fees Irate Judge Blasts Typos and Errors in Filing, Slashes Fees by $154K
Oct 8, 2008, 07:14 am CDT
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U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, September 23, 2008 US v. O’Brien, No. 072312 In a conviction for charges related to attempted robbery, conspiracy to affect interstate commerce, and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, ruling that machine-gun possession was an element of a crime rather than a sentencing enhancement is affirmed where absent a clearer or more dramatic change in language or legislative history expressing a specific intent to assign judge or jury functions, court is bound by Supreme Court decision, Castillo v. US, 530 U.S. 120 (2000).
U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, September 24, 2008 Thomas v. State of Rhode Island, No. 071985 In a suit brought by members of an Indian tribe claiming that state officials violated their constitutional rights by arresting them without lawful authority on tribal lands for alleged cigarette tax violations, dismissal of action for failure to state a claim is affirmed over claims of error that: 1) the court construed their allegations too narrowly, thereby ignoring a viable Fourth Amendment claim based on the lack of probable cause for arrest; and 2) the court wrongly denied their request to amend the complaint, thereby denying them the opportunity to remedy any tax deficiencies. .
Top Ten Stories of the Week:
Law Firms Lehman’s Impact Stretches from Corporate Lawyers to Litigators
Sep 16, 2008, 06:39 am CDT
With all the news and interest in the Democratic National Convention which begins on Monday, we thought that some of you would be interested in seeing, Renewing America’s Promise, Report of the Platform Committee for presentation to the 2008 National Convention. It was approved on August 9, 2008. To see the Platform click on the link below:
All four of the recommendations submitted by the Criminal Justice Section to the ABA House of Delegates were unamiously approved on August 11, 2008:
Brief descriptions of the final versions of the recommendations are included below. Those seeking addtional information can contact the Criminal Justice Section at http://www.abanet.org/crimjust:
104A Recommends that Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure be amended by the addition of subsections (c)(3) and (c)(4), that would call for availability of information received from parties and non-parties to ensure that both the government and the defense have an opportunity to review information to be considered by the sentencing court in determining the appropriate punishment.
From: Findlaw Breaking Legal Documents, June 12, 2008.
Justices Rule Guantanamo Bay Detainees Can File Suit in Federal Courts
A calendar arranged by topic of CLE trainings and other public legal events. To see the calendar click here.
News and Views from the American Library Association (ALA):
Libraries toppled in devastating Chinese earthquake
The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan Province in western China on the afternoon of May 12 killed more than 40,000 people and left another 5 million homeless. In the week after the quake, the Library Society of China posted information on damage to libraries in the region on its Chinese-language website. The library building in Beichuan County collapsed, burying five staff members under the debris, but all were rescued after being trapped for more than 70 hours. The Chinese American Librarians Association has set up a website for donations to support earthquake recovery efforts in China
Criminal Law Library Blog