The ABA Section of Science and Technology Law has just published the first edition of SCITECH e-Merging News, an electronic newsletter to be published quarterly. See theTable of Contents for the first issue follow:
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Practice Edge
Some Recent ABA Publication Announcements June 2008*
Street Legal: A Guide to Pre-trial Criminal Procedure for Police, Prosecutors, and Defenders
By Ken Wallentine
This 396-page book provides specific guidance on pre-trial criminal procedure of all sorts, and explains in understandable terms “what you can do and what you can’t do” under 4th Amendment search and seizure law. From traffic checkpoints and forceful felony arrest, from Miranda warnings to inmate and cell searches, it’s all covered in this concise reference. In addition, numerous charts and guides are included throughout the book to make this as practical a guide as possible.
How Trustworthy Are State-Level Primary Legal Resources on the Web?
David Badertscher*
How trustworthy are state-level primary legal resources on the Web? The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) published the State-by-State Report on Authentication of Online Legal Resources (Authentication Report) that answers this very important and timely question. The comprehensive report examines and draws conclusions from the results of a state survey that investigated whether government-hosted legal resources on the Web are official and capable of being considered authentic. The survey was conducted by the Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee of AALL. The principal authors and editors of the comprehensive report were Richard J. Matthews, Editor in Chief of the 2005-2006 Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee and Mary Alice Baish, Executive Editor, AALL Washington Affairs Office; volunteer authors were responsible for sections within the comprehensive report devoted to individual states. The survey and comprehensive authentication report could not have been completed without their efforts.
The Authentication Report follows the publication in 2003 of AALL’s State-by-State Report on Permanent Public Access to Electronic Government Information that researched and reported what, if anything, state governments were doing to meet the enormous challenges of ensuring permanency and public accessibility of government information on the Web. The Permanent Public Access Report raised national awareness and encouraged states to take steps to ensure permanent public access to electronic state government information. As a result, several states have enacted legislation requiring permanent public access.
Codes Rules and Regulations of the State of New York (NYCRR), Sections Affected
Register Citations from 8-1-07 to 6-11-08 (Cumulative)
The following citator compiled by James R. Sahlem, Principal Law Librarian of the New York Supreme Court at Buffalo, is intended to “fill the gap” in NYCRR, both print and electronic format. It covers the most recent ten-month period. It is designed to be printed and stapled and left at the end of your NYCRR or retained in e-format as a back-up to electronic research. Hopefully, this will demonstrate that the long-standing NYCRR gap problem can be cured. I will be providing twice-monthly cumulative updates. Those familiar with the CFR- LSA will have a good analogy.
PROCEDURE
ABA Journal Weekly Newsletter June 13, 2008
TOP STORIES:
U.S. Supreme Court Supreme Court Rules Guantanamo Detainees Have Habeas Rights
Jun 12, 2008, 09:49 am CDT
Regisration for Web 2.0 Challenge
Bonnie Shucha has asked us to “spead the word” about the exciting Web 2.0 Challenge that is being sponsored by the Computer Services Special Interest Group of the American Association of Law Libraries. We are happy to do so. Here is part of Bonnie’s announcement:
Are you interested in learning about applications like blogs, wikis, and Second Life, but don’t have a lot of time?
Take the Computing Services-SIS Web 2.0 Challenge!
U.S. Supreme Court: Boumediene v. Bush, President of the United States
From: Findlaw Breaking Legal Documents, June 12, 2008.
Justices Rule Guantanamo Bay Detainees Can File Suit in Federal Courts
Hard Straight: Award Winning Documentary on Parolees’ “Time on the Outside”
From Goro Toshima:
I wanted to alert you to my award-winning documentary, A Hard Straight, which shows what it’s really like to make the radical transition from prison life to society, by following the post-release stories of three people in close and unflinching detail …
…One spent his childhood in foster homes, juvenile detention, and the gang life before his adult convictions. Now, the one thing he knows for sure is that he is a 2-striker and another conviction will land him in prison for the rest of his life… The second had logged more time in prison for parole violations than for his original sentence. “My friends are few, and my world is cold,” he confides, waiting on a street corner notorious for drug deals… The third, a mother whose oldest daughter had taken in the two younger children during her prison term. Life becomes very complicated very quickly once she gains her freedom. Increasing friction with her daughter comes to a head over her struggle with methamphetamine addiction.
Raise Ordered for New York State Judges (Updated Information)
From: Associated Press:
Judges Raise Ordered
June 11, 2008 at 2:17 pm by Rick Karlin
Microsoft’s Top Ten Innovationss by James Rapoza
” Let’s face it, during the reign of Bill Gates, Microsoft hasn’t exactly been Xerox Parc when it comes to inventing and creating new technologies. For the most part, Microsoft has been content to buy or copy new technologies and focus on incremental improvements to its products. But that doesn’t mean that Bill Gates and Microsoft weren’t innovative. In the areas of business strategies and cutthroat competition, Microsoft has used a combination of unique and very effective innovations to make itself the dominant tech company of the PC era.”